LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - PLEASE DO THIS & RECOMMEND

[debbierlus]

Hi, everyone. I am going to be gone today, but I have a action that we can all do with ease and speed. I wrote the following letter to the Editor and then sent it out through the Moveon site. I am asking you to please use this letter (or write your own if you prefer) - I have already submitted my letter to the following papers: Berkshire Eagle, The Bennington Banner, North Adams Transcript, The Hartford Courant, The Telegram & Gazette, New Haven Register The Republican and The Republican Sunday and ALL the national papers given on Moveon, so if you are sending to those papers DO NOT DUPLICATE and send this letter, write an individual letter, more likely to be published then if they think they are getting form letters (which it isn't, I wrote it, but avoiding duplicates gets letters taken more seriously). To everyone else, feel free to use the letter to send to your paper, you have my FULL permission to use it.

Go to the Moveon link that allows you to submit the letter. Submit it to all the papers in your area, just press the back button when your have submitted it and go to the next one.

http://political.moveon.org/lte/index.html?id=&zip=

(To the Editor - I implore you to publish this letter immediately - time is of the essence, the cloture vote could take place as early as Monday. If you can, please publish ASAP)<br>

I am writing to express my sincere appreciation to Senator John Kerry for standing up and demanding a filibuster of Samuel Alito's appointment. I have never been prouder of the Senator in all my years of supporting him. Senator Kerry recognizes the danger this nominee poses to our democracy, and he is completely right in asking to extending the debate.

This is not a partisan issue. This nominee should be a concern to all American citizens regardless of party affliation. Samuel Alito would be a dangerous addition to the court during this time when the President is trying to expand his executive power. In a 2000 speech to the conservative Fedralist Society, Samuel Alito advocated a dangerous and radical judicial philosophy of 'unitary executive theory'. The doctrine assumes, in its extreme form, nearly absolute deference to the Executive branch from Congress and the Judiciary. It is a theory that calls for stronger presidential control of government operations and a reduced role for Congress. In sum, it is a theory, that if applied, would utterly decimate our current system of co-equal branches of government and destroy a government that operates under the restraint of checks and balances

It is imperative that American citizens be educated about what is at stake with this nomination. Senator Kerry's website provides a video of his brilliant floor speech outlining the case against Alito. I would encourage every single person to go to kerry.senate.gov and watch it. It is a speech of a lifetime. Then, go to savethecourt.org and find out how you can work to stop the appointment of Samuel Alito to the supreme court. Our future as a free people depends upon it.

THANKS ALL!

WE CAN STOP ALITO - KEEP UP UNRELENTING PRESSURE

GO!

[MelissaB]

1. Scroll to the bottom to change the zip code

to your own.

:kick:

Edited to add: Other talking points are listed on this page.

[debbierlus]

2. Please keep this at the top - kick and recommend -

Let us get a letter to every paper in the nation.

Thanks all!

:yourock:

Put in your zip code and your information at the bottom - thanks all!

[debbierlus]

4. Keep it kicked and recommended - get a letter to every paper in nation

:yourock:

Changed the link to the direct page for everyone!

[vademocrat]

3. Here's mine - sent Thursday

Sent to the Richmond Times-Dispatch (aka "crimes-disgrace") -

"There are several reasons I am opposed to the confirmation of Judge Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the overriding factor is his theory of the "unitary executive" which gives the president much more power than the founding fathers ever envisioned.

Our system of government was designed to be a system of checks and balances - power shared among the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, each keeping the others in check. If Judge Alito is placed on the Supreme Court this system of checks and balances is threatened because he believes that the Courts and Congress are subservient to the Executive Branch.

The Bush Administration is trying a short term power grab with this confirmation and I hope that Senator Warner and Senator Allen will look beyond party loyalty and say no to this bid for increased presidential power."

[debbierlus]

5. Cool!!!!

The more the better!

Did it get published?

[vademocrat]

13. Not yet - MoveOn's stats show 31 letters have been sent to this paper

so mine may not have made the cut.

[MelissaB]

Is there a comprehensive list

of opposition reasons other than these on move on? I want my letter to be thorough. :evilgrin:

[debbierlus]

7. ACLU, NOCRONY.COM, SAVETHECOURT.ORG

Those are a few...

Anybody else know links?

[MelissaB]

10. Thanks! Here is one from Save the Court

http://www.savethecourt.org/site/c.mwK0JbNTJrF/b.1359291/k.AC47/Alito_Interactive.htm

[mom cat]

6. Great letter. K&R...Keep this kicked!

:yourock:

[Reader Rabbit]

8. Done!

Sent the following:

When I learned of John Kerry's determination to filibuster the Alito nomination, I nearly wept with gratitude and relief. For too long, Democrats have been cowering in a corner while conservative Republicans run roughshod over the American public and our Constitution. Finally, someone is going to stand up for the little guys and the supreme law of our land! And it's about time! Since the Republicans seem to be drunk with power, it's up to the Democrats to be the designated drivers and get our nation safely home.

to my local paper (The Oregonian) and to the five national papers. And now that I think about it, I think I'll send it to all those Democratic senators who are still cowering in the corner!

Woot!

[Epiphany4z]

9. I used

the link from some republican pro alito sight to submit my anti Alito letter to the editor of 5 papers at once my area and I got published...my first letter in paper ..its a small thing but im thrilled.

I have been getting lots of congrats from the dem group I belong to localy...ahh my moment in the small pond spot light..lol

[debbierlus]

11. Thank you - it is not a small thing to work to save democracy!

:yourock:

[Ramsey]

12. Write your own letter

It took me 5 minutes to write my own letter. Use the talking points or just what you know about Alito to write 2 paragraphs. Otherwise this will just look like astro-turfing and make less impact.

I used the Back button on the MoveOn and the page will save all the info you entered, and you can send letters to all the local and national papers listed.

Thanks to MoveOn for making this page available! It's very convenient.

My letter:

Dear Editor,

I support the efforts of the Democrats to block the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Mr. Alito has shown through his record and his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he does not represent the mainstream of America. He supports unfettered presidential power, corporation interests over individuals, and the contraction of civil rights, including a woman's right to chose. Mr. Alito will tilt the Supreme Court to the extreme right at a time when the executive branch is exercising a full-blown power grab and Congress is abdicating its responsibility to check the executive branch.

The founders of this great nation established a three-pronged government of equal parts, each with checks and balances on the other. With a sycophantic Republican Congress and a power-hungry Republican president, Alito will complete the right wing triumvirate, at the expense of all Americans.

I support the filibuster against Alito, a man who is too radical for America and who does not belong on our highest court.

Eleanor Harris
Philadelphia, PA

[wisteria]

14. Thank you, I am using portions of this letter and incorrporating it

into a letter I am writing.

[Coexist]

15. done!

I sent it to USA Today.

No matter how you feel about abortion, the Commerce Clause should be the main reason for ALL Americans to strongly object to having Samuel Alito sit on the Supreme Court. The Commerce Clause grants Congress the power to regulate commerce “among the several states.” In 1937, the change in SCOTUS view of the Commerce Clause under Chief Justice Roberts allowed minimum wage, civil rights and worker's right legislation to be upheld. Samuel Alito's record is clear - he would like to shift the court to favor corporations over workers in these matters.

Consider this snippet from an excellent article from
http://www.etymos.com/
"consider that this small clause underlies more federal regulation and more powerfully affects everyday life than does any other provision in the U.S. Constitution. You need not be terribly interested in business or commerce to care about laws dependent on this clause: if you care about laws against racial discrimination, laws prohibiting exploitation of child labor, laws providing for a minimum wage, or laws limiting private access to machine guns, you should be concerned about the Commerce Clause. If you give a damn about environmental protection, you should be more than concerned."

If you care to leave your children the same rights, civil liberties, clean air and water you were afforded, you will contact your Senator and beg him or her to publicly support the filibuster of Judge Samuel Alito - whether or not the final tally will be enough to prevent cloture - as a signal that we will not quietly hand our abusers the bat with which they will beat us.

It's pretty long - over 200 words - but I couldn't pare it down any more without losing my message - I am not talented enough. Maybe they'll take it anyway?

[bettyellen]

16. K+R

[Triana]

17. Done. Modified your letter and sent..(n/t)

[Angry Girl]

18. C'mon! Keep pushing, kicking, and fighting! KnR

We will not hand over our democracy without a fight.

DON'T read the biased newspapers, don't listen to the corporate radio shows, and don't watch the boob tube because they are nothing but the GOP echo chamber seductively lying to you, telling you to lay down and give up.

If you don't fight this now, what will you tell your children 20 years from nowwhen they ask you about freedom in America?

[debbierlus]

27. And, the most amazing thing - this is a fight we can WIN!

Oh, yes, we can....

[fooj]

19. K&R!

Peace.

[newswolf56]

20. R/K (n/t)

[pat_k]

21. Looking for more samples?

Below you'll find the letters I've sent so far. Feel free to take ideas from them.

I noted the newspapers I sent each letter to.

Please don't send a variation of a letter -- unless you've really done a complete re-write -- to the same papers I did.

The "Letters to Leaders" section of Congress.org also provides a good source for ideas.

A couple things to keep in mind:

• Most newspapers note a maximum word count. It is important not to exceed it. The shorter the better. (Shoot for less than 150, or even less than 100.)


• I've probably set a bad example by sending each letter to a couple different papers. It really isn't a good idea to hit different papers with the same letter. If you do send a letter to multiple papers, make sure they don't share an owner. If multiple instances of your letter show up on the same desk because you sent it to 10 papers that are owned by the same people, it will not get into any of their papers.


• Make sure you include full name, address, and phone (and even times to call). Most won't publish until they have talked to you.



<<<Word Count=100. This one is my personal favorite. Sent to NY Times, Washington Post, and LA Times*>>>

Editors,
I am becoming very concerned about some of our United States Senators.

Opposing Samuel Alito and at the same time opposing the Filibuster isn't rational. If you oppose him, and intend to vote Nay if the nomination gets to the floor, then you must vote Nay on the only "up or down" vote that matters -- the cloture vote.

I don't see what could lead someone to such an irrational position. Perhaps their staff members and your reports should take a closer look at these people. It could be an early sign of some mental illness.



<<<Word Count=145. Sent to the Star Ledger and the New Orleans Times Picayune*>>>

Editors,
Samuel 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?)

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.

Roe v. Wade is the least of our worries. Anyone who believes in the consent of the governed has a moral obligation to block his nomination.



<<<Word Count=135. Sent to the Washington Times, USA Today, and Boston Globe* (I added a bit about Kerry being right to the Boston Globe letter)>>>

Editors,
Samuel 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 must be rejected to on principle -- American principle vs Fascist principle.



<<<Word Count=160. Sent to the Arkansas Gazette and the Chicago Tribune*>>>

Editors,
The "theory" that the President of the United States of American has unitary authoritarian power is absurd. This "theory" has no place in the realm of rational discourse. Every American who values our founding principle -- the consent of the governed -- must do everything in their power to keep Alito (the champion of this "theory") off the court.

If any of member of the Senate erroneously believes that blocking Alito's nomination will risk their reelection to another six year term as one voice in 100, they just need to compare that risk to the damage we know Alito will do in the course of his lifetime on the court.

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.


------------------------------
* Please don't send a variation of this letter to the same papers I did. (unless you've really done a complete re-write).

[Wordie]

22. K&R

[low_phreaq]

23. If you're writing to any West Virginia newspapers

Check out this thread on Alito & mine safety:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x256388

It also has some links to lists of WV newspapers.

Byrd's constituents need to know the truth about Alito!

[debbierlus]

24. Just got back - THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR DOING THIS!

I had fun for the first time in a week -

I went out.

Got a pizza - bought some vintage clothing - spent the day with my family - it was warm here - 46 degrees is tropical in Massachusetts in January (especially where I live, in the snow belt)....

Thanks all

:yourock:

[mousie]

25. done, kicked, and THANKS!

[debbierlus]

26. Thank you!

Just keep it kicked so more people can join in-

Thanks all - as always:

:yourock:

[mousie]

28. kicking!!

[Wordie]

29. Another kick...thanks debbierlus!

[debbierlus]

30. I would bet any amount of money we get a few letter published tomorrow

:yourock: