LISTENING COMPREHENSION

GRADE 12

The art of the filibuster: How do you talk for 24 hours straight?
By: Jon Kelly BBC News Magazine, Washington DC
Published: 12 December 2012

The time-wasting speech known as the filibuster could make a comeback in US politics.
How can anyone talk for an entire day?

You stand up before your colleagues, clear your throat and prepare to speak. Through the night.
Non-stop. Perhaps you've brought a packed lunch. You might have some phone books to read
aloud, too, in case you run out of things to say. And you've no doubt thought very carefully about
what to do when you need to visit the toilet.

Filibustering - a delaying tactic in a parliament, typically whereby lawmakers drag out speeches to
the end of the allocated time, so that no vote can be held - is one of the oddest quirks of
democratic politics the world over. Distinguished elected representatives have been seen
engaging in truly epic feats of time-wasting in an effort to slow down or block legislation.

The most spectacular examples have come from the US Senate, where in 1935 Louisiana
Democrat Huey Long tried to scupper a bill by rambling for more than 15 hours, reciting recipes for
Roquefort salad dressing and discussing in detail the best way to fry oysters.

Twenty-two years later, the veteran South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, set a record by
filibustering a civil rights bill for 24 hours and 18 minutes, reading aloud the voting laws of each US
state and quoting George Washington's farewell address in its entirety.

The filibuster - derived from the Dutch word "vrijbuiter", meaning "pirate" - is so integral to the US
political system that Frank Capra's 1939 movie Mr Smith Goes to Washington features James
Stewart's hero delivering a lengthy filibuster in the Senate in which he saves the day by exposing
political corruption.

It could mean a return to the debates of the 1950s and 1960s, when southern politicians like Strom
Thurmond and Robert Byrd spoke through the night in an effort to block civil rights reforms.

If so, a new generation of lawmakers may have to summon hitherto untapped reserves of physical
endurance - though they may not welcome the comparison with Thurmond, whose record-
breaking filibuster was an attempt to block the extension of voting rights to African Americans.

According to Thurmond's biographer Joseph Crespino, a history professor at Emory University, the
segregationist politician - who died in office in 2003 aged 100 - was extremely fit and prepared
meticulously beforehand.

Thurmond brought with him supplies - including a hunk of pumpernickel bread, sirloin steak,
lozenges, fruit juices and water, Crespino says. The senator spoke in a quiet monotone to
preserve his voice.

Apart from a half-hour break in the early hours when the rules permitted him to give way to fellow
Senator Barry Goldwater, Thurmond stood on the floor of the chamber throughout.

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For historians, the most puzzling aspect of the feat is how exactly he managed to avoid visiting the
bathroom for so long.

"It's a kind of urological mystery as to how he was able to do it," says Crespino.

"Afterwards, one of the first questions reporters asked him was how he was able to hold his
bladder." Thurmond told them he had visited the Senate steam room beforehand to dehydrate
himself, so his body would absorb liquids "like a sponge", Crespino adds.

But rumours persisted suggesting he had employed a more furtive method. An African American
Capitol employee named Bertie Bowman claimed in his memoirs that the senator had, in fact,
been fitted with a catheter tube.

While the US may have set the standard for filibustering during the 20th Century, the practice has
a long history around the world.

In ancient Rome, Cato the Younger would frustrate Senate legislation he opposed by speaking
until nightfall, by which time business had to be concluded.

Longest legislative speech

Who: Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi
Where: The Kwa Zulu Natal Legislature in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
When: 12 - 29 March 1993

The longest speech made was one by Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the Zulu leader, when he
gave an address to the KwaZulu legislative assembly in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa between
12 and 29 Mar 1993. He spoke on 11 of the 18 days, averaging nearly 2½ hours on each of the 11
days.

- Source: Guinness World Book of Records

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 Your school logo LISTENING COMPREHENSION

GRADE 12

TERM ___

DATE: _________________ MARK: 25

EXAMINER: _________________ MODERATOR: ___________________

QUESTIONS

1. After listening to the comprehension, write your own definition for the term filibuster. (2)

2. What does the term ‘make a comeback’ denote about the art of filibustering? (2)

3. What is the purpose of the short choppy phrases in paragraph one: “You stand up before your
colleagues, clear your throat and prepare to speak. Through the night. Non-stop.” (2)

4. What figure is speech is ‘oddest quirk’? (1)

5. Why, in your opinion, would a filibuster only work in a democracy and not in an autocracy or a
monarchy? (2)

6. Mention any 3 ways in which politicians wasted time filibustering. (3)

7. What, in your opinion, is the connotation of the word ‘pirate’ in relation to a filibuster? (2)

8. How is the term ‘scupper’ also related to piracy? (2)

9. Mention any 3 ways in which Thurmond prepared himself for his monumental speech? (3)

10. Why was Thurmond called a segregationist politician? (1)

11. Who do you think is speaking the truth about Thurmond’s ‘urological mystery’ during his epic
speech: Thurmond himself or Bertie Bowman? Give a reason for your answer. (3)

12. The year in which Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi was entered into the Guinness Book of World
Records for the longest speech in history, is significant. Explain. (2)

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 The art of the filibuster: How do you talk for 24 hours straight?
MEMORANDUM
1. After listening to the comprehension, write your own definition for the term filibuster. (2)
Any acceptable definition that includes the words ‘time wasting’/’delaying tactic’ and
‘politics’/’politician’

2. What does the term ‘make a comeback’ denote about the art of filibustering? (2)
“Make a comeback’ means to regain a former or normal state. It implies that filibustering was
not used for a long time, but appears to be resurfacing in modern times. (1 mark for definition
of ‘making a comeback’ and 1 mark for the implication)
3. What is the purpose of the short choppy phrases in paragraph one: “You stand up before your
colleagues, clear your throat and prepare to speak. Through the night. Non-stop.” (2)
It emphasizes the lack of sophistication when preparing to filibuster. The process is simple,
uncomplicated and easy.
4. What figure is speech is ‘oddest quirk’? (1)
Tautology
5. Why, in your opinion, would a filibuster only work in a democracy and not in an autocracy or a
monarchy? (2)
In a autocracy or a monarchy there will be no decision-making or voting, so it won’t be
necessary to waste time and prevent voting to take place.
6. Mention any 3 ways in which politicians wasted time filibustering. (3)
Quoting recipes, reading from the telephone directory, reading the voting laws of each county
7. What, in your opinion, is the connotation of the word ‘pirate’ in relation to a filibuster? (2)
A pirate is a robber of ships on water, calling a filibuster a pirate implies that the politician is
robbing people of time, of their right to debate and to their right to vote on a matter.
8. How is the term ‘scupper’ also related to piracy? (2)
The term ‘scupper’ means to cause something such as a plan or opportunity to fail. Pirates
scupper the successful delivery of goods by stealing.
9. Mention any 3 ways in which Thurmond prepared himself for his monumental speech? (3)
He brought enough food, fruit juice and water so that he would be sustained, spoke in a
monotone voice to preserve his voice and visited a spa to dehydrate his body so he wouldn’t
need to use the bathroom.
10. Why was Thurmond called a segregationist politician? (1)
He didn’t want African Americans to have voting rights.
11. Who do you think is speaking the truth about Thurmond’s ‘urological mystery’ during his epic
speech: Thurmond himself or Bertie Bowman? Give a reason for your answer. (3)
Any acceptable answer, as long as the reason coincides with the answer. (1 mark for the
answer, 2 marks for the reason)
12. The year in which Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi was entered into the Guinness Book of World
Records for the longest speech in history, is significant. Explain. (2)
It was the year after Nelson Mandela was released and a year before the first free elections
were held in South Africa.
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