A short history of the Democrats’ staggering filibuster hypocrisy

In rare fleeting moments of childlike naivety, I sometimes wonder how these people live with themselves.

And by people, I mean Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), whose 25-hour rambling speech on the Senate floor this week was the longest in the history of the institution, beating the record of segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond, who filibustered against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for 24 hours.

Democrats spent this week celebrating Booker’s historic “filibuster,” typically an antimajoritarian tool that helps preserve the Senate’s deliberative nature. Pollster Frank Luntz predicted that the Booker marathon speech “may have changed the course of political history.” I’m skeptical. One imagines very few voters in the United States could tell you what was said or why.

In one sense, the reaction to Booker’s speech speaks to the

Continue reading