1. Ignore the media whores. Karl Rove is feeding them lies as he always does, and they are swallowing those lies as they always do. The only media that matters is the media we are creating right here by calling each Senator and getting a YES or NO statement from them.I don't know whether this fight can be won, but we must fight nonetheless. Battle has more honor than cynicism.
2. Keep calling the Senators who are undecided or opposed to a filibuster. You can call their DC office all weekend and leave polite but firm voicemails urging the Senators to support Kerry's filibuster. When offices open on Monday 9 a.m. ET, make another round of calls. Let's shut down the Capitol switchboard on Monday!
3. Call the DNC (202-863-8000) and the DSCC (202-224-2447) and tell them your 2006 contributions will depend on the success of the Alito filibuster. Tell them they need to get every Democratic Senator on board.
4. Wake up the sleeping bloggers. Where are the biggest blogs, including DailyKos.com, TalkingPointsMemo.com, CrooksandLiars.com, and AmericaBlog.com?
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Support the Alito filibuster
A couple of readers have asked why I haven't mentioned the Alito filibuster. Truth is, others have already expressed my sentiments. So let me simply repeat some suggestions made on Democrats.com:
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3 comments:
Do you call this a political Party?
A last ditch plea to:
Robert Byrd
Tim Johnson
Ben Nelson
Mary Landreu
Kent Conrad
Daniel Akaka
Ken Salazar
Byron Dorgon
Patric Leahy
Charles Schumer
Barak Obama
Etc.
Cc to:
John Kerry
Edward Kennedy
Howard Dean
Senator Harry Reid has bad news for us. It appears that we Democrats can’t seem to get our numbers together enough to support John Kerry. There are just too many Democrats remaining who don’t think it’s worth it to oppose Samuel Alito’s nomination and to keep the Senate from overriding Kerry’s filibuster. That seems to be it. We now throw up our hands and give up. Forget the good old LBJ arm-twisting, the dealing and the begging or even appeals to party unity.
The Republicans are, as usual, in lockstep like a great mindless, seamless wall of automatons united behind the President. Isn’t it so very nice that the spirit of democracy and variety of opinion is so much with us even in this, our last official act as a viable Party? We are so tolerant of our precious diversity and so loving towards those Democrats who cannot see that this is the end of the road for us. Apparently none of us thinks this matter is important enough to, for once, set aside the issues that divide us and, for once, close ranks even if only to save the Party and the country.
Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that this is all a tempest in a tea pot, that Sam Alito is one grand old fellow, that this is not the over throw of the Judiciary by the Executive and a most profound shredding of our Constitution. Might it not still be a good idea to come to the aid of the Party just to avoid the sight of John Kerry twisting in the wind? Wouldn’t it perhaps be a good idea, just this once, to stand together as a united party against the Republican onslaught? You know they are just drooling like orcs at the prospect of this issue being the coups de grace of the two party system. Wouldn’t it be worth it, after all, to show our fifty-three percent of the American people that at least we have the dignity of a last united fight before our death – to say with one voice, “I am a Democrat, the last member of my species - descendant of a great and honorable legacy arising like Lazarus one last time from the dead to tell you all and I shall tell you all…”
Let ME tell you something. None of you are true Democrats or true democrats. You are not participating in some wonderful expression of diversity and you are not the members of a Party that stands for anything. After Tuesday there will no longer be a Democratic Party. You will be just a miscellaneous pack of dogs not worthy even to be hunted down in the street and certainly not worthy of the trust of the American people. No one will look to you for programs, platforms, alternative policies or any responsible position of trust ever again.
After Tuesday the Democratic Party will cease to exist. Say it: we once had a party and we lost it. We once could field candidates who honorably lead, who inspired, who could wage a just war and who could rebuild our nation and the world. We let it die because, in a most dire hour, we were more interested in our own private agendas and ambitions than putting aside these petty concerns and resisting a common evil - and we were blind and deaf to the tidal wave that finally engulfed us.
I know none of you will change as a result of my poor words. Even in this late hour you will not come together like honorable men and women of courage and pluck. I am through writing you. I doubt if you ever were persuaded by the power of reason and the needs of the country unless there was a buck attached to it. Well I am going to give you a break. You will be happy to know that you are not going to have to put up with my letters ever again. Petitioning of one’s representatives for grievances is only valid in a democracy and finally it seems, thanks to you, we have lost ours.
I want to wish you good luck in whatever line of work you decide to spend the rest of your life doing - even if it is just begging for scraps at the table of the Republican Party. We had a pretty good run at it didn’t we? It was a noble experiment and it lasted almost 230 years! Not bad. As Kurt Vonnegut said in his famous novel Slaughterhouse Five, “So it goes.”
Peace,
Robert Boldt
Jefferson City, MO
GREAT letter, bob!!
we should, despite the nay-saying, keep up the heat. and as for reid, ya know, i've grown really fond of this guy, impressed by his poker playing style. i would not be surprised if he made that statement to spur on activism in support. think about it; had he said we think we may get it together, do you think activists would be working as hard?
joe's idea to load up voicemail on the hill was a good one. so i made a few calls, starting with akaka. well, it was full, as were the next few, so i called some at random; all full.
we could send faxes, but that's not as effective as a phone call for these purposes because the staff will not weight non-constituent area codes as much. so i suggest everyone fax their own senators over the weekend, and then hit the phones first thing monday morning. if staff ask who you are and where you live, give your name but you can gracefully decline to share personal info (we all get more junk mail and emails than we want, right?).
regardless of the outcome, a huge fight is well worth the effort.
I suspect the phone thing may be a waste of time. Either the lines will be busy or the boxes full. If you have lots of time it's worth a go. Save yourself a dime and use the Capitol Switchboard numbers:
888-355-3588
888-818-6641
What I would suggest on a limited time frame with no fax machine, is email the hell out of the filibuster non-supporter Senators using the PDA site:
http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/dbq/officials/
It's really fast, painless and more important it will get those all important nunber of "voters' emails for the filibuster" up there for the Senator's bieifing.
LOL,
Bob Boldt
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