Politics

Yes, Sen. Ted Cruz Is Still Talking (As of 6:30 AM Eastern)

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Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz is still on the Senate floor waging his not-officially-a-filibuster filibuster to oppose and defund Obamacare, or at least force Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to allow a discussion and vote of possible amendments. At a little over six hours in now, he still has a way to go to catch up with Sen. Rand Paul's 13-hour drone-inspired filibuster from March.

C-Span is still airing the speeches (interrupted with occasional questions — or speeches framed as questions — from friendly senators) here. And yes, a couple of Twitter folks friendly to Cruz's aims have registered the site IsTedCruzStillTalking.com.

Below, Sen. Cruz reads Green Eggs and Ham to his absent daughters as a bedtime story:

UPDATE: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has shown up at about 9:00 p.m. to defend Obamacare and actually debate the matter wtih Cruz. (Summary: Cruz knows people Obamacare has hurt. Durbin knows people it has helped.)

UPDATE: Sen. Cruz is still up as the clock strikes midnight in D.C. That puts him at a bit more than 9 hours.

FINAL TUESDAY UPDATE: Sen. Cruz is still at it (with some significant assistance from Utah Sen. Mike Lee) at 1 a.m. in D.C. If he makes it until 3 a.m., he'll beat Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster, though given that this speech isn't actually a filibuster, I suspect it won't be put in the record books.