BREAKING: Booker Makes History in Senate

Hopefully this is a true turning point for opposition to Dictatorship.

Senator Cory Booker has beaten the “filibuster” record of Sen. Strom Thurmond — ironic given that Thrumond was fighting to stop Civil Rights.

I am updating and expanding on what I wrote last night that was included in my most recent newsletter that went out just a few hours later. I’m not going to edit what I wrote previously to tone down some of the criticism I had, because I’m not afraid to evolve my thinking based on both facts and feelings.

Last Night:

Here’s another example of how we need to push Democrats.

Last night Cory Booker took to the Senate floor for an old-fashioned filibuster-like speech to disrupt business as usual in the Senate. It’s the right thing to do, and he’s getting some news coverage. Good.

But, here’s the honest truth — Booker was one of the top D senators talking about bipartisanship after the election and he voted for a number of Trump nominees. He should have known better — and been more quickly ready to fight — on both counts.

I’m glad he’s moved in the right direction, and that’s likely because of pressure from grassroots Democrats.

If he really wanted to disrupt the Senate he’s being pretty senatorial about it. The Senate isn’t back in session until tomorrow at 10 am, so he’s likely not going to really disrupt anything. If he wanted to start Friday morning and keep the Senate in session and stop members from flying home for the weekend, that would be disruptive.

I like Senator Booker, always have, but it’s time for every elected Democrat to REALLY step up to the magnitude of the crisis we face.

Update:

Just for some historical and Senate rule context. What Booker did wasn’t officially a filibuster because a filibuster is only designated that when trying to stop a bill or nominee. NPR had a good overview of the process and how Booker dealt with it:

Under Senate rules, unless special limits on debate are in effect, a senator who has been recognized by the presiding officer can speak for as long as they wish, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

"They usually cannot be forced to cede the floor, or even be interrupted, without their consent," it says.

There are a few requirements they must meet, however. For one, the senator must "remain standing and must speak more or less continuously," the CRS says, which becomes more difficult as the hours pass.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., tweeted Monday night that Booker had employed an "interesting tactic" to that effect.

"Cory had a Senate page take his chair away to eliminate any temptation to sit down," he wrote, just under three hours into the speech.

Booker employed another strategy at various points: permitting his fellow Democrats to ask questions, which is the only way a senator can yield without losing the floor. But it's only partial relief: The senator must remain standing while others are talking.

When a modern filibuster — screw technicalities — comes up the first thing I think of is Ted Cruz reciting the phone book and reading from Green Eggs and Ham when trying to defund ObamaCare.

I also remember Chris Murphy of Connecticut speaking passionately about gun control after the Pulse mass murder.

He didn’t resort to Dr. Seuss stunts either.

What Booker did might be technically a stunt — in that it’s not going to stop anything. But, it’s not a stunt when it comes to content and passion on display. Deep kudos to his staff who did a magnificent job providing him with binders full of appropriate media articles, letters of fear and concern by people in New Jersey and across the country, and lots of other inspirational and relevant reading material.

I watched a few random hours last night — including at 3 AM when I couldn’t sleep — and more today.

From what I saw, Booker (and assist Senators giving him questions) eloquently and passionately indicted and tore apart the Trump Regime on nearly every important subject of note. And made very simple but powerful policy arguments in opposition.

Every single bit of it was presented as right vs wrong. Because it is. And is.

But, let’s not underestimate how refreshing it is to not take the typical right/wrong and disclaimer it into pure pablum.

I was particularly impressed with how honest he was — in the middle of the night and at the end — about how it was his constituents that drove him to do more, to do different things, and — to a certain extent — open his eyes to the seriousness of this moment. And I believe him.

Also. It’s been a while since I’ve watched Booker speak at any length, and I was reminded what a damn, damn good extemporaneous speaker he is. Like, really in rarified air. I was moved, inspired, informed, and angered at what heard I heard from him — and in conjunction, his colleagues — say.

And yes, I was wrong.

He blew through any 9 AM Senate work start and did disrupt the institution — although I still hold that he could gain more media traction keeping the Senate in session over a weekend. Or maybe not. The engagement was high.

Either way, this is still very good on a number of fronts.

It is getting through to the base who want to know that Democrats are fighting for them. It proves that elected Ds are moving in the right direction. And (most importantly) it sets up a template for future similar actions.

Senate Democrats need to have (and use) every procedural and parliamentary rule in the playbook possible from now on. This gives me hope that they know/are getting that now and are more likely to do it.

While my initial take last night may have been correct — and I’ve been sharing lots of memes, etc. that I want to get out there to push Ds harder — I want to acknowledge that most elected Democrats are firmly moving in that right direction.

They need to keep going, and when/if the times get really bad — those in the Senate are going the have to move further away from the decorum and respect the institution has traditionally held in such high esteem. When that times comes it will be Republicans pushing them to that inevitable end.

But, let’s give kudos where kudos are due.

As Voltaire said — perfect is the enemy of good.

More union. More fight.

We’re getting there.

And, by the way, anytime I even see the word filibuster I automatically think of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. It’s my favorite political movies and in my top ten ever.

Everyone should watch it, or watch it again. Because it may seem overly idealistic. But, that doesn’t make it any less true.