I’ve written and called my own Senators. I made it clear. I don’t care what they have done for me in the past. Alito has got to go. And I told them they were accountable for their fellow Democrats. I wasn’t taking 41+ no votes for an answer. If over 41 Democrats think he ought not to be on the bench, then they have an option. It is to band together and filibuster. Voting no is only symbolic. 41 votes to filibuster is meaningful. And if the Republicans go nuclear, so be it. It is my own “tactical nuclear” option. Get your shit together and stop this nomination, or die trying, or I am walking away from this silly party. No more money. No more volunteering. No more votes. I’ll waste my vote on third-party candidates who at least believe in something. And get my ass kicked that way. But this is the big enchilada. For all the marbles. The Super Bowl of nominations. Get it done.
And when it wasn’t good enough to just tell my own Senators this simple message, I decided to tell every Democratic Senator the same thing. Wrote them all. And the Independent. 42 letters (already had Michigan Senators covered, and Menendez from NJ had no e-mail) in an hour. The wonders of e-mail and cut and paste.
Here is my form letter:
Dear Senator,
I am writing to ask that you filibuster the Alito confirmation vote. I’ve been voting Democratic for two decades. The right of privacy as defined in Roe v. Wade is a core issue to me. I have always understood it to be a core issue to Democrats. I’m going to tell you now, what I’ve written to my own Senators:
It is not good enough to simply vote against Alito’s confirmation. That is mere symbolism. As I understand it, it is very likely that the Democrats will have 41 Senators in opposition to this right-wing extremist of a nominee. And if you cannot come together as a party to filibuster this nomination, then I might as well be wasting my vote on a third-party candidate every year who at least agrees with my positions on the issues. Or not voting at all. Or contributing. Or working on Democratic campaigns.
Let me be clear. If the Republican senate wishes to over-ride your filibuster by the so-called “nuclear option,” so be it. If the Democratic party takes a black-eye in the corporate media for this filibuster, so be it. But you have to stand for something as a party. And if it is not for pro-choice issues, then I am no longer with you. A strong no vote is not good enough. A filibuster is required.
Thank you for considering my thoughts.
A concerned citizen,
And a couple of personally tailored notes. Ben “Nighthorse” Nelson — pull your head out of your ass and be a Democrat or I’m sending a check to your opponent. Mary Landrieu — shut the fuck up about how the Senate has important things to do and can’t risk the upset that a filibuster will cause or I’m sending a check to your opponent. Jeffords the I — I wish I lived in Vermont, hope you can help out on this project.
Probably not very effective. But what the hell else can a guy do. Move to Canada and hope that their case of wing-nuts won’t grow like ours did. We have elephantitis of the wing-nuts. And I bet those hockey playing bastards are gonna get it, too. 🙁
