Special Blog Post:
The Message I Sent Today
I send you this facsimile to ask that, in the matter of the confirmation of Mr. Samuel Alito, Jr., in appointment to Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, you vote "No." I furthermore ask that you support the Honorable Senator John Kerry, who has expressed his intention to extend debate on the matter.
Article II Section 2 of the United States Constitution vests the power of appointment of Supreme Court Justices in the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate. Neither the President nor the Senate is conferred an absolute right by this charge: the President's prerogative is the privilege, the Senate's is a duty; and neither acts without the bounds of representing the will of the People of the nation. That you may be concerned with your vote representing the will of the majority at some particular time in the course of the affairs and time of the country is not at issue: your vote in this and all matters must be to the will, good, and benefit of all citizens for all times and certainly not only and merely for the here and now.
Parliamentary procedures are established to ensure that the minority in representation is heard while the will of the majority carries; but such procedures are altered in the form adopted by the U.S. Senate, and I would submit to you that the divergence is particularly to the purpose of ensuring that a mere majority in representation may not use that position in tyranny over any group whose interest may for a time be in the minority.
Yours is the charge of the ages: what you do in your time of strength or weakness in service to this Republic will reverberate down the chamber of history for generations to come and affect men, women, and children yet even to be born. Let them, no less the us, say of you that you stood on this day for principle unpopular with those who would unduly circumscribe rights and liberties we and our ancestors shed blood, reputation, and treasure to attain.
This, I ask of you in the name of our great nation and no less in the name of the People, those living, those who have come before us, and those yet to live in this bright land of a free people.
Published 1/30/2006 03:29:00 PM
<< 31 Comments Total
*Clap clap clap* That is such a good idea, to fax the senate. What you've written is very impressive, too. Thanks!
Good afternoon, Old White Lady.
Apparently, the Senate voted to limit the debate. Seventy-two Senators, which would mean quite a few Democratic Senators crawled away from the prospect of a fight.
That's fine. We'll take note of their names, and we'll work to see that they are serving their last terms in Congress.
It's the least we can do for them, especially considering they have done their least for the future of the Republic.
The Dark Wraith encourages political revenge as the tastiest of all sweets.
Now too late however; they've voted 72-25 to end debate on Alito.
- oddjob
Hurray for ALito!
Now we can strip search little girls, shoot ten year olds for stealing $10, and have judges preside over our cases that have clear conflicts of interest!
Yippee!!
I sent emails - but I'm sure each and every one was ignored. The problem is - it doesn't matter what these Democrats did, and they know it. If the choice is between them and some right wing, Pat Robertson approved Republican idealog - we'll vote for the Democrat - even if we have to hold our noses doing it!
My letter to Byrd was a genteel, polite, teeth-rattling slap in the face, in the old Southern tradition.
I'm waiting until tomorrow to vent outrage. I want all the facts first, and for all the chips to be put on the table.
Speaking of names, I haven't been able to find the names of the 19 cowards. Any have a link to a list?
Good evening, Mr. Goat. They were posted, among other places, at Night Bird's Fountain by Lizzy, so I created and posted over there a pictorial gallery of the 19.
The Dark Wraith offers the viewers' guide to future unemployed Senators.
stealthbadger, if you're a Mountaineer Rockefeller also voted for cloture.
- oddjob
That was a beautiful letter, Dark Wraith.
You're absolutely right - there are many Senators who will be serving their last terms in Washington. At least I hope so. Certainly both of our Senators here; I can't remember being so disappointed in my vote since voting for Clinton the first time.
It just seems incredibly depressing - there isn't anything that we can do to make a difference. Or maybe that's just my disappointment talking this morning.
Good morning, Karen M.
That feeling you're describing is mine: despair. It was the same feeling I had after Kerry's loss in November of 2004. So much effort. So much money, time, and dedication by so many people.
Something is wrong, here. It's as if the engine of representation has become in some sense rigid—incapable of responding to reason, whether that reason be through the application of democratic processes, the wise use of military strength, or the prudent control of the public fisc.
Something is wrong.
But we, Karen—you, I, the brilliant minds that congregate here, the Hell-bent progressive bloggers, the "common" people who know that today is not the day for common to mean silent—we, Karen, can make this right.
And it is not our duty as citizens; it is, instead, our honor as free people in a world that wants less of us.
The Dark Wraith is so glad you've commented here, Karen.
So much for the will of the people, eh, Dark One?
The sad results of the vote has me feeling as stupid as Kerry looked in that goose-hunting outfit a week before the election, trying to appeal to guys who would sooner vote for the goose.
Sigh....well the wealthy will still be able to get abortions for all is not lost.
Missouri Mule heads off to shovel more chit.
A backhoe would be more appropriate, Missouri Mule.
The Dark Wraith will avoid constellating 'backhoe' with Ann Coulter working her craft behind the Republican Saloon.
Well, just when I was in a good, grim mood for the afternoon economics classes, I receive word of Koufax Award nominations for Best Single Post for The Dark Wraith Forums.
The Dark Wraith can't even have a consistently dark day, these days.
[And darned if the sun isn't peeking through the cloud deck outside. Lord.]
Good ol' Maria Cantwell the Iraq war supporter, what a waste of a Senate seat.
On Alito Maria says:I must conclude that he would neither show due respect for the authority of Congress nor apply a necessary check to the reach of the executive.
And you did neither yourself, bitch.
Good afternoon, Mr. Goat.
The good Senator Cantwell is a living example of the old adage, It's good to have convictions... until, that is, they demand the courage of them.
The Dark Wraith should probably note that the old adage is just one he made up.
The adage works for me.
I should apologize for the name calling given the increasing readership your great blog is getting. However, bitch was the politest I could come up with since you had already covered things pretty well with your backhoe reference (I hate duplicated redundancy).
Congrats on the nominations; they are deserved.
Congratulations on your Koufax nominations, Dark Wraith - your definitely deserved it. Wonderful work - each post a gem.
The Dark Wraith blushes profusely.
OT - but too cute not to post
I receive word of Koufax Award nominations for Best Single Post for The Dark Wraith Forums.
If I counted correctly, it looks like you were nominated for five different posts. Now, that is awesome. The posts are very worthy! Congratulations to you, Dark Wraith!
Yes, Congrats Dark Wraith on your nominations.
and to that lovely FLS, I send my congrats.
Wonderful writing, truly!
I still think about I Am Become Battle, How White Be My Tears now & then. Having never served (epilepsy), but from a family with a fair amount of military in it (as I've mentioned before), I find it helpful.
- oddjob
Good morning, OddJob.
Judging from the number of hits to that particular post, especially since yesterday, that article seems to be one of the two or three that are the strongest candidates. I have also gotten quite a few reference hits—again, especially since yesterday—for the open letter to Bill O'Reilly.
Interestingly, the spike in hits yesterday began with all of them being from Wampum, where the links were listed; but by last night, more hits to the individual articles were coming from elsewhere, which would tend to mean secondary referrals were being made from some who had, themselves, visited earlier in the day from the Koufax nominations site at Wampum.
It's been an interesting pattern. I was somewhat concerned that five separate articles were listed, which might dilute a vote for any given one of them, but I have noted that several larger blogs got many more (KOS and My Left Wing, for example), which somewhat abated that concern of mine.
At this point, it seems to me that the voting in and of itself will be somewhat informative in that it will point to the principal interests and parameters that guide judgments of those who read blogs: is uniqueness of style important? is topical currency especially favored? is quality and level of formality of writing a significant factor?
Answers to these questions will provide some useful information, in particular for congressional candidates who want to reach out the the Blogosphere to convey message and garner support.
And as I now re-read those last couple of paragraphs, I note an academic, detached curiosity setting in that probably isn't the best way to promote my own parochial interest in these awards.
Still, it will be interesting to see what the outcomes tell us about what readers think is best.
The Dark Wraith should probably be doing more, "Vote for moi" kind of stuff.
[But, LORD, that's uncomforably embarrassing.]
I also appreciated the well worded trashing of O'Reilly (although it touches me less since I don't pay attention to him and regard him as an unpleasant side show).
- oddjob
You know what troubles me, though, OddJob, is how in this part of the country people who fancy themselves to one extent or another "progressive" in their views spout the stuff that comes out of that man's fetid cake hole.
It just amazes me. They listen to those Right-wing hate mongers, and then they repeat the incendiary lies as if they were truths. (Of course, they must be truths because, after all, they were on the radio.)
I've managed to keep my patience on most occasions when I've heard this echo of drivel, but I swear, it's enough to make me start talking back to them in Devil tongues.
Those Right-wing butt-ports are unquestionably promoting neo-fascism. And supposedly educated, self-declared "tolerant," maybe even a little bit—gasp!—liberal people are letting themselves be brainwashed.
Grr.
In fact, double Grr.
The Dark Wraith feels a slight pain in his right temple.
It would appear the people you overhear could use a refresher course in the history of American demagoguery.
Perhaps a brushing up on Father Charles Coughlin would be in order.
- oddjob
Now there's a blast from the past, OddJob.
I've noted in grumbling undertones on more than one occasion that, were William Jennings Brian to have had the benefit of a radio microphone, America would not exist today.
The Dark Wraith is in the wrong business.
[O'Reilly and Limbaugh don't eat Ramen noodles and bawl loudly, "Boy, these are good!"]
Good Morning Dark Wraith,
On Nov. 20, 1938, two weeks after Kristallnacht, when Jews across Germany were attacked and killed, and Jewish businesses and homes burned, Coughlin blamed the Jewish victims, saying that "Jewish persecution only followed after Christians first were persecuted."
Seems that the persecution of Christians has been going on for a long time...
Seriously, it makes me wonder if all that stupid stuff about "the war on Christmas" was just prep work. The liberals will be the ones to be demonized this time.
Good morning, SB Gypsy.
If it comes to that, my advice to the 21st Century brownshirts would be framed as such:
Do you really want to die for this? I don't, and I won't.
But you will.
Something about Kristallnacht makes the Dark Wraith look forward to Round Two.
That is why a belief in exercising your Amendment II rights remains important, in my opinion anyway.