My Cantwell Response

[SeattleRob]

I wrote Maria Cantwell, telling her she has lost my support because of her cowardly vote against the filibuster and her phony vote against the confirmation of Alito. I told her that her ploy wasn't fooling anyone. So she responded with a form letter. Obviously her office didn't listen to constituent calls - and apparently, they also don't bother to read emails.


Here's her lame ass reply:

Dear Robert

Thank you for contacting me about the confirmation of Samuel A. Alito Jr. I appreciate your input on this critical issue. As you know, in a 58-42 decision, Justice Samuel Alito has been confirmed by the Senate to be Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court.


I take my Constitutional responsibility as a senator to advise and consent on judicial nominations extremely seriously. While I recognize the privilege of the President to select his nominees, I believe it is critical that we conduct a comprehensive evaluation of each nominee's qualifications, since Supreme Court judges are expected to impartially interpret our nation's laws during their lifetime terms.


I was very concerned with Justice Alito's record regarding an individual's constitutional right to privacy. While I do not expect any judicial nominee to prejudge future cases, I do expect all nominees to make their positions clear on protecting the most basic rights of individuals and the fundamental structure and foundations of our democracy. In the end, I cannot be sure that Justice Alito would do either.



Justice Alito has a record of concern when it comes to placing and consolidating the rights of the government over the rights of the individual and he has not provided the answers to adequately reassure the people of our nation. 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. With great respect for the institution, I could not vote to confirm Justice Alito to the Supreme Court of the United States .


Thank you again for contacting me to share your thoughts on this matter. Finally, you may be interested in signing up for my weekly update for Washington state residents. Every Monday, I provide a brief outline about my work in the Senate and issues of importance to Washington state. If you are interested in subscribing to this update, please visit my website at http://cantwell.senate.gov. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of further assistance.




Sincerely,
Maria Cantwell
United States Senator

[flamingyouth]

1. Probably the only reason you heard from her at all

is that it's an election year. I can't tell you how many times I've contacted her office and never heard "boo" in response. Patty Murray, on the other hand, always replies (or at least her staffers do).

Cantwell. x(

[kaygore]

6. Support her liberal opponent

http://www.votemark.org

[flamingyouth]

7. I sent him a donation yesterday

Thank you for including the link here in this thread. :thumbsup:

:hi:

[kaygore]

9. I sent a donation, too--my whole PayPal account!

[Botany]

2. yes on cloture but no on Alito?

she makes the list of shame

Akaka
Bingaman
Cantwell
Carper
Dorgan
Inouye
Kohl
Landrieu
Lieberman
Lincoln
Nelson (FL)
Pryor
Rockefeller
Salazar

[MrModerate]

I'm trying really hard to avoid giving in to the . . .

"All mainstream dems are wusses" despair, because it only feeds the Dark Side of the Force.

However, it's getting harder and harder.

[leftstreet]

3. Unsubcribe from her weekly newsletter - or report as spam?

Decisions, decisions.

[Fenris]

4. Patty Murray would have given you a nice response.

It's a shame we can't have two of her in the Senate.

[kaygore]

5. I called Cantwell's office and here was the reply:

"Senator Cantwell will not discuss her decision not to support the filibuster."

Well, I just guess we can't support you, Missy Cantwell!

[davikim]

8. I got the same

reply from someone in the office, had a hard time making them understand I was concerned about the filibuster, not the vote. They had nothing to say to me about the filibuster. I left the message that I was very very very disappointed. What happenned to the Mariah Cantwell that stood up to the oil guys and the ANWAR issue? Is it because this is an election year for her??????

[kaygore]

10. I think they NSAed her!

Hmmmm....wonder what she is hiding???!!!

[M_Demo_M]

11. I got that lame response too, and wrote her back.

Here's the meat (tofu for the veggies) of the letter.
...

With all due respect, you can't have it both ways. It was well established that the only way to block
Justice Alito's confirmation was through a filibuster. A vote against confirmation coupled with a vote
for cloture was a meaningless gesture.

Up until the Alito vote I had every intention of supporting you in 2006. Now I plan on supporting your
Democratic primary challenger.

Good luck in 2006. You've made a major blunder.

...

She just doesn't get it. And it felt really good telling her that.

[Bjornsdotter]

12. Send her this

http://backbonecampaign.org/page.cfm?id=64

Sorta says it all.

Cheers!