Reply #4: Dear Gov. Dean -- They just start educating and they don’t stop …

[understandinglife]

15 January 2006 (# 41)

Paul Loeb prescribes a strategy that is just what our Republic needs – essentially an extended civics class broadcast on C-SPAN and then, well, even Fox would have to start covering it at some point:

If there's a chance to stop Alito, much less reclaim our democracy, we need to bring these realities together. The filibuster just might be the vehicle to do that, as Senators could spell out the links between runaway executive power and a nominee who has consistently ruled and spoken in favor of the unaccountable expansion of that power. Suppose the Democratic Senators actually used a filibuster to talk about the Alito nomination in its broadest context. They wouldn't read the phone book. They wouldn't get lost in an endless maze of legal rhetoric about stare decisis. They could talk about how they'd have readily accepted a more moderate nominee, much as Clinton nominated Steven Breyer and Ruth Ginzberg in part because Orrin Hatch said he'd accept them as preferable to other proposed justices. They'd use the filibuster to educate as well as impede.

However they label their actions, suppose the Democrats started debating the nomination, and didn't stop, in the process addressing the real roots of why Alito would be so destructive. They could read from articles and books about this administration's abuse of presidential power. They could talk about whether we really want government officials to be able to strip us of our rights at will, listen in on our phone and email conversations without a court order, and infiltrate the citizen groups through which we gather peacefully to express our beliefs. They could talk about the choices women were forced to make when abortion was illegal, what it's like to be discriminated against, then told you don't meet an impossible burden of proof, and whether police should be able to shoot unarmed 15-year-olds who flee after stealing $10. They could talk about the Sago mine disaster, and the fruits of a politics where unions are busted and regulations gutted at every turn. They could tell the stories that bring seemingly abstract issues of jurisdiction and constitutional interpretation to life, and make clear their real-world consequences.

In the process they could remind America that this president, with this track record of lies, deceptions, and favors for the most destructive private interests, deserves no presumption of deference. And, that when he nominates someone, like Alito, who will only further his abuses of power, Senators have a moral responsibility to oppose him however they can. The wink-and-nod games of the hearings were designed to obscure Alito's record and frame him as genial and reasonable. If the Democrats accept this, or even quietly vote against him without further protest, they further the lie that this is an ordinary nomination in an ordinary time. If they filibuster and stand firm, there's a chance that the now politically weakened Republicans will back down and not risk putting themselves on the line for destroying nearly 200 years of Senate tradition for the naked goal of increasing their power. But Democrats have to take the risk of standing strong, and we as ordinary citizens have to do all we can to convince them to do so.

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-loeb/filibuster-bush-impeach-_b_13830.html

I call it “Reality Constitution” – weeks, and weeks, and weeks, of each Senator bringing every travesty of Bush and the neoconsters to the attention of the American people.

Alito is a remarkable frame for this discussion because of his support for an unrestrained Executive office, because of his affiliation with bigots, his disregard of the unreasonable and cruel strip search of a ten year old girl, and his repudiation of the core concept of our Constitution – the law derives its authority and validity from the people. We the people … are not slaves to our government; our government does not exist when it violates, in any way, our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." -- Declaration of Independence as originally written by Thomas Jefferson, 1776. ME 1:29, Papers 1:315

Link: http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff0100.htm

As much as Alito may want George to be King, and as committed as George is to being King, We the People … will not allow that to happen.

We can achieve the goal of stopping Alito, of bring George and his neoconster minions to justice, and, in the process, begin restoring and nurturing our badly maligned Constitution. The Alito nomination offers a unique, peaceful and lawful way to address the lawlessness of Bush and the imperial designs of Alito and the neoconsters – righteous Senators begin talking facts and THEY DON’T STOP.

What I add to Mr. Loeb’s prescient and wise strategy is one critical tactical suggestion – any attempt by the Republicans to stop the civics class is met with a persistent use of “Rule 21.”

Once they realize Alito must be withdrawn, we can continue the civics class by the introduction of Articles of Impeachment against Bush and Cheney. That should get us through November 7, 2006, with every American citizen highly compelled to replace the Republican majority in the House and the Senate with true defenders of the Constitution -- validated protectors of our inalienable rights from Bush’s attempts to subjugate and destroy them.

Thank you for your continued leadership,

Peace.