The "You Work For Us" Summer Tour
By Nicole Belle Sunday Aug 05, 2007 6:03pmEmotions are running high right now...there's a lot of justifiable anger out in the blogosphere (or blogtopia, for skippy). The question now falls to you how you want to manage that anger. I see a lot of disgust that I fear will result in low voter turnout. I see a lot of ranting and raving on comment threads. But rather than throwing up our hands in defeat, Christy at FireDogLake has a suggestion to put our frustration into action:
Dear Elected Members of Congress: Welcome to the "You Work For Us Summer Tour." Coming to a public venue near you. And that is a stone cold promise.
This is your LiLo Don't Drink And Drive Night at the minor leagues accountability moment, members of Congress. What group am I with when I call to make an appointment for me and a few hundred of my closest friends? I'm with "people who vote." We are pissed off and disgusted. And you work for us, so we'll be discussing your performance evaluation every opportunity that we get. We'll be calling for an appointment shortly, so make a little space on your calendars.
You thought you were getting the month of August off to head out to friendly little senior centers and county fairs where you get to do your political shuck and gladhand and eat some homemade pie? Not so fast, slick.
Now that Congress has handed over the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the standard of probable cause as if they were mere wisps of nothingness that weren't hard won from Runnymede through to the American Revolution and beyond, I have to wonder what has become of the fourth amendment in all of this mess? And, worse, whether Congressional leadership on either side of the aisle cares beyond getting the legislation out of the way so they can head out for vacation?
This is why I love the activism of the netroots. We've been able to manifest our voices into real change in the past and we'll do it again. I don't care if your reps are Democrats, Republicans or Joe Lieberman. Call them. They're at home this month. Make an appointment. Make them answer to you. And if they voted on the right side of the FISA bill (as mine did), then CONGRATULATE THEM. Positive reinforcement goes a long way.
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Christy's idea is great
Quick question -- what happens if most of your reps voted correctly and a few others voted incorrectly. Do they have separate offices to communicate with them or do you have to send one lukewarm message "I'm so disappointed/proud of you for foolishly/heroically voting to destroy/protect my civil liberties."?
you said it (and so did i)
people might also want to join the effort already underway at PaxAmericana.
Congress is busy vacationing.....in Dubai.......they will get back with us in a month or so...
I've seen the roll call for the Congresscritters, but I haven't seen the one for the Senators. Anyone know how Bill Nelson voted on this?
Every Congressperson needs to get an earful while they're off vacationing -- words of wisdom from those of us who can't AFFORD to take a fucking vacation to even distract ourselves from the prospect of losing our RIGHTS.
My congressman thinks the Bagdad markets are just like the local farmer's markets.
Personally I think we should all vow to not vote for anyone now in office. Keep putting new folks in every election until they recognize once again they work for us!
My position and requirements are unacceptable to them I suspect.
1) As I am NOT a member of the US culture of death - I want clear statements condemning war and proposing cooperative collaboration instead. I want the US to benefit but not at anyones expense or for the profit of any corporation.
2) I want statements for the FDR economic bill of rights.
3) I want a cesation of triangulation and a return to principle driven behavior.
4) I want a promise to end corporate personhood
5) I want nafta repealed
6) I want wto abandoned
7) I want promises to ferrit out and eliminate political appointees that have burrowed into the government as sleepers. (Yes there are sleepers in the government)
8) I want a commitment to civil society in the acceptance of taxes to fund it - government must protect the citizen and the interests of the citizen.
9) I want a YES VOTE for HR-676. I dont want to hear about their great idea for health care reform.
10) I want prison terms for the criminals currently in government and I want Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, Rice, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle delivered to the Hague to stand trial.
Sounds like alot doesnt it. It isnt. I could ask for more.
Anything less than the above and this isnt my country. It is a country I wouldnt choose out of a lineup.
(unedited)
I agree that the time for just angry blogging is at an end...we all need to do something more to let the Republicans, the Dems who voted withem, and the White House, know how disgusted we are with all their positions on habeaus corpus, FISA laws, and the steady erosion of personal freedoms. I'm not saying we should storm the White House, although that would get the attention of the MSM, but something to let the Power Structure how unhappy most of the US is with their actions and deceptions.
The absolutely pathetic collapse of the Democrats in both the House and the Senate in their stand against an illegal and immoral bill, just staggers the imagination...
I didn't think I could get angrier, but when I found out my Senator, Dianne Feinstein voted for it...my head exploded. Literally!-it's all over my walls!
I've emailed and called her offices, and any of you Californians should do the same: go to her home page if you want addresses and emails.
Feinstein Numbers
Northern California-Phone: (415) 393-0707
LA/SantaBarbara,Ventura-Phone: (310) 914-7300
San Diego-Phone: (619) 231-9712
Fresno/Valley-Phone: (559) 485-7430
Leonard @ 8:
Do you mean a bumpersticker?
It says re-elect no one
where would one find out who voted fro/against this? i'm curious what was decided by my officlas in ny but also my home state of la...la i'm thinking prob rolled over like the republicns they are, but i want to check
thanks
This is what happens when you "compromise" or follow the path of "appeasement" with a tyrant!
After wiretapping victory, Bush says he wants more authority from Congress
The day after President George W. Bush marshaled political forces in Congress to grant him greater authority to engage in counterterrorism-related spying, the president stated that he would seek greater changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when the legislative branch returns to work in September.
"While I appreciate the leadership it took to pass this bill, we must remember that our work is not done," the President said in his Sunday statement. "This bill is a temporary, narrowly focused statute to deal with the most immediate shortcomings in the law."
The President said next month he would focus on further immunizing private companies that cooperate with government wiretapping. However, he used complicated language to describe these activities.
"When Congress returns in September the Intelligence committees and leaders in both parties will need to complete work on the comprehensive reforms requested by Director McConnell, including the important issue of providing meaningful liability protection to those who are alleged to have assisted our Nation following the attacks of September 11, 2001," he said.
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/After_wiretapping_victory_Bush_says_he_080...
While Bush meets with Boehner once a week to ‘plot strategy.’
And while Cheney is meeting with.......?
Go ahead.. keep our country safe…..
Very soon.. Congressional Representatives will be meeting with their constituents
to find out what is REALLY going on in Washington D.C.
the key issue to understand with the FISA vote is...
all the illegal activities the administration was engaged in have now been made legal.
And it tells us where they all stand.. these voted with the Republicans…
Now the question is Which Americans have they been spied on since 2001 -And Why?
Rep. Jason Altmire [D, PA-4] Aye
Rep. John Barrow [D, GA-12] Aye
Rep. Melissa Bean [D, IL-8] Aye
Rep. Dan Boren [D, OK-2] Aye
Rep. Leonard Boswell [D, IA-3] Aye
Rep. F. Allen Boyd [D, FL-2] Aye
Rep. Christopher Carney [D, PA-10] Aye
Rep. Ben Chandler [D, KY-6] Aye
Rep. Jim Cooper [D, TN-5] Aye
Rep. Jim Costa [D, CA-20] Aye
Rep. Robert Cramer [D, AL-5] Aye
Rep. Henry Cuellar [D, TX-28] Aye
Rep. Artur Davis [D, AL-7] Aye
Rep. Lincoln Davis [D, TN-4] Aye
Rep. Joe Donnelly [D, IN-2] Aye
Rep. Thomas Edwards [D, TX-17] Aye
Rep. Brad Ellsworth [D, IN-8] Aye
Rep. Bob Etheridge [D, NC-2] Aye
Rep. Barton Gordon [D, TN-6] Aye
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin [D, SD-0] Aye
Rep. Brian Higgins [D, NY-27] Aye
Rep. Baron Hill [D, IN-9] Aye
Rep. Nicholas Lampson [D, TX-22] Aye
Rep. Daniel Lipinski [D, IL-3] Aye
Rep. James Marshall [D, GA-8] Aye
Rep. Jim Matheson [D, UT-2] Aye
Rep. Mike McIntyre [D, NC-7] Aye
Rep. Charles Melancon [D, LA-3] Aye
Rep. Harry Mitchell [D, AZ-5] Aye
Rep. Collin Peterson [D, MN-7] Aye
Rep. Earl Pomeroy [D, ND-0] Aye
Rep. Ciro Rodriguez [D, TX-23] Aye
Rep. Mike Ross [D, AR-4] Aye
Rep. John Salazar [D, CO-3] Aye
Rep. Heath Shuler [D, NC-11] Aye
Rep. Victor Snyder [D, AR-2] Aye
Rep. Zackary Space [D, OH-18] Aye
Rep. John Tanner [D, TN-8] Aye
Rep. Gene Taylor [D, MS-4] Aye
Rep. Timothy Walz [D, MN-1] Aye
Rep. Charles Wilson [D, OH-6]
I wonder what these two Republicans know.
They voted with Pelosi against the bill.
Johnson (IL)
Jones (NC)
Ayes: 226 (Democrat: 41; Republican: 185)
Nays: 183 (Democrat: 181; Republican: 2)
Abstained: 23 (Democrat: 9; Republican: 14)
http://www.opencongress.org/roll_call/show/1806
Now the question is Which Americans have they been spied on since 2001 -And Why?
Nicole, if you want to stop contributing to voter suppression and defections to third parties, try writing more accurate headlines and avoid blanket misleading statements like: DEMOCRATS CAVE IN TO BUSH ADMINISTRATION, when it is really only a few Democrats who have caved. Avoid shallow
headline grabbing cliches and overly broad statements like Cenk's:
The majority of Democrats just happened to vote against giving Bush the power to conduct warrantless wire tap authority but no one would know it from the sensation grabbing, poorly considered and shallowly thought out opinion pieces that have been appearing on Progressive blogs about this story. You guys are doing Karl Roves job for him. All it takes is a handful of ringers (blue dogs) in the Democratic party to bring down the whole house.
Instead, why don't you put up floor speeches by Democrats who did oppose this horrendous bill? Try urging people to get organized and vote in primaries against ringers in the Democratic party who vote against the public interest. How many angry posters here do you think ever even bother to vote in primaries? Very few, they'd rather whine later on about the limited choice they have after they've gotten stuck with the establishment candidate. Educated Democratic voters in CT gave Lieberman the boot and now he can no longer act as an agent provocateur undermining the party from the inside out. Inform your readers of how individual Democrats voted and who should be targeted during primaries by running true Progressives. Is that so hard?
what is with the main page, its gone all stupid
I just read Sen. Feingold’s column on HuffPost, explaining the recent activities and calling for censure.
In my view, perhaps the journalists have called in to report the news that Bush didn’t want the public to know were victim’s of Bush’s newfound surveillance program; only to be killed in iraq mysteriously or friendly bombings.
How many journalists have been killed so far? Can you count them?
Bush is afraid of getting caught by those journalists and therefore is undermining the natural rights of the citizens.
Mob rule only get worse!
If I were you, I would be very skeptical about Lieberman running the show from the Independent quarters. His loyal senators have participated in granting the president untold powers. Mr. Feingold will be defeated once again by these loyalists.
Snowball @ 15:
In theory, the democrats control the agenda, that is ... the democrats ... except in this case. They allowed a critical vote on an issue they new they would lose to the detriment of the fascists ...
Parse it anyway you would like.
... I would call that caving. The republicans would never have allowed the vote.
that should have read 'lose to our detriment , to the fascists' (clumsy)
The Smiths Go To Washington@14
Thanks for posting that list. One of them is my Congress critter Baron Hill (D) and yes, I did vote against him in the primaries and for the Progressive Gretchen Clearwater. While I'm sad that she lost to Hill, I'm still convinced that getting rid of Mike Sodrel (R) was an achievement. Not as far as I would like to go, but still we're better off. I happen to live in a Red state and still see a lot of W'04 bumper stickers.
I was surfing and caught a story on CNN about the Dems voting for W's unconcionable spying plan. Apparently people across the country are totally pissed. The anchor was trying to say that the Dems had to vote for it before they go on summer break or if "something" bad happened they would get the political fallout.
Y'know, it seems to me that's what's wrong with every politician in this country. Always worrying about the "fallout" instead of leading the country and standing up for what's right. In my opinion there are only two members of the whole entire Congress who are worth their salt and one is an independent and the other one is a Socialist.
anon@18
No parsing involved, just critical thinking instead of knee jerk reacting.
THERE SHOULD BE A YEARLY CIVIL SERVICE TEST FOR SENATE AND HOUSE TESTING KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONSTITUTION.Under 70% and you`re OUT.
Oh,did I say for the pres.and vice-pres.,too?
Snowball @ 20:
We just drove across country to a new job and we saw LOTS of W '04 stickers. It just boggles the mind.
Congresscritters and the administration don't work for us voters, and haven't for years.
Something I learned in marketing class. The people who fund the politicians are who they work for. Big corporate interests and deep pocket bundlers. They just manipulate us to to let us think we have something to say about it. Like the customers of newspapers are the advertisers, not the readers. Watch the Ron Paul poll manipulation if you don't believe me.
And until you wake up the 80% percent of the population who no longer give a flip about politics things aren't going to change. And the worse the bickering gets the fewer the people that are going to pay attention.
Oh, and most of the W '04 stickers were on old, beat up pickup trucks driven by down and out people who undoubtedly don't have a pot to pee in, but they just love those Republicans! Go figure.
Snowball @ 22:
Then you have no idea how the republicans play this game. Its not about decorum, roberts rules of order and fairness. The democrats control the agenda and allowed - in this case - the republicans to have their agenda with no credible attempt to deny them that.
I dont see critical thinking, I see myopia.
Reid and Pelosi too often serve the interests of Bush - as in this case (Reid) ... caving. This isnt about bean counting. Its about the excersize of power - which the democrats seem to be unfamiliar with.
kaT @ 26:
The ones that I've been seeing are brand spanking new, and on beat up clunkers. It's awful, but real.
If the president is grabbing powers to undermine the rights of the citizens and wiretapping them, how about sending back those who hold dual citizenships in this country? They are not loyal to this country and should never hold office of the govt.
I apologize for being harsh; if the president wants to see order, he should first check who is holding dual citizenships in this country.
anon @ 27:
Damn this infernal commenting system!
So what do you propose?
Snowball @ 31:
The leadership needs to learn how to use a knife in a fight - politically. This needs to become about winning - not to the extent the thugs on the right make it about winning - but to the extent that the nation is preserved.
Civililty will not preserve the nation against barbarians with a limitless hunger for plunder and conquest. It will take a very large club.
They need to control everything that moves from the comittees to the floor - allow participation when it is not destructive to the nation - and crush everything else with vigor.
Think about the power they could excert through backstage deal making given their 'control'. I would argue their influence could be nearly that of Rove at this point - but only if they 1) use it and 2) have even the vaguest understanding of what 'it' is.
This vote was nearly criminal in my opinion - retroactively legallizing behavior that has already been identified as criminal - it should never have been allowed to happen. (Personally, I wouldnt want to be in a fight along side either Reid or Pelosi).
That at least is what I mean by 'the democrats caved'. They have power - should be wielding it, and arent - its as if they are afraid.
As a final note vis Reid - Lyndon Johnson would be running congress much differently. That democrat knew how to make a deal, bust a head and kiss an ass. If the democrats had someone cut from that cloth in leadership, I doubt any of this would be happening.
I'm tired of being angry. I'm tired of believing the people who say they are going to bring accountability back to Washington, when all they do is lie. I'm tired of believing they care more about this country than they do their stupid vacations.
I hate the democrats, and don't think I will ever support one again. They have lied to me and betrayed me for the last time. Every time they had the opportunity to stand tall and brave and proud for America, they caved and whined. George Bush threatens vetoes, they cave. The republicans threaten to filibuster, they cave. George Bush tells people to ignore congressional subpoenas, and they cave. George Bush threatens to make them stay over and they CAVE AND PASS AN ILLEGAL UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAW!!!!!
I'm sick of them. They are nothing to me any more. Not the ones in congress and not the ones running for office!!!! They are every bit the liars and betrayers that the republicans are!!!! Screw them all. If this country means that little to them, then they aren't worth the salt in my frustrated tears.
They aren't leaders. Hell they aren't even good followers. I'm tired of our having to hold their hands to make them do what is right. I'm tired of our having to drag them kicking and screaming to even consider doing what is right. This country is going down the tubes as fast or faster than Iraq, and they haven't got the balls or the brains to do anything about it. George Bush plays them for the fools that they are and he wins everytime, without even having to play the god damned game!!!!
This doesn't even begin to cover my anger, and my frustration and my utter disillusionment!!!! I hate them. I don't care what they do anymore. Give me 10 despicable, greedy, evil, conniving, scheming, horrible republicans over 1 pathetic, impotent, whining, sniveling, incompetent, inconstant, lying weasel of a democrat. At least with the republicans, I know where I stand.
Y'all can have them, and by my reckoning, even for free, they are overpriced.
These ass monkeys go on vacation while our boys toil for 'blood oil'. We are left with voting for the one that lies to US the best. and that's if our vote even counts anymore.
[Deleted. Repetitive blogwhoring]
I do enjoy summer excitement. Perhaps we should back this up with some credible Grand Jury support activities. They didn't listen to our mandate in 2006; no rason to believe they'll listen now. They only understand indictments. Support adjudicating Members of Congress for their oath of office violations. You know where you can get support.
Hey, can we use UB-40's "Sing Our Own Song" as our anthem going forward with our appointments and demonstrations (even though it applies to South Africa the message is sounding eerily similar)...it sounds great.
i call for a general sacking of the entire govt. all the senators and reps, the supreme court, and the entire white house staff as they have consistently failed the country for the last 16 years. no chance for unemployment and an absolute denial of severance and retirement benefit packages. maybe we should confiscate their assets as well. and absolutely no chance for re-election.
i'm tired of the far left and far right wings. what happened to moderates?
bookmark this one. It is the quickest list for finding your representatives....
Yellowbird @ 41:
Hey! Where did my link go? http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
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