My letter to my senators and Pelosi re: Stop the Iran Plan!

[Whoa_Nelly]

Am in CA, so I wrote to Boxer, Feinstein, and then also wrote to Pelosi

Dear xxxxxxx,

The drumbeat is being played by the media as yet another lead up to pre-emptive war, this time with a massive strike on Iran. The dialogue is one-way only. So, no matter how much I post online to political forums to which I belong, no matter how much I scream at the TV or the news articles, no matter how many letters I write to people in government, such as you, who can facilitate a change in the direction our nation is heading, it still ends up being a one-way dialogue, with my voice seemingly little, if at all, heard.

Should the US attack Iran, the consequences would be devastating, not only for our nation, but for the world at large. Iran would, without a doubt, retaliate. There may be retaliation through a direct attack on the US and/or its infrastructure, or an attack on Israel, any or all of which which would result in Pakistan and Syria coming into play, possibly Russia, and perhaps even China eventually due to vested interests in the Middle East.

Our nation has been a poor player at home and abroad ever since George Bush has been in control. And now, especially with NSPD-51, it is patently clear that it will take only one incident that can catapult our nation into a sealed border prison of its citizens.

I am frightened, xxxxxxx, but I am more angry and resolute than ever before in my belief that the Bush Administration must be stopped, and can only be stopped, by Congress.

If this current administration takes it upon itself to use (abuse) the congressional act of 2001 to go to war, and attacks Iran, then it is you and your congressional colleagues who will have the blood of more innocents and US troops, possibly our own civilian citizenry, to be on your hands. And blood such as that cannot be washed off, cannot be buried.

Please act expediently and with assertion to stop the plan to attack Iran. Either push as you can to stop this impending horror, or immediately put pressure on this administration by seeking to assert the articles of impeachment against both Bush and Cheney.

The only way to end further war in the Middle East is to stop our part in it now.

Please don't let this continue to be a one-way dialogue. Please be my voice. Please reciprocate in turn by speaking for me. Please reciprocate as a compassionate human being who has the power to act at her fingertips for the innocent families in the Middle East.

Please speak up.

Please be heard.

Please stop the killing.

[NewJeffCT]

1. good letter, recommended

thanks for sending it to them

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Thanks for the rec...and anyone can use the letter

verbatim or in their own rewrite.

The more letters, the more calls, the more we just may have a real voice in DC.

[barbtries]

11. i blogged it n/t

[Whoa_Nelly]

12. Thank you!

post your site!
(I already went and looked as it's in your profile ;) )

[Booster]

3. Great letter, and I will most certainly use some or all of it to send

even tho we have the same reps in Wash. A K&R.

[Whoa_Nelly]

4. Thanks for the rec

Feel free to add to it, too ;)

[scarletwoman]

5. Excellent letter! k & r! (nt)

[Whoa_Nelly]

6. Thanks, scarletwoman!

Think maybe someone out there in Big Gub'nit Land might actually take it seriously?

[scarletwoman]

14. You really oughtn't ask me that. The value in your letter is in its succinct and trenchant

expression of the truth.

Please understand, I am way past having any faith in the possibility of having any sway over our so-called elected officials. I think it is far more constructive and empowering to face the reality that there is no one in power who is on our side. NO. ONE. IN. POWER. Once you face that fact, it's actually liberating -- or at least, that's how it is for me.

I think the absolutely MOST important thing we have to do in these dark times is to preserve the truth among ourselves, and to work unceasingly to seed it in our children, and among as many of our fellow citizens as might offer fertile soil for its eventual germination.

We need to stop fantasizing about a "return" to some sort of "normal". There is nothing to return to, the sham has been going on longer than we've been alive. The difference now is that it's no longer as seamlessly invisible as it used to be, because they've become reckless in their confidence -- a well-founded confidence, in fact, due to how many years they've been able to sustain the myth of a "shining city on a hill" and how loathe the average decent American is to think ill of our country.

But the Bushies, in their hubris, have essentially stripped away the curtain -- and the TRUE reality behind the elaborate kubuki that we wanted so badly to be real, has been made apparent to all those who have the eyes to see.

Your letter is a statement of seeing, that is its value. It most likely will not deter the Ruling Class from their preferred course -- and you may not understand what I mean, but I'm telling you that its value lies completely outside that particular consideration.

In this time of darkness, our most important task is to keep the light of truth alive for each other.

sw

[Whoa_Nelly]

16. I do understand, and I agree with your view

But, I keep sending letters. Maybe there will be someone who reads it who will take it to heart and actually act on it.

Thanks, scarletwoman :pals:

[scarletwoman]

17. And I agree with you -- we must keep sending our truth out into the world -- even to our

feckless congresscritters!

Thank you for writing your letters AND sending them! :D

:hug:
sw

[freedomfries]

7. K & R

excellent letter!

[Whoa_Nelly]

8. Thank you

Now steal it and send it to your Congress Critters ;)

[barbtries]

9. please let us know

what responses you get. wonderful letter

[Whoa_Nelly]

10. Most definitely will!

Thanks! :hi:

[bdamomma]

13. good letter I hope you get a response.

[Whoa_Nelly]

15. Me, too, instead of the usual impersonal cookie-cutter crap I always get.

thanks

[MsMagnificent]

18. The Senate voted 97-0

--97 to NOTHING--

for the Lieberman proposal which contained language saying Iranians were killing Americans and that this was “intolerable.”
Democrats and Republicans have smoothly paved the way to attack Iran, from these votes to withdrawing a clause that reiterated the Constitutional duty and power of Congress solely to wage war, again giving one man that power.
The same guy who has us embroiled in two simultaneous losing wars at one time.

There is no getting around that.

If memory serves me correctly only ONE member of the House demurred on that (or a similar) vote condemning Iran.

They sure appear to be actively supporting King George's next war.

At this point I think it's a done deal, and the repercussions will be ghastly for ALL Americans, not just the one's who approve of this latest insanity.

I'm not saying it doesn't hurt to try... it is our duty to attempt to avert this utter craziness. I've written and made many calls too, but ALL of our politicians --both Democrats and Republicans-- are simply not listening to us.
Period.

It's a tragedy that AIPAC, ditto the Gun Lobby, holds much more influence over our politicians and their votes than the wishes of millions of U.S. citizens.
The only thing we're outnumbered with here is dollars, not individuals; for example the majority want stiffer gun control laws, but the NRA, well organized and extremely well funded, is what holds sway.

We're traveling down a road that leads from Democracy to Fascism. Until lobbyists and special interest groups no longer hold such power over our elected representatives, it is only going to get worse.

[Whoa_Nelly]

19. Thanks, MsMagnificent

Our government is out of reach by its citizens...but, I still keep trying. :banghead:

We gather together here on the Internet. We scream our outrage. Yet, apparently, gathering online does not have much, if any, real influence, and also seems to separate us further from being actively heard.

Damn...where is the multi-million citizen march to DC? I will go if that can be made to happen. I think in person, the outcry, the outrage must come in the form of actual live citizens to gain notice.

This war cannot take place. It will alter our globe forever in ways we can just somewhat imagine.


From Firedoglake:

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/08/31/can-anyone-stop-bushcheneys-war-against-iran/

Can Anyone Stop Bush/Cheney’s War Against Iran?

Aug.31, 2007

by Scarecrow

<snip>
Throughout this inexorable march to war, the Democratic Congress has done worse than nothing. They’ve voted for resolutions condemning Iran without having the factual basis for knowing what Iran is doing or intends, relying only on neocon and Administration propaganda. They’d listened to dishonest and crazed warmongers like Joe Lieberman, for heaven’s sake. They’ve voted for resolutions that would support regime change, but they’ve refused to pass resolutions or amendments that would require the Administration to seek new authorization to start a war with Iran. Most of our Democratic Presidential candidates — Kucinich and Gravel excepted — have pretended to be “serious” people by refusing to rule out military strikes against Iran, even nuclear strikes. These are not serious positions; they are seriously irresponsible.

But of course, this Administration does not need authorization. It it now operating completely outside the law, outside the Constitution, outside any checks by Congress or influence from those who might counsel against war. By Presidential fiat, it has declared the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to be a terrorist group, effectively making them an enemy of the US without any Congressional declaration of war. We have a lawless, reckless and belligerent Administration, and it is about to start another unlawful war, even as it tries to convince the American people that it is a good thing that the regime has 160,000 US troops bogged down in another quagmire, vulnerable to an enlarged regional war. Who will tell this crazed regime to stop? To whom would it even listen?