Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

CALL SENATOR LANDRIEU - ONE OF THE CRUCIAL 8!

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (01/01/06 through 01/22/2007) Donate to DU
 
Zan_of_Texas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:13 PM
Original message
CALL SENATOR LANDRIEU - ONE OF THE CRUCIAL 8!
Here's one of the CRUCIAL EIGHT.

I'm asking Texans, especially, but really anyone, to FOCUS ON MARY LANDRIEU to defeat Alito.

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) is speaking publicly against a filibuster of the Alito nomination for Supreme Court.
She says there is more important business the Senate needs to get on with. !!!!!

Ted Kennedy said yesterday during Alito Senate debate: "The stakes could not be higher. This is the vote of a generation."

Rainbow Push writes re Alito: "50 years of civil, human and women's rights advances are at stake - from Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. "

If confirmed, Alito at age 55 could serve out his life expectancy on the court -- 28 years -- in other words, the next SEVEN CONSECUTIVE PRESIDENTIAL TERMS.

Vote is in the next few days.

Landrieu is one of eight Democratic Senators needed to stop Alito.

PLEASE CALL OR FAX HER OFFICES.

PLEASE -- EVERYONE CONTACT HER. IF YOU KNOW LOUISIANA RESIDENTS, INCLUDING EVACUEES LIVING ELSEWHERE -- SPREAD THIS TO THEM TOO. HELP THE NATION!!!

Senator Mary Landrieu (D)
Phone: (202) 224-5824
Fax: (202) 224-9735

You can just say YOU MUST FILIBUSTER. Or, if you want to try to be persuasive, ask to speak to Kevin Avery at (202) 224-5824. He is her DC staff person who is in charge of judiciary issues.

Want to fax through a form?
Go to People for the American Way and their Save the Court.org site -- there's a fax option from there: http://www.savethecourt.org/site/c.mwK0JbNTJrF/b.849267/k.CC39/Home.htm


If you want to call their offices in Louisiana:

New Orleans zip code 70130
Phone: (504) 589-2427
Fax: (504) 589-4023

Baton Rouge (a zip code 70803)
Phone: (225) 389-0395
Fax: (225) 389-0660

Shreveport
Phone: (318) 676-3085
Fax: (318) 676-3100

Lake Charles
Phone: (337) 436-6650
Fax: (337) 439-3762

Here are some of the groups that have opposed Alito’s nomination thus far:
http://www.nominationwatch.org/2005/12/momentum_agains


Want ammo?

(1)
Alito: What's At Stake
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002314.htm
Includes this:
"After a careful study, University of Chicago law professor Cass Sunstein described Alito's record of appeals court dissents as 'stunning. Ninety-one percent of Alito's dissents take positions more conservative than his colleagues...including colleagues appointed by Presidents Bush and Reagan.'" -- "The Case Against Alito," The Nation, editorial | posted January 5, 2006, http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060123/editors


(2)
Why the Senate should not confirm Alito;
Supreme Court doesn't need a justice who has no interest in restraining `presidential powers'
by Geoffrey R. Stone, January 24, 2006, Chicago Tribune,
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0601240222jan24,1,7806633.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

(3)
Judge Alito's Radical Views
NEW YORK TIMES
Editorial
January 23, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/23/opinion/23mon1.html

(4)
Today's NEW YORK TIMES editorial

Editorial
Senators in Need of a Spine

NEW YORK TIMES
January 26, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/26/opinion/26thur1.html?_r=1&oref=login

Judge Samuel Alito Jr., whose entire history suggests that he holds extreme views about the expansive powers of the presidency and the limited role of Congress, will almost certainly be a Supreme Court justice soon. His elevation will come courtesy of a president whose grandiose vision of his own powers threatens to undermine the nation's basic philosophy of government — and a Senate that seems eager to cooperate by rolling over and playing dead. It is hard to imagine a moment when it would be more appropriate for senators to fight for a principle. Even a losing battle would draw the public's attention to the import of this nomination.

...

The Alito nomination has been discussed largely in the context of his opposition to abortion rights, and if the hearings provided any serious insight at all into the nominee's intentions, it was that he has never changed his early convictions on that point. The judge — who long maintained that Roe v. Wade should be overturned — ignored all the efforts by the Judiciary Committee's chairman, Arlen Specter, to get him to provide some cover for pro-choice senators who wanted to support the nomination. As it stands, it is indefensible for Mr. Specter or any other senator who has promised constituents to protect a woman's right to an abortion to turn around and hand Judge Alito a potent vote to undermine or even end it.

But portraying the Alito nomination as just another volley in the culture wars vastly underestimates its significance. The judge's record strongly suggests that he is an eager lieutenant in the ranks of the conservative theorists who ignore our system of checks and balances, elevating the presidency over everything else. He has expressed little enthusiasm for restrictions on presidential power and has espoused the peculiar argument that a president's intent in signing a bill is just as important as the intent of Congress in writing it. This would be worrisome at any time, but it takes on far more significance now, when the Bush administration seems determined to use the cover of the "war on terror" and presidential privilege to ignore every restraint, from the Constitution to Congressional demands for information.

...

A filibuster is a radical tool. It's easy to see why Democrats are frightened of it. But from our perspective, there are some things far more frightening. One of them is Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
villager Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:17 PM
Response to Original message
1. done. called her NO office...
n/t
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
emlev Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:20 PM
Response to Original message
2. Kickin' this one with my SPURS!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Carni Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:23 PM
Response to Original message
3. Hate to ask a dumb question/ does this do any good if I'm not in LA?
I have been emailing until I am blue in the face and everytime I email someone who is not my Senator I get a form blowoff letter in return.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Zan_of_Texas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:29 PM
Response to Reply #3
5. Don't email.
Call or fax.

Most senators will accept calls or faxes from people outside their states.

(I know, most of their email forms ditch you.)

Some will ask for an in-state zip code.

If you believe that Republicans have played fair with elections, with campaign finance, with honesty in government, you will want to play completely fair here.

If you believe they will do anything to retain power, you might want to borrow a zip code -- here's where to get one: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp

Also, I've noticed that when they are begging for money, members of Congress feel no hesitation in mailing me a letter though I'm out of state. So.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
low_phreaq Donating Member (362 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:33 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. What about Katrina evacuees?
What address should they use? What if they are temporarily out of state?

Get help from your friends and family across the country:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x247241
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
sandnsea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:38 PM
Response to Reply #3
8. Yes
Remind them that there are only 100 Senators to defend the whole of the United States. The Senate is not the House. And that this is the information age and everybody knows people everywhere and if you know someone in LA, name the town.

I've called several out of state Senators and when I put it that way, they are very nice about it.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
EFerrari Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:52 PM
Response to Reply #3
30. You can't do it for the response. By emailing or calling,
you are supporting people in that state that need your support.

You add to the numbers.

But, for sure, you can't be in it for the response because you will likely get little or none.

And our numbers add up. :toast:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:27 PM
Response to Original message
4. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
ChairmanAgnostic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:37 PM
Response to Original message
7. her office is NOT friendly. I was polite
gave congrats about her efforts on Katrina, and said Alito should be-

"just tell me yes or no on Alito"

When i tried to explain, they got ruder.

Obviously they are feeling the pressure, and their boss' stance is unpopular.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pacalo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:09 PM
Response to Reply #7
16. I got the impression they had caller i.d.
Are you from Louisiana, antifaschits?

I used a portable phone that my son bought & used out of state, then gave to me. I don't know if this particular phone would have an out-of-state i.d., but the guy did interrupt me to ask where I was calling from. I live in a suburb outside of New Orleans that would be unknown to out-of-state callers, so he became more receptive when I gave him the name of my town.

Here's a list of a few suburbs that can be used for identification:

Kenner
River Ridge
Metairie (pronounced Met-er-ee)
Harvey
Terrytown
Algiers

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ChairmanAgnostic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:13 PM
Response to Reply #16
18. yeah, from out of town, but I did use a cell.
I don't expect warm welcomes nor the hugs and kisses we received from Iraqis in Baghdad, but professionalism should require one to at least be polite. Heck, they are public servants, paid with our tax dollar.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pacalo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 06:28 PM
Response to Reply #18
34. The guy himself sounded like *he* was from out of town (from LA)...
I think a Louisianian would have been friendlier & more receptive. The guy sounded like a robotic, professional politician.

They forget who they're supposed to be working for & I totally agree with you.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bettyellen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:38 PM
Response to Original message
9. Link to more senators contact info, get on it!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
meegbear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:41 PM
Response to Original message
10. She's worried that the repugs will deny her state funds for rebuilding ...
Landrieu should realize they'd do it anyways, filibuster or not, to "save the budget".

Show some BALLS.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Zan_of_Texas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:55 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. Well, the feds already cut levee etc money by 5/6.
If they had put a few million into prevention, it's likely the worst of the devastation in New Orleans would not have happened -- it wasn't the hurricane, it was the levees.

Then they blamed state and local officials for the terrible response to the hurricane.

Giving Alito power for the next 28 years will NOT make Landrieu's life any easier.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
The Backlash Cometh Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:46 PM
Response to Original message
11. Do you think Mary is afraid of pissing off Bush and losing federal
money for Louisiana? Maybe she needs someone more connected than we are to assure her that he can't do that, if indeed, he can't?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mzmolly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:08 PM
Response to Reply #11
15. Unfortunately, I do believe this is part of the puzzle.
:(

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pacalo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 02:57 PM
Response to Original message
13. This time I called her Poydras office.
I told the guy who answered that I agree with what Sen. Jeffords said, that voting for Alito would be a mistake that would last a lifetime. That's because Alito is a yes-man for Bush, who stated in a press conference today that he circumvented the FISA law because it wasn't workable for him.

Then I told him, with all due respect, I wish Mary would not use this extremely important vote for a bargaining chip for Louisiana. I know we need a lot, but this is a decision that will affect the entire country, not just Louisiana.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pitohui Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:10 PM
Response to Reply #13
17. look we got people homeless now
mary cannot in good conscience fillibuster the senate when people are hurting right now and we are desperate for $$$ right now

28 years from now will have to take care of itself

don't you get it? our cities and towns are devastated right now, today, right this minute

a real immediate need has to trump a hypothetical any day

mary has a duty to represent her own constituents, the majority of which are anti-choice or only in favor of v. limited choice

you can't in all justice ask people who have lost their homes and their livelihoods to wait for help indefinitely, in order to keep a catholic off the supreme court, when this is a catholic state

it just isn't a reasonable request
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Zan_of_Texas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:18 PM
Response to Reply #17
20. Look.
I volunteered to collect food for Louisiana evacuees.

My friends in Texas donated medical care.

Others sorted clothes and drove them to Lousiana.

We are asking you for FIVE FUCKING MINUTES.

It's not about Catholic or abortion as much as it is about preserving the Constitution.

Alito wants to shred the Constitution.

I have spent the last two weeks talking with legal scholars and experts. I am telling you -- THIS IS WORTH THE SENATE'S TIME.

THE COUNTRY IS SLIDING INTO A DICTATORSHIP.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pitohui Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:27 PM
Response to Reply #20
23. a fillibuster takes more than five minutes
first, and most important, let me thank you for your help in the disaster

second, let me try to explain more tactfully even if tactless is my middle name, as my mom always said

to me it seems simple, i don't want alito on the court either, however, mary has to represent this state and most here are catholic and prob. either DO want him on the court or couldn't give one happy crap one way or another

i feel there are better targets for my anger than mary and if alito is going to be on the court whether or not, as it looks like he is, we have other battles to fight around here that we might actually win

the country is not sliding into a dictatorship, it became a dictatorship the minute that the man who lost the election was placed into the oval office, the supreme court is already corrupt, it's already lost, alito or no alito, we're not fighting for freedom which has been a dead letter for years, we're fighting for survival now

jumping on mary, instead of those really to blame for our current crisis, just doesn't seem productive to me
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ChairmanAgnostic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:24 PM
Response to Reply #17
21. hey wait. this is not a catholic issue, and I don't care if LA is a cath.
state. That is not the issue. Religion is immaterial.

If she is making a temporary deal to get a promise of "talking about" funding, in exchange for a yes vote on Alito, then her temporary gain will be erased by a flood of horrible changes. Do you honestly believe that these criminals will keep their word to her? HA! Look at the history of GW Bush in Texas and during his first term. A uniter? HIm? anything but.

She swore an oath to the constitution. The constitution is under attack. She is failing in her duties. Either she wakes up and makes the right, brave and tough decision, or she should be replaced.

Besides, which would Bush respect more? A sycophantic yes-woman who heels, sits, rolls over and votes for Alito on command, or a member of the opposition which has a spine, a growing majority of the American people and an opposition that protects all Americans?
WHich of the two is more likely to get the badly needed resources for LA?
Clearly not the former.

Keep a catholic off the bench? How in the hell did that come up? What did I miss?

I don't give two blessed nonvirgin marys if he were jewish, muslim, catholic, lutheran, agnostic or pagan. He represents a supreme danger to our country. If he is on the bench, you will never see reconstruction happen. Instead, the rest of middle america will resemble the 9th ward.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Midlodemocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:32 PM
Response to Reply #21
24. I agree. It has nothing to do with religion.
And everything to do with the circumventing of law that is Bush's new forte.

And, I'm Catholic. Alito is dangerous.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pitohui Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:32 PM
Response to Reply #21
25. bush doesn't respect anyone
he is a barely functional drunk, i'd be astonished if he even remembered any of the names of the senators, even the republican senators, with a cue card

mary would be failing in her duties to be completely oppositional and confrontational and not playing well w. others at a time when we are in desperate need, how is that non-obvious?

why can't we focus this anger on one or more of the other 8?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Zan_of_Texas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:39 PM
Response to Reply #21
27. "The rest of middle america will resemble the 9th ward. "
Well said, anti.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pacalo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 06:37 PM
Response to Reply #17
36. It's reasonable for this idiot of a president to give Louisiana the help
it needs, but it should have nothing to do with a lifetime Supreme Court vote for a man who doesn't represent the mainstream.

Mary should not have to use this important vote that will affect the entire country to bribe this administration into doing what it should do in the first place.

Has this administration brought our sense of common decency down to the level where we accept -- without question -- our government playing politics with our lives?

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mzmolly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:06 PM
Response to Original message
14. K & R
Thank YOU :yourock:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mzmolly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:15 PM
Response to Original message
19. The first 4 numbers were busy, and the dude I spoke to said they are
getting LOTS of calls to this effect. :toast:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
radio4progressives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:25 PM
Response to Original message
22. i think the fix is in, and it's over... but i really hope I'm wrong...n/t
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
tishaLA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:36 PM
Response to Original message
26. She's on Ed Schultz now
Blech!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
rudy23 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:47 PM
Response to Original message
28. Before everyone calls for the lynching of Landrieu
Know that for the past few months, she has been pretty much the lone voice calling for Congress to stop dragging their feet on hurricane relief & reconstruction. She can't go back now that she's been so vocal about it.

I know we all want a filibuster, and that this is more important to the nation's future than the hurricanes (don't forget Rita), but in Louisiana this is so much more important than anything else. Families are still in limbo, trying to scrap together some semblance of a life. I can't overstate how urgent it is for Congress to act swiftly to help us. No one has time to think about the future of the Supreme Court when food and shelter are not in a familiy's immediate future. For Landrieu to support a filibuster wouldn't just be a flip-flop, it would be political suicide.

Don't forget, her brother Mitch is a likely candidate for mayor in New Orleans, as well. I'm telling you, in Louisiana right now, EVERYTHING takes a back seat to the hurricanes.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
EFerrari Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:51 PM
Response to Reply #28
29. I thought of that. And Alito will NOT help the Gulf Coast.
Period.

Even when we are overwhelmed by our immediate situation, we HAVE to look at the bigger context. No lynching of Senator Landreau. But, she needs to be called and she needs to listen -- for the well being of her constituency.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
filibusterphil Donating Member (10 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 03:53 PM
Response to Reply #28
31. NOLA has people plugging their TV's
into generators in their front yard as they sleep in tents and trailers. Everyday we hear of new relief bills coming up for debate and everyday passes without it - it has been 5 months. The last thing the residents of NOLA/LA want is to hear Landrieu calling for a filibuster that will stagnate the senate (Republicans and Democrats). She is only working for the people who elected her.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
saracat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 04:19 PM
Response to Reply #31
32. So that is more important than the constitution?
I am SICK of politicians who put their own reeltion above the nation and yest I think the constitution and the preservation of civil liberties is more important than the NOLA people having no electricity. They would all be sent to work houses if our constitutional protections are taken away by this vote!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Zan_of_Texas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 04:28 PM
Response to Reply #31
33. I was without a place to stay after our hurricane too.
I'm not asking somebody in a tent to call, ok.

But those of you who are online ARE ONLINE.

Your point: "Everyday we hear of new relief bills coming up for debate and everyday passes without it - it has been 5 months."

Okay, it has been 5 months. WITHOUT A FILIBUSTER.

The Rs don't give a good goddamn about the poor, the disabled, the Ninth Ward, the African Americans, women, or for that matter the middle class.

They won't, whether Mary does this or not.

The president won't have to do ANY LEGISLATION HE DISLIKES with Alito on the court, and possibly one more appointment. So, Mary's job will become, basically, ceremonial.


Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
PDittie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-26-06 06:32 PM
Response to Original message
35. Let's remind the Senator
thar in order to earn our support she must do what Democarts who have funded her and voted for her ask her to do:

support the filibuster.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Fri Apr 26th 2024, 08:51 AM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (01/01/06 through 01/22/2007) Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC