Before it meant a senator talking a bill to death, the word filibuster meant a pirate. Following it from the Dutch and Spanish words for a freebooter to the floor of the United States Senate is a short, clear lesson in how a chamber built to slow things down can be made to stop them altogether, and what the difference costs.

Field Notes on the Republic was written and read by Michael Fowler. It was produced for Quorum (Supply Co.), an American civic purveyor. Music is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," performed by the U.S. Military Academy Band, West Point.