Filibustering

We were delighted to learn the other day that the NDP is considering the filibuster as part of its Parliamentary strategy.

The filibuster has long been a treasured tactic in US politics, but it seldom has been employed in Canada. A shame--we could have had John Diefenbaker fulminating nonstop for days.

The longest filibuster ever given in the US Senate was delivered by Strom Thurmond, a politician remembered for all the wrong reasons. The South Carolina senator spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes in opposition to the Civil Rights Bill.

More recently, American senators have taken to filibustering in relay teams, which we believe should be disqualified. That's not a filibuster--it's a tag team talkathon.

The word "filibuster" is derived from the Spanish "filibustero," meaning "freebooter;" i.e., an adventurer engaged in some irregular military activity. How the word came to mean a long-winded speech is unknown. Well, unknown to us.

Most entertaining filibuster on record: the one delivered by Bob Hope in the 1941 film "Louisiana Purchase," which includes a scene where the near voiceless Hope draws portraits in colored chalk on the floor of the Senate.

Way better than Strom Thurmond.

Our advice to the NDP: take lots of material to read from and plenty of throat lozenges.