Folks, if you haven’t heard about this story yet, you’re in for a treat. And if you have, you can enjoy it a second time. Enjoying something that is great more than once is, well, great! This was impressive and will be talked about for some time to come. Are you ready for this? From CNN:
Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley now holds the record for the third-longest Senate floor speech in modern history, after delivering remarks for more than 22 hours. Merkley began speaking on the Senate floor after announcing he would protest what he called President Donald Trump’s “grave threats to democracy.” “I’ve come to the Senate floor tonight to ring the alarm bells. We’re in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War. President Trump is shredding our Constitution,” the Oregon Democrat, who turns 69 on Friday, said after kicking off his remarks at 6:24 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Boom. There’s the overview. It gets better! It would have absolutely been worth it to have witnessed this. Now, we’re going to touch on some highlights, but you can read the whole article on CNN here if you wish.
In total, the senator spoke for 22 hours and 36 minutes. Shortly after his remarks came to an end, Merkley told CNN’s Manu Raju that he had almost fainted at one point and noted that he had been dehydrating himself since Monday morning. He said “there was one moment” where he thought he might faint, and noted that he had injured his back while running a few weeks ago. “My back hurt the whole damn time,” said Merkley.
*That* is some serious willpower. He didn’t give up, and he didn’t give in. He had so much to say, and we need to pay attention to him, because he’s right. Donald Trump is dangerous for our country. He’s ripping things apart, not unlike the decimation of the East Wing. You can read Denis’s column on this travesty here. Now, back to Senator Merkley:
Merkley’s marathon speech stands as a symbolic show of Democratic resistance as his party remains in a standoff with Republicans over health care subsidies amid the government shutdown. The shutdown is expected to drag on with the impasse entering a fourth week on Wednesday. Democrats have so far held their position, blocking the GOP stopgap bill to reopen the government 12 times until their demands are met.
The senator made sure to thank everyone in the chamber for sticking with him. Okay, so we didn’t get to the rest of the article. Subjects were: halting research grants, indictments of his enemies, sending troops into Portland (the block was overturned on appeal, dammit), law enforcement tactics against protestors in Portland, and he closed with the following:
“This is an extraordinarily dangerous moment,” Merkley added Wednesday morning. “An authoritarian president proceeding to attack free speech, attack free press, weaponize the Department of Justice, and use it against those who disagree with him, and then seeking the court’s permission to send the military into our cities to attack people who are peaceful(ly) protesting.
‘nuff said.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
That’s my Senator!!!
Mine too! So proud of his dedication to our country.