Six famous filibusters (and a bonus -- a recipe for fried oysters)

In September, the Republican tea party firebrand from Texas took to the Senate floor for 21 hours, saying he “intended to speak out in defense of defunding Obamacare until I can no longer stand.” But his epic talkathon didn’t count as a formal filibuster because he’d already agreed to a Senate-imposed time limit on his chatter.

Worse, he ended up with egg on his face. Green egg that is. During his speech, he read the Dr. Seuss book “Green Eggs and Ham,” to which Op-Ed contributor Peter Dreier wrote, “He clearly missed its message.” Dreier went on:

“In the Seuss tale, Sam-I-Am, a lover of green eggs and ham, tries to persuade a friend to try them. But the man resists. He resists so persistently and so adamantly that he ends up sounding a lot like the Republicans on Capitol Hill who are determined to defund President Obama’s healthcare law. But in the Seuss story, the man is finally persuaded to try the offending eggs and ham, and, much to his surprise, he loves them.

“If only the GOP would take a page from that book.”   (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)