Thursday, March 7, 2013

nerd alert: filibuster

Senator Rand Paul held the floor of the Senate in a bid to prevent a vote on the nomination of John O. Brennan to be Central Intelligence Agency Director on Wednesday.

Yes, I'm a super political nerd. The senate filibuster is like a Super Bowl to me. I can't get enough of it. It's political junkie gold. I myself, love filibuster rules and regs. I act like I really know all this stuff because I have a deep knowledge of the US government...I learned everything I know about filibusters from an episode of The West Wing. That's right, TV can be educational. The West Wing is the reason I breezed through AP US Govt in 12th grade. There is an episode for everything you need to know.

The Stackhouse Filibuster is one of my favorite episodes. Here's a clip:


Senator Rand Paul {Jr Senator from Kentucky, son of Ron Paul} was filibustering, with the help of many of his Republican colleagues, the nomination confirmation of John Brennan as CIA Director.

My favorite thing's about filibusters: when Senators quote movies and song lyrics, when everyone starts worrying about the Senator's bladder {new rules allow Senator to leave floor for bathroom & food during question but if aren't back when question over floor is yielded}, and when spectators start speculating that a record is going to be set {record 24hrs 18min}. 

 In the original rules which I call "TRUE FILIBUSTER" the only thing a Senator was allowed to consume on the floor was water or milk AND couldn't take a bathroom break. Rumor says that Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina had a special catheter designed to wear when he staged his famous, record holding filibuster in protest of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Senator Rand Paul only lasted 13hrs and he could have a bathroom break.  I love filibuster trivia.

While I was watching/listening to C-SPAN2 last night I kept thinking about what I would read, quote, talk about if I was a US Senator participating in a filibuster. I came up with a few things:

  • Quote Steel Magnolia's in its entirety with voices
  • Air my grievances with PBS on why I think it's ridiculous to have to wait an entire year for Downton Abbey when it's ready for viewing in September in the UK
  • Pick out a theme song for all my fellow Senators and read the lyrics to each
  • Discuss why I believe North Dakota to be the most pointless state in America and give the reasons we should donate it to Canada
  • Read the Constitution of Alabama {it has 340,136 words/856 amendments, longest operating Constitution in the world}
  • Plug magazines: People, Vanity Fair, InStyle, Marie Claire by reading aloud the current issue
What would you do?

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