You may have read [url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/texas-abortion-bill_n_3501005.html]about a bill being introduced[/url] in Texas that included some of the "toughest abortion measures in the country". The bill needed to be voted on by lawmakers by midnight to be passed on to the governor to be signed, and it it wasn't signed, it wasn't passed on.
Senator Wendy Davis therefore planned to speak for 13 hours straight in an attempt to deliberately not allow the vote to take place. She was not permitted to eat, drink, sit, etc... or her "turn" would be over.
She spoke for almost 11 hours before being rebuked for a third and final time, which ended her speech. For the 15 minutes remaining of the day, protesters [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsfmNF3u2yo]in the[/url] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJywriOad7o]gallery[/url] and [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02kPpNCHj0Q]outside the chamber[/url] made so much noise, the vote could not take place. Thus, the vote that did take place was after midnight and it was not valid.
Now, regardless of my opinion of abortion, these deliberate acts to disrupt the democratic process were an absolute disgrace. Perhaps it was because I was not aware of exactly what this practice of "fillibustering" was, but if anything, this should show why there should be fixed time limits set.
Opinions?
Edit:[quote]Most of you have missed the point of this. It wasn't about abortion, it was about the stupidity of the fillibuster.[/quote]
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Filibustering is almost exclusively used by republicans to disrupt key bills going through the house and senate. Funny that you would bring it up as soon as democrat does it...
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Edited by nightspark: 6/28/2013 5:53:47 PMFilibusters are a necessity. You're just an idiot.
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4 RepliesAdditionally, I think we should work on getting rid of the electoral college before we get rid of the Filibuster. The electoral college is LITERALLY a product of necessity in the Pony Express era, and is totally irrelevant at this point. Want to weight states? Sure, just don't give people the chance to -blam!- it up.
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2 RepliesHow can liberals call bacteria on mars life, but a fetus with a beating heart, working brain, and the ability to breathe, is just a mass of cells?
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1 ReplyShe effectively took justice into her own hands instead of leaving it to majority rule, irrespective of the validity of the bill, that's a perversion of the democratic process.
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Edited by Seggi: 6/27/2013 8:09:33 AMI absolutely agree that the filibuster should be removed from the seats of government in the U.S. in which it's available. It's anti-democratic and stupid. That said, I'm glad it was used in this instance. Abstaining from the practice when it will be widely used by the other party in similar scenarios is just a bad move.
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9 RepliesHa! The Democratic process was disrupted? Give me a break. The Democratic process is already broken when you have a majority of legislators regulating on women's health issues when women don't agree with the measures. Those protestors didn't go there because they wanted to have some fun: they were genuinely outraged at the audacity of their legislators to so severely restrict healthcare to women who can make their own decisions.
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11 RepliesAbortion is wrong, and you lie to yourself if you think otherwise. Don't think a fetus is alive? That's fine. The issue here is that they will be alive in less than a year if you or nature doesn't decide to abort the child. Is the child an unwanted accident with soon to be awful parents? I'll have you know that live is an immense blessing, rocky or not. There's also adoption, you know. Does the mother have a choice since the child is inside her and also dependent on her? That's like saying I can kill a mentally retarded child in my house. House is my property, and this kid literally can't live without me.
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13 Hours straight? What kind of stupid rule is that?
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Bunch of retards.
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[quote]Most of you have missed the point of this. It wasn't about abortion, it was about the stupidity of the fillibuster.[/quote] You know i'd probably agree with you if this was something less severe, but bills like this are beyond (the realms of) good and evil, and as such do not deserve the light of day.
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I'd agree with you normally, but this is Texas. Since 2010 many of the districts in Texas (and many other states) are deliberately gerrymandered to help the GOP, hence why they can win the House despite Obama winning the popular vote by 4%. Anyone who looks at Texas' districts will see how bad it is. It's why Alaska and Wyoming has the same value for Senators as California and Texas, why the smaller states are vastly overrepresented in house seat allocation because old geographers were too lazy to see otherwise. The system is broken. The democratic process in America since 2010 is dead, barring the actual vote for President itself. They need a new goddamn voting system so stuff like [b]this[/b], gerrymandering etc does not happen.
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1 ReplyNo bathroom breaks or sustenance for 11 hours straight... regardless of your opinion, you've get to respect her determination to force the issue.
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10 RepliesThe bill was unconstitutional and oppressive, and using parliamentary procedure to block the passage of oppressive and illegal laws is not only justified, but also commendable. #StandWithWendy
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Edited by TrussingDoor: 6/26/2013 5:50:10 PMFilibusters have been screwing up our government and indirectly lowering the quality of life in the US since the 1700s. This will never end. Any attempt to stop this stupid abusive tactic will just be stopped by, you guessed it, a filibuster. And for the record, I am 100% pro-choice.
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I think that there should be laws against fillibustering. I don't know how we can create those laws to be unbiased and fair, but they need to take place. It's really sickening that even as full grown adults, people still act like children to get what they want. I think the vote needs to take place, because what happened in Texas is not what you call a democratic process. Both parties are guilty of this, and we need to stop this outstandingly childish and immature behavior.
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4 Replies>implying stalling tactics aren't used commonly in state and federal levels Why is this a big deal? They do shady shit all the time to push their agenda through, why is this an issue? Because its so obvious?
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I'm glad the vote didn't pass. However, I do agree you in that filibustering does weaken the idea of a democratic process. :-)
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Why don't they just limit how long someone can talk?
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1 ReplyWell since the Republicans have used the filibuster in record numbers the last few years, what's fair is fair.
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8 RepliesThe philosophical principle behind the filibuster is to allow a minority to defeat the actions of the majority, by allowing the minority position to be be debated, essentially, forever. America is the last democracy on the planet that allows the minority to defeat the actions of the majority. Defeat the filibuster at your own risk, you queer little oddball dweeb minority freak-geek only your mother could love.
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23 RepliesEdited by M37h3w3: 6/26/2013 4:40:52 PM[quote]these deliberate acts to disrupt the democratic process were an absolute disgrace[/quote] Come on Daz. This bill was a disgrace. It was going to close nearly ever abortion center in the state under the basis of "protecting" women's health. It's yet another grab by the GOP to instead of arguing the facts and winning or even serving to the majority opinion while making allowances or concessions to the minority, to cheat instead and thumb their nose at federal law. They then went on to try and change when the vote was made so that it was before midnight so that the bill could be legal, which in of itself is illegal. This is another battle in the War on Women.
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[quote]She was not permitted to eat, drink, sit, etc[/quote] I ready for it to end with, "she died of heat exhaustion 6 hours in".
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19 RepliesThe point of the Filibuster is... um.. I don't know, testing human endurance to stand up for what they believe in? Anyway, I don't care right now. I'm glad it happened and with how obnoxiously Red Texas is, I'm surprised it was allowed to go on that long or there wasn't some loophole found to bypass it.
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9 Replies-blam!- NO! Fillibustering is the only way to stop this shit from happening when 90% of America's politicians deceive and lie to the public. A disgrace? How the -blam!- is it a disgrace to stop this? Democracy isn't mob rule.
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2 RepliesThe fact that the fillibuster is an effective and legal political tactic is proof of how much of a game our political system is.