Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Live (1975). Mind-blowing.

To the Editor:

In “Can Senate Democrats Save the Party?” (editorial, Nov. 27), you call on the Senate Democratic minority to rely upon the chamber’s “arcane rules” to confront the Trump agenda directly.

What you don’t say is that in 2013 the then-Democratic majority unilaterally changed longstanding filibuster rules to override Republican opposition to any of President Obama’s executive appointments or judicial nominations below the Supreme Court, a move you celebrated at the time (“Democracy Returns to the Senate,” editorial, Nov. 22, 2013).

Indeed, before this year’s election, many leading Democrats were so confident that they were about to win back the Senate majority (and keep the White House) that they began warning Republicans against blocking a President Hillary Clinton’s legislative agenda or Supreme Court picks, lest those remaining parts of the “arcane rules” be blown up as well. Now they are desperately hoping that Republicans do not follow that advice.

In 2013, Senate traditionalists of all political stripes warned the Democrats that haphazardly changing Senate rules to take advantage of a fleeting political moment was akin to playing with historic fire. They are now in serious danger of getting burned.

STUART GOTTLIEB

New York

The writer, a former Senate adviser and speechwriter, teaches at Columbia.

Note from KBJ: Obama and the Democrats taught Trump and the Republicans exactly how to achieve their ends. I can't wait to see the look on Democrat faces when what they did is used against them. What goes around comes around.

Here.

Here.

Tour de Force (1984). Shout out to John Sullivan.

To the Editor:

Every time I check the top stories in The Times, it’s all about Donald Trump. I am suffering from Trump exhaustion. You must know by now that he wants to be center stage 24/7. Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, pare down the unnecessary coverage.

If you cover every single tweet, what are you not covering? I feel as if I’m missing real news. Put the reins on and pace yourselves. We still have four more years of him.

LAURIE DOHRMANN

Mesa, Ariz.

Note from KBJ: Eight.

I beat this guy to the punch.

Here is the latest College Football Playoff ranking. Who would have thought that the SEC would have only one team in the top 13? (When I mentioned this to a friend who is an SEC fanatic, he said, "We only need but one.") As for the likely Final Four, if Alabama (SEC), Clemson (ACC), and Washington (Pac-12) win their conference championships this weekend, then they will join Ohio State (Big Ten) in the four-team playoff bracket. The Big 12 will almost certainly be shut out for the second time in three years. Guess which big-five conference doesn't have a championship?

I made this handout today for the students in my Social and Political Philosophy course. It was fun.

Here.