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There's been a lot of buzz this week about Republican Senator Ted Cruz's filibuster. Many highlights of his 21-hour talkathon were headline news - especially as it was going on.
It was quite humorous to listen to some of the commentary; he quoted one-liners from the redneck reality TV show "Duck Dynasty," engaged in a game of 20 Questions with Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) asking each other questions like what color a purple finch is, how long the Hundred Years' War lasted, what a camel-hair brush is made of, and where a Panama Hat comes from.
Many of the liberal press and the (dare I say it?) uninformed, unwashed masses were talking about how wasteful/unproductive/ridiculously silly etc Senator Cruz's filibuster was. Well.. maybe.... If one doesn't know what a filibuster is, what purpose it serves or otherwise have any idea about the usual workings of legislative bodies around the world.
According to Wikipedia, "a filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure where debate is extended, allowing one or more members to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal."* Thus, the point of a filibuster isn't to inform, persuade or even say anything relevant. It's a delay tactic. That's it.
And to fill time, they do silly stuff like read from the New York City telephone directory, the sports scores in the newspaper, endlessly quote song lyrics and what not. Therefore, Cruz's filibuster doesn't seem so infuriatingly inane and unproductive.
And, it should be pointed out, the filibuster is a tactic used relatively frequently in our congress (by both parties) as well as in other parliamentary bodies around the world - Canada, Britain, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, India and so on. And it has so since ancient Rome.* So, in that light, Cruz's filibuster doesn't seem like unique or over-the-top behavior.
But, I gotta admit; reading "Green Eggs and Ham" on the floor of the US Senate (and therefore into the Congressional Record) just warms this Dr. Seuss fan's heart. And besides, considering how our Chief Executive is the Grinch and his henchmen are the Whos from Whoville, Cruz's choice of texts to read all seems quite fitting.
*Wikipedia, (25 September 2013) Filibuster, Retrieved 26 September, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster
It was quite humorous to listen to some of the commentary; he quoted one-liners from the redneck reality TV show "Duck Dynasty," engaged in a game of 20 Questions with Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) asking each other questions like what color a purple finch is, how long the Hundred Years' War lasted, what a camel-hair brush is made of, and where a Panama Hat comes from.
Many of the liberal press and the (dare I say it?) uninformed, unwashed masses were talking about how wasteful/unproductive/ridiculously silly etc Senator Cruz's filibuster was. Well.. maybe.... If one doesn't know what a filibuster is, what purpose it serves or otherwise have any idea about the usual workings of legislative bodies around the world.
According to Wikipedia, "a filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure where debate is extended, allowing one or more members to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal."* Thus, the point of a filibuster isn't to inform, persuade or even say anything relevant. It's a delay tactic. That's it.
And to fill time, they do silly stuff like read from the New York City telephone directory, the sports scores in the newspaper, endlessly quote song lyrics and what not. Therefore, Cruz's filibuster doesn't seem so infuriatingly inane and unproductive.
And, it should be pointed out, the filibuster is a tactic used relatively frequently in our congress (by both parties) as well as in other parliamentary bodies around the world - Canada, Britain, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, India and so on. And it has so since ancient Rome.* So, in that light, Cruz's filibuster doesn't seem like unique or over-the-top behavior.
But, I gotta admit; reading "Green Eggs and Ham" on the floor of the US Senate (and therefore into the Congressional Record) just warms this Dr. Seuss fan's heart. And besides, considering how our Chief Executive is the Grinch and his henchmen are the Whos from Whoville, Cruz's choice of texts to read all seems quite fitting.
*Wikipedia, (25 September 2013) Filibuster, Retrieved 26 September, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster
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