Lawrence O’Donnell just bulldozed Lindsey Graham
Now that even Joe Manchin is openly talking about reforming the filibuster to make it all but impossible for Senate Republicans to block the Democratic Party agenda, it’s becoming clear that legislation such as H.R.1 is likely to become law. That’s not sitting well with Lindsey Graham, who loves nothing more than passionately being on the wrong side of things.
Graham is now threatening that “I would talk until I fell over” if that’s what it takes to slow down the passage of the Voting Rights Act and Equality Act. The thing is, if the filibuster is changed such that a Republican Senator has to actually stand and talk the entire time, it won’t last long.
MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell pointed this out:
The filibuster record is 24 hours and 18 minutes set by a South Carolina segregationist in 1957. https://t.co/7DP9yetPWT
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) March 18, 2021
This also serves as a reminder that the filibuster’s history is deeply rooted in racism and white supremacy. We should get rid of it entirely. We don’t have the votes for that, but we do have the votes to essentially neuter the filibuster, and people like Lindsey Graham are freaking out because they know what’s coming.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report