[From the diaries by susanhu.]
Those are the words of Colorado Democratic Senator Ken Salazar in an article in today’s New York Times in reference to the nomination of Sam Alito to the Supreme Court.
Some Democratic members of the group said Tuesday that it was premature to rule out a filibuster on Judge Alito’s nomination.
“It certainly is a possibility,” Senator Ken Salazar, a Colorado Democrat in the group, said.
“It may include some Republicans as well as Democrats,” Mr. Salazar said, criticizing the president for naming a man instead of a woman to succeed Justice O’Connor. “America deserves better than what we got here.”
I am a frequent critic of Senator Salazar, whom I worked hard to elect. But today he gets it, and he needs to hear that we appreciate his words and would like to see them become actions when Mr. Alito is unmasked as dangerously far from American values. Senator Salazar is part of the “Gang of 14” who staved off a filibuster before, and his role in the Alito nomination has particular clout.
Please call and write Senator Ken Salazar to thank him. (His office has gone back and forth on whether they accept calls from outside Colorado, so if you’re not actually one of his constituents then be prepared to hang up politely.) Point out that the current agreement was based on the President consulting with the Senate, which he did not do for either Miers or Alito. Let him know that Sam Alito would not represent American values as a Justice, and that you expect Democrats to oppose him and to filibuster if necessary.
Senator Ken Salazar’s Washington number is (202) 224-5852 and his email contact form is here. I would encourage you to call first, write second. We need to use both the carrot and the stick to train our Democrats to represent us again. Thanks for feeding carrots!
Do you think he takes calls from Canada? Other senators do. 🙂
It probably depends on whether they know you’re calling from Canada. 🙂
I went so far as to write him a letter, and then faxed it to both fax numbers. I am on the wrong computer, so I can’t paste it in, but it incuded references to strip searching 10 year olds and making women get their husband’s permission to get an abortion and such. I shan’t bother to contact Wayne “I love torture” Allard, however.
Salazar ought to be finding his nerve with the trends here in Colorado. Last year, the Democratic state houses, and this year declawing TABOR. There is a tide, Senator!
Thanks very much for contacting him. I hope he continues to read the trends correctly in Colorado–his constituency is getting slightly more liberal each day.
He got 8:1 feedback in his office against it, I’m told, but still went ahead and supported Abu Gonzales. He’s allowed a few mistakes, but he’s made them already in my opinion. So I’m particularly glad to support him when he does something right.
This is curious. Yesterday on the Ed Shultz show, Salazar sounded quite open to Judge Alito and talked about how the “gang of four’s agreement” was still in effect. Politicians. Sheesh.
Sorry. The post above sounds a little harsher than I intended. I don’t know a lot about Salazar so I really don’t have an axe to grind with him.
During the Roberts nomination, one of my senators, Durbin, initially sound rather postive toward Roberts and then ended up voting against him. So we’ll see.
Given the demands of our times and our lives, I just wish we didn’t have to sort through political speak.
This is all based on some short, but very direct, quotes in one NYT article. But I hope we can remind him of what he said, and particularly play up the “could have nominated a woman” and “wouldn’t consult with the Senate again” angles. Especially the latter, which ought to have Republicans up in arms as well…I can dream, can’t I?