The Texas Legislature attempted to shove through a bill that would have ended abortion at 20 weeks. It would, in effect, have shut down abortion clinics throughout the state, and tried to drive a stake through Roe v. Wade.
And Senator Wendy Davis, as I'm sure most of you know, began a 13-hour filibuster today against that bill.
Unlike Rand Paul, Senator Davis didn't get to stop for breaks or waver from her topic. She couldn't have a chair to sit in. She wore pink sneakers for comfort, and read aloud stories emailed to her by women about the abortions they'd had, for whatever necessity, in order to keep going.
And many of us watched her do it.
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington is often referred to here on DKos when it comes to the use of the filibuster. "Make the bastards talk" is a phrase I've heard in one version or another when it comes to Republicans filibustering bills in the Senate, the reasoning being that if they actually had to fight for their filibusters, they'd do less of it.
I only saw the live feed starting this evening, but I was shaking after just fifteen minutes of watching Davis talk, reading the accounts of real women aloud, even as the GOP senators around her tried to put an end to her efforts. And I found myself caught up online with friends who were watching the live feed as well. One friend said, around 9:30 PST, "I should have had some ice cream half an hour ago, but I can't tear myself away from this."
Of course Wil Wheaton showed his support on Facebook for Sen. Davis, and once he did, many swarmed to show their support as well. However, there was one guy who first demanded to know, "Are any of you from Texas?" When told that this issue was something that affected all Americans, he responded with, "I hate busybodies, is all . . . take care of your own houses."
To which a friend of mine responded with, "That's right . . . if your neighbor's rights, er house, is on fire, let them take care of it, don't bother to shout 'Hey, there's a fire over here!'"
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And it came to me that this is how we're going to beat the GOP.
Today we got handed what looks like two brutal defeats: the evisceration of the Voting Rights Amendment by the Supreme Court, and Texas' unconstitutional passing of SB5 after midnight of June 25th, 2013. Yeah, this is going to create some Godawful hurdles in the days to come. I don't know how we'll get over it, but I know there are people here, and around the country, who'll have some pretty damn good ideas.
But we've also got a lot of people who paid attention to what's going on. There are people still watching the live feed from the Capitol (or they were, until the feed went dark). Facebook is practically on fire. The few voices shrilling, "If you're not from Texas, shut up/fuck you/go home," are . . . well, just that. Few.
It's more than the realization that, "Hey, this could happen here." It's the understanding that the destruction of women's rights is already underway, and if we don't try to stop it, it'll be worse for all of us. The hour is late and night is almost over, but here's something else: the GOP had to resort to calling for a vote after time had passed, making it more than likely that SB5 will be challenged in court.
They couldn't even pass the damn thing without resorting to deceit.
As for the VRA, John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, and their cronies no doubt think they've demolished it beyond rebuilding. After all, Congress is controlled by Republicans who have a vested interest in keeping the VRA dead, and gerrymandering has ensured that many red states will stay that way. Right?
Well, we don't know yet. The VRA didn't pass with ease. It took years of political and physical battles to enshrine that piece of civil rights legislation. But the very fact that the Supreme Court took an axe to it made people sit up and take notice. Is it gone? For now. For good? I don't know. Are we going to let it go away?
The GOP is turning out the lights, hoping none of us will look at what they're up to in the dark. And they've done immediate, terrible damage. But I'm willing to bet that there are more of us committed to looking out for each other's rights than there are people who are only concerned with their own houses.
We can't afford to say, "Well, Texans/Floridians/Kansans voted for those idiots - let 'em suffer!" We can't waste time pointing a finger of judgment. Tonight made it clear: we're all in this together. If we can't hang together, we're going to hang separately. And when we hang together, even if we can't undo the damage at once, at least we can drag it into the light so no one can deny it's been done.
So thank you, Senator Wendy Davis. You dragged the beast out into the light and clubbed it for all you were worth. And many of us stood by to support and cheer you on, because it was your rights, our rights, and everyone's that were in danger.
Go, Wendy, go.
10:19 AM PT: And it seems that, despite an attempt by the Texas GOP to change the timestamp so that it would look like a vote on SB5 took place before midnight, the TX lieutenant governor admitted that the measure was dead. Those are good words to hear.
Lt. Gov. Dewhurst also denounced protestors as a "mob." Gee, when teabaggers were screaming, shouting, and threatening Congressional representatives over the Affordable Care Act, Republicans actually took offense at having them called "a mob."
And I appreciate the lift to the Rescued List. Thank you, and thank all of you who read this hastily typed piece last night.