Mr. Booker Goes to Washington Take 2

[shadowkat]

ME: You ever feel like every time you get a glimmer of hope that yes, today you will finally kick that foot ball, and then someone comes along and pulls it away at the last minute?

Mother: I don't know, you have a lot going for you.

Me: So did Charlie Brown.

Mother: Charlie Brown was likable.

Me: And Lucy wasn't.

Mother: Lucy was a bully.

***

After Cory Booker made history - breaking segregationist Strum Thurmond's previous filibuster record - the Senators from Idaho and Iowa got up to get Witaker (an incompetent nitwit) confirmed as NATO Secretary. Sigh, there's always a Lucy in the crowd.

Booker did state that we should not give into hate.

Go Here


"On Tuesday at 7:19 p.m., Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) surpassed the late South Carolina segregationist Strom Thurmond’s longstanding record for the longest speech in the history of the U.S. Senate, which was 24 hours and 18 minutes. As his remarks stretched past that mark, Booker reflected upon the significance of his legacy overtaking Thurmond’s.

“There’s a room here in the Senate named after Strom Thurmond,” Booker said, adding, “To hate him is wrong. Maybe my ego got too caught up that, if I stood here maybe, maybe, just maybe I could break this record of a man who tried to stop the rights upon which I stand.”

Booker’s colleagues broke into a standing ovation when he passed the mark.

“I’d like to go a little further,” he said.

Booker ultimately yielded the floor at 8:05 p.m. His record-breaking speech lasted a total of 25 hours and five minutes.

Thurmond’s stand was a filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 that took place between August 28 and 29 of that year. In his lengthy diatribe, Thurmond argued that Black people did not need greater protections to ensure their voting rights. Thurmond’s case was an explicitly racist one.

“Negroes are voting in large numbers,” Thurmond said. “Of course they are not so well qualified to vote as are the white people.”

Booker’s speech, the plans for which were first reported by TPM, was an extensive case against President Trump. In it, he argued Trump is a threat to the country. Among other things, Booker focused on Trump’s efforts to drastically cut federal agencies and eliminate social programs, the president’s attacks on the press and other democratic and civic institutions, and the administration’s treatment of immigrants. Late Monday evening, Booker read pages of letters from constituents and activists who described their experiences and fears under Trump. Within that context, Booker framed these early months of 2025 as an “American moment” and a “moral moment” that called for aggressive opposition.

“Every day things are happening. In the 72 days of this administration, God, if there’s not enough to upset you, to ignite you, to realize that maybe you and your family are not getting hurt, but other Americans are, our veterans are, our seniors are,” Booker said earlier Tuesday. “We’ve told their stories here over these last 21 hours — 22 hours. We’ve told their stories. People are getting hurt. People are afraid. People are worried.”

Booker’s record-breaking speech came as Trump is aggressively reshaping the country, by all appearances defying court orders, letting Elon Musk and his aides loose in a slew of federal agencies, attacking law firms, imposing tariffs that analysts predict will be economically disastrous, and launching threats to take over the foreign nations of Greenland and Canada. The remarks also followed mounting anger from Democrats and others on the left after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats voted to advance a Republican-authored continuing resolution to fund the government earlier this month. At multiple points, Booker noted Democrats had made mistakes that contributed to Trump’s rise and said there was a “reckoning in our own party that we’re working on now.” He also repeatedly referenced the public frustration and said he recognized this moment was “not normal.”

“It’s our turn. What are we going to do?” Booker asked a few hours before breaking Thurmond’s record. “All of us have to answer that question.”

Booker framed his extraordinary protest as “disrupting business as usual.” Technically, unlike Thurmond’s remarks, Booker’s speech was not a filibuster since it was not aimed at slowing a specific piece of legislation. Instead, Booker began his remarks after a procedural vote on Monday night."


That was my moment of hope on this sunny, if somewhat crisp April Fools Day. Never been much of a fan of April Fools. Too many Lucy's jumping about, and I've always been a bit of a Charlie Brown or Marcy.

Don't take my moment of hope away, Universe. I want it for a few seconds longer.
***

Leaving you all with a picture from my walk at lunch time around the financial district of Manhattan, NY.

Comments

[mtbc]

That's a nice photograph, thank you for sharing.

[shadowkat]

You're welcome.

[yourlibrarian]

Ooh nice photo! And yes, glad Cory Booker did something and said many valuable things.