The phone started ringing early this morning (Aug. 9, 2006) with people enthusiastic about what yesterday’s Democratic primary vote in Connecticut portends for Maine this fall. The callers agreed with me that as bad as Sen. Lieberman is on his support of this immoral and unjust war, Olympia Snowe is worse — much worse.
Tuesday, a majority of Democratic voters in Connecticut agreed with me on the importance of electing an anti-war U.S. Senator. They voted to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, a pro-war Bush-enabler, in the hope of ending the Iraq war/occupation and bringing our troops home. They saw in Ned Lamont a chance to refocus our energies on making America a better place, on rebalancing our budget, on rebuilding our infrastructure, on restoring our rightful place as a respected member of the world community.
I am counting on Maine voters to do the same thing in November — by electing me to replace incumbent Republican Olympia Snowe in the U.S. Senate.
“I’m running to end the war in Iraq.” I wrote that on May 26, 2005, in my campaign announcement. “It was wrong to invade a sovereign country which had not attacked us and had no means or desire to attack us. And it is wrong to stay there. Our presence there is escalating the violence against our military men and women and against the Iraqi people, violence emanating from an ‘enemy’ that we cannot recognize nor fight. The war has drained our coffers here at home to the point that essential services, including homeland security, are under-funded and are putting our own citizens at great risk. Our status in the world community is in shambles.”
That statement was made long before Hurricane Katrina hit our Gulf Coast, and we learned that badly needed National Guard troops from Louisiana and Mississippi were serving in Iraq. That was before the regrettable milestone of 2,000 troops killed in Iraq was reached — a total now nearing 2,600. In the 15 months since my U.S. Senate campaign officially began, more and more people in Maine and nationally have come to agree with my points of view.
Olympia Snowe is unabashedly a pro-war senator. She unequivocately supports the Iraq war. She voted for the Iraq War Resolution in 2002, and for every war funding bill since. Olympia Snowe stands with the President in his plan to build permanent U.S. bases on Iraqi soil. She supports the Bush-condoned pillaging of Iraqi oil by U.S. corporations.
Olympia Snowe’s primary role in the U.S. Senate is as an enabler of the Bush war agenda, an agenda that extends to the trashing of the Constitution and our Bill of Rights here at home.
Olympia Snowe has twice voted for the Patriot Act, both initially and at its reauthorization. She has twice voted to deny habeas corpus rights for those whom Bush is detaining illegally at the Guantanamo Navy Base in Cuba — human rights that date back to before the founding of this country. Olympia Snowe not only wants to pardon President Bush for his violation of the Fourth Amendment by warrantless domestic spying on U.S. citizens, she has co-authored a bill that, if passed, would allow him to continue the practice, unchecked by Congress.
Olympia Snowe in January cast a symbolic Supreme Court confirmation vote for Judge Samuel Alito — despite heavy lobbying by womens groups and people concerned about protecting the Constitution, despite Judge Alito’s action plan for dismantling Roe v. Wade, and despite his belief in the “unitary executive” concept that whatever the President does is legal by virtue of the President having done it — including the more than 750 “signing statements” George Bush has racked up so far.
What’s worse, Olympia Snowe wants to do all these things on the backs of American working families.
Olympia Snowe supports Bush’s fiscal irresponsibility and the widening of the income gap with huge tax breaks to her ultra-rich supporters, while denying average Americans the tax relief, health care, Veterans’ benefits, bankruptcy protection, a living wage and constitutional due process to which they are entitled.
The American people want peace, not more discord in the world. As demonstrated by the Connecticut vote on Tuesday, they understand our continued bullying presence in Iraq and other places around the world is contributing to a less — not more — secure future for our children and our nation.
Clearly the opinion polls, and this week’s voting results, show the Bush administration, and Bush-enablers like Olympia Snowe, are out of step with the hearts and minds of the American people.
It’s time to bring our troops home. This November, Maine voters can start that process by sending Olympia Snowe home.
