Working the system for Webb

post from The Newshoggers on 19 September 2007 11:25:00 AM. © The Newshoggers

By Libby

That sound you hear is the people speaking loud enough to be heard inside the beltway. Webb's measure is inching towards passage and Reid has finally started talking like a majority leader. I like that Reid is holding firm on timetables and making the GOP own this occupation again. I don't want to get my hopes up but I think we may have finally managed to convince our Democratic leadership that winning isn't as important as fighting the good fight.

As for Webb's amendment, there are three Republicans who are showing signs of interest. One of them is mine, Liz Dole, who is up for re-election in 08. It's been odd for me to be represented by Republican senators. Most of my adult life I lived in Massachusetts and I always had the most liberal of Democrats. It almost wasn't necessary to keep in touch because they generally voted along my preferred lines. With my current reps, it often felt useless to call because you knew they were going to vote the party line anyway.

Nonetheless, I've faithfully asked them to vote for the important bills and it looks like Dole at least is listening this time and getting an earful. I had already emailed but since I was home early today I decided to call as well. Burr's interns sounded bored and he's a lost cause. His seat's not up for a few years yet. But Dole's switchboard was lighting up. I was put on hold and I could hear the calls coming in when I talked to the intern there.

The moral of the story is, the process can work, but only if we all participate. It literally took one minute to make both calls and simply ask them to support the Webb and the Habeas Act measures. If you haven't done it yet, take a minute yourself and call your Senators.

Read The Full Article:
http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/2007/09/working-system-for-webb.html

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Mitt Romney And I Are Very Different People

post from Ketchup Is A Vegetable on 19 September 2007 11:18:42 AM. © Ketchup Is A Vegetable

“And preventing attack means good intelligence work.“It means that people who are coming to this country terrorizing or talking about terror in such a way that it could lead to the violent death of Americans, we need to know about that, track them, follow them, and make sure that in every way we can, we [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.kiav.net/?p=149

Digg this

Contractor Expert: State Dep't Also Culpable in
Blackwater Incident

post from TPMmuckraker on 19 September 2007 11:17:01 AM. © TPMmuckraker

Few people not employed by Blackwater know more about the rising world of private military companies than Robert Young Pelton, author of Licensed To Kill, an exploration of military contracting in...

Read The Full Article:
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004230.php

Digg this

Prosper: My Interview with Chris Larsen (CEO)

post from Jutia Group on 19 September 2007 11:10:24 AM. © Jutia Group

Chris Larsen, CEO of Prosper, recently called me to discuss his company and some of the exciting new developments in the works.Following the conversation, I thought a bit about my first impression of Chris. I can tell you first hand, the guy is a straight shooter who knows the lending business inside and out. What [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/jutiagroup/~3/158587788/

Digg this

Restoring Habeas Vote This Morning

post from TalkLeft on 19 September 2007 11:09:00 AM. © TalkLeft

Matt Browner Hamlin informs us:

The cloture vote on the Leahy-Specter-Dodd amendment to restore habeas corpus will take place this morning at 10:30 AM Eastern. We need 60 votes to overcome the Republican filibuster of this crucial legislation. As you can see, we're closing in on the votes we need to take this first critical step towards restoring America's moral authority in the world. With almost 700 calls logged through our Citizen-Generated Whip Count tool at Restore-Habeas.org, we've watched the number of "Yes" votes steadily rise. This is going to be a close vote. Almost every Republican office is punting on telling their constituents how they will vote. It seems most will announce whether or not they think America should continue to stand by the Great Writ of habeas corpus with their vote alone.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/158570020/2785

Digg this

Richardson: Troops add to Iraq unrest

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 19 September 2007 11:03:00 AM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Here we go with the charges that Bill Richardson hates the troops, simply because he told the truth.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Americablog/~3/158670306/richardson-troops-add-to-
iraq-unrest.html

Digg this

Mikes Blog Round Up

post from Crooks and Liars on 19 September 2007 11:00:42 AM. © Crooks and Liars

ARRGH! Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day, also known in the blogosphere as Link to Cap’n Dyke Day. Cap’n Dyke is the most worthy lesbian pirate queen that sails the blogosphere seas.By the way, what does Anderson Cooper see when he looks in the mirror? 2 Political Junkies: Greenspan Update about [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/09/19/mikes-blog-round-up-455/

Digg this

Wankers of the Day

Pool Boy and Harris.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/bRuz/~3/158580354/2007_09_16_archive.html

Digg this

Habeas Restoration Cloture Vote Tally

Senators of the 110th Congress:Akaka, Daniel K.- (D - HI) –Alexander, Lamar- (R - TN) –Allard, Wayne- (R - CO) –Barrasso, John- (R - WY) –Baucus, Max- (D - MT) –Bayh, Evan- (D - IN) — AYEBennett, Robert F.- (R - UT)[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/09/19/habeas-restoration-cloture-vote-tally/

Digg this

VandeHei/Harris Recite the Pledge of Allegiance
to the Culture of Caution

Amazing quote from a Jim VandeHei/John Harris article in The Politico:For the past couple of[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/158577305/showDiary.do

Digg this