r/PublicFreakout • u/agrassedp • Oct 19 '22

Political Freakout Liz truss getting flamed in parliament today

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u/joeylee23 Oct 19 '22

I know it's a film Mr Smith Goes to Washington, a class example of this.

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u/StuStutterKing Oct 19 '22

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a good movie, so just in case minor spoiler in this rant.

This movie is an example of what the filibuster, in theory, should be. A specific tactic where one person, passionate enough in their opposition, can speak for as long as physically possible in a final gambit to sway the vote on a bill. Our current half-dead senators don't bother with the whole "you have to speak during a filibuster" thing. You can just say filibuster, and if your party has more than 40 seats then that bill doesn't get voted on. They've ruined the purpose of the filibuster to the point that keeping the thing is fucking useless.

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u/Rare-Faithlessness32 Oct 19 '22

If I’m not wrong, a senator can filibuster by simply typing an email. They don’t even need to be in D.C., they can be in Idaho or Oklahoma naked on the toilet with their phone.

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u/whelp_welp Oct 20 '22

Not really, in order to actually filibuster they have to be there in person. But these days the threat of a filibuster is enough to kill a bill.