Another Day, Another Action

Karen,

I posted this on the last thread-but will add it here.

Could you please ask them to list what states they are from. I would like to get a supportive action started of calling the student's homestate Senators and asking them to go over and say hello.

My plan is to post this action on several blogs and ask them to call in support of the student and request kindly, nicely, and politely that the Senator drops by.

Gosh, I forgot to add, GREAT COVERAGE!!

Also, Karen, is their organization, the Princeton Review, a 501(c)(3)? Could you ask them that? Because if they are, they might qualify for matching funds for my donations from my spouse's company.

Thanks.

Karen
I wonder if people should call and call the media, asking what's going on and requesting more coverage? Call Air America & Democracy Now. Someone can put stories up on DC IndyMedia too, which links to affiliates all over the world.

The Film US TV Networks Dare Not Show:

http://film.guardian.co.uk/cannes2005/story/0,15927,1481970,00.html

- about the prologue to and aftermath of 9/11, very meaty, to be shown at Cannes, in a few cities and on other tv networks, not in US

I called WPFW this morning, to see if they would cover the rally at 11. I was told they would not. WPFW is the DC Pacifica station.

I think the event is too small for them, or else they are too low-staffed to cover everything. It is true there is a lot going on here today, including a rally this afternoon at the hotel where Tom Delay is being honored, the Bolton nomination issues, and the discussions about youth recruiting for the military.

I asked the organizers if we could sit down afterwards and talk about what worked for them and what didn't. We are going to try for a conference call, at least.

That led to a discussion with Peter, one of the organizers, about political theatre, which of course, this is. This also came up a little in the mini-discussion my friend Gretchen and I had after we met the Billionaire for Bush. As grownups, is such political performance art possible?

I remember the creative energy of my 20s--it was during the Vietnam War, and we had a lot of great actions/ideas. I see it in these kids as well. One of the biggest hurdles I thought we had in the campaign was the sheer cynicism and lack of faith that periodically reared up.

As in, there were days when it was hard to believe that all the hard work would pay off in the end. Would people listen? Would they pay attention? Would it make a difference to them?

Political theatre has an energy and attracts the same. The big question for these kids, and for all of us, is where does that go next?

Is it the bastion of the young? Students are already a fringe population, therefore they can "get away" with antics. That is how they can also shift from fringe to vanguard.

That shift is the essential next step. Whatever boost we have been able to give them here and in the blogosphere (I know many of you have taken their story beyond these pages), it is ultimately up to them to sort out the issues of leadership, direction, agenda, and message.

And we will bring the sunscreen and pizza...and we will all learn and teach.

This must happen, or we are lost.

Way to Go Young Americans...

...nice coverage too Karen!

Republicans, Independents, Democrats, Greens, Deaniacs! (They deserve their own catagory...)

Americans one and all...

The first way to break through the "party lines" is to realize there is more at stake than names and differing philosophies...that as Americans we share more in common than the labels we choose to brand ourselves with and political differences on one or two or three issues.

In order for America to remain America we must conduct ourselves as Americans within the borders of our Constitutional Law...anything less is an invitation to disaster...and despotism.

Democracy is a fragile thing...in these young peoples' actions are the good intentions we must all learn from and take with us into the world each and every day.

There are many here that make up our American Family...E Pluribus Unam...out of many...One.

We are one people...children of every culture and civilization which has ever existed upon this Earth...so we must beg of ourselves the question...what Legacy will we leave to our children?

Shall it be that our memory...our history...tell of failed communication and compromise? That our people feared our government so much we had not the courage to, as is our right, debate and defy and, when necessary, replace those elected officials who have failed the greater good? That we were incapable of granting ourselves as a Nation fair and impartial elections? Will our history tell of the doom of the America we all were blessed to have inherited, under a flag that not just Americans, but the World has for so long respected and revered as a symbol of the strength, diversity, compassion, nobility, generosity, ingenuity and courage of the American People...the Light of Liberty and Freedom for all of humanity?

Our torch has not been and must not be extinguished.

The Fires of Freedom and the Light of Liberty still shine brightly from within our hearts, if only an ember on days of despair...but through the actions of these courageous young Americans, our fires are rekindled and set ablaze once again.

We the People can trust the strengths of our legacy...lessons learned and not soon forgotten...our collective wisdom is being passed from our generation to the next.

Nil satis nisi optimum...

Nothing but the best is good enough.

We hold true to these words not only for our young people who continue to fight for democracy in the streets of our Nation's Capitol, but also for the brave soldiers of our military...may we bring them all home soon.

Vive la Revolution!

about the prologue to and aftermath of 9/11, very meaty, to be shown at Cannes, in a few cities and on other tv networks, not in US

Posted by: not my president at May 12, 2005 09:26 AM

I think we should demand our local theaters to distribute and screen "The Power of Nightmares" once it leaves Cannes. I'm sure, by the way, that there will be some accolades for this film, which HAS to get it some attention.

FRISTIBUSTER UPDATE FROM KAREN:

The students just announced that Senator Leahy has extended an invitation to 4 of the student leaders to come into the Senate hearing for Judge William Pryor and be recognized for their efforts on behalf of the filibuster.

Posted by: dwahzon at May 12, 2005 10:54 AM
=======================
That's great! If the site of these patriotic young Americans doesn't inspire some of those Senators to grow a spine and put the best interests of the country before their party, I don't know what would...

Go, Princeton & Co.!

Voinovich speaks out against Bolton. Will vote for his nomination to go to Senate floor.

I am watching cspan 3 and the Boulton charade currently. I hope we are reminding Chafee's office that we will use his support of Boulton as our rallying cry to defeat him next year. Chafee and Santorum are now our primary targets for defeat and I hope we are getting that message conveyed to his office today.

FRISTIBUSTER UPDATE FROM KAREN:

Congressman Rush Holt from NJ was addressing the students. Some counter-demonstrators showed up and started chanting "Up & down". The Fristibuster students chanted back "Checks & Balances".

Then they quieted down when Senator Chuck Schumer from NY began to speak. "... checks & balances, our constitution, is in danger if they invoke the nuclear option..."

Karen also ran into Ari Rabin-Havt from the Kerry Blog.

Also CSPAN cameras are there now but haven't yet verified what or when they would be broadcasting.

So... we have an entire group of Republicans that all speak out against Bolton, know he's a bad choice, and are going to vote for him anyway...

The Senate is now officially absent of vertabrae.

What a collection of human garbage.

FRISTIBUSTER UPDATE:

Rush Holt is reminding us that the House of Representatives is there to provide the representation from across the country and that the Senate is constructed to allow the protection of the rights of minorities.

Senator Jon Corzine is now speaking. Rough transcription: " Make sure that the rights of minorities are respected in this country, that every voice is respected. Senator Schumer talked about the differences between NY and WY, 6 million vs 600,000; both have 2 senators. This was put into place to protect right of minorities in every part of this country. ...We are grateful to these students who are standing up and protecting our rights... and maybe missing a few exams."

Congressman Frank Malone from NJ spoke next; the Princeton filibuster was the topic of conversation on the floor of the House. 7 Representatives spoke out about the filibuster and mentioned the Princeton students.

He said that members of Congress don't believe that the American people care about the filibuster.

ACTION PLAN: Sounds like we need a major wakeup call to ALL members of Congress letting them know we care about the filibuster. Friends, neighbors, co-workers... everyone needs to fax, email or phone and let Congress know that the filibuster is essential to our form of government and that messing with it will not be tolerated.

The buses have pulled up and the students' 26 hours in front of the Capitol are about to come to an end. It's up to us to carry on with the spirit they've shown us all.

cnbc Nora Odonnel just stated that Voinovich will be voting against Bolton and that Voinovich gave a scathing critique of Bolton in his opening statement. Sounds like a 9/9 tie in committee and with Republican made up rules, ties go to the Republicans, even in committee.

Ira --

That's in direct conflict with what every other news outlet is saying...

I'm confused.

Ira --

Also, I thought a simple majority was needed to send a positive vote out of committee...

Check out the Blogroll on the Princeton Students Filibuster website... lots of other goodies to look at too.

http://www.princeton.edu/~petehill/filibuster.html

Need to scroll almost to the bottom.

I caught 2 of the Princeton filibuster students on Wash. Journal this morning on CSPAN. They did a terrific job of explaining how & why this got started. Try to catch that on the Wash. Jornal replay if you can, CSPAN usually repeats that program later in the day.

on Bolton:
from its first lead story, yahoo news is making it sound like Voinivich will vote no [on a positive recommendation] before he votes yes [for it to go to full floor vote, without recommendation] before he votes no on the full floor..

*****Republicans hold a 10-8 edge on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. All eight Democrats have said they would vote against Bolton. Thus, a single "no" GOP vote would deadlock the panel and keep the nomination from going to the floor.

Voinovich said he would vote for a resolution to send the nomination to the floor without a recommendation of approval or rejection. [what yahoo is missing here, is that before Voin. can make this vote, he has to first vote no on full recommendation, along with the Dems]

"After hours of deliberation, telephone calls, personal conversations, reading hundreds of pages of transcripts, and asking for guidance from Above, I have come to the determination that the United States can do better than John Bolton," Voinovich said.

He said he hoped the full Senate, where Republicans hold a 55-45 majority, would reject the nomination.

"What message are we sending to the world community?" Voinovich asked.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/un_ambassador

According to this article, Voinovich will vote to pass Bolton out of committee, but will not vote for him in the Senate vote.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/un_ambassador

But I think what yahoo is missing, is that before that vote can take place, the vote on full recommendation would have to take place first.
Unless Lugar decides to skip the first vote, since he knows Voin's opinion now, and go straigt to a vote on sending it to the full floor, but withOUT any recommendation....
I am so parlimentarily confused!

found this on dkos, they have an open live thread going. Not sure if this is completely correct, but it sounds like it might be::

Once everyone has gotten their time on camera, there are 3 possible motions that can be made by any member of the Committee.

(1) send the nominee to the full Senate with a positive recommendation;
(2) send the nominee to the full Senate, but without recommendation; or
(3) send the nominee to the full Senate with a negative recommendation.

There are other motions that could be made as well, such as a motion to adjourn for another week to consider additional evidence, or what have you.

In all cases, a motion needs a majority to pass. If the vote is 9-9, the motion fails.

So one scenario is that Lugar would make a motion for a positive recommendation, the vote would be 9-9, and it would fail. He would then make a motion to send it to the full Senate with no recommendation, Voinovich would go along with that, and it would pass 10-8.

A more realistic scenario is that, since Voinovich has made his position clear, Lugar would just skip the first step.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/5/12/11625/2205

Chafee chokes

Victoria unfortunately you are right and Nora was wrong. All the Republicans want to take both sides on this issue. We oppose him, but will allow him out of committee and vote against him on the floor where we know he will win a slim majority. What weasels.

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a tense atmosphere, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee debated John Bolton's fitness to be United Nations ambassador on Thursday. A critical Republican senator, George Voinovich of Ohio, agreed to let the nomination go to the full Senate but he called the diplomat "arrogant" and "bullying."
"This administration can do better than that," Voinovich said in the first big battle of President Bush's second term

Voinovich said he could not vote for the nomination, but would agree to send it to the floor without a recommendation of approval or disapproval.

"We owe it to the president to give Mr. Bolton an up-or-down vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate," Voinovich said.

Chafee is now speaking and I hope the Rhode Island Democratic party is recording his testimony to use against him when Chafee is defeated next year. He should not ask nor expect any Rhode Island Democratic voters to support his re- election. Chafee just stuck his thumb in the eye of every Democratic voter in Rhode Island and I truly hope those voters remember today.

Posted by: VictoriaEllen at May 12, 2005 11:13 AM

Maybe we should start giving out a new award for this behavior. We can call it the Inevitable Invertabrate of the Week Award. The I-Squared award? No, no--the Squared I Award...

Ira,

You've got mail.

Chaffee: I see he and Joe Biden belong to the meeting group, SWS, Senators Without Spines. Is there maybe a 12 step program for that sort of thing? Oh nevermind, who could keep up with the constant enrollment...

Spinnaker,

The award should be retirement. Rhode Island Democrats and moderate Republicans have to constantly be reminded of their Republican Senator's failure as a leader and independent thinker.

I tear up every time I hear Norm speak.

Does Norm Coleman have a brain?

I think that Paul knew that answer better than anyone oncall.That what makes it so sad.
"Bolton is the best person that the President could pick says Norm. That says it all.

"Take him at his word" That is one of the most naive and short sighted comments I have heard so far.

Hagel blasts one of his own. Good to see it happening. Calls Sen. Allen to the carpet.

It really sickens me to hear Senators talking about what they "owe the President..."

Newsflash: You shchmucks don't "owe" the President ANYTHING.

You OWE the public. The public sent you there, not the President. You are there to protect the public interest, not the President's.

This should be a conversation about what Congress and the President "owe" the citizens of this country.

Not what the politicians owe the President.

We need to scrap the lot of them (with very few exceptions), and start the whole damn thing over.

New Congressional Organization:
Brotherhood of United Invertabrates (BUI)

May 12, 2005
Army to Spend Day Retraining Recruiters
By DAMIEN CAVE

Responding to reports about widespread abuses of the rules for recruitment, Army officials said yesterday that they would suspend all recruiting on May 20 and use the day to retrain its personnel in military ethics and the laws that govern what can and cannot be done to enlist an applicant.

Douglas Smith, a spokesman for the recruiting command at its headquarters in Fort Knox, Ky., said that every member of the command, including 7,500 recruiters nationwide and senior officers, was scheduled to take part in the day of instruction, called a "values stand-down."

Mr. Smith said the Army would re-introduce recruiters to legal recruiting practices and the rules that prohibit them from lying to applicants or hiding information from the military that could make them ineligible to serve. He said the focus of the day would also be on reminding recruiters to take advantage of counseling services that might alleviate stress brought on by long workdays and the repeated rejection of their appeals by prospects.

"It's ethics-under-pressure training," Mr. Smith said. "We want to emphasize that bending the rules is not the way to make mission."

MORE...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/12/national/12recruit.html?hp&ex=1115956800&en=d62b1a9cf0809eb0&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Fe,

That revised approach to recruiting will come as some surprise to the recruiters. The guy we heard the other night seemed to feel the problem was systemic, not episodic.

Those at recruiting command might need to shift some cultural values in order to meet the acid test of integrity.

Excellent opinion piece, on the media, and lack thereof:

The Influence of Fools:
Why Liberals Are Mad at the MSM

Liberals are angry with the mainstream media, argues John Atcheson, because for the last four years they have utterly failed to hold our leaders accountable to the truth. If the press doesn't challenge those in power, and don’t dig for more information, then politicians, being politicians, will tell ever bigger lies.
~snip
But here’s what makes us angriest. The press has allowed Mr. Bush to fundamentally rewrite foreign and domestic policy under a cloud of deception, distortion, and deceit.

Iraq was never about WMDs, or al Qaeda links or "immediate threats" – it was part of a broadly conceived and highly pugnacious neoconservative foreign policy.

Tax cuts were never about "your money," budget surpluses, budget deficits, or economic stimulus. They were – and are – part of a stealth attempt to "drown the beast", to shrink government by starvation.

The Clear Skies Initiative isn’t about protecting the environment, it’s about protecting energy companies.

The Healthy Forest Initiative isn’t about healthy forests, it’s about cutting down trees in pristine wilderness areas.

Social Security privatization is not about rescuing Social Security, it’s about killing it.

Now, it may be that Americans want a country in which the tax burden is shifted from corporations and the ultra-rich to families, workers and individual wage earners. Perhaps we want to cut government services and gut environmental protections, and impose trillions of dollars of debt on our children and our children’s children. And it may be that we want a belligerent foreign policy in which we eschew the UN; reject treaties and alliances; unilaterally launch preemptive wars and encourage the resumption of a nuclear arms race by undercutting the Non-proliferation Treaty with plans to develop new nuclear weapons. Heck, it’s possible that we’re willing to ignore real threats to our homeland such as enough unprotected lose nuclear material to make 40,000 Hiroshima-sized nuclear bombs. We might even prefer to spend $300 billion in Iraq, while our borders remain porous; our ports, schools, power and chemical plants remain unprotected; our first responders underfunded; and bin Laden roams free.

But it’s doubtful. And that’s why Mr. Bush and friends want to accomplish their objectives by a stealth attack on the media and the truth.

As liberals, all we want is an honest debate. There is an intellectual case to be made for smaller government, an unconstrained private sector, and an economy that is single-mindedly built around rewarding success and ignoring those who fall by the wayside. And there is a perspective that shares John Bolton’s vision of a US as having a responsibility to use its military might aggressively and unilaterally throughout the world. And its conceivable that there’s a case to be made for imposing environmental devastation and multi-trillion dollar debts upon our children.

That’s the debate this country should be having. These are serious issues that raise fundamental questions. But, as long as the press gives "... the lie the same prominence and impact that truth is given..." by allowing impartiality, objectivity, and balance to trump truth, accuracy and context, we won’t have that debate, and our country and our system of governance will be the poorer for it.

entire article here~
http://www.mediachannel.org/reform/indy115.php

Democracy is once again about to be perverted.

Voinovich and Chafee folded.

From PFAW Activist Network... This is really cool. It enables thousands of people to contact Capital Hill all at the same time...
===========================
We’re down to the wire—and we’re going to need IMMEDIATE response to stop Senator Frist when he attempts to trigger the “nuclear option” to shut down debate about judicial nominees. So, we’re trying something new and groundbreaking—and we need you to be part of it.

It’s called Mass Immediate Response (MIR) and it allows thousands of people to contact the Senate and make their voices heard all at the same time.

Here’s how it works: As soon as Senate Republicans trigger the “nuclear option,” we’ll send a text message to your cell phone. Embedded in that text message is a link to a Senate phone number based on your state. With the push of a couple buttons, your call – along with thousands of others – goes right through to the corridors of power demanding preservation of the filibuster. (Very simple instructions about how this will work on your phone model will be made available when you sign up.)

Join our massive immediate response!

This is a brand new technology, and this is the first time it is being used for activism on a large scale. (Don’t worry: we will NEVER send your cell phone spam or disclose your number to anyone else – and if we use MIR in the future, you will have to opt-in again on that specific campaign in order to receive messages.)

Picture it: by pushing the button, tens of thousands of American patriots are making their voices heard in Washington at exactly the same time, flooding the Senate with simultaneous calls to save the filibuster.

Sign up here

Please join this great innovation in speaking straight to those in power. Click here to be notified to act the instant Bill Frist tries to pull the trigger.

Thanks. We look forward to texting you.

Sincerely,
Ralph G. Neas
President

Sign up for our "Nuclear Option" Mass Immediate Response Initiative:

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/autogen.aspx?oid=18708

BREAKING NEWS Senate committee votes to send John Bolton's nomination for U.S. ambassador to the U.N. to the full Senate for a vote. Details soon.

And in related news... the rest of the world just got another heaping of reason to completely distrust the United States of America.

No film at eleven.

Great Vic, I met Ralph Neas today and told him about the DCP. He did a great job with the Princeton kids this morning.

The theme for the day--Let's get Together.

We need to unite and push forward.

And MoNkEy, all the more reason to form a front, climb into the trenches, and start firing those democratic ideals their way.

No kidding--cards, letters, emails, phone calls. Let's go.

karen --

I love this text message alert idea... will take about 2 seconds to send a BIG message to the hill...

BBBWWWWWAAAAAAHHAAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAA....

No film at eleven.

Posted by: MoNkEy at May 12, 2005 03:41 PM

This just in...

The Office of Homeland Absurdity has announced that Senate offices will be receiving an upgrade to their phone systems allowing greater response by Senators to their constituants while allowing Homeland officials to carefully monitor incoming calls.

UYN- (Up Yours News) has learned that some terrorists using subliminal technology may be able to influence Senators' decision making processes, even through voicemail, so for National Security, the telecommunications systems will be revamped to prohibit the use of this new and evil-doing technology.

The ugrades, which will begin immediately, will unfortunately take an unspecified amount of time to complete. During these upgrades no Senators will be available for incoming calls.

SPOOF but can't you just see it happening?

Got Despot?