Dawn of the Dead

This wonkette post reminded me of the value of our nights with the Zombie Survival Guide.

I feel so weird now.

It was strange today walking by the library and not going over to lay down on the futon mattress today. After four days straight of sleeping out for the filibuster, I feel as though I have left summer camp. Luckily, though, we will still be able to hang out and do some more good. Who wants to camp outside the hub for shits and giggles?

Overall, this was a great experience, even though I feel we were slightly shafted when it came to the deal that was brokered. This past week I have made new friends and gotten to to know people better that I knew before. What's even better is a lot of the people involved are signed up to go to DC in two months for the CDA conference.

On the same subject, do you think we will be able to meet any of our Princeton supporters there, because that'd be cool.

And for anyone counting, we would have been at 123 hours if we had kept going.

More Coverage

I just woke up from what I like to think of as my sleep filibuster - almost 16 hours. We were covered in today's Ames Tribune, with an accompanying picture.

More Coverage

Iowa State Daily. I'm on the Editorial Board, so no quotes from me. They've got a picture up, too.

More Coverage

KCCI, "The Iowa Channel," covered us too. We will have a video capture of this tomorrow, if all goes well.

It's over. We win.

While we aren't terribly enthusiastic about some of the terms of the deal that was made, our campaign has been a successful one. The filibuster has been saved for now. Rest assured that, if this becomes an issue in the future, we will be back out here in no time.

Now we have to take the credibility and fame we have built through this event, and use it to shed light on the terrible records and beliefs of these nominees. With luck we can make them a national issue, and force the Republicans to defend the views of these judges as well as their own.

Our filibuster is done, at 8:42. Total time - 104 hours, 8 minutes.

A Deal

So, there's a deal. It's all over the place - just google. I'm not sure what I think of it yet. We still have plenty of pictures and comments to post, but thought we should post this asap.

Speakers

We now have confirmation of a few speakers for the 4:30 press conference:

Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, State Representative District 45

Drew Miller, Iowa College Democrats of America President

Mansoor Khadir, ISU Student and Filibuster Participant

Erica Liabo, ISU Student and Filibuster Participant

Doug Finnemore, ISU Professor in Physics

Tom Harkin Wants to Know

What keeps you up at night?

Frist is keeping the Senate in all night, and so Tom would like to know what you worry about. He and his staff will be answering the phones and checking the web all night, and they want to hear from you. To contact them:

Des Moines - 515 284 4574
Washington - 202 224 3254
http://harkin.senate.gov

Harkin Asks Iowans: What Keeps You Up At Night?
Senate in Session to Address the Republican “Nuclear” Option,
Harkin Office Open throughout the Night to Hear Real Issues Affecting Iowans

Washington, D.C.— Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced that he will keep his Washington and Des Moines offices open through the night asking Iowans and Americans what keeps them up at night. While Iowans will be up tonight worrying about skyrocketing healthcare and education costs, planning for retirement, and rising gas prices, Republicans will instead lead an all-night session in their “nuclear” attempt to gain absolute power.

In an email to constituents today, Harkin asked Iowans to email and call in their concerns and raise the issues they wish their Senate would spend even a minute—let alone, all night—working on.

“The nuclear option is not healthy for our democracy, so I will be here with my fellow Democrats to fight to protect our constitutional checks and balances,” said Harkin. “But while Republicans are threatening to blow up the Senate and stack the courts with radical judges, what about the people’s business? What about all the things that Iowans are worried about? What about health care, education, rising gas prices, and the minimum wage? Unfortunately, the Republican leadership would rather spend all night focused on their quest for absolute power than address the issues that matter to everyday Americans.”

The Senate will be in session round-the-clock tonight as Republican leaders push for a vote on the “nuclear option” to eliminate judicial filibusters. By going nuclear, Republicans will break the rules of the Senate to destroy 217 years of constitutional checks and balances, and will strike a severe blow at the bipartisan cooperation that the Senate depends on to address the needs of the American people.

“My office will be open all night, and my staff and I will be answering the phones to hear your concerns,” Harkin wrote in an email today. “Maybe you are working a second job, wondering when Congress will finally act to raise the minimum wage. Maybe you are a parent tossing and turning over worries about how you will pay for your child to go to college. Maybe you are thinking about that doctor visit you have been putting off because your family doesn’t have health care coverage. Or maybe you are a farmer getting hit hard by skyrocketing fuel prices.”

Iowans can call either Harkin’s Des Moines Office at 515-284-4574 or the Washington D.C. Office at 202-224-3254 throughout the night to share their concerns with Harkin. People can also email comments through Harkin’s website, www.harkin.senate.gov .

-Drew

The News!

As you can see, we've started getting some major press coverage. Apparently we were on the 6am news, and we've had channels 5 and 8 come and record us (5 will be live for our press conference too), the ames tribune, and the des moines register. Things are looking good so far!

Here's some pics:

Howard Hughes readeratin'.



A little guy came to watch us filibuster (or eat our garbage... we report, you decide).



Channel 8 Reporting: ISU Dems campsite messy! News at 11!



Diane Henry, reading from Blinded by the Right, by David Brock.



-Drew

The 100th hour is Nigh

We have made it to the 95th hour and the 100th is fast approaching. KCCI CBS Channel 8 Des Moines will be airing a story about us at noon today and the Register has given us some coverage(see last post), bringing us fame and fortune...well, not fortune per se but we feel really good about our progress.

We will soon be educating the masses about the importance of the minorty voice and the power grab by the republican majority, and I can't think about anything but that - even sitting through my chem lecture this morning seemed more boring than usual. With our shanty being cleaned up, flyers being printed off, and my stomach rumbling from lack of sustinance, we can tell that we're coming down to the end of line.

It is going to be odd getting used to sleeping in a real bed again, seeing as I have slept on the rather hard ground or futon cushion for the last four days out in the open air.

After all is said and done, all we can hope for is that we made a little bit of difference, whether it is in the hearts of the students and faculty walking by or in the decisions on the floor of the US Senate. We have done our best in this short period of time, and I know, at the least, the memories of this past week will stay with me always.

First Press Hit

The Des Moines Register covered us:

ISU Democrats do talking tribute to the filibuster

The student group started taking Thursday and will hit its 100th hour at 4:30 p.m. today.

By Abby Simons

As the debate rages in Washington, D.C., regarding the proposed change in Senate rules that would prohibit filibusters against a president's judicial nominees, members of the Iowa State University Democrats have launched a tribute to the endangered filibuster in a fitting fashion: They haven't shut up for four days straight.

Since noon Thursday, the group has talked, read and debated nonstop in the spirit of the filibuster, reading Dave Barry, fairy tales - even the Constitution. At 4:30 p.m. today, they will commemorate their 100th straight hour of the filibuster with a press conference.

But they plan to keep on going until the Senate comes to a consensus, said Drew Miller, a senior computer science major who is communications director for ISU Democrats and statewide president of College Democrats.

By Sunday evening, the group was in its 76th hour. Upon reaching 100, the filibuster will be the second-longest in the nation. Princeton University holds the record of 380 hours.

"We're doing this because we think the filibuster is an important tool for promoting minority rights in the Senate," Miller said. Miller calls the Republicans' proposal a "parliamentary boondoggle."

Nicole Woodroffe, a senior political science major and president of Iowa State University's College Republicans, said the filibuster would be more effective if it were held during the school year rather than the summer.

"That's kind of preventing it from growing to maybe what it could be," she said.

In the spirit of bipartisanship, Miller has developed a newfound respect for late Democrat-turned-Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond, who holds the Senate record for longest filibuster after talking against a 1957 civil rights bill.

"I'd have to say that even though I didn't respect what he was filibustering for, you gotta respect the guy that can go more than 24 hours," he said.

The Saucy Post

At 83 hours, we've lapped Yale more than 20 times. What a bunch of wankers. We've all been lacking a bit of sleep, so everyone is getting a little weirder. Thus, "The Saucy Post."

Erica brought over her dog, Plato. Here's a video of him, doing his part for the filibuster. The howling in the background is me. I'm now two degrees of sex-separation from Erica - Plato humped her butt and my legs.

This is me drinking from my water bottle in a sexy manner.



Here is Kat reading from a big book.



The start of the sauce! Erica sexily reading something or other.



Kat trying to be seductive. Rrrowr!



Matt Lemons getting ready to pull open his shirt and ravage everyone in his path.



In this picture, Justen farts and Howard Hughes (yes, really) responds.



Here's Matt Campbell, kickin' it with his bitch, his toy. (Actually, plato's a dude. I guess with the humping you probably already figured that out.)



Here's Ayrel Clark with a dog coming out of her abdomen.

Hour 75

We are at 75 hours and counting. It is 78 degrees and the sun is beating down...it is getting ugly, because all of the guys are now half-nude(the top half, don't worry). However, besides the ugliness, we are getting tans.

The Zombie Survival Guide has made a come back, thrilling a new crowd of listeners. We have been told that some Drake Dems may be making an appearance tomorrow, which is awesome. It is nice to have everybody getting together.

Beautiful Day

It is hour 72 and currently 78 degrees...and hardly a cloud in the sky. This is alll just a bonus on top of me actually getting a good night's sleep, well at least five hours.

Lots of stuff has been happening over the last 12 hours. We are putting together a press conference to commerate our 100th hour of straight filibustering. The press release has been sent out, the networks have been called, and we are working on getting our speakers. It will be around a half hour long and everyone is invited.

We will be updating all of the information as we get more, and we would appreciate any opinions or suggestions you may have.

Kickin' It

A couple of other new filibusterers last night - Brandon Goodridge and Jenn Osen.



Brandon is reading the Rolling Stone obit for Hunter S. Thompson.



Jenn is reading some book with randy rhymes or something like that.

Two more folks

I'm going to spend my first night back at home today, to keep from going bonkers. Here are two of the most recent filibusterers.

Kat Lundberg, reading from The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2000 Years.



Laura Messer, reading from selected Spanish poems.

You all are doing great!

I'm glad to see you all have been doing well. I only got off work just now, which is where I've spent most of my weekend. I'm feeling curious, so I might stop by to see if you're still there.

Filibusting was fun!!!

So I drove back from hickville Ottumwa for this. What an event. I have filibustered for the filibuster. Awesome. We are standing up for the guaranteed rights that our representatives have been guaranteed and are more recently finding crucial when fully representing the minority. I read from a book about the Middle East for about a half hour and had the wonderful reward of a mango margarita, mmm. Strange, I went from a party where I was dressed as a Republican to this where we are acting of a more selfless nature and persona. Ooh, tetris!!!

- Kat Lundberg

Entertainment

This afternoon we were lucky enough to enjoy some entertainment - BMX guys!



Ouch!

Justen's View

ISU Filibuster
This morning was crazy, I went for three hours straight. It was rather entertaining, seeing as no one else was awake and the book I was reading was about Zombies. Anyway, I think I will take it easy, so I can go strong tonight.

It is really amazing how this has taken off. We are on 51.5 hours and there doesn't seem to be too much of a sign of battle fatigue.

Tuesday here we come.

Our New Opponent

The rain has been light and intermittent, but we've got a new obstacle - wind. It's 20-30mph according to my weatherbug, with gusts up to 45mph. Our easel with "ISU Filibuster to Save the Filibuster" written on it looks like a mast with a sail now, and we had to grab an ashtray and stake the easel in it just to keep it from falling over. The banner on our table also blew off.

We're continually gaining more people for our campout - right now we're up to nine. We've decided to take shifts sleeping at home now, so at least a few people can be guaranteed a good night's sleep. Tonight is my turn. I'll be surprised if I sleep less than 10 hours, as I've gotten something like 6 over the past two nights.

By the way, we've now passed Harvard and Stanford for filibuster length. I sincerely doubt we'll make it to Princeton's mark (384 hours), mainly because this issue should be resolved before then, but we are more than halfway to the Carleton College Democrats' 100 hours. A few other groups have said that they are participating in open-ended filibusters, but I have no way to tell if they are going 24/7 and for what length.

At this point, I'm going to say that we are the third longest college filibuster in the country. Not bad for what started as one night of one person organizing!

Rained Out

Caught some more shuteye - about 5am-7:30am. I woke up when it started raining. Here we are under a nearby shelter. Justen filibustered for three hours!

Goin Strong at 3am

Believe it or not, we've actually got an audience at 3am. For some reason The Zombie Survival Guide has proven to a big drawer. Collectively we are 2/3 of the way through with it.

The crowd:



Sean Odeen



Jon Mullin, still cigarin' it up.

Nyquil Hit the Spot

The nyquil did its thing. I passed out 5 minutes after that post, and woke up at about 11.



Mary Woodruff reads from The Zombie Survival Guide.

A Cute Baby

This is a picture of my friend Kelly and her baby. She's not at the filibuster, but it is cute.

Chris and the Crew

Here's Chris Johnson!



He's reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Here's the current campout crew.

Take that Yale

We just lapped Yale again, making it 8 times their effort. Ivy league my ass. =)

Still Going

More than 31 hours now. We now have an old-school Nintendo set up, and are using an electric cooler normally employed by the dining crew that comes in around noon. We're grilling out, and Kelly Considine just brought over American flag cookies. We've also had some new speakers. I'm just gonna post them all in one spot this time. I just took nyquil because I am sleepy and have the sniffles from our crazy 95% humidity last night. Blog updates may not be as ADHD as they were yesterday.



Paxton Williams, 1999 ISU Democrats President.



Drew Larson, 2005 ISU Democrats President.



Doug Finnemore, Distinguished Professor in Physics.



David Smelser.



Kelly Considine, our Betty Crocker.



Mansoor gets a present.



Cookies! Thanks Kelly! Mustard! Thanks Drew!



Our BBQ!

Our First Donation

We had our first donation of food items today - more than a dozen pria energy bars. I didn't catch the man's name, but thank you guy with red shirt who works at the library!

Mansoor, Kickin it at Night

Taking the Night Train

First Night Shift Successful

We had five people taking turns during the night, with a guest spot from Jed Hovey.



He's reading Coming Through Slaughter, which was actually really interesting. I might have to pick it up. Later he read some Hunter S. Thompson.

The Khadir Prespective

I've been helping out with filibuster off and on (did roughly 4 hrs of reading so far. . . "Profiles in Courage", "Presidential Andedotes", Procedural Descriptions, "FDR & Lincoln").

Its been fun so far. I thought for sure that there would stretches of the night that would be difficult to get through. But surprisingly or I should say impressively there were enough people to help out. No one was inconvenienced more than an once over several hours. I think at one point there were around 10 people last night just hanging and helping out . . . it was pretty sweet. I think I fell asleep around 4 (am) after having lengthily debate on the 'Senate Floor' over the importance of Bentancourt to Venezuelan Politics.

My slumber was short--around 6:30 (am) I arose to Sir Drew Miller reciting words from "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown. It was my turn to take the floor. I can tell you, reading out loud at 6:30 in the morning with a dry cough and a throat thats been roughed up by the cool night air is pretty tough. Yet, I bellowed out the principle reasoning of why FDR emulated Lincoln from the book "FDR & Lincoln". It was my toughest shift so far, but I did it . . . I continued to stall the vote.

I'm going to have agree with Drew here, it is a impressive display of dedication from the Dems to get together on such short notice and little persuasion. They got it and they took action. I like it. Lets see if we finish strong ands lets hope our efforts prevail on the real Senate floor.

Goin All Night

Wow. I originally expected that I would have to do the night shift by myself - after all, I just started organizing this Wednesday evening. Instead, we have 8 people hanging out at the Hub, with 3 sleeping bags, a portable mattress, and a few blankets. We've also scrounged up some bug spray, an extension cord, two laptops, about 15 books (the nice thing about filibustering outside of the library) and a half-dozen nalgene bottles.

I didn't have to ask a single person to stay - they just took it upon themselves to participate. This is what makes our activist community special. As much as I would like to take credit for some of the accomplishments we've made over the past year, it is really more a testament to the culture of this University. I only hope that our efforts leave that culture intact.

Fred Arrives

Fred returned, fresh from skipping his original shift to watch Revenge of the Sith.



He spoke on the movie for a while, and then read Globalize Liberation. You know for all the people reading this book, it hasn't struck me as very good.

This is me. I didn't realize how puffy my shorts are until I saw this picture.



I'm reading Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons."

My Favorite

This is definitely my favorite pic so far. It's Jon Mullin, smoking his cigar.



Jon is reading from Presidential Anecdotes, with some improvisational editorializing.

Back On Track

Heather Youngblut spoke around 8pm.



She also read Globalize Liberation.

Missed One

Gabe Whitaker filibustered for 10 or 15 minutes in here before Milana, reading the Iowa State Daily.

Nope, Still Nothing Coming

This is Milana Richardson. She spoke at 7pm.



She read Globalize Liberation.

Running Out of Titles

Next up was Matt Lemons. I didn't get any pictures of him! He read the entire US Constitution.

Still Going

I've lost track of time a little bit, but I believe that Rachel Smith here was reading at 5pm, for about an hour.



I'm not sure what she's reading in this picture, but for most of the hour she was reading America: The Book.

Something to Remember

One important thing we forgot when we first came out here - sunscreen. Ouch.

And On.

The latest is Justen Jones, speaking to a crowd of four. You can see Parks Library in the background.



Justen is reading from "Stage Lighting Explained."

And on....

Here's Matt Campbell taking over for Erica Liabo.



He's reading from "The Princess Bride."

Going on...

After Rich, Erica Liabo spoke for a while. She's been in and out all day, helping with setup as well as filibustering. You can see Luke Gran harassing people in the background.



Erica was reading from "Writing Winning Business Proposals."

Number Three

At 2pm, Rich Harman took over for Mansoor Khadir.



Here he's reading from blog posts on the topic.

Part Deux

At 1:15, Mansoor Khadir took over for Greg.



He's reading from Presidential Anecdotes.

It Begins...

We're officially off the ground, at 12:34pm CST, Thursday, May 19th.



Greg Bonett is reading from Farmhouse Ales, by Phil Markowski.

Let's Get It Started

We're starting our filibuster tomorrow. We are doing this mock filibuster in support of the real one - the protection of minority rights, the checks and balances inherent in our government, and the ridiculous way that this whole fight is going down. The senate has rules, and a way to change those rules. The nuclear option is not the way to do that, and sets the precedent for breaking every other rule with a simple majority. This seems like arcane procedural mumbo jumbo, but it is vitally important in ensuring a thoughtful legislative process.

My personal reasons for working on this are a little bit different than those of the group of a whole. I posted about them on my blog.