As a lifelong Democrat who loves his country and so very much values the liberties and protections with which we are endowed by our great constitution, I am pleased to learn that you will be voting against confirmation of Samuel Alito for appointment to the Supreme Court.
However, with heartfelt sadness, I have to tell you that a simple no vote against Alito is not enough. Should you fail to participate in an attempt to filibuster this nominee, I will regard such behavior as not only negligent on your part, but as a direct abdication of your sworn oath as a member of congress to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States.
It is inconceivable to me that you, along with so many other Democrats in congress, are seemingly more concerned with a strategy of compromise in the (foolish, in my opinion) hope that such capitulation to the desires of the Bush regime will enhance Democratic Party chances for electoral victory in ’06 and again in ’08; that you find this strategic calculus far more important than actually standing up against the most obvious threat to the very relevance of our constitution and the core principles that have guided our country from the beginning.
Samuel Alito is the personification of this threat, and the fact that you and so many of your colleagues can blithely determine to vote against him in open session yet fail to fully acknowledge the true nature and scope of the threat he poses represents a hypocrisy on an order of magnitude I cannot even begin to describe in words.
Whatever electoral calculus you and your Democratic colleagues may be using to legitimize this strategy, I can only say to you that there are literally tens of millions of us regular democratic voters and citizens out here who repudiate the very premise that not doing all that is possible to block this nomination from going forward is going to be advantageous on any level to the country or to the Democratic party.
There are many many more of us now than there were just a few short years ago who now understand fully the simple idea that, as long as our Democratic representatives fail to stand up vigorously for our principles and beliefs, as long as they continue to “go along to get along” with the Republican machine, we will not be sending you any money, any volunteers, and certainly many fewer votes than previously.
I hope you may understand before too much longer that If you are not different enough from the Republicans to make a difference, we have no use for you, and the sooner we push you out, the sooner we’ll be able to replace you with new representatives that will stand up for that which we value.
I sent this to my Senator Bill Nelson here in Florida. He’s announced he’ll vote against Alito, I haven’t heard him advocate for filibuster, and I douibt I will. Hence the letter.
