UPDATE: SB5's VOTE TOOK PLACE AT 12:03.
For now, the bill is dead.
I watched the woman who may be the next Ann Richards stand for 13 hours tonight.
I watched Texas republicans pull bullshit points of order. Apparently Roe V. Wade and the Sonogram bill passed by the Texas legislature are irrelevant to a discussion on abortion, as ruled by the president of the Texas Senate. The Democrats did all they could to fight down the senate's action.
But as one staffer pointed out: Senate Rules in Texas are the Bermuda triangle of parliamentary procedure. Things get lost and forgotten.
And so, in the 13th hour, the Texas Republicans began ignoring senate rules and rolling right over the objections of Democratic Senators.
"This is bullshit!" Cried a woman's voice from the Gallery, "SHAME ON YOU!"
The Dems fought hard raising motions and parliamentary procedure questions. They were ignored.
Finally, with 15 minutes to go, Senator Leticia Van De Putte (who had recently arrived from her father's funeral), became frustrated with her motions being ignored. She asked "At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over her male colleagues in the room?”
The Senate Gallery roared to life. And the cheering didn't stop until after midnight.
The shouting prevented an orderly vote on the bill. They couldn't arrest everyone in the gallery in only 13 minutes, could they?
After midnight, the gallery quieted, but you could still hear chanting in the packed rotunda: "HELL NO, WE WONT GO!" They chanted. "WENDY! WENDY!" They chanted. "SHAME, SHAME!"
They shouted down the Texas Republicans when those Republicans attempted to ignore the rules of the senate. And as I'm writing this, they're still shouting in the rotunda. It began, and ended, with the peoples' filibuster.
I don't know if the bill was passed tonight. Neither, I think, do the senators themselves.
But I do know one thing:
The voices in Austin tonight, the people who refused to be silenced by their government, are a sign of things to come.
They are the brightening east.
The dawn is coming.
Tue Jun 25, 2013 at 11:42 PM PT: They arrested this elderly woman tonight. Pics and video are still rolling in:
Tue Jun 25, 2013 at 11:46 PM PT: I'm hearing that the woman arrested was a 70-year-old grandmother.
I'm also hearing that the Texas Senate was ordered back into caucus to determine whether the bill passed.
In secret of course, no live stream. No journalists.
Tue Jun 25, 2013 at 11:52 PM PT: Was I wrong? The live feed from the Texas senate floor is back up. Link.
12:22 AM PT: WE WON! WE WON!
Cecile Richards just announced that the VOTE WAS AT 12:03.
"Do you know why it was at 12:03? Because of you."
"We won. The women of Texas won."
The Rotunda is going ABSOLUTELY mad!
http://www.ustream.tv/...
12:22 AM PT: WE WON!
Wendy Davis: "The official vote was at 12:03. Do you know why it was at 12:03? Because of you. We won. The women of Texas won. We've started something here that they cannot stop."
The rotunda is going absolutely mad! "The people united will never be defeated!"
http://www.ustream.tv/...
12:24 AM PT: They're singing now:
The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
All the live long day.
The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
You can not get away.
Do not think you can escape them
At night or early in the morn-
The Eyes of Texas are upon you
'Till Gabriel blows his horn.
1:05 AM PT: Just announced from the podium.
The time "regrettably" expired. SB5 "cannot be enrolled."
"It's been fun, but, see you soon."
SB5 is officially dead.
Wendy is on ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/...
1:28 AM PT: And that's it.
Since Kirk Watson was just speaking, I feel the need to be cheesy and say "It's dead, Jim."
Texas Women inspire me.
Ann Richards, Barbara Jordan, and Molly Ivins are joined on the roll of Texas Women who refuse to be messed with by the new guard:
Wendy Davis, Leticia Van de Putte and Judith Zaffirini.
Today started poorly with the gutting of the Voting Rights Act. But we rolled with the punches. Today, the people defeated an Abortion Bill in Texas, and sent Markey to the senate.
Today was a good day to fight. Let's keep going.
The fight is not yet done.
How long will we have to keep fighting before republicans finally trust women to make decisions on their own? How long will we have to keep fighting for every citizen's right to vote? How long until the Republican fever breaks? How long until our suffering under these bigots and fools is done?
How long?
Not long.
In Texas tonight, the truth is marching on.
11:31 AM PT: Wendy Davis for Texas Governor.
Act Blue Link: https://secure.actblue.com/...