Sen. Cory Booker
I am heartened
by Cory Booker, senior Democratic Senator from New Jersey’s 25-hour marathon speech
in the Senate yesterday, April 1st. He gave this record-breaking
speech as a response to pleas from constituents for Democrats to do more to fight
against Trump/Musk’s harmful economic policies.
I am reminded
of actor Jimmy Stewart’s impassioned filibuster in the movie, “Mr. Smith Goes
to Washington”. Mr. Smith was railing against corruption in politics and for
returning to integrity, highlighting the struggle between these values and the
corrupting influence of political power. Smith promoted the idea that even in a
flawed system, individuals can make a difference by standing up for what's right.
This is precisely what Cory Booker did yesterday, and he did it for all of us.
He broke the
record 24-hour filibuster time of Strom Thurmond against the Civil Rights Act
of 1957 and Ted Cruz’s 2021 21-hour speech against Obamacare. Thurmond read from a phone book. Booker used 1,164
pages of materials from messages from Americans who are experiencing pain over
the proposed Medicaid, Social Security, housing, health care, and other benefit
cuts, massive firings of employees in many government agencies, trade wars, and
massive deportations. Over 350 million liked the speech on TikTok; 2.2 million viewed
on YouTube; and over 1.2 million viewed on his X platform.
Booker declared
as he began speaking, “ I rise with the intention of getting in some good
trouble” quoting his mentor, Civil Rights activist and Senator, John Lewis. His
goal was to disrupt “the normal business of the United States Senate for as
long as I am physically able.” It was not a filibuster as there was no
legislation on the floor to delay. Booker wanted to tell the stories of his constituents
who are being harmed by the Trump/Musk agenda, to give them a voice. These are
not normal times in our nation. And they should not be treated as such in the
United States Senate.” Arguing against political corruption, Booker accused
Trump of putting profits over people.
He said that he
was always bothered by Thurmond’s filibuster of the Civil Rights Act, the
passage of which allowed him to be standing right where he is now in congress.
In order to go
without bathroom breaks, Sen. Booker said that he hadn’t eaten for days and
hadn’t drunk water since Sunday, two
days prior to the marathon speech. He admitted that he started to cramp up for
lack of water.
According to
famous Republican pollster, Frank Lutz, Booker’s marathon speech “struck a note”
with Americans. “He struck the kind of tone that grassroots Democrats are
looking for. He gave them a reason to fight.” Lutz admitted that Republicans
will call the speech nonsense. However, Republicans were not Booker’s target audience.
Lutz went so far as to opine that Booker will be a contender for the 2028
presidential race, and that Democrats will choose Booker over Schumer as their
leader. This is high praise from a pollster whose opinions have been highly
regarded by Republicans and some Democrats for decades.
At the end of
the speech, he referenced John Lewis again, the exemplary civil rights leader
and congressman, as his inspiration to “get in good trouble, necessary trouble,
[to] help redeem the soul of America”.
Will Senator
Booker’s courageous speech inspire other courageous acts of resistance and
rebellion on the part of his fellow Democrats, and all the rest of the masses
who may have not known what to do to resist the corruption of our increasingly totalitarian regime? Both
mass actions like marches and rallies and individual acts like Cory Booker’s
speech help break the frozen silence and
propel us toward making a difference, whether big or small. “This is a
moral moment. It is not right or left. It is right or wrong.”—Booker’s X,
4/2/25
Notes
apnews.com,
April 2, 2025
cbsnews.com,
April 2, 2025
forbes.com,
April 2, 2025, Bohannon, Molly and Siladitya, Ray
thehill.com,
April 2, 2025, Fields, Ashleigh
politico.com,
April 2, 2025, Carney, Jordain
usatoday,
April 2, 2025, Lagatta, Eric and Beggin, Riley
