Letters to the Editor
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You are no retired patriot.
One bad Harry Reid that takes to-seed can grow to uproot the entire country house.
The foundation will crumble. The House and Senate crashes to dust before our eyes. You are a distinguished rural gentleman doing good weeding. You and others upkeep the mud-masonry to fill the creaks with good cement-tender. Good glue patch.
Methinks the conversation can continue to draw many caring citizens who practice due discipline and fine diligence. You do repair maintenance.
There are some real connoisseurs of good verbal nutriments. The nation is so much better for it! The input is, IMO- It's
just an opinion. Excellent.
O, remember: I'm a upstart.
One bad seed will/can uproot.
A bad-root from one bad-weed seed, from a Harry Reid etc.,
will cause a foundation to break-apart. Any urban or rural house just crumbles. Thanks for tolerance. Yea. Hope. Yes.
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indian looking for a chief
Very cool goings on yesterday.
not to rain on the parade...
What can we do in the next few weeks to increase the probability of a second consecutive victory?
Perhaps a deluge of calls/emails to more senators? Is there value in writing to local/regional media outlets and letting them know what happened in the Senate yesterday and why it matters so much?
I'm less inclined to sit back and watch things happen and hope for the best. But I'm young and inexperienced and not at all clever. So what can I do? suggestions?
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FISA victoiry
Hooray for our side!
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Who else can be thanked?
Glenn, thanks for the recap of the events leading to yesterday's triumph (even if it's only a temporary victory). It is glorious to bask in this success, even if all the heavy lifting has to be repeated all over again in a few weeks.
Senator Dodd mentioned a number of speakers who supported his position on the floor. I emailed my thanks to Senator Kennedy and Senator Feingold yesterday evening. It seems I overlooked:
Ron Wyden
Bill Nelson
Barbara Boxer
Sharon (?) Brown - or, is it Sandra?
These were folks Senator Dodd mentioned in the clip you posted. I, humbly, suggest as many people who are inclined email their thanks to these folks as well. I may not be one of their constituents, but I owe them my gratitude for their willingness to act on behalf of the whole country - which includes me. Perhaps someone could correct the spelling or names of those Dodd mentioned as I've listed them here. I didn't catch every speaker on C-Span, but Senator Dodd is right, the folks he mentions, whom I did see, offered tremendous support.
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"Guerrilla tactics"
The term "geurrilla" derives from the diminutive form of the Spanish term for war: guerra. I suppose it is entirely appropriate here, for we were indeed a smaller, more mobile force than the large, formal army of the Administration which was staunchly opposed to our efforts to restore the Constitution and the rule of law.
To be effective in the long term, it will be necessary to enlist more and more people on our side. As Glenn points out in the post and as Senator Dodd points out in the video, there will be a significant massing of forces to prepare for the next battle in mid-January. It is vital that we take advantage of this interim period to enhance our forces. I intend to thank each of the Senators who voted against cloture and especially to thank those who helped Senator Dodd yesterday. I also intend to continue contacting those Senators who have any prospect of coming around to the views we have expressed. We all need to contact as many people as possible to spread the word. Letters to local newspapers can be very effective right now in pointing out how this interim victory was achieved and what is needed to make it permanent.
How ironic it is that this battle, aimed at holding the telecommunications companies accountable for their actions, is being waged so effectively with the aid of modern communications technology. The rapidity with which this effort coalesced around Senator Dodd would not have been possible even a few years ago. Of course, both sides use the technology, as I noted that Senator Bond read part of his statement in response to Senator Dodd off a Blackberry or smart phone (with a lot of verbal stumbling as he fumbled with the device to find the text which had been sent to him).
I am proud to be one of the bloguerillas who are rightly celebrating a long-awaited victory in an important battle. Let us not lose sight of the battles which remain and use this opportunity to marshal more forces and more winning arguments to our side.
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"Dodd seemed to be truly inspired by the activism and he followed the lead and got something done."
Not only that, but he was truly gracious (with not a hint of gloating) in his willingness to share the credit with those on the floor with him yesterday, and especially the army at his back. (Us, citizens, bloggers, et al)
There has been such a dearth of Graciousness from the WH these past 7 years... and really, it should be such a simple social attribute for anyone seeking the office of, or acting as, our president.
I am long past weary of feeling terminal embarrassment on behalf of our fearless leader.
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Glenn, add my congratulations, too, to the many deserved kudos coming your way after your undaunted leadership on the entire FISA issue.
Now, we can all be prepared for the next Dismal Debbie (?) who claims nothing really good can come from blogging.
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Art guerrilla @ 7:57
Now that's some jive poking the head out from the beautiful
Sycamore Tree's hollow big cavity!
I'm happy we have no toothache too!
Thank you sincerely, and I sense no monkey business.
You make me get all darn too giggly!
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Let's not get too excited here . . .
This is an incredible relief -- and just the sort of encouragement that I've been needing for a long time now. Nevertheless, the cynic in me has to get his two cents in.
I would love to think Dodd truly believes in his stance, but I can't help but think that he is following a strategy to build support for his election campaign. Not that there is anything wrong with this, but if it is true, it does suggest 2 things to keep in mind over the next year. First, this is an experiment. Dodd is taking a chance that an appeal to the blogosphere will win him support -- and most importantly, money! If it doesn't, I'm not so sure he will continue to take such impassioned stances in the future. I think we should all take steps to insure Dodd (and everyone else who's paying attention) believes that listening to the people (via a web-savvy subset) is the way to go. Second, if it is true that the blogosphere, through Dodd, is responsible for pulling the rug out from under the administration and its enablers, then I think it's reasonable to expect future attacks on the free exchange of info on the net.
Let's celebrate, but keep in mind, this is only one small victory.
- Grant