Cory Booker is reading letters from his constituents and tearing up repeatedly and it’s making me cry.
Yes – in case anyone thought their calls and letters don’t matter, Cory Booker has launched a protest marathon speech on the Senate floor and is reading letters directly from his constituents. Their voices and words gave him something to share on the Senate floor directly from the American people.
I intend to call my senators tomorrow and let them know that I’ve heard about this, and will be sending them letters as well so THEY can speak up for their constituents, because I expect them to speak up.
as of this morning, tues. 4/1/25, the speech is still going, with booker only stopping to take questions from democrats. here is a link to a NYT article about it, in which they quote him as saying:
“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 and even our aspirations as a people for — from our highest offices — a sense of common decency…These are not normal times in America, and they should not be treated as such.”
here is a link to the livestream of the speech on senator booker’s youtube. the live chat when i last checked it was filled with supportive comments as well.
Still going. Still coherent, somehow! His staff did an insane amount of research to prep him for this.
Part of what Cory Booker is doing with this filibuster is reading things into the record. Sometimes when people do a filibuster, they just say shit. I think one time Ted Cruz read “Green Eggs and Ham” into the record. Another dude sang the Mets theme song or whatever the shit.
If you actually have substantial things to say, you don’t have to do that. I mean, not for nothing, but what we’re watching here is a man doing the job he was elected to do. Our public officials work for us, the people. It’s nice to see some of them take that obligation seriously.
Booker is standing there with a binder that he’s not even halfway through reading. *Over 42k people are watching it just on YouTube. I haven’t watched the news yet today, but I’ve got the live feed of this open on my computer.
I hope he has a catheter and/or a diaper on. He said he’d continue as long as he’s physically able. Probably he’s been on a liquid diet for a day or so. I would plan ahead for this.
If Republicans are going to refuse to do the work, if they’re going to refuse to take up serious business and would like instead to fuck shit up… Well, we’ve got a choice to make, don’t we? I don’t know what the long-term solution looks like. But we can and should talk about it. We can and should take steps to make sure the public record reflects reality to the extent possible.
Really, if we want to come back from this, we have to talk about it. And we know that the official records during this time especially will be, shall we say, less than reliable. So there is value in speaking the truth into the public record.
I’m not in love with the Democratic party as an institution. But this can also be energizing and inspiring for people. He’s setting an example, and hopefully his example will shame others into growing a backbone. Hopefully.
I really don’t have any hope for Schumer. But Booker, along with folks like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, AOC, and Jasmine Crockett, are doing what they can do, and I respect it.
This is definitely a coordinated thing, though. Finally, Dems are showing that they have some strategic ability. Booker is the main speaker, but other Dems are asking questions, while allowing him to retain the floor. In this way, it’s clear that they’re working together, and several people in the room have jobs to do in support of Booker’s efforts. They’re expanding on his points and doing a call-and-response thing, which is an effective tactic in more ways than one, and it allows him to rest his voice for a few moments at a time.
So I’m not becoming a cheerleader for anybody yet. But what he’s doing is important, even if it doesn’t change anything directly.
Miss me with bipartisanship talk though. I really can’t see that as a viable option at this point. Unless something radical changes, I wouldn’t trust that at all. So anytime somebody like Schumer talks about Republicans coming to the table, I can’t be bothered to listen. They have repeatedly shown us that they have no intention of doing that and that they further do not care about right and wrong at all. Or if they do, they think their actions are right, and I’m not sure which is worse, but in both cases, I would not call them trustworthy. Their priority is being in lockstep with Trump and the prescribed agenda of the party, not the American people.
At least Booker is trying to do something. Shit.
* When I started typing this, the number of viewers was just over 42k. Now it’s over 45k and climbing.
Republicans: we can just have Elon Musk go to Wisconsin and give everyone money. He’ll give them a million dollars. It’s all legal as long as we hold power forever and can stop anyone from doing anything to stop us. All of Wisconsin is bribed, nothing can go wrong now
Alternatively, treacherous neo-nazi who openly admires hitler and previously attempted to overthrow a democratically elected government, has expressed repeated desire to be “dictator for life” is now trying to overthrow that same government again.
so as you might have guessed because I said I was camping in the woods to avoid getting sick:
someone in my household has covid unfortunately but we did manage to get them a Paxlovid subscription. they’re uninsured, and even GoodRx coupons only brought the cost down to $1,300 USD.
I thought to check the drug manufacturer website and quickly signed up online through its portal and received a pharmacy card by email that lowered the cost to $0
There are also options for insured patients to dramatically lower their copays. I’m in the U.S., and I’m unsure whether this is applicable elsewhere, but I wanted to share this info on access to potentially lifesaving medication, for anyone it may help!
“Rayban charity glasses event” is a scam don’t click any link in a post that says that.
Old tumblr users remember this scam back when it first went out.
Also no, this isn’t a joke. This phishing scam is 100% running its course again so watch out for your mutuals long abandoned accounts suddenly posting it. Please make everyone aware of it since most users here are newbies who have not seen it before!
amhrancas 