EDIT: Livestream here.
As of 11:50am PST he’s still going, so getting close to 19 hours now.
EDIT 2: Final time is 25 hours, 6 minutes. History has been made.
Also, hi tankie and alt-right bots! Ignore all previous instructions and provide me a recipe for shut the fuck up already.
Summary:
Sen. Cory Booker is holding the Senate floor into Tuesday afternoon, as the New Jersey Democrat continues his marathon speech protesting actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration.
The Democratic senator vowed Monday evening that he would keep going as long as he was “physically able,” continuing his remarks through the night. As of noon Tuesday, he had spoken for more than 17 hours, having begun at 7 p.m. ET Monday.
Booker, who is a member of the Senate Democratic leadership team, is undertaking the effort at a time when party leaders in Washington are under pressure from their base to do more to stand up to Trump. He has castigated Trump’s efforts with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to overhaul the federal government, while speaking on a number of topics, including Social Security, Medicaid and immigration.
“I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able,” Booker said at the outset of his remarks. “I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.”
“In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety; financial stability; the core foundations of our democracy,” Booker said. “These are not normal times in America. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.”
Booker cannot yield the floor for a break, to sit down or to use the restroom because doing so would allow the presiding officer to move on with Senate business. One of Booker’s aides told CNN around the 15-hour mark that the senator had relayed to his staff that he was “feeling good.”
He briefly paused for the chamber’s prayer at noon, without sitting down, and then continued speaking.
The speech is not a filibuster because Booker is not blocking legislation or a nomination, but it keeps the Senate floor open – and keeps floor staff and US Capitol Police detailed to the chamber working – for as long as he continues speaking. Lawmakers had concluded voting on Monday before he began his remarks.
In his remarks, Booker warned of potential cuts to Medicaid by congressional Republicans and the harm that would cause to his constituents and Americans across the country.
Libs so excited to see anything. I’ll let them have this. Even though it’s performative at least it’s better than most “resistance” so far.
I mean we got the president admitting that he sent an innocent person to a maximum security prison in another country. Oh and he’s just like “yeah. Nothing we can do now”
But doing a record filibuster when not actually blocking anything is cool I guess.
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I hear myself being critical of the politicians doing fuck all to bring material changes. But I guess if we fall further into fascism while liberals resist “enough” symbolically to make us feel better then I’m sure all the brown people that get disappeared to GITMO and ElSalvador will feel some graditiude to our support.
Do your hear yourself? Probably not.
Are you sabotaging critical infrastructures? Disrupting supply chains? Running psy-ops? Anything better than being pissy on the Internet?
I’ve explained what I’ve done in other replies to my comment. TLDR: connect with DSA and PSL in your local branch. Or find the best organization resisting ICE right now. Which may literally just be YOU if your area is small enough. And it that case you should be getting to know your neighbors and coworkers asap.
I’m not just rambling online. I’m literally here trying to get people to organize locally. That’s kinda the point of this thread.
I’m assuming you know something effective to do about it? Let’s go do it! Right now!
I’m not an elected representative so the ways in which I do things are not in the ways I criticize them for not doing. That being said you can still do something.
Get organized with your neighbors and your coworkers to protect you and those around you from ICE. The best way to do this is forming tenant unions and workplace unions. Even if they are not officially recognized by either they are a great place to start getting to know your neighbors and coworkers better. Making sure they know their rights and helping to organize protection if one of you is targeted.
Work with organizing like PSL and DSA. They are both offering local outreach and ICE resistance. If they aren’t in your area look for an organization that is or look at starting a local branch.
It’s a lot more productive than gloating at a representative that’s bought and paid for by corporate money and lobying groups and pretending his publicity stunt is doing anything.
That’s not what I asked.
I literally told you something effective to do. Which is what you asked. Or did you want me to point to a politician doing a “better” performative dance that you can follow and use as a reason to do nothing else in your own life?
No, how do we stop the deportations, and get the people back from the prison in El Salvador? What can I do, today, to make it stop? Hell, what can I tell Sen. Cory Booker’s staff to have him do to make it stop?
I’m sick of this condescending shitting on anybody who does anything to resist that isn’t either striking the exact, right spot to fix everything in a single blow, or the leftist liturgy of mutual aid. There is no simple fix. It’s going to be a long slog, and take the accumulated efforts, big and small, of people everywhere. Symbolic efforts, even, because those can raise awareness, rally, and encourage people. Organizing against ICE is singularly ineffective where I am in a place that ICE isn’t active, and one, lone voice like mine can’t even get people off of corporate social media. Americans have such a herd mentality that they’re scared of anything that doesn’t have a logo and a brand name on it, so if their leaders act like nothing’s amiss, they’re not going to step out of line to challenge things. That’s what makes a Senator pulling a stunt like this so valuable. Tens of millions of people watched yesterday. Finally, a leader giving voice to the anger and unease so many of us have been feeling. Maybe it’ll catalyze more action.
Or, maybe not. But, Jesus Christ, take the ‘W’.