The DNC is WELL aware of what is going on with the SCOTUS

[Horse with no Name]

Please don't be fooled. There are people out there who would like NOTHING better than to get you pissed off at the DNC so you won't donate money.
Don't fall for it.
The DNC is very aware of what the bloggers are saying.
If you are in question that the DNC isn't informed about current events, visit their website
http://www.democrats.org/

On the front page, there are FOUR links to follow regarding the SCOTUS and Alito. Sounds to me like they are very informed.

Keep your guards up folks. Don't let someone tell you otherwise.

http://democrats.org/a/2006/01/gop_senate_shou.php

Washington, DC - Despite troubling questions about President Bush's nominee to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, Senate Republicans are obstructing a proper inquiry and thorough questioning to resolve them. Judge Samuel Alito's membership in a ultra-conservative alumni group and his refusal to answer direct questions about his ultra-conservative record raise serious concerns not just about Alito's fitness for the bench - but also Republican Senators' commitment to their constitutional responsibility to evaluate Alito's nomination.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Is that your little girl?

Whatta cutie!

[Horse with no Name]

2. That's my Granddaughter

If I had known how great grandkids were, I'd have had them first.:)

[OffWithTheirHeads]

8. I know

and they are far less trouble.

[Horse with no Name]

9. Oh yes

Thank you for the kind words. She is the light of my life.:)

[madfloridian]

3. Thanks. You are very right.

:hi:

[NYFlip]

4. Just went there

You're right it's all there. Thanks.
P.S. Your granddaughter is really cute.

[madfloridian]

5. And remember this email from Dean at the first of the month?

We now know that George Bush personally ordered American intelligence services to spy on American citizens without the consent of any court and repeatedly directed officials to take actions that explicitly violated the law. Our courts are the last line of defense against abuses of power like this, and every judicial nominee must demonstrate that they will honor their most important responsibility: protecting our rights and freedoms.

Samuel Alito will not.

During the course of his judicial career, Samuel Alito has compiled a record of looking the other way when abuses of power threaten our basic freedoms. He has deferred to unscrupulous prosecutors who constructed all-white juries to try black defendants. He repeatedly failed to protect our right to privacy. He was even the lone judge voting to uphold the illegal strip-search of a 10-year old girl.

Next week Judge Alito's confirmation hearings will begin. Already over 750,000 people have signed a petition asking Senators to oppose Alito -- today I add my name. Please join me:

http://www.democrats.org/alito

A broad coalition of groups will deliver this petition to Senators in less than 48 hours. You and I have the chance to push the total over a million if we spread the word.

Moderate Republicans who have expressed concern about the domestic spying program also have serious questions about Judge Alito, and an outpouring from ordinary Americans could force them to do the right thing and vote against him.

Even before the domestic spying story broke, Senators in both parties had expressed concern about Judge Alito's credibility. On everything from his ideological streaks to his rulings in cases where he had a clear conflict of interest, Judge Alito seems to be willing to say whatever it takes to get confirmed. After bragging about his membership in an ultra-conservative group on his college campus to boost his right-wing credentials, he's now waffling on exactly what his relationship with the group was. And he explicitly broke a promise he made under oath to the Senate that he would recuse himself from cases where he had a personal financial interest.

Across the country more and more people are realizing that if Judge Alito is confirmed, the impact on our rights and our lives will be felt for generations. Join the drive for a million people calling on the Senate to reject the Alito nomination:

http://www.democrats.org/alito

Judge Alito's record of currying favor with the extreme right and favoring government power over individual liberties might make him qualified as a favorite speaker at conservative think tanks, but it does not qualify him to sit on the Supreme Court.

People who put politics over the rule of law cannot be trusted to guard our freedoms. Every American should shudder at the prospect of a judge with a history of ethical lapses and appeasing right-wing extremists getting a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land.

Send a message to Senators now and join the 750,000 Americans speaking out against this dangerous nomination:

http://www.democrats.org/alito

[madfloridian]

6. Well, I recommended this because no one else wants to know about it.

It is a lot more fun to bitch everytime our Democrats stand up. I was proud of them today.

We are going to need each other as the media turns completely to the right. And it is doing that.

We will need to work together, and we need to recognize all kinds of disruptions.

[Horse with no Name]

7. I've noticed several here tonight

Surely I am not the only one...

[madfloridian]

13. It appears few noticed.

I am still aching from the beating.

[madfloridian]

10. A whole page of links there. Look at these.

http://democrats.org/a/national/civil_rights/judicial_appointments/supreme_court/

All you ever wanted to know about Alito. A treasure trove of info.

[madfloridian]

11. And, I might add, some warnings from the Governor and others...

about Alito.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

12. K & R

[madfloridian]

15. Good for you. Just look at all the good stuff about how bad Alito is.

We have got to be on guard when people say our party is not on the ball. Dean on TV has all but called several times for the others to vote against Alito, but he can not call for filibuster.

[Czolgosz]

14. k r

[madfloridian]

16. And this one where Dean warns about Alito's troubling support ...

for expanding the presidential power.


http://democrats.org/a/2006/01/dean_alitos_tro.php

[understandinglife]

17. Well done. Thank you!!

Peace.

[rucky]

18. So is there a filibuster or not?

and what's the point of being informed if you fail to act upon it?

[madfloridian]

19. That is NOT the decision of the DNC...sorry it just isn't.

The DNC has done a good job on this issue, getting the facts out. We have proved that in this thread.

Contact the senators to see if it will happen. Go to the DSCC site and find the info to contact.

[rucky]

20. then I'm confused about the point of this thread

was there another thread accusing the DNC of ignoring Alito concerns?

[madfloridian]

24. Oh, yes, most definitely.

Yes, there was. I can't link

[DemBones DemBones]

21. The DNC and some leading Democrats have shown

slight signs of a vestigial spine recently, but I'm not quite ready to forgive them their years of wearing pink tutus and singing the praises of Dubya.

Think of all the issues they haven't addressed as strongly as they could have: the 2000 selection, Diebold, the 2004 "election," the PATRIOT Act, the gutting of social programs, robbery of the Social Security surplus, the Downing Street Memo, the outing of Valerie Plame as a CIA agent, and much , much more, including the presidential signing statements, of which Bush** issued 435 in his first term alone. Ever heard about that before?

See the article "The Unitary Executive: Is The Doctrine Behind the Bush Presidency Consistent with a Democratic State?" to learn about the latter. http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20060109_bergen.html
It's serious stuff.

IMO, we must demand that the DNC and elected Democrats be Democrats, not DINOs. We must tell them that our contributions are contingent on their actions. No actions, no money. It's called behavioral modification. When they exhibit behavior we desire, we reward them with contributions, letters of appreciation. I can't think of more than five Dems who deserve to be rewarded today. But we could change this through behavioral modification based on our checkbooks.

[madfloridian]

26. Well, that is backfiring, my friend.

The DNC just hired back a big money donor contact. Dean's dream was to have one million people donating 20 a month for operating capital. Then they could put voter registration people in each state, add more people in the districts without relying on wealthy donors so much.

But progressives, so-called, want perfection. They want it right now...not later.Three contacts with big lobby type donors left when Dean took over. But they're...back.

So you guys have every right to not support them, but it is already backfiring. You are giving it back to the big guys.

[DemBones DemBones]

31. We've told them over and over : show us action, we give money.

We have decided not to waste our money on losers. Let the big money donors chip in -- we've seen that Dems take shitloads of money from lobbyists while we constituents who vote for them and give to their campaign are ignored.

You wrote "But progressives, so-called, want perfection."

Don't insinuate that I'm not a progressive.

Don't tell me I want perfection.

I AM A PROGRESSIVE AND I WANT PROGRESSIVE ACTION.

And FYI we HAVE given to the party since Dean has been chair. But we have seen nada for it. You think Dean hung the moon, I realize, and I don't. I think he has made some good statements and TV appearances and done some good things as party chair but I'm not talking about just the DNC, or the DLC, I'm talking about Democratic officeholders who don't give a shit about core Democratic principles.

EDIT: Case in point, Dean's comments about Americans not liking left-leaning regimes. Gee, there's a great statement from the chair of the supposedly left-leaning party.

:eyes:

"There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos." -- Jim Hightower

[Apollo11]

22. Most of us here support Howard Dean and DNC

Now we need our Democratic Senators to stand up.

But definitely - Howard Dean is one of the good guys.

In Gore We Trust
www.algore.org
:)

[leftofthedial]

23. the bush crime gang are informed too

but I won't donate to them

why should I believe that "informed" will translate into meaningful action by the DNC?

[madfloridian]

25. The DNC is doing meaningful action...you mean the Senators.

That is exactly why all the trouble goes on here. People are not informed about the groups in the party. The DNC can not filibuster. Dean has practically come close to calling for one in the info above, but that is the best he can do.

It is sad to see this place become so anti-Democratic party.

[leftofthedial]

27. I'm not anti-Democratic Party

I'm anti- the current abysmal failure of the party to be a legitimate opposition party. The DNC can't filibuster, but it can (or should be able to) organize congressional action and formulate coherent policy positions, else it has no purpose other than to collect money from Dems like me and then waste it.

I know the old joke about not belonging to any organized party, I'm a Democrat. But the DNC blaming the Senate blaming the repukes blaming the House blaming whoever is the problem. The DNC needs to lead, organize and mobilize the party. It needs to articulate a clear vision for Democrats. It fails in all of these missions. With fleetingly rare exception, the Dems in the Senate might as well be republicans. They care only about their corporate masters because that's where the biggest bribes come from. The House Dems are utterly ineffectual because the party has allowed the repukes to run roughshod over truth, fairness and the intent of a legislature without complaint.

The Repukes don't have any problem taking the initiative on issues, framing issues, getting the RNC and Senate repukes and House repukes all on board with the same message. The only "organized" Dem action I' have see lately is the watered-down, grossly inadequate Dem lobbying reform crapola from the last couple of days. It is very slightly preferable to the repuke load of crap, but still won't fundamentally change anything. Where are they on Alito? Where are they on king george's repeated lawbreaking? A few individual Dems have spoken out, but even so, the most effective, forceful voices have been Arlen frigging Specter and Al Gore, whose speech was ignored by the Dems. On any given issue, I get an email message from Kerry, a different message from Dean, another different one from Reid, yet another different one from Conyers and another different one from Kucinich. I'm a Dem activist and I have no idea what our position is on any significant issue, other than the lobying reform which I can't endorse--because no one articulates the Dem position. Instead twenty different Dems have their own takes, usually presented as though they are already campaigning against one another for President in 2008, rather than trying to save our country and our Constitution from the fascists who have seized power.

It is sad to see apologists telling passionate Democrats to ignore the failures of their party.

[madfloridian]

28. Let's not pretend what is happening at DU.

Let's not pretend it is not really happening. Calling me an "apologist" gave you away.

This is a coup going on here.

[leftofthedial]

29. nothing "gave me away"

I wasn't pretending to believe anything other than what I wrote

how is a demand for effective opposition a "coup"?

you don't even make sense.

[mzmolly]

30. K & R !!!

:kick: