The Crane Pool Forum

Now at the 21st hour.

He’s my new hero

When I'm under intense pressure or extreme fatigue, my childhood lisp returns. One moment, I sound like Tom Brokaw, and the next, I sound like Drew Barrymore.

It's inspiring to see the Senator carrying on as the same thing happens to him.

He’s gotta be beat*

This is amazing

*tired not defeated :)

I hope he has a live audience

A noble gesture, but I think he's preaching to the choir.
The Reps aren't listening (or even present) and the Dems are already on his side.
There is no actual piece of legislation being delayed (as in a typical filibuster) but I commend his efforts.
Later

That origin story he just told is staggering.

He has just broken Senator Thurmond's record.

Edgy MD wrote: ↑Tue Apr 01, 2025 7:21 pm He has just broken Senator Thurmond's record.

He turned 102 y/o on the Senate floor?

Frayed Knot wrote: ↑Tue Apr 01, 2025 7:26 pm

Edgy MD wrote: ↑Tue Apr 01, 2025 7:21 pm He has just broken Senator Thurmond's record.

He turned 102 y/o on the Senate floor?

He is starting to sound like it. Surely he is wearing a catheter, right?

Speaking of which, he just told a great story about taking his father to the bathroom.

MFS62 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 01, 2025 6:35 pm A noble gesture, but I think he's preaching to the choir.

I am totally not in his choir, but I am singing.

He's scheduled to be on MSNBC during the 9 O'clock hour.
Later

I have mixed feelings about Booker. He's my Senator, and I've always felt he was more of a 'show horse' than a work horse. He's always been big on the 'can't we all just get along?' vibe which is outdated in this age. He's obviously a talented speaker; a decade ago I saw him when he came to our town to speak for a mayoral candidate in a small gathering, and he could charm the birds out of the trees.

That being said, somebody had to step up for the Democrats and by golly, he did. I don't know if it'll have any effect at all. It won't move Republicans, who weren't listening. But just to see a Democrat stand up and scream 'This is wrong, this is not normal!' was helpful.

They're still going to pass their horrendous tax bill that will gut government spending on things we need to pay for tax cuts for billionaires that they DON'T need. So this might just be shouting into the void.

It might be cool if other Senators followed his lead and staged their own lengthy speeches in solidarity

Lefty Specialist wrote: ↑Wed Apr 02, 2025 8:29 am I have mixed feelings about Booker.

[***]

That being said, somebody had to step up for the Democrats and by golly, he did. I don't know if it'll have any effect at all. It won't move Republicans, who weren't listening. But just to see a Democrat stand up and scream 'This is wrong, this is not normal!' was helpful.

They're still going to pass their horrendous tax bill that will gut government spending on things we need to pay for tax cuts for billionaires that they DON'T need. So this might just be shouting into the void.

This is precisely how I feel about Booker's 24-hour speech.

He doesn't need to win Republicans. They are ruling as a minority.

He just needs to mobilize everybody else.

He needs to win over Republican voters.

Nine GOP lawmakers have joined the entire Democratic caucus in opposing a procedural rule that would have killed a bipartisan effort to allow proxy voting for new parents.

As this has led the House to cancel all votes for the rest of the week, it also blocks planned votes on GOP priorities to limit the power of federal judges and to require proof of citizenship to vote.

You don't have to necessarily win the hearts of your opponents. You just have to motivate enough of everybody else enough to scare the most lily-livered, finger-to-the-wind opponents into abandoning their cynical and self-serving loyalties.

What is going to weaken Representative Marjorie Taylor Green's positions isn't likely to be her being moved by a stirring appeal by Senator Booker, but rather when she needs allies and finds that fewer of them are picking up the phone.

I don't feel I'm being terribly insightful when I say that Booker's speech was an opening salvo for the 2028 presidential campaign.

Certainly it is playing out that way for many.

I hope it is also a salvo for leadership and response to the times we have up until then, as we are only 10 weeks into a four-year term.

Well somebody has to step up for the Dems going forward. That the party sat through four years of declining Joe without a single member of the old guard [Schumer, Pelosi, etc.] saying a word* until the folly of depending on him was splashed all over national TV can easily be called negligence. There's going to be a tussle between the moderate and progressive wings of the party but those are good things as long as it doesn't cause a bitter split [Goldwater and Rockefeller wings in '64]. Both parties could benefit from revolutions from within but the Rs are so scared to challenge their hero that they'd probably back his corpse should he not live until '28. The blue side has no such excuses plus a lot more to gain by figuring out what they stand for as a party going forward.

I'm figuring Newsom and Shapiro will be in the mix as well and likely a host of others, hopefully most of them under 90.




* Now, of course, there are two or three quotes per week by either Democrats or media folks claiming to have known that Joe wasn't up to the job but chose not to say anything