Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida showed his support for
Rand Paul's nearly 13-hour filibuster Wednesday by quoting people who he considers "modern day poets" of today, including actors of "The Godfather" film and rappers Wiz Khalifa and Jay-Z.
In a speech peppered with pop culture references, Rubio mentioned Khalifa's song "Work Hard Play Hard," the famous line from "The Godfather" ("I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse"), and a verse from Jay-Z's hit "A Week Ago," quoting the song, "It's funny what seven days can change. It was all good just a week ago."
Rubio's speech was his effort to back Paul's tireless crusade to prevent the confirmation of President Barack Obama's counterterrorism advisor, John Brennan, as director of the CIA. The old-fashioned filibuster — in which a senator continually talks and talks in an effort to block or delay voting on a measure — lasted nearly 13 hours.
Rand, the Republican senator from Kentucky, was speaking out on Attorney General Eric Holder's refusal to rule out the use of unmanned drones in targeted assassinations on American soil in "extraordinary circumstances."
"I will speak until I can no longer speak. I will speak as long as it takes, until the alarm is sounded from coast to coast that our Constitution is important, that your rights to trial by jury are precious, that no American should be killed by a drone on American soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found to be guilty by a court," Paul said.
Paul yielded the Senate floor at 12:39 a.m. It is not clear if there are now enough votes to block Brennan, but Paul did change the minds of some of his colleagues, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who now thinks there should be more debate before a final vote on Brennan, according to ABC News. A procedural vote on Brennan’s nomination is set for Thursday morning.
Rubio reportedly joked with Rand to "keep some water nearby" for his hours-long speech.
Rubio was teased relentlessly online after last month's State of the Union response, where he awkwardly reached for a bottle of water in the middle of his rebuttal.
The last talking filibuster was by Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, regarding a tax bill in 2010.
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