You may have thought the Republican Party’s irrational hatred of Obamacare couldn’t possibly get any more ridiculous, but think again: Ted Cruz Launches Faux Filibuster as Senate Readies Spending Bill Vote.

Congress continued its steady march toward a government shutdown Tuesday with another round of posturing but little action to keep the government running past next Monday.

Both the Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate seemed poised to speed up a vote on a spending bill from House Republicans that would have funded the government through Dec. 15 but stripped out funding for the Affordable Care Act. Many Senate Republicans were prepared to vote for the measure, which they favored, and Democrats were ready to get their hands on the bill so they could amend it and restore funding for the law.

But that possibility ground to a halt as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took to the Senate floor to deliver a lengthy speech (that technically is not a filibuster, because of the Senate’s procedural rules). He began talking at 2:41 p.m. ET, announcing that “I intend to speak against Obamacare until I am no longer able to stand.”

That’s right — Cruz is not actually “filibustering,” just standing there yakking, and it’s completely meaningless. He won’t delay the vote for one second.

All you can do is point and laugh.

And then it got even more ridiculous:

Not to be outdone by would-be presidents cruz and paul, I’m told marco rubio Is headed to the senate floor in 20 minutes too

— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) September 24, 2013