Fwd: Call Senators tomorrow and fight for your democracy!

[Clark Santos]

Hey ghetto folk,
	I am on one of several hundred neighborhood teams formed by MoveOn.org 
to call Senators tomorrow to protest what Republicans are trying to do 
in the congress, so as to shuffle "Ws" failed judicial appointments 
through over reasonable Democratic objections. Madeleine, another team 
member, writes and explains the situation much better than I could, 
which is why I am forwarding this and asking each of you to call some 
Senators if possible.
	Names and numbers are included in her message. If you help us and 
call, please email me that you
did, how many, and who. Thanks for the effort, we all need to pull 
together.

Clark

Begin forwarded message:
----- Original Message -----
  From: Madeleine Crozat-Williams
To: magicas at pdq.net
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 12:02 PM
Subject: Call Senators tomorrow and fight for your democracy!


Hello friends,
   MoveOn.org is mounting a huge campaign this week to prevent 
VicePresident Cheney from using what is being called the "nuclear 
option" to prevent a filibuster that would oppose the appointment of 
extreme right wing judges by the Bush administration.  I have condensed 
the info from several MoveOn website locations and listed the important 
points below.   It is  of extreme importance that you call the Senators 
in large type below and give them the message that you oppose this 
(sample message also in large type).  The call in day is tomorrow, 
Wednesday March 16.  Please call and send this message to your friends 
and urge them to call, too.  If these judges get in, they will be the 
nails in the coffin of democracy.
     Madeleine C-W


Republicans are closer than ever to the number of Senate votes they 
need to use the "nuclear option"—paving the way for the appointment of 
truly extreme right-wing judges. With enough of an outcry, we can stop 
them. But we need to move fast to get the word out and demonstrate to 
our senators broad-based opposition to this dangerous measure. So our 
call-in day comes at just the right time.

How would the "nuclear option" eliminate the filibuster?

  Legitimately changing the rule that allows a filibuster would require 
a 2/3 majority vote, and Republican leaders don’t have nearly that much 
support. Instead, the plan calls for Dick Cheney (who, as Vice 
President, is also technically the ‘President of the Senate') to simply 
make a ruling that the filibuster rule no longer applies to judges. If 
Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist can twist enough arms to 
get 50 senators to support this "reinterpretation," the filibuster will 
be history.

  Why do Republican leaders want to eliminate the filibuster?

  First, it would allow the Republicans to force through the 20 federal 
judges Democrats rejected last term onto the courts. Seven of these 
judges were already filibustered once, and the others might be.

  But there are also 4 Supreme Court justices over 70, any or all of 
whom could retire in the next four years. If Republicans abolish the 
right to filibuster judicial nominees, Bush would be free to stack the 
Supreme Court with the most right-wing, corporate friendly nominees he 
can find - and there would be absolutely no incentive for Bush to 
appoint any justices acceptable to both parties.

  Have Democrats abused the filibuster or been “obstructionist”?

  No. Democrats filibustered only 10 of the 230 nominees Bush submitted 
last term. Bush has been more successful at getting appontees onto the 
bench in his first term than Clinton, or the first President Bush.

  Why should I care?

  If you are a woman, choice is still the law of the land.  If the 
nuclear option is triggered, President Bush will be in a position to 
nominate to the Supreme Court judges who believe that Roe v. Wade was 
the wrong decision.  Right-wing Justices have already struck down 
portions of the Violence Against Women Act.

If you are a disabled person, your rights may be restricted by nominees 
who believe that the federal government can’t tell the states what to 
do when it comes to enforcing the laws that protect you.

Even if you have done nothing wrong, your right to privacy when you 
talk on your cell phone or borrow books from the library may be 
threatened by a nominee who will support the steady erosion of civil 
liberties exemplified by the USA PATRIOT Act.

  If you want to breathe clean air and drink clean water, you should be 
concerned about the nomination of judges who believe federal 
regulations requiring corporate polluters to cut their emissions are 
excessive or even that the government should have to pay polluters not 
to poison us.

The call in day is now Wednesday, March 16. We've changed it to 
reinforce a rally happening in Washington late that week against biased 
judges.

Please call:

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  Senator Frist: 202-224-3344

District Offices: Chattanooga: 423-756-2757 Jackson: 731-424-9655 
Kingsport: 423-323-1252 Knoxville: 865-637-4180 Memphis: 901-683-1910 
Nashville: 615-352-9411

and  your  Senators,  ( the ones for  Texas are  listed here)

Senator Hutchison: 202-224-5922

District Offices: Abilene: 325-676-2839 Austin: 512-916-5834 Dallas: 
214-361-3500 Harlingen: 956-425-2253 Houston: 713-653-3456 San Antonio: 
210-340-2885

  Senator Cornyn: 202-224-2934

District Offices: Austin: 512-469-6034 Dallas: 972-239-1310 Harlingen: 
956-423-0162 Houston: 713-572-3337 Lubbock: 806-472-7533 San Antonio: 
210-224-7485 Tyler: 903-593-0902

  YOUR MESSAGE:  “Hi. My name is ________. I live in _______ and I’m 
calling to urge Senator ____ to oppose the 'nuclear option' and keep 
the courts fair by requiring that judges should have broad support in 
the Senate. Thank you."

Who are these judges that would get forced onto the courts?

  The judges who President Bush has renominated were blocked by 
Democrats because they've sided so consistently with powerful special 
interests over ordinary Americans that they simply could not be given 
lifetime appointments on the federal bench.

  Take a look at just the first four to be reconsidered this term:

William Myers III has never been a judge and spent most of his career 
as a lobbyist for the cattle and mining industry.1 He has written that 
all habitat conservation laws are unconstitutional because they 
interfere with potential profit.2 In 2001, Bush appointed him as the 
chief lawyer for the Department of the Interior. In that role he 
continued as a champion of corporate interests, setting his agenda in 
meetings with former employers he promised not to speak with, and even 
illegally giving away sacred Native American land to be strip mined.3

Terrence Boyle was a legal aide to Jesse Helms. As a judge, his 
signature decisions have attempted to circumvent federal laws barring 
employment discrimination by race, gender, and disability.4 His rulings 
have been overturned a staggering 120 times by the conservative 4th 
District Court of Appeals, either due to gross errors in judgment or 
simple incompetence.5

William Pryor Jr. served as Attorney General of Alabama, where he took 
money from Phillip Morris, fought against the anti-tobacco lawsuit 
until it was almost over, and cost the people of Alabama billions in 
settlement money for their healthcare system as a result.6 He called 
Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our 
history," and has consistently argued against federal protections for 
the civil rights of minorities, lesbian and gay couples, women, and the 
disabled.7

William Haynes III served as the chief legal counsel for the Defense 
Department, where he championed the legal doctrine that led to the 
torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. He advised the White House 
that in a time of war the President should be considered exempt from 
all international and domestic laws barring torture. Haynes also 
developed the “enemy combatant” doctrine that allows for United States 
citizens to be detained without trial, official charges or access to a 
lawyer -- forever -- at the sole discretion of the President.8

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