March 7, 2013

How did Rand Paul go 13 hours without a bathroom break?

"As he moved about the Senate floor, aides brought him glasses of water, which he barely touched. Senate rules say a senator has to remain on the floor to continue to hold it, even though he can yield to another senator for a question."

Continue to hold it is a good phrase, under the circumstances, but I assume he relied on Depends or something fancier (using his doctor skills).

47 comments:

gadfly said...

Depends would work for a while but like any diaper, there is a capacity that can be exceeded. He most likely is catheterized with a collection bag strapped to his leg.

Humperdink said...

We'll probably never know how he was able to hold it ..... unless someone leaks it.

jr565 said...

CNN didn't show the floor where he was standing, which had a big puddle spreading below him.

edutcher said...

Be surprised how long you can go if you have to.

The Blonde has told me she's had 12 hour shifts where she's never seen the bathroom.

It also helps if you do all that ahead of time.

PS I think a couple of people briefly took the floor for him.

M. Naftel said...

There is this, http://www.bladderbuddy.com/index.html

Ann Althouse said...

"PS I think a couple of people briefly took the floor for him."

No, that's the point of this post. It was not permitted under the rules for him to do anything but yield to questions. He couldn't leave the room.

lemondog said...

Salt.

Did he look puffy?

edutcher said...

Ann Althouse said...

PS I think a couple of people briefly took the floor for him.

No, that's the point of this post. It was not permitted under the rules for him to do anything but yield to questions. He couldn't leave the room.


OK, I'd read a couple of comments Cruz, Rubio, and Wyden had taken the floor for him.

My misunderstanding, but, otherwise, I know I've been so busy at work, I've gone most of the day without getting up, so I can believe he really got into it, particularly if he used a diuretic before hand.

Emil Blatz said...

Motorman's friend, Stadium Pal, etc. Aren't they available via Amazon?

rehajm said...

Paul has The Right Stuff.

F said...

I fly for 6-7 hours at a time in a sailplane, which does not have any facilities to repair to or even any space to move more than a couple of inches in any direction. We routinely use an external catheter and bag so we can continue to hydrate during the flight, which at high altitudes (up to 18,000') in a dry climate requires a significant water intake. They work well and leak only rarely. I know, too much information, but it helps put this question in perspective.

Anonymous said...

Also known as a condom catheter.

Emil Blatz said...

I spoke too soon.

Sydney said...

I can go longer than 12 hours without a break and I am a menopausal multiparous woman. If he limited his oral intake of food and liquid, he could do it.

Gabriel Hanna said...

It's not that hard to go 13 hours if you don't drink anything, not for men anyway.

MisterBuddwing said...

One wonders how the late Sen. Strom Thurmond was able to filibuster for 24 hours straight.

rhhardin said...

Methylene blue. All doctors know that trick from frat parties.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

His other stamina problem was lack of comfortable shoes. He mentioned that this morning.

LoafingOaf said...

One wonders how the late Sen. Strom Thurmond was able to filibuster for 24 hours straight.

One of the papers was saying Strom had a steam bath beforehand.

Gabriel Hanna said...

Strom Thurmond kept one toe on the floor and used a chamber pot.

RiverRat said...

A strong diuretic two hours in advance, Imodium, and normal prostrate and large bladder.

edutcher said...

"normal prostate"

Big difference.

Bob Boyd said...

He should've tried the new Depends PM's.
"When absolutely, positively has to be there overnight."
Ideally, he would have purchased them via the Althouse Portal

chickelit said...

Just lay off the diuretics (caffeine) and it's easy to go 12 hours. Kinda defeats the effort to stay awake, but hey, life's unfair.

Sunslut7 said...

Ann,
I would have thought that you would have devoted more energy to querying your readership about Rand Paul's suggestion that the SCOTUS re-visit the Lochner case.

I think that is the real news item of yesterday.

Maybe we can now rethink Griswold and the Slaughter House cases as well?

Bruce Hayden said...

Well, was listening to him on Glen Beck this morning, and he apparently was not using a (internal) catheter. When questioned about it, he said that (as a doctor) he had inserted them and as a result had no interest in such.

While he can't really yield the floor, he can give it to other Senators to ask questions, and apparently one of his helpers asked quite a long one. That is my guess at how he got by.

Bryan C said...

Between Rubio and Paul, it seems the press has developed a strong new-found interest in Republicans' precious bodily fluids.

Freeman Hunt said...

If you don't drink, you can go 13 hours easily. (Well, somewhat easily.)

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Gabriel Hanna,

I thought re: Thurmond that it was an aide just outside the door with a bucket. "Chamber pot" certainly sounds more genteel, but I don't think you could actually buy one of those in the US in the 60s.

Astro said...

I happened to just catch Rand Paul on the radio and he implied he didn't use anything for bladder relief. He said he thought about it and decided he wouldn't.

Methadras said...

Mental training and willpower.

roesch/voltaire said...

He took a tip from Paul Ryan, no water, and from Jane Fonda, tuck the butt.

Alex said...

Huh huh huh someone said pee, huh huh huh.

Hey Beavis...

Saint Croix said...

If you're serious, you bring out the milk jug. That's what cops do. You hear me, Rand Paul? You bring out the milk jug!

JAL said...

Meanwhile McCain and Graham are pissing all over Rand.

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile McCain and Graham are pissing all over Rand.

3/7/13, 2:35 PM

Funny.

Known Unknown said...

McCain is a total dick. I'm glad he lost in 2008.

Known Unknown said...


I thought re: Thurmond that it was an aide just outside the door with a bucket. "Chamber pot" certainly sounds more genteel, but I don't think you could actually buy one of those in the US in the 60s.


Spitoon?

Jane said...

I once had oral surgery and the surgeon was 7 months pregnant - she said she'd just finished a 9-hour surgery with no bathroom break, since she couldn't risk having to suit up all over again.

I was amazed. (And not sure it is wise to not drink fluids while pregnant).

I have gone that long when under some hot sun outside at a fair. It really does involve absolutely not keeping hydrated.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Perhaps he has a stadium pal?

dbp said...

"Meanwhile McCain and Graham are pissing all over Rand."

They can't help it, they are old: Their prostates are each the size of a grapefruit and this renders their bladders akin to that of eight year old girls'. Also, they are equally serious.

luagha said...

Strom Thurmond famously dehydrated himself by not drinking anything for 36 hours prior to his 24 hour filibuster.

On the stand he drank at will and didn't have a problem.

SweatBee said...

Time reported that Strom Thurmond got to use the bathroom once during some sort of break for a paperwork update.

Paul Ciotti said...

I once saw a device used in the olden days by San Francisco cable Car conductors. It resembled a heavy duty 30 inch condom that one wore inside the leg of one's trousers from groin to ankle. If Rand had been wearing one of those he could have talked for a week.

Paul Ciotti said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Paul Ciotti said...

F: I fly for 6-7 hours at a time in a sailplane. . . "

You must have some great thermals or a mountain wave. Where do you fly?

Unknown said...

Rand Paul is a great American.