Letters to the Editor
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I'm from Ohio...
and I'm awfully proud that Sherrod Brown stood up to Harry Reid. My vote for Brown is probably the only vote I've cast where I've actually seen some returns. This was a close one.
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The Terrific Ten
I would like to stand with DonMidwest in complimenting our Senator Sherrod Brown for doing the right thing. Can anyone post the complete list of the ten who stood shoulder to shoulder with Dodd on the cloture vote (I know it was posted somewhere yesterday but I'm too swamped to go digging)? I wanna share the love around equally.
Yes, B, this is a Big Tent Revival Meeting place! With Glenn at the podium acting as our megaphone we have finally been heard!
Preach on Mr. Greenwald!
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@Jim White
I'm acknowledging you because, as I said, I was trying to get a grip on where the idea for the hold came from, and Glenn is giving you a top o' the mornin' on it.
In my short time dabbling here, I have been impressed by the clarity of thought by all who step up; and, again, though I have some professional media experience, including reporting, I'm still taking baby steps with the technology. What occurred here with the Dodd story, on the level of activism, was impressive. With that, I also sense the power of the other sites and bloggers. I can smell a good story in the old way, but I'm learning fast on the tech side.
Thank you also for previous exchanges, especially on the OLC issue and Whitehouse.
Let me put it another way (jock talk always helps): you were quarterbacking yesterday's activities here.
At the least, bloggers helped Sen. Dodd score a field goal, and post a timeout, in the United States Senate.
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@TrakkerToo
Reid said last night that he had sent a letter to Admiral McConnell asking that all senators be allowed to view the telecom documents. I believe it will be hard to refuse that request.
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The boat wobbles back upright again
In the grassroots utopia, Glenn can be the ethical/logical conscience and arbiter, bebop-o the sage, and art guerilla the poet?
Everyone here is high on happiness--when just the other day everyone was desperate to know, "What can we do?" Now you know. Your words matter. How many of your wrote letters supporting Dodd, or berating Obama and Clinton, or chastising Reid? Your letters had an impact. Some politician said that one personal letter from a constituent was worth over a thousand pre-written petition letters.
Someone in the last thread asked when was the last time we saw a Democrat we liked in Congress. Paul Wellstone. I miss him.
There is something wrong with a system in which prominent members of the Senate spend two years being too busy campaigning for President to go back and do the job the taxpayers are paying them to do. Why do we let them? Should have to quit first. Or something.
Sunny day, happy day. We win. I gotta go change diapers and dig the car out of ice.
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Just one victory and we're on our way
Somehow, someday,
We need just one victory and were on our way
Prayin' for it all day and fightin' for it all night
Give us just one victory, it will be all right
We may feel about to fall but we go down fighting
You will hear the call if you only listen
Underneath it all we are here together shining still
--- a Todd Rundgren classic, a fight song for internet activists! I recommend listening to the song to get the full power.
We've been waiting for so long!!
Thanks to Glenn and all of you for restoring my faith. I won't go away again.
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RMP reg. Anonymust.
Retired Military Patriot?
Don't you think Anonymust should listen to Perris @ 8:17?
And @ 7:57, maybe leave Good ole courageous Dodd at a more comfortable safe distance? I'm just concerned. Less sensual?
Maybe just be a bit More Platonic and Merry?
It's none of mine, or art guerrilla's beeswax.
Beeswax does put a pretty sheen on cherry wood.
I'll hush.
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Now...
...each one must get another into this...
Do not waste this spontaeneous movement...
Each one of you...do something...grow it.
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Please skip over my dead corps.
I meant Anonymust @ 8:40!
Pedinska, Alleluia sister.
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Please skip over my dead corps.
I meant Anonymust @ 8:40!
Pedinska, Alleluia sister.
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Harry Reid's Vietnam War Logic:
"In order to save the Democratic Party, it was necessary to destroy it."
Yeah, that's the ticket!
Homer voice: Pesky voters (Grrr...)
Lisa: Dad!
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Logrolling
Glenn, I ask your indulgence, and that of the other commenters. Yesterday I received this from a friend of mine, who is -- as I am -- a supporter of Howard Shanker, who is running for Congress in the 1st District in Arizona. He asked her to post it in the comments section on Firedoglake, and as many other blogs as she could. She, in turn, asked me to post it on UT. (I should note that it arrived just before Dodd took the floor to make his speech.)
Normally, I'd be very reluctant to do what she asked, as Glenn's blog is not a place for partisan campaigning. What changed my mind was the thought that it's a perfect example of the way that the influence bloggers have on particular issues, like telecom immunity, can spread more widely through the political process. In meeting with his supporters, Howard has always been very open about his opposition to the abominations of the so-called unitary executive, but I don't think I've ever heard him mention it on the stump. If that now changes -- as this piece seems to indicate -- the victory yesterday may not be as small as some seem to think:
We Must Become the Party of Boldness, Not Acquiescence
Howard Shanker
Boldness. It is a word that has defined our history. This week alone marks the anniversaries of the landing at Plymouth Rock, the Wright brothers' first flight and the launch of the first manned mission to the moon. As Democrats, we are the party of bold measures such as the New Deal, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift and Apollo project to reach the moon. More importantly, every single day as Americans we continue what is often called a "bold experiment in democracy" that many questioned whether it would last two decades let alone two centuries.
In the hallowed halls of Congress are many busts and tributes to men of courage and conviction who have played an essential part in this bold experiment. Sadly these lions of American history are unable to speak today to the cowering sheep of today's Congress.
Last November, the American people spoke loudly - they wanted change. Today, nearly seventy percent of Americans want us to begin withdrawing from Iraq, but time and time again the Democratic leadership has sheepishly caved in to a Lilliputian President whose approval rating is in the twenties.
Two centuries ago, our founding fathers drafted a charter of liberty to protect us from the abuses of King George. Two central elements of that charter are the separation of powers by which each branch is held accountable and the Bill of Rights which protects the sanctity of our homes from encroachment by warrantless searches and seizures and guarantees us due process under law.
Last month, however, the Senate confirmed an Attorney General nominee who believed that the charter of expediency trumped this charter of liberty. This week the Congress will vote on expanding the ability of another George to freely monitor our communications and granting immunity to the telecom companies that illegally handed over our personal data to this administration without a warrant.
Fortunately, lions still exist. Senator Dodd and others have pledged to filibuster and block this abandonment of our rights. We must stand with them in this fight because this is not about big business or nuances of law, it is about the same principle that led the Minutemen at Lexington to fire the "shot heard round the world" - liberty. It is time that we Democrats rediscovered the sense of boldness that led 75 badly outnumbered Lexington farmers to believe they could defeat an empire.
It was this same sense of boldness that led Harry Truman to launch the Berlin Airlift in 1948 after the Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin leaving its 2.5 million citizens with only enough food for 36 days. Although one general declared an airlift to be "absolutely impossible," in the first battle of the Cold War Harry Truman decided to make the impossible possible. Over fifteen months, the Berlin Airlift delivered 2.3 million tons of supplies - and even Bob Hope - with a plane landing every minute at its peak. In the battle between the possible and liberty - liberty had won.
For many years the world has looked up to America precisely because our commitment to liberty was absolute and our belief that nothing was impossible. Sadly, this has not been the case for the last seven years, as Congress has sheepishly succumbed to the neocon wolves' lust for power at the expense of our liberty. Last November, however, the American people elected a new Congress and now expect to hear the roar of leadership not the bleating of acquiescence.
It is time that the Capitol reverberates with the thunder of Democrats' determination to defend our liberty, just as the crackle of muskets echoed in the fields of Lexington. It is time for a Congress that is absolute in its defense of liberty and rejection of the impossible. In sum, it is time for Democrats to once again become the party of boldness.
BIO: Howard Shanker is founder of The Shanker Law Firm and a Democratic candidate for Congress in Arizona's First District. Howard, who was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, has represented Indian tribes, the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity and community groups in landmark cases to protect the environment from improper development.