STOP THE FRATRICIDE AND CONCENTRATE ON ALITO

[Coastie for Truth]

The GOP wants us Dems to engage in various and sundry forms of fratricide - that is their strategy. Divert us from the goal of defeating Alito. In the context of Alito, I really could care less where Diane Feinstein gets her money or what Hillary Clinton said about plantations or who Kerry visited or didn't visit on his last foreign trip. Those are Repuke weapons of mass distraction and diversion.

Keep your eye on the ball.

"Up or down vote" or "filibuster" - another Repuke weapon of mass distraction and diversion. Keep your eye on the ball - defeat Alito.

Why we must defeat Alito.

1. Our system of governance with (i)three co-equal branches of government, and (ii) an independent judiciary that is sole arbiter of constitutionality is at stake.

The Bush White House, former Assistant AG John Yoo, and Judge Alito have come up the doctrine of "The Unitary Executive." This means the President is Supreme over the Courts and Congress.

Read:
1. Two Links To Jennifer Van bergen's article and book - Unitary Executive. Law School Professor Jennifer Van Bergen traces the history of the Bush-Gonzales-Yoo theory of the "Unitary Executive" in her article and her book http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1567512925/sr=1-1/qid=1137693022/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9184128-1483823?%5Fencoding=UTF8|The Twilight of Democracy : The Bush Plan for America>. Both worth reading in the normally dull areas of Constitutional law and Poli Sci.

2. Bob Herbert's very fine op-ed building on Al Gore's speech.

a)
b)

2. Privacy and Reproductive Freedom.

3. Workplace Law - National Labor Relations Act, Mine Health and Safety Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act, Emergency Family Medical Leave Act, ERISA, Americans With Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

These are core Democratic Issues. Don't let them divert us.

[radio4progressives]

1. hear! hear!

k&r

:kick: :hi: :applause: :applause:

[JuniperLea]

2. Bravo!

I've been pointing out divisive behaviors all day and all I got to show for it is bashed by my fellow Dems! Sheesh!

Time for level heads with broad perspectives to speak up and call the crowd to order!

Bully for you Coastie! Eating one's own is unattractive and counterproductive, to say the least.

[mom cat]

3. These are core issues for the democracy. We must filibuster, or

we will have another "activist judge"who wants to change the constitution with extreemist rulings. Do we want Alito being the judge of whether Bush broke the law? Hell no!

[stillcool]

4. The last warning sign before...

we drive over the cliff. If this one goes by unheeded it's over.

[babylonsister]

5. "Keep your eye on the ball - defeat Alito." Rec'd! nt

[IndyOp]

6. PFAW: Senators Oppose Alito After Deluge! Keep Pressure On! FREE FAX!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x186232

[Douglas Carpenter]

7. hear, hear

[The Magistrate]

8. Well Said, Sir!

It is time to fight, and any fire directed at our own is a waste....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[pat_k]

9. Invoke moral principles and self-evident truths, NOT LEGALISMS

You can send email and telegrams via congress.org (See "Extra Impact" for telegrams). The site also provides look up for national and local media.

An OFFICE VISIT has enormous power. Where are your Senators' local offices?. Can you get there? Deliver a letter. Ask to talk to staff.

To win -- however you make contact, but particularly if you visit -- invoke moral principles and self-evident truths, NOT legalisms. As an ordinary citizen you cut through the propaganda they are immersed in.

Points You May Find Useful

• The fascist fantasies the PNACons invoke to convince us their crimes are not crimes must be rejected out of hand. Their fantasies are NOT ideas to be "argued on the merits." They are fantasies that must be rejected out of hand; they have no place in the "marketplace of ideas."


• The NUMBER 1 problem the Democrats have is that the nation views them as weak. Fighting the critical battles WITH EVERYTHING THEY'VE GOT proves strength, conviction, and courage. Failure to stand up proves impotence, equivocation, cowardice. The choice is black and white.


• Alito must be rejected to on principle -- American principle vs Fascist principle.
  It is lunacy to think the constitution gives (or even might give) the President the power to flagrantly violate the collective will of the people codified in the acts and resolutions passed by our Congress.


• Alito told us everything we need to know about him when he offered his standard response -- that he couldn't offer an opinion; that he'd figure it out if it came to the Supreme Court -- to the hypothetical case Sen. Biden posed. (If We the People, through our representatives in the Senate and House, passed a resolution prohibiting the President from ordering any sort of attack on Iran, could the President ignore our will and order Bombs to be dropped on Iran?)


• Like the child who knew the emperor had no clothes, ordinary citizens see the truth. They know that such absolute power is NEVER freely given to a leader; it is only taken by deception or force.


• Alito is emblematic of the ever-expanding dictatorial powers claimed by the Bush Syndicate. The fight to keep Alito off the Court is our Normandy in the fight to defend our constitutional democracy.


• We expect the men and women of our armed services to risk life and limb to fulfill their oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Every member of Congress takes the same oath. We will not tolerate dereliction of duty.