Summary
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) broke the record for longest Senate floor speech at 25 hours and 5 minutes, surpassing the 24-hour, 18-minute filibuster by former Sen. Strom Thurmond, who opposed the 1957 Civil Rights Act.
Booker said it “irked” him that Thurmond’s record symbolized efforts to block civil rights.
He used the speech to protest potential GOP spending cuts and Trump-era policies.
Supported by fellow Democrats, Booker remained standing and speaking for over a day, calling his action a symbolic reclaiming of the Senate’s legacy.
So is eating 73 hot dogs in 10 minutes. What does it accomplish?
Everybody paying attention is already aware of these things. What does repeating them accomplish?
Our representatives are the ones who are supposed to be acting. Again, what did this speech accomplish?
I mean, we’re all talking about it, aren’t we? His actions might spur others into taking action.
MLK didn’t really do a ton of direct action, but his speeches were still very influential.
They haven’t been paying attention and no, they’re not already aware. Not everyone in the nation is on the same page. Clearly.
I understand why you’re trying to find reasons to be upset, and simplify the situation. But what are you actually trying to find here? What are you contributing?
What did MLK’s “I have a dream” speech accomplish? What did Sophia Scholl’s leaflets accomplish? What are you accomplishing, right here, right now, with this comment?
I am by no means elevating the senator’s speech to that level of historical importance. But the point stands. It’s an ideological war. It has to be fought with ideas. There is no other way.
To fight fascism is to fight especially when it feels like it accomplishes nothing. To fight an ideological war is not just to fight against your enemy - it is to fight for the hearts and minds of your friends.
The function of accounts like the one you are replying to is to encourage cynicism and inaction among otherwise anti-fascist people.
Failing that, they will try to exhaust you with “debate”.
Yeah, I understand the possibility that a comment like that just isn’t worth responding to. Apathy is such a ubiquituous kneejerk response that it’s basically the fediverse’s equivalent of youtube’s “First!!” comments.
But we need more productive discourse, and sometimes that requires addressing all the potentially cynical readers out there who will just read the headline, see the apathy in these comments, and continue on with their doomscroll without a moment’s thought
Agree completely, I also just feel it’s important to highlight that style of inauthentic behavior.
Those psyop bastards are always worth replying to. Unlike reddit, lemmy doesn’t hide highly downvoted comments. So instead you have to very visibly call them on their bullshit.
Unfortunately, history has shown that fascism can’t be stopped with just words.
Starts with words.
This was a direct message to Schumer and the Democratic leadership. What he accomplished was giving the Senate Democrats, AND the rest of America, a look at how Booker would lead if he were to take over as the leader of the Senate Democrats. He went through their entire agenda, point by point, and looked strong the entire time.
Schumer has to leave ASAP, let AOC take his place in the Senate, and have Booker take over the leadership.
Dude, they are in the minority. The only thing they can hope to do is obstruct what Republicans are doing. Holding the floor is a good way to do this. They don’t have to hold the floor physically to obstruct most things, but it’s better IMO…because it gives them a bigger platform to scream from.
If I were a democratic senator, I’d be setting up to physically filibuster everything the whole session and use the time on the floor to have a parade of people continually shit talking Trump. It generates headlines and diverts attention, and gets people talking. All good things IMO.
I’m irritated with Democrats most often because they seem to not give a shit about fighting when they don’t have the votes. Booker’s actions are a step in the right direction.
It accomplished the blocking of Senate business for a full 25 hours. The Republican majority couldn’t do anything while Booker had the floor. That’s significant. Democrats are not in power, so obstruction is one of their only options. The Republicans are great at it, so I’m glad Dems are finally trying it too. Look how much the Republicans prevented Obama from accomplishing. I think they would consider their obstruction at that time to be an accomplishment.
There is very little that Democratic senators can actually accomplish from the minority. They certainly can’t pass their own bills, that’s how the Senate works unfortunately. So for now, this is what an accomplishment looks like.
Eating hot dogs and bringing infringement of rights and a declining quality of life to attention by breaking a record set 68 years ago are very, very different things.
The person you’re responding to already answered your question. It accomplished holding up the senate and making national news, which brings attention to the issues. Any attention to our current problems is a good thing. It activates people. Activated people act.
Like the person you responded to said. You don’t just cheat code your way to the revolution. It’s a process. A lot of people have to be convinced first.