A filibustering senator cannot sit down

[charlyvi]

If he or she does, he yields the floor. Senator Murphy has been standing since 11:21 am eastern time. I wish I lived in Connecticutt so I could vote for him. Hell, I wish I could marry him!

[brooklynite]

1. Can he sit while a colleague is "asking a question"?

[charlyvi]

5. No

Once he sits, it's over.

[Quackers]

2. Kick

Good for him! Good for everyone!

[Travis_0004]

3. I thought everybody here was against filibusters

Or are they only bad when republicans are in power?

[oberliner]

8. Republicans are in power

That's the whole point.

[charlyvi]

9. We are against virtual filibusters.

Senator Murphy is doing an actual Jimmy Stewart Mr Smith Goes to Washington filibuster. It is magnificent.

[dchill]

42. +1

[Iggo]

13. Actual filibusters are fine.

[PoliticAverse]

14. And unlike the virtual kind almost always fail. n/t

[babylonsister]

37. I like that they're trying, rather than

just accepting failure.

[PoliticAverse]

38. But if they want to actually block the legislation they're filibustering they can just do so.

Republicans don't have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

They wouldn't fail they'd succeed by just one of the Senators placing a block on the legislation.

[HERVEPA]

30. We get it. You're a gunner.

[Feeling the Bern]

47. You beat me to it. Gun huggers are so easy to spot these days

[AllyCat]

31. If they are going to stand and actually filibuster, no problem.

It's the "feet up on my desk, phone-in filibuster" that people don't like.

[NYC Liberal]

34. few oppose all filibusters. Most oppose the ABUSE of the filibuster.

That is what Republicans have done in unprecedented numbers.

[valerief]

4. I thought senators didn't even have to speak for a filibuster. They just needed 60 votes

to break it. Isn't that how the GOP filibusters?

[arcane1]

7. That's how the Dems give republicans permission to fillibuster.

How "convenient".

[valerief]

18. So Murphy can sit down? Pee? nt

[charlyvi]

27. No

[valerief]

28. How come GOP senators who filibuster don't even hate to talk and Murphy can't even sit? nt

[charlyvi]

32. Because if one party has 60 votes

Then the other party agrees that the filibuster is overruled. Without having a talking filibuster. Because no one wants to go through the classic filibuster anymore. That is what makes Murphy's filibuster special. Her is doing an ACTUAL filibuster in the classic sense.

[valerief]

35. Yeah, I remember Bernie's 8.5 hour filibuster on the Bush tax cuts in 2010.

[joshcryer]

48. They do need 60 votes.

But to break a physical filibuster would be bad form and it's unlikely they had the votes for it or even the desire to do it. The virtual filibuster has made senators soft in that regard.

[davidn3600]

6. It's a waste of time

[charlyvi]

11. Probably

But the effort is wonderful.

[AllyCat]

33. It isn't. But feel free to take your support to the naysayers.

[Kang Colby]

10. Publicity stunt. n/t

[Adrahil]

12. That is an EXTREMELY ableist rule.

What about someone in a wheelchair? Someone with arthritis?

I have arthritis in both my knees. No way I could stand for more than an hour without intense pain.

[yeoman6987]

15. Most likely you would not filibuster

And perhaps you could write down your thought as a senator and give it to another senator who could stand for as long as needed. There's ways around everything.

[Adrahil]

19. That's not acceptable, IMO. NT

[yeoman6987]

24. Maybe not but that's the rules.

[Chan790]

43. No, it's not...

but we are talking about the US Senate, the same body that from the founding of the nation until 1990 had a rule forbidding women from wearing men's clothes on the Senate floor...and by men's clothes, they meant pants and flat-soled shoes. If you were called to testify before Congress or were a staffer, you had to wear a dress or skirt and feminine shoes. The Senate has no dress code for men, other than an admonition to dress presentably and appropriately.

My point is that the US Senate hes never been sane or egalitarian where it can be recalcitrant to defend its traditions.

[Maru Kitteh]

16. agreed. nt

[PoliticAverse]

17. Indeed. n/t

[Recursion]

21. Either Kerrey or Cleland asked for a ruling at one point

Though neither of them did a "Mr. Smith" style filibuster during their tenures.

[charlyvi]

23. OK I tried to find an answer to this but couldn't

Except for a person who said that not allowing a disabled senator to filibuster would be a violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Since no disabled senator has tried a talking filibuster, no solution has been developed for the situation, but I have to think a disabled senator would be allowed to filibuster. If not, I agree with you wholeheartedly.

[Adrahil]

26. I would hope some accommodation could be found. NT

[SwankyXomb]

36. Except

Congress has made themselves exempt from the ADA, and most other federal laws.

[Mariana]

40. Does the ADA apply to the Senate?

I'm not sure it does - Congress (both houses) have been famous for exempting themselves from laws everyone else has to obey.

[PoliticAverse]

46. From...

https://www.ada.gov/q&aeng02.htm

Q. Is the Federal government covered by the ADA?

A. The ADA does not cover the executive branch of the Federal government. The executive branch continues to be covered by title V of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination in services and employment on the basis of handicap and which is a model for the requirements of the ADA. The ADA, however, does cover Congress and other entities in the legislative branch of the Federal government.

[sheshe2]

20. Wendy Davis is my Hero.

The Texas state senator whose filibuster of an abortion bill became a national phenomenon has a long history of persisting against tough odds.

Wendy Davis -- the 50-year-old Democrat who stood and spoke for 13 hours Tuesday at the Texas Capitol -- went from being a teen mom to graduating from Harvard Law School.

snip//



"Thank you all for your expressions of support and concern," Davis said on Twitter at the time. "My team and I are concentrating on moving forward and staying focused."

With tens of thousands of new followers Wednesday as a result of her filibuster, Davis tweeted, "Thanks to the powerful voices of thousands of Texans, #SB5 is dead. An incredible victory for Texas women and those who love them."


http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/26/politics/wendy-davis-profile/index.html

Hey! Tampons were confiscated and guns were allowed, Gotta love Texas. Not.



13 hours.

[Thinkingabout]

25. The Republicans do not want a vote on gun control, it will point out their inability to dodge doing

what is right for the US and they can uphold whatever the NRA wants.

[Arazi]

29. Bernie filibustered for 8 hours over the sequester agreement

And has since been proven 100% correct in opposing it



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/10/AR2010121005431.html

[Doctor_J]

41. That didn't count because Hillary supporters hate Bernie

[Bucky]

39. Sounds like the Senate needs an ADA compliance inspection

This is inherently discriminatory against any wheelchair-bound senators.

[Chan790]

44. Congress exampted itself from the ADA.

The only reason the chambers are handi-accessable is because they happen to be, not by intent or design.

[lindysalsagal]

45. Murphy's my guy. Glad I can vote for a great man.