NY Times Editorial - Military Equality Goes Astray

Some things I do not understand about US politics. Why must the threat of a filibuster stop legislation? The longest filibuster for US records was a little over 24 hours. There are 41 Republican senators. It would seem that no matter what issue is being debated, health care, gays in the military, or otherwise, the longest regular legislation can be held up in the senate is 6 weeks (plus a little for recovery time and Democrats voting against their party). Granted it would be a very unproductive use of time but it would seem the threat of talk paralyzes important legislation.