For four hours now, Sen. Rand Paul (R - Ky.) has been filibustering the nomination of John Brennan as CIA director, following through on a threat he'd made earlier this month after Attorney General Eric Holder refused to rule out the use of unmanned drones in targeted assassinations on American soil in "extraordinary circumstances."

Sen. Bernie Sanders hit the Senate floor at 10:30 this morning to rail against the tax cut compromise for two hours, before getting help. Watch here, or check out a similarly righteous stemwinder Sanders delivered last week, below.

Democrats said just last week that they'd focus their lame duck legislative efforts on renewing the Bush tax cuts for the middle class only. So it's likely that they'll soon cave entirely to Republi— oh look, they already did.

Well, so much for that. Senate Republicans' filibuster against a defense authorization bill — including a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal and the DREAM Act — was successful. The final vote was 56-43, with 60 votes needed to move forward.

Many liberals were upset with Barack Obama for not using Tuesday's Oval Office address to pressure the Senate into passing a cap-and-trade system or carbon tax. But may he have a "secret plan" in the works, as some are suggesting?