Beating the Record
By 
On August 29, 1957, Strom Thurmond completed 24 hours and 18 minutes of filibuster on the Senate floor against the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The bill passed two hours after the filibuster and was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower within two weeks.
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey has now exceeded that record for a one-person Senate floor speech. His is not technically a filibuster, because he is not doing it as part of the discussion of a particular bill. But he has outlasted the white supremacist.
He is talking about John Lewis and the call to action. “This is our moral moment.” “Where’s our greatness, America?”
Listen to it.
A number of his fellow senators have helped by asking questions (this is more of a comment than a question) throughout his speech. Both the questions and speech have been substantive, focusing on the destruction that the Trump administration is now inflicting on the government.
Booker has read other people’s speeches and letters from his constituents. He has argued theology with Senators Rafael Warnock and Chris Coons. He has spoken for himself.
An impressive performance.
And a cautionary tale. When Booker began last night, the usual suspects pooh-poohed his effort. Not really a filibuster. He should have been doing [insert writer’s preference]. Purely performative. Democrats useless.
People don’t care if it’s technically a filibuster. He has held the floor for more than 24 hours to highlight Trump-Musk wrongdoing. He has spoken words on the Senate floor that we’ve wanted to hear. He has mobilized a majority of Democratic Senators. Courage is contagious, as one of the people I follow said but doesn’t want their post shared.
Doing something is better than doing nothing.