Summary
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) broke the record for longest Senate floor speech at 25 hours and 5 minutes, surpassing the 24-hour, 18-minute filibuster by former Sen. Strom Thurmond, who opposed the 1957 Civil Rights Act.
Booker said it “irked” him that Thurmond’s record symbolized efforts to block civil rights.
He used the speech to protest potential GOP spending cuts and Trump-era policies.
Supported by fellow Democrats, Booker remained standing and speaking for over a day, calling his action a symbolic reclaiming of the Senate’s legacy.
They haven’t been paying attention and no, they’re not already aware. Not everyone in the nation is on the same page. Clearly.
I understand why you’re trying to find reasons to be upset, and simplify the situation. But what are you actually trying to find here? What are you contributing?
What did MLK’s “I have a dream” speech accomplish? What did Sophia Scholl’s leaflets accomplish? What are you accomplishing, right here, right now, with this comment?
I am by no means elevating the senator’s speech to that level of historical importance. But the point stands. It’s an ideological war. It has to be fought with ideas. There is no other way.
To fight fascism is to fight especially when it feels like it accomplishes nothing. To fight an ideological war is not just to fight against your enemy - it is to fight for the hearts and minds of your friends.
The function of accounts like the one you are replying to is to encourage cynicism and inaction among otherwise anti-fascist people.
Failing that, they will try to exhaust you with “debate”.
Yeah, I understand the possibility that a comment like that just isn’t worth responding to. Apathy is such a ubiquituous kneejerk response that it’s basically the fediverse’s equivalent of youtube’s “First!!” comments.
But we need more productive discourse, and sometimes that requires addressing all the potentially cynical readers out there who will just read the headline, see the apathy in these comments, and continue on with their doomscroll without a moment’s thought
Agree completely, I also just feel it’s important to highlight that style of inauthentic behavior.
Those psyop bastards are always worth replying to. Unlike reddit, lemmy doesn’t hide highly downvoted comments. So instead you have to very visibly call them on their bullshit.
I think the most effective reply is highlighting their methodology and moving on, rather than allowing yourself to be bogged down in rebuttals. You can never convince them because they are not “debating” earnestly, and the audience they are performing for isn’t interested in following a debate and will dismiss both sides.
The audience does like a good insult though.
Unfortunately, history has shown that fascism can’t be stopped with just words.
Starts with words.