I hope Booker gets lots of praise and positive attention and other Democrats notice—using your megaphone is one of the few tools you have. Maybe get a group to do a weeklong filibuster, focusing on one major Trump outrage per day? Use these speeches to call for mass citizen protests at key areas? If nothing else it shows your supporters that this is not normal times.
Maybe get a group to do a weeklong filibuster, focusing on one major Trump outrage per day?
I see a problem with that though. It would immediately be seen as a copycat maneuver and I think the law of diminishing returns would kick in fairly quickly. Unfortunately every new thing needs to be a new thing so to speak. Just getting out there in the new media with frequency and a willingness to be confrontational and outspoken i.e. J Crockett. Flood the zone and don't try to over plan and over coordinate everything.
Yes. Create a CLEAR reward system for this. And I'm not suggesting that booker wouldn't have done this without it. But it's more for Democratic leaders who are straddling the line and wondering whether to step into the ring or not. Just let them know that there are prizes waiting for them if they step into the ring.
I’ve mostly liked Booker. He’s given me some moments of disappointment but he was one of the better speakers at Kamala’s convention. Just the other day, as I was being extremely clumsy, I muttered, “girl you better check yourself before you wreck yourself”.
Proud that at least one Democrat made not just an effort but actual history.
"Yes, Booker shouldn’t have voted to confirm his former Senate colleague Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. That was a mistake"
As did EACH AND EVERY senate democrat which INCLUDES Liz Warren and Bernie Sanders...The vote was wrong but its a moot point since, again, EVERY dem senator made this mistake
“I don’t have much respect for those whose hubris insists it’s possible to navigate life without missteps.“
It’s observations like this that make you one of my favorite Substackers, Stephen. I so appreciate your thoughtful insights and brilliant wordsmithing.
It was such an awesome speech, and I found it particularly meaningful where he also brought in the letters from constituents. And SER found the bad-faith criticism so I didn't have to look for it, so kudos. That is a great illustration of how Murc's Law is Cruise Control for Cool (and Clout!). Because note, Democrats wouldn't get away with the Cruzian stunts of reading from the phone book.
Now also notice how a lot of people start with the predictable "Cory Booker should be Senate leader!" "Cory Booker for President!" That in itself is a trap, because I promise you every mistake Cory Booker has made will be magnified; he isn't a cipher who has a black box that people can project their legislative wish list on. He has a record. And having a record and receipts mean that as a Democrat he is prime for nitpicking.
It will be instructive to see what happens to him going forward.
Also I will keep saying it...the moment to be met was November 5, 2024.
Exactly. Let this moment be this moment for what it is. It doesn't have to be seen as a résumé for any future prospects he might have. In fact focusing on that diminishes what he did.
Funny how having a record means much different things for the careers of Democrats vs. Republicans. For Democrats, it's a possibly embarrassing hinderance; for Republicans, it's a perk.
I've been fighting off cynicism lately and Booker's speech brought me back to the necessary strategy of fighting *for*, not just against... Of imagining the society we want and taking action toward it. John Lewis was my congressman for many years and I was lucky to have met him a few times. I also worked on the film Selma (and Lewis came to set more than once, and walked the bridge again!) - I wept while Booker spoke of him and know he would have been proud.
I loved the movie Selma and was pissed off that it didn’t win the Oscar for best film, losing out to I think it was Birdman (Stephen will know I’m sure). Now I want to watch it again.
Well said! People sneering at Booker's testimony are so full of their own privilege, they think that they won't be adversely affected by trump's maladministration, and they are too lazy and/or immoral enough to not do anything to try and to stop trump, or at least to slow him down. People who can do something positive, performative or not, but who don't, lack a moral compass, and many must degenerate those who do.
The people who congratulate themselves for always being right are almost certainly people who haven't *done* a damn thing.
I hope Booker gets lots of praise and positive attention and other Democrats notice—using your megaphone is one of the few tools you have. Maybe get a group to do a weeklong filibuster, focusing on one major Trump outrage per day? Use these speeches to call for mass citizen protests at key areas? If nothing else it shows your supporters that this is not normal times.
Maybe get a group to do a weeklong filibuster, focusing on one major Trump outrage per day?
I see a problem with that though. It would immediately be seen as a copycat maneuver and I think the law of diminishing returns would kick in fairly quickly. Unfortunately every new thing needs to be a new thing so to speak. Just getting out there in the new media with frequency and a willingness to be confrontational and outspoken i.e. J Crockett. Flood the zone and don't try to over plan and over coordinate everything.
Yes. Create a CLEAR reward system for this. And I'm not suggesting that booker wouldn't have done this without it. But it's more for Democratic leaders who are straddling the line and wondering whether to step into the ring or not. Just let them know that there are prizes waiting for them if they step into the ring.
I’ve mostly liked Booker. He’s given me some moments of disappointment but he was one of the better speakers at Kamala’s convention. Just the other day, as I was being extremely clumsy, I muttered, “girl you better check yourself before you wreck yourself”.
Proud that at least one Democrat made not just an effort but actual history.
Good Trouble.
More please.
Plus the timing couldn't be better...the handsoff protests ACROSS THE COUNTRY are gonna be huge
There are ones abroad as well, organized by the group Democrats Abroad in case any readers here don't live in the US but want to participate!
There are events in Portugal, Germany, France, South Africa, Canada, the UK, and more. You can see if there is one near you here: https://www.democratsabroad.org/events?page=2 or here: https://www.democratsabroad.org/events?page=3 (keep going to the next page to see more)
ETA: here is the link with info about all of the US-based events happening on Saturday in case anyone needs it: https://handsoff2025.com
Making my sign tomorrow. Suggestions as to what it should say are welcome!
None of my ideas are appropriate to be shown around children.
(:
"Yes, Booker shouldn’t have voted to confirm his former Senate colleague Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. That was a mistake"
As did EACH AND EVERY senate democrat which INCLUDES Liz Warren and Bernie Sanders...The vote was wrong but its a moot point since, again, EVERY dem senator made this mistake
I hope they’ve all learned their lesson.
we know Booker has that’s for sure!
“I don’t have much respect for those whose hubris insists it’s possible to navigate life without missteps.“
It’s observations like this that make you one of my favorite Substackers, Stephen. I so appreciate your thoughtful insights and brilliant wordsmithing.
— Signed, your fangirl MzNicky.
It was such an awesome speech, and I found it particularly meaningful where he also brought in the letters from constituents. And SER found the bad-faith criticism so I didn't have to look for it, so kudos. That is a great illustration of how Murc's Law is Cruise Control for Cool (and Clout!). Because note, Democrats wouldn't get away with the Cruzian stunts of reading from the phone book.
Now also notice how a lot of people start with the predictable "Cory Booker should be Senate leader!" "Cory Booker for President!" That in itself is a trap, because I promise you every mistake Cory Booker has made will be magnified; he isn't a cipher who has a black box that people can project their legislative wish list on. He has a record. And having a record and receipts mean that as a Democrat he is prime for nitpicking.
It will be instructive to see what happens to him going forward.
Also I will keep saying it...the moment to be met was November 5, 2024.
Exactly. Let this moment be this moment for what it is. It doesn't have to be seen as a résumé for any future prospects he might have. In fact focusing on that diminishes what he did.
Funny how having a record means much different things for the careers of Democrats vs. Republicans. For Democrats, it's a possibly embarrassing hinderance; for Republicans, it's a perk.
I've been fighting off cynicism lately and Booker's speech brought me back to the necessary strategy of fighting *for*, not just against... Of imagining the society we want and taking action toward it. John Lewis was my congressman for many years and I was lucky to have met him a few times. I also worked on the film Selma (and Lewis came to set more than once, and walked the bridge again!) - I wept while Booker spoke of him and know he would have been proud.
I loved the movie Selma and was pissed off that it didn’t win the Oscar for best film, losing out to I think it was Birdman (Stephen will know I’m sure). Now I want to watch it again.
Aw, thank you for saying so! I am honored to have had a small part in it (I worked in background casting). It was a really special experience.
Thanks for the message, and I also agree about Selma.
10/10 Stephen. Now I got to find links to Booker's speech so I can hear it all.
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑’𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅-𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒏𝒊𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒍.
Well said! People sneering at Booker's testimony are so full of their own privilege, they think that they won't be adversely affected by trump's maladministration, and they are too lazy and/or immoral enough to not do anything to try and to stop trump, or at least to slow him down. People who can do something positive, performative or not, but who don't, lack a moral compass, and many must degenerate those who do.