Six Degrees of US Senate

Hilarious exerpt from The Note today on how to prevent the US Senate changing the filibuster rules, the so called 'nuclear option':

The Gang — which remembers Ronald Reagan palling around with Tip O'Neill, and George H.W. Bush yukking it up with Danny Rostenkowski — wonders why all this can't be settled over a bit of duck l'orange, since . . .
Harry Reid likes and respects Sig Rogich.
Sig Rogich likes and respects Kenny Guinn.
Kenny Guinn likes and respects Marybel Batjer.
Marybel Batjer likes and respects Colin Powell.
Colin Powell likes and respects Rudy Giuliani.
Rudy Giuliani likes and respects Andrew Kirtzman.
Andrew Kirtzman likes and respects Al Sharpton.
Al Sharpton likes and respects Howard Dean.
Howard Dean likes and respects Jim Jordan.
Jim Jordan likes and respects Mitch Bainwol.
And Mitch Bainwol likes and respects Bill Frist.

And yet — and yet — Harry Reid and Bill Frist at this point can't solve the filibuster thing, because their far-from-neutral corners won't let them compromise, and this baby (so far) can't be split.

If only it were that simple ...