All the Way Page #5

got room for one more?

I'm digging a hole as we speak.

Well, all right, then.

If you do get it out

of committee, what then?

Then we filibuster it to death.

We stick together,

we'll be fine.

Public opinion's

already against this bill,

especially with

those riots going on.

Time is on our side.

Thank you, gentlemen.

And I see no need

why we ought to sit idly by

and see a bill pass in the American

Senate called a civil rights bill

that will destroy individual liberty

and freedom in this country.

Humphrey:

Wallace is running at 90%

with whites in Eastern Maryland.

If he wins that primary, the

Senate will never pass the bill.

- - Wallace would be

dead in the water

without these goddamn riots.

He is deliberately provocative.

King is supposed to

control his people.

I put my entire political career

at risk for the Negroes

and this is the thanks I get?

- Put more money into Maryland.

- Yeah, beef up my schedule there.

Now, what's your plan to get our

bill out of Eastland's committee?

- Discharge petition.

- Oh, sh*t, why, you don't have the votes.

No, but, uh, we're very close.

Close? Close don't make sh*t.

You don't have

the goddamn votes.

Fine, what's your idea?

What? I can't hear

a goddamn thing

you're saying, Humphrey.

Come on over here.

I said what's your idea?

Well, right now

it's all about

the rules of the Senate.

And Dick Russell's

been studying them

since he was sucking

on his mama's titty.

Boy, I've seen him

make a fool of you liberals

with some arcane rule of order

more times than...

Than I can remember.

Hold on.

Ah, son of a...

Oh.

You know what?

There is a way that we can

completely bypass

Eastland's committee

without a discharge petition.

And with a little luck,

Russell won't even

see it coming.

Russell:
He did what?

Man's voice:
I think the

president just put over the bill

out of committee.

All right.

All right, keep Jim calm.

I'll handle this.

Johnson:
What you think it is?

Why it tastes

a little different?

Well, it's the temperature

she cooked...

Everything all right,

Uncle Dick?

Just peachy.

Would you like some more gravy?

Oh, Lady Bird, it was delicious,

but I just couldn't possibly.

- No, thank you.

- Hey, what about me?

Aren't you gonna

offer me any more gravy?

Well, honey, I'd like to,

but I can't.

Bird's got me on a diet.

Got Zephyr there in the kitchen

weighing my plates

for every meal.

It's ridiculous!

Your wife just doesn't want you

to get too big

for your britches.

An entirely

understandable concern.

I think I'll see how Zephyr's

coming with that cobbler.

I just heard how you snuck that

bill through Jim's committee

with some bogus procedural

point of order.

A perfectly legal

maneuver, Uncle Dick.

Just like you taught me.

I also taught you something

about party loyalty.

Well, the party's changing.

This younger generation's

not gonna fall on their sword

for segregation.

You think every Southerner

is gonna start dancing

to your tune, hmm?

Wallace almost won Maryland.

- But he didn't.

- Another riot and he will.

And there will be more riots.

We're gonna filibuster

this bill.

- It will never pass.

- Are you so sure about that?

I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking

you're gonna cut a deal

with Senator Dirksen.

You filibuster,

what choice do you leave me?

A Democratic president

ignoring his own party

and making a deal with

the Senate Minority Leader.

Shameful!

Now, don't you get all

high and mighty with me.

You have been cutting deals

with those conservative

Republicans for years,

but now I can't cross the aisle?

Sh*t.

We don't have to fight, Dick.

Yes, we do.

I'm coming for you, Dick.

Now, I love you

more than my own daddy.

But if you get in my way...

I'll crush you.

I regret that the president

has embraced the radical program

of the left-wing groups

that is erroneously called

the civil rights bill.

It is still a vicious assault

on the Constitution.

And we in the Senate

intend to fight

with our boots on

to the last ditch.

Beginning today, we will

filibuster this bill.

Let the real war begin.

This ain't about

the Constitution.

It's about those who got more

wanting to hang on

to what they got

at the expense of those

who got nothing

and feel good about it.

Yeah, but the way he frames it,

draping himself

in the Stars and Stripes,

it's compelling.

I mean, what are you fighting

for, darling, in your heart?

That's what the people

need to hear.

Look at that.

Look at that. Look at

the size of his ears.

You get that?

Whoo-hoo!

Well, listen,

I just wanna thank you all

for coming up here

and sharing some time with me.

I wanted to just respond

to what Senator Russell...

His decision, uh...

Unfortunate decision

on filibustering this bill.

It reminds me that when...

When I got out of college,

now, the only job

that I could get

was teaching first grade

at this, uh...

This beat-up, old elementary

school in Cotulla, Texas.

It was just a dusty,

old border town

in the middle of nowhere

full of Mexican immigrants who

didn't have a pot to piss in.

But, God, did I love

those kids of mine.

They'd show up hungry

every morning

because most of them

hadn't had any breakfast.

But they were

so on fire to learn.

It just made you feel good.

But there... There come a day

for each and every one of them

when I would see

the light in their eyes die.

'Cause they had discovered

that the world hated them...

just 'cause of the color

of their skin.

Well, some folks tell me

just to go slow.

They say the political risk

is too high.

And to that, I say, well,

if a president can't do

what he knows is right,

then what's the presidency for?

Senator Dirksen's

so-called amendments

are like putting

a Band-Aid on a cancer.

I have a real

amendment to offer.

This map shows

the current concentration

of the Negro race in America.

I propose we resettle

Southern Negroes

all over the country...

until racial proportions

are equalized

among the 50 states.

- - I favor inflicting

on New York

and other cities

the same conditions

that will be inflicted

by this bill

on the innocent people

of Georgia.

Is the president caving in?

I'd ask him myself,

- but he's no longer returning my calls.

- Absolutely not.

My people have made

every painful sacrifice

that's been asked of them

and the bill's still stuck.

Martin, I'm as

frustrated as you are,

but lining up votes to break the

filibuster's a complicated process.

Dirksen's amendments

will gut the bill.

Dirksen needs to look

tough to his people.

The time for posturing is over.

It's time to act.

I've put all my

credibility on the line

telling our young people that

this president can be trusted,

but they want results.

They're down

in Mississippi right now

putting their lives at risk,

registering Negroes for a

vote they still don't have.

I want a good bill, too, Martin,

but you can't

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