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Part of the what our democracy is about. when you attack journalists in order to silence criticism, are you really stifling the public discourse? the fact we can engage in some critical analysis of what someone says and ask them questions, that makes our democracy work. it makes us able to understand what the issues are and where people's hearts are and what they are going to do as our elected officials. when you try to suppress that, i think you are trying to stifle criticism and avoid being accountable. i didn't like the tone of what that meant in this political campaign. it's very important...

Because their term was six years long and only a third of them were up for re-election at any time. all that made them a body free from the passions of a quick majority. it is now in a freezer and road to accountability because they're no longer judging majority on what they did but if they're judging majority on what the minority allowed them to do or kept them from doing, that's not how washington is supposed to work and why the organization common cause has launched a lawsuit arguing the filibuster is unconstitutional. joining me now is minnesota congressman keith ellison. thank you for bei...

Thank you for being here. >> pleased to be here. thank you. >> why did you sign onto the lawsuit challenging the filibuster. you are in the house of representatives, not the senate. what is your role here? >> i signed on because i wanted to see democracy work. when i voted on the disclose act and the dream act, the majority will was frustrated by this ridiculous filibuster rule. these two items should be the law of the land but they're not because of the filibuster rule. they're literally kids walking around who would have benefitted from the dream act worried about their future because a mino...

Senators weren't elected directly by the people but chosen by the state legislatures because their term was six years long and only a third of them were up for re-election at any time. all that made them a body free from the passions of a quick majority. it is now in a freezer and road to accountability because they're no longer judging majority on what they did but if they're judging majority on what the minority allowed them to do or kept them from doing, that's not how washington is supposed to work and why the organization common cause has launched a lawsuit arguing the filibuster is uncon...

And if it does lead to a peaceful and democratic outcome, then inevitably, it will happen elsewhere. it's obviously a far cry from what happened in iraq. today, part of -- there's the joy of egypt, but there was also, certainly among arabs i know, the regret of what happened in iraq, and a lot of questions, why could it not have happened in iraq, was it possible ever for something like this to happen in iraq. a lot of iraqis think, given what the regime in iraq was like, it was very unlikely even if iraq had the glare of the media that egypt has had over the last few weeks. but certainly the i...