Ever since I saw the very first episode of Finding Your Roots pairing Cory Booker and John Lewis, I’ve thought of the two together. The featured image is a selfie taken by Senator Booker with Rep. Lewis. Two good-natured men ready to make good trouble whenever necessary.
Senator Booker rose to speak in the Senate chamber on the last day of March and spoke for 25 hours breaking the previous record set by arch-segregationist Strom Thurmond in 1957. I saw the last two hours during which Booker returned again and again to John Lewis and the impact the great Civil Rights leader had on the country and on Cory Booker personally.
Some have derided the Booker speech as a stunt performed by an ambitious politician. If it’s a stunt, we need more stunts like this: It was attention grabbing and spoke directly to the sense of angst, agita, and anger felt by the Democratic base. We needed a morale booster. Cory Booker provided it.
A reminder that 1963’s legendary March on Washington was an attention grabbing stunt. It’s just one of many such stunts in our history as was Cory Booker’s marathon speech on the Senate floor.
““These are not normal times in America, and they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent and we all must do more to stand against them. Generations from now will look back at this moment and have a single question — where were you?”
In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy and even our aspirations as a people for — from our highest offices — a sense of common decency.”
After that auspicious start, Cory Booker riffed about what’s on the minds of all decent Americans: The illegal Trump-Musk wilding, the pain it’s inflicting on the public, and the damage it’s doing to our democracy.
Booker is one of the most amiable members of the Senate and one of the nicest people in our public life. He’s also a center-left liberal who is smack dab in the middle of the Democratic caucus ideologically. It’s proof that the wave of revulsion over Team MAGA’S policies is not confined to the left wing of the Democratic party.
Many moderate Senators voted for cloture and against the Schumer surrender: along with Cory Booker, nay votes were cast by Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, John Hickenlooper, Michael Bennet, Chris Coons, Adam Schiff, and Patty Murray. You don’t have to be a progressive firebrand to fight fascism or a moderate to cave: Two Senators associated with the left, Brian Schatz and John Fetterman voted aye. The latter is showing signs of becoming a horseshoe person but I’ll defer on that subject to my distinguished colleague from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Jamie O.
I’m a longtime admirer of Cory Booker. He’s that rare bird: A big city Mayor elected to higher office. Booker defeated an old school machine politician to become Mayor of Newark, New Jersey.
Senator Booker was my second choice for the 2020 Democratic nomination after Elizabeth Warren. His presidential dreams were unrealized, but he hasn’t given up the fight for American democracy. He’s proof positive that a nice guy can be tough and that you don’t have to be an asshole to fight for your beliefs. More on that soon.
Keep on making good trouble, Senator. Thanks for keeping the spirit of John Lewis alive. He’s one of my heroes too.
Repeat after me: Not everything sucks.
The last word goes to Marvin Gaye:
