Undaunted, Uninterrupted

Sen. Cory Booker stirs the nation

One could marvel not only at New Jersey Senator Cory Booker’s endurance during his 25+ hours on the Senate floor, but at his coherence, joyful demeanor, and superb timing (coming as Democrats anxiously awaited the results from Wisconsin). Moreover, students of history, lovers of democracy, and American patriots had the chance to relish the symbolism of a Black man supplanting the record set by an embittered segregationist Strom Thurmond. Booker said about Thurmond:

“I’m here despite his speech. I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people were more powerful.”

Booker aimed to jolt his fellow Americans out of their lethargy, defeatism, and cynicism. Beginning Monday night at 7 p.m., he declared, “I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able.” He added: “I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our nation is in crisis.”

He proceeded to explain precisely why and how Donald Trump and Elon Musk have brutalized the most vulnerable Americans, savaged functional government, assaulted the courts, shredded the Constitution, and betrayed our deepest held values. On issues like healthcare, he shared individual stories of the people who already have been harmed; he castigated Trump and Musk for taking away benefits from the elderly and poor to pay for giant tax cuts.

“They’re stealing from your grandchildren so that the wealthiest amongst us can get bigger tax cuts, and at the same time taking away medical coverage from the most vulnerable. What is that? It's not who we are. It's not who we are, America,” he thundered.

And while the plan to destroy the Affordable Care Act in 2017 would have been devastating, he noted, “Medicaid affects millions and millions of more people. Wake up. They’re coming after a vital program for American expectant mothers, for American children, for American disabled, for seniors.”

He drew inspiration and citations from Langston Hughes, the Talmud, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, John McCain and, repeatedly, civil rights icon John Lewis. At the end of his speech, Booker declared, “[John Lewis] said for us to go out and cause some good trouble, necessary trouble, to redeem the soul of our nation. I want you to redeem the dream. Let’s be bold in America.”

Booker launched into moments of self-reflection. “I confess that I have been imperfect. I confess that I’ve been inadequate to the moment. I confess that the Democratic Party has made terrible mistakes that gave a lane to this demagogue. I confess we all must look in the mirror and say, ‘We will do better.’” But he also fearlessly blasted Republicans:

“They are talking about at great length our founders and the separation of powers and the checks and balances of these institutions. And yet for 72 days of this administration, has the Congress, Article One, the people’s House, the Senate—the deliberative body—have we once held this president to account?”

He certainly laid into Republicans for abdicating their constitutional role. “This is the people's house. It’s Article One of the Constitution, and it's under assault!” he insisted. “Our spending powers, our budgetary powers, the power to establish agencies like the Department of Education and USAID, it's under assault by a president that doesn’t respect this document.”

But Booker’s central message—“More Americans need to stand up and say enough is enough”—was the sort of call to arms Democrats have been waiting for since Trump took office. He made clear the effort must come both from elected leaders: “We should be stepping up and saying we accept a lot of responsibility for this moment, but we also have a lot of responsibility for meeting this moment.” And also from ordinary Americans: “Don’t let this be another normal day in America…But what is more needed from now is less people sitting on sidelines less people being witnesses of American history and more people determined to make it.”

His speech reasserted that people have agency, and our democracy still affords us the ability to hold the rich and powerful to account. (Wisconsinites did that just hours after he stopped speaking by rejecting Elon Musk’s efforts to buy a supreme court seat.) Throughout his speech, Booker emphasized the central role of collective action: “We’re senators with all of this power, but in this democracy, the power of people is greater than the people in power,” Booker said. “The civil rights movement wasn’t just won because just a few Black folks that stood up.”

Malicious authoritarians and cynical nihilists who cannot inspire others will say none of this matters. “It’s just talk,” will say politicians who themselves do nothing but talk. It is a mistake to diminish the power of words. Oratory can inspire action, launch social movements, and drive elections.

In a week when democratic green sprouts popped up in Wisconsin and Trump lost more gambits in court, Booker spoke to the better angels of our nature. We honor his undaunted, unequivocal defense of democracy and decency. Conveniently, we can pay homage to him and to John Lewis by attending one of the more than 1000 events taking place around the country for tomorrow’s day of action.