Monday, January 23, 2006

We moved them to fight

Judiciary Committee Votes Tomorrow on Alito; Filibuster Possible, Says Durbin
Tomorrow, two days after the 33rd anniversary of Roe v Wade, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Samuel Alito, a Supreme Court nominee who in 1985 wrote that the Constitution does not protect a woman's right to an abortion. Women's rights leaders and activists rallied last night at the Supreme Court in support of the landmark Supreme Court ruling.
"Since we last gathered to commemorate Roe v. Wade, two seats have opened up on the Supreme Court, and George W. Bush has used both opportunities to nominate judges whose records show a disdain for privacy rights and individual liberties," said Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women. "The Senate is poised to vote on confirming Samuel Alito, who would replace Sandra Day O'Connor, a justice whose vote has upheld women's rights for nearly 25 years. How quickly the fate of women's reproductive rights could turn in this nation."
Already, at least nine Senators have come out publicly and strongly against Alito's confirmation, including four who voted in favor of confirming John Roberts as chief justice. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), the Democratic Whip, said that a filibuster was possible.
"A week ago, I would have told you it's not likely to happen," Durbin said. "As of [Wednesday], I just can't rule it out. I was surprised by the intensity of feeling of some of my colleagues. It's a matter of counting. We have 45 Democrats, counting [Vermont independent] Jim Jeffords, on our side. We could sustain a filibuster if 41 Senators ... are willing to stand and fight."
GET THE INSIDE SCOOPwith The Smeal Report and the New Leif blogs at MsMagazine.com
TAKE ACTIONCall your Senators and urge them to oppose Alito
DONATEMake an emergency contribution to the Feminist Majority's Save Roe Campaign. We must be a strong voice in this crucial fight to save Roe and the Supreme Court for women’s rights.
Media Resources: Feminist Majority; NOW statement 1/22/06; Chicago Sun-Times 1/20/06

The item above is from today's Feminist Wire.

Swiping from Rebecca:

c.i.'s noted it, elaine's noting it, mike's noting it. elaine's trying to be sure we all note it because we need to get the word out. they need to hear from us tomorrow, the senators. they need to hear from us before they vote, while they're voting and after they've voted.

To that add Betty and Cedric and now me. Wally plans to note it tomorrow morning.

Are you tired? Are you exhausted and feel like you've got nothing left to give?

I hear you. I'm about to go to sleep and this is so early for me. But I followed up with the young women I spoke to Saturday to make sure they were contacting their senators. I also hopped in the car and, armed with my cell phone, basically went door to door of every friend and acquaintence I had. Some I visited at work, some I visited at their homes.

So I do understand being tired. I bet your tired too.

Get some rest and then tomorrow, get started again. That's activism. That's how we make a difference.

I wish I had some groovy advice to offer but what do you tell the groovy that they don't already know?

And everyone who's done their part deserves to be congratulated. I think doing our part comes with citizenship and caring about the world around us. But when our senators buckle and we have to be the leaders, that deserves a congratulations.

We've done that. And we need to remember this. Regardless of tomorrow's outcome, this is a victory for us. We've moved the Senate Democrats to fight and that's a miracle in and of itself.

So get some rest. Wake up tomorrow and start back up again.

If you've called already or e-mailed already or faxed, make a point to do it again. Make sure that, Democrat or Republican, your senators know where you stand.

If you're able to visit their local offices or their D.C. offices do so. And look around tomorrow before the vote to make sure that you've reached out to everyone you can.










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Saturday, January 21, 2006

RadioNation With Laura Flanders: Robert Redford on Saturday! Elizabeth Holtzman on Sunday! Sundance both days! Listen!

Sometimes you can't catch a break to save your ass.

I post at The Common Ills early this morning. Give the heads up to RadioNation with Laura Flanders. Know C.I's speaking schedule today and read about Ava & Jess speaking today too so figured while I finished my coffee, I'd go in to the e-mails at the public TCI account and answer a few to help out. Do about ten replies, okay I had three cups of coffee, and read I don't know how many. Then I head out to do my thing, get back, check my own e-mail, "Kat! You haven't posted about Laura Flanders!"

What????? I go to The Common Ills to make sure my post didn't disappear. It didn't. It's top of the page. Ruth's Morning Edition Report is up too so be sure to read that. Oh, I think, they must mean hear at my own site.

Have I ever not posted about Laura Flanders at the last minute here? Would it be a Saturday if I wasn't pulling my hair out and cursing as I typed quickly while I attempted to play beat the clock, or at least beat the Air America Radio news break that comes at the top of the hour?

No.

By the way, one of the e-mails I answered at TCI public account was from a visitor concerned about something not being widely known so I'm printing it here:

I received an article from a friend in Colorado. The article was from the Colorado Daily. The article troubled me a great deal. There was a 2004 quote from President Bush concerning the administration's approach to wire tapping. Here's the quote -- Quote from Bush in 2004 -- "A wiretap requires a court order," President Bush declared in a statement in 2004. He added, "When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order when we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand [that] constitutional guarantees are in place... because we value the Constitution." To me this is such a big deal and the President is the one that evidently said this. I'd like to know what you think about this issue and if your aware of the quote.

Here's my reply:

Replying for C.I. The quotes been noted at TCI a few times. It's an important one. Elizabeth Holtzman notes it in her article "The Impeachment of George W. Bush" and she'll be a guest Sunday on RadioNation with Laura Flanders which you might find interesting. I'm sure you know she helped prepare impeachment charges against Richard Nixon.
I'll make a point to pass this on to C.I. but I'm not sure when it will be noted again due to the concentration on Alito at present.
Thank you for writing and keep fighting,
Kat

So see, I was getting the word out even when I was sipping my cup of coffee. The point has been made at The Common Ills more than once. I'm not sure it's been made here. In fact, I doubt it has. But for ____ it's made here now. (Though he probably read that and thought, "Who the heck is Kat?" so he'll never see it here but, karmically, I felt it was my duty to note it here.)

Can you say ?
I bet a lot more of you can with the nomination of . I've done several pieces this week for the gina & krista round-robin noting what I'm doing to get the word out that we need a .

That means person to person contact. And, like Rebecca noted yesterday, it means follow ups. Don't leave it with someone telling you that they will contact their senators, follow up and ask them if they did? Or, the idea C.I. came up with and that Rebecca used Friday to much success, have the numbers and your cell phone handy and hand it over the minute someone says, "I will contact my senators." People may mean to while they're talking to you face to face, then something comes up. Maybe dinner needs cooking, or the garbage needs taking out, or whatever. I've followed C.I.'s recommendation and handed over the cell phone with the numbers.

Today, I hung out with a group of young women. I didn't give a speech, we just talked about why this mattered and the need to be active. They're all in the music classes my friend teaches.
They're amazingly talented but they aren't activists. Or they weren't. I'll be following up on Monday to make sure they did get active but sometimes what seems so obvious to us, isn't as obvious to everyone. These women are gifted beyond belief when it comes to music but they'd never had anyone break down basic activism. My point here is, if you know someone, woman or man, who is really talented and gifted, don't assume that because they know everything about their area of interest that they know how to get active. It's like riding a bike, someone needs to help you out the first time.

Elaine's asking us to all note this from the Feminist Wire Friday:

More Senators Announce Opposition to Alito
More Senators have announced their opposition to Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court. Encouragingly, no additional Democrats have announced support for Alito since Ben Nelson (NE). Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), the Democratic Whip, announced his opposition to a packed auditorium at Northwestern University School of Law.
"In the record, the writings, the words, and the life of Samuel Alito, I searched for evidence of his caring heart -- evidence that for the next two or three decades he would use his position on the Supreme Court to enlarge our freedom, protect our privacy, and respect the delicate balance of power and responsibility our Constitution creates," said Senator Durbin. "At the end of the day, at this historic moment, I cannot say with confidence that Samuel Alito meets that test."
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), in announcing his opposition, said, "Based on his record, I am gravely concerned that Judge Alito does not believe the Congress has the authority to protect the fundamental rights of all Americans."
Other Senators who have announced publicly their opposition to Alito include Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (the Ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (the only woman on the Judiciary Committee), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), and Max Baucus (D-MT). Senators Leahy, Baucus, and Salazar all voted for John Roberts in September.
GET THE INSIDE SCOOP with The Smeal Report and the New Leif blogs at MsMagazine.com
TAKE ACTION Call your Senators and urge them to oppose Alito
DONATE Make an emergency contribution to the Feminist Majority's Save Roe Campaign. We must be a strong voice in this crucial fight to save Roe and the Supreme Court for women's rights.
Media Resources: Harkin statement 1/19/06; Durbin statement 1/19/06; Feminist Majority

We are getting the word out, we are doing more than talking. We can "shake the mountain, stop the confirmation of alito." But that means working even harder.

I'll also follow Wally, Mike and pretty much every other community member with their own website by recommending that you read Danny Schechter's "AFTER ALITO: WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT NOW?" which will help you think about the battle beyond Alito.


Cedric and Betty have been hitting hard on the topic of filibuster in the roundrobins. And remember that Betty's latest chapter is up in the continuing story of Betinna. And don't forget to check out Trina's Kitchen tonight for the latest from Trina.

If you're tired from getting the word out and from being active, check out RadioNation with Laura Flanders because it always inspires me.

RadioNation with Laura Flanders
Live from Sundance!This weekend Air America and The Nation magazine go to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Saturdays & Sundays, 7-10pm ET on Air America Radio
On Saturday, we talk to founder Robert Redford about a quarter-century of nurturing independent film... festival Programming Director John Cooper about this year's films... Filmmakers Patricia Foulkrod and James Longley about their independent documentaries on Iraq, Byron Hurt on his film on machismo and hip hop culture, and more.
On Sunday, we'll hear from former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman -- she was on Nixon's impeachment committee and believes W. deserves the same. The media roundtable features Joel Pomeroy, executive producer of "Crossing Arizona" and Freida Lee Mock, director and screenwriter of "Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner".
Tune in. And if you missed it, last weekend's live broadcast from Salt Lake City can be podcast from http://thenation.com It's all on RadioNation with Laura Flanders this weekend on Air America Radio.

Saturday Redford! Sunday Holtzman! Both days, Sundance! It's going to be two great shows and you know Laura's going to fill you not just with information but also with inspiration. So check it out.





























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Thursday, January 19, 2006

Filibuster, filibuster, filibuster

's nomination can be stopped. The , and the country, can be saved and spared. We need "no" votes and we need a
.

Good news comes from :

No on Alito Momentum Building
The momentum to stop the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court is growing. Several Democratic Senators have already announced their intention to oppose Alito.
These Senators include Patrick Leahy (VT), Ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee; Judiciary Committee member Ted Kennedy (MA); Barbara Mikulski (MD); and Max Baucus (MT). Senators Leahy and Baucus had voted to confirm John Roberts in September.
The option for a filibuster to block Alito is still on the table.
GET THE INSIDE SCOOP
with The Smeal Report and the New Leif blogs at Ms Magazine.com
TAKE ACTION
Call your Senators and urge them to oppose Alito
DONATE
Make an emergency contribution to the Feminist Majority’s Save Roe Campaign. We must be a strong voice in this crucial fight to save Roe and the Supreme Court for women’s rights.
Media Resources: Feminist Majority

I saw that at The Common Ills today and it was the best news I've heard all week.

On the radio today, KPFA's The Morning Show, moderated a discussion/debate on the topic and the anti-choice woman appeared to not be satisfied with making up figures, she had to resort to making outlandish comparison, like comparing it to kiddie porn while then saying things like, "I'm not suggesting that they're the same thing."
That's exactly what the weasel was suggesting.

And if you've had an then you are damaged, according to her. She spoke of women who had been raped and offered her own theories there as well.

Then she went on to, I guess thinking it made her look sympathetic, say that she supports castrating rapists. Let the circle of violence continue, the "pro-life" way.

Listening to the uptight bitch deny that she was supporting Alito, I started to worry that Alito might not be enough for her. Maybe she wants hands chopped off of accused shoplifters? Maybe she wants feet cut off of people who run red lights?

She doesn't have a clue.

She's like the Carrie Nations of today. It's not enough that no one's forcing her to have an abortion. It's not enough that she can work for an organization providing assistance to women who want to have children but are financially strapped. She wants to grab her axe and destroy the right of any other woman to decide what they want to do.

We're up against people like this and we need to be fighting. So contact your senators tell them filibuster the nomination.



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