Update: FiliBusted
The vote appears to be 72-25 in favor of cloture.
John Byrne writes that "Sources indicate that Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has been vexed by the filibuster push, saying that Democrats can't bring in the votes and the move could backfire."
Assuming this is true I've got to ask: Backfire? To what? You mean Democrats won't have the power to stop an ill-advised war, middle-class-crushing tax cuts, knuckle-headed economic plans, environmental meltdown, energy industry giveaway [see ExxonMobil's luscious profits], the further stacking of regulatory agencies with unqualified cronies, the stacking of the judiciary? What?
When is all this strategy meant to pay off? Social Security was a win. Cool. Great. But that was the result of a concerted effort to block something egregious. Sound familiar? Progressives are tired of (failed) strategy. Win, fight, stand up, or get out of the way.
Incidentally, if the question How the hell does the whole filibuster thing actually work? were pledges to actually support the thing, Alito would be a memory. Here's a link to learn all about the thing. For now, all you need to know is, filibuster yes, cloture no. (RawStory)
