the.com/filibuster
democracy's pause button, jammed by anyone willing to keep talking until everyone gives up
means A delaying tactic in a legislative body, especially the prolonged speaking used to obstruct or block a vote.
from A well-traveled word: it began as Dutch 'vrijbuiter' (freebooter, a pirate or plunderer), which sailed into Spanish as 'filibustero' to describe the buccaneers and adventurers raiding the Spanish Caribbean. American politics borrowed it in the 19th century — first for freelance soldiers stirring up trouble in Latin America, then, in a sharp metaphorical turn, for legislators who 'pirate' a session by talking it hostage.
- pirate roots
- From Dutch for freebooter, meaning pirate or raider
- record talker
- Strom Thurmond once spoke 24 hours 18 minutes straight
- no bathroom
- Senators can't yield the floor, so breaks are forbidden
- reading aloud
- Some have recited recipes and phone books to stall
- 60 votes
- Modern Senate needs 60 to break one
strom thurmond 1957 speech — senator spoke for 24 hours 18 minutes against civil rights act in south carolina
wendy davis texas 2013 — stood for 11 hours without sitting to block abortion restrictions bill in austin