When Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) filibustered the confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director over the president’s targeted-killing drone program, he managed to win support from the left and the right.
When State Senator Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) filibustered a draconian bill that would put drastic new limitations on women’s health care, she succeeded in bringing national attention to an issue that few Americans were paying attention to.
When Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) rose to speak against Obamacare on Tuesday, it may not have not even been a filibuster, technically.
The junior senator negotiated his time to speak against the bill that funds the government without defunding Obamacare with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-NV) during the time allotted to debate the bill. But Cruz has a vested interest in making it look as if he actually filibustered his own bill — even though he doesn’t have 41 Republican senators to prevent cloture, which will bring the bill up for a vote.
Cruz’s charade has the appearance of a filibuster, but will do nothing to stop the actual bill. Hence Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) had the perfect tweet for the occasion:
Ted Cruz, Ima let you finish but… pic.twitter.com/zDSNK8HrAX
— Mark Takano (@RepMarkTakano) September 24, 2013
