It's Time For a Moratorium on all Bush Appointments (Kos Diary)

[Atman]

Okay, Democrats...are you ready to act like LEADERS?

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by Timbuk3

Wed Sep 28th, 2005 at 19:51:45 PDT

Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation is not effective until her successor has been named and approved by the Senate. There is no urgency to fill her seat on the most important court in the (previously) United States of America.

Now that the House majority speaker (GOP) has been indicted, while we wait for the SEC investigation of the Senate majority leader (GOP), as we wait for Fitzgerald's grand jury investigation of the treasonous outing of a CIA NOC by a GOP executive branch to wrap up, and as disapproval of the President himself (GOP) reaches into the 40% range (Rasmussen), it's time to call a halt to the packing of the courts with ultra-right wing conservative activists.

We should not allow the GOP to continue to abuse their remaining, slim hold on power by installing corrupt judges who will see to it that the poor, women, and minorities will be punished for the sin of voting for Democrats. The President's margin of victory was 117,000 votes in Ohio; votes that no one from either side can verify were counted fairly and correctly. This is not a mandate to overturn years of American tradition by turning our court system into an ideological machine.

The Democrats are often criticized for not taking a stand. Sometimes this accusation is just, and sometimes it isn't, but there is no greater commitment that could be made at this time in our nation's history than to take a stand against the self-serving GOP's giveaway of our nation's future to the freedom-hating "religious" ultra-right, the criminal corporations that move jobs and profits off-shore to avoid accountability, and the war-making machinery that steals from the middle class and gives to the few who profit from oil and death.

<snip>

http://timbuk3.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/28/225145/...

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[hiley]

1. recommend the kos diary

and your thread, thanks.

[WhiteTara]

2. kick

[wicket]

3. kicked and nominated

[Sub Atomic]

4. Okay, Democrats...are you ready to act like LEADERS?

[Bluesplayer]

5. Someone needs to talk to O'Connor

and convince her that for the good of the nation, she needs to un-retire.

[Atman]

6. Who's got that fifth vote for "greatest?"

Timb's post is spot-on! Please keep it in front of fellow DUers!

[AuntiBush]

8. And Another "kick!"

[Mnemosyne]

7. Here it is!

[understandinglife]

9. Starting with Roberts, damn it!

Peace.

[Gregorian]

10. I've been saying this!

And I've even gone a step further- we should be able to repeal, and reverse certain actions that were taken during his occupation of the White House.
I'm sure this would cause havoc to the extent that it would not be allowed. But how different would this be from saying that the guy who made himself out to be the new bank manager, but who actually took the money and put it in his bank account, could keep it since everyone thought he really was the bank manager at the time.

But short of being able to prove his illegitimacy, stopping him now is a brilliant idea.

I also think that impeachment proceedings would do just that. And I believe that Republicans in Congress who have any sense of justice and truth will be inclined to vote in favor of having them.

[Atman]

12. BWHAHAHAHA! You're a funny guy!

"...Republicans in Congress who have any sense of justice and truth..."


Let me know if you spot one!

[dusty64]

16. Washington should be

completely shut down until this fascist cabal stops sticking its finger in the eyes of the People. Looking at all the putrid shit thats been hurled down from the Hill onto the Country, it certainly would'nt do any harm.

[young_at_heart]

11. I wonder if O'Connor regrets her 2000 vote

The Supreme Court (along with the Florida GOP) changed history. It would be interesting to know if ANY of them have had second thoughts. It's hard to imagine they feel happy with the results. I thought I had seen the country torn apart during Vietnam....I believe this is worse!

[tritsofme]

17. I doubt she regrets it at all.

Otherwise she would wait a few years to retire until Bush's term is up.

[Riverman]

13. Dem Nat'l Com Called me Tonight for $ and Unloaded on the

poor young guy who likely worked for some fund raising firm and stationed in a tiny cubicle in North Dakota! I said "Why are you calling me? I have been a democrat all my life and have been a labor leader. I will not give any money to these wimpy democrats who are too weak to stand up to the most crimminal administration in the nation's history. They are rolling over on Supreme Court appointments, when they should be blocking every Bush appointment and legislative effort. Tell that to the people who hired you to call me. Tell them to tell the Democratic National Committee that I am more angry with the democrats because they have left the republicans ruin this country by being such wimps and not standing up for what is right I will not give any money to these people." The poor young guy responded meekly before I hung up on him "Well, I've been hearing a lot of those comments."

California Democrat and Mad As Hell
But Happy today that DeLay is finally indicted!

[cosmicdot]

14. essentially the message I sent to my senator @10 days ago

Barbara Boxer ...

my msg. primarily focused on Roberts, with emphasis on no more life-time appointments for this corrupt cabal...

K&R in support of the message:

NO more appointments for this illegitimate, corrupt 'administration'.

If only the line had been drawn on 11.7.2000.

It's (past) time to save our Nation. Enough further enabling.

Speaking of moratoriums ... I've been calling for one on Help America Vote Act (HAVA) spending on the Diebold/ES&S, etc., machines for a long time. Reports and commissions yet the process enabling election fraud goes forth.

What a $ boondoggle $ furthering future loss of democracy.

[Timbuk3]

15. Another thought (cross-posted)

After I posted this, I thought about it, some more. It may be true that 45 votes isn't enough to stop anything, but with an effective message to the media (the GOP is corrupt) and the right kind of message to so-called "GOP moderates" like Specter, McCain, Snowe, and Chaffee (do you want to go down with them, or take advantage of your reputation for being an independent thinker?) a veto won't be necessary. (Not sure who the other two Repubs could be, the party is extreme.)

It would serve double duty. It could do what we want, which is stop or slow the appointment of these lizards to the courts. And, it could wake the American people out of their "what, me worry?" funk to the facts.

"Doing My Part to Piss Off the Religious Right" - A sign held by a 10-year old boy on 9-24-05

(And thanks to all who kicked the thread!)

[mom cat]

18. KOS nailed it. Why should this twice unelected crook be allowed to

appoint even a file clerk!
Keep yelling at our "leaders to wake up"..or throw them out too!
If they can't seize this moment, they are either stupid or bought off by the same puppet master that controls Bush.
I am tired of Convention time feel good BS that does not translate into power for the people.

[Atman]

19. Hey, that's worth a KICK!

Thanks, momcat!

[shance]

20. sooo reccommended. Thanks Atman.

n/t

[onenote]

21. reality check

Sorry I can't buy into this idea. Several reasons:

1. We can't defeat any nominations even if every Dem votes against. We can block them from coming to a vote by filibustering. I support the use of the filibuster, but in a very selective manner. The proposal to block all nominations is a bad idea. Two things can come out of it: the GOP goes nuclear and we lose the ability to filibuster selectively; the public views the Dems as ineffective and obstructionist. One of the stupidest things the repugs did during Clinton's presidency was force the shutdown of the government. The public will always prefer the side that is trying to do something to the side that simply says "no". If there really was logic to blocking chimpy's appointments, there would be logic to blocking any legislation that the repugs wanted. But that would just backfire as the public would be outraged.

2. The reality is that the voting public (as opposed to activists) are all over the map as to what they want/support. The idea of red states and blue states is a nice shorthand, but ultimately it is misleading in many cases. There are Dems in Congress from states that elect repugs governor (Calif, Vermont, etc) and vice versa. There are states with one repug and one Dem as Senators etc. Expecting all Dems to toe the same line is foolish and short-sighted. If Bill Nelson casts a meaningless vote for John Roberts, but in doing so makes his campaign for re-election a little stronger, I have no problem.

3. The repugs are going down in the public's estimation because they are finally be outed as incompetents, unable to protect and serve the public as the public would expect. The risk for Dems is if we end up being viewed as being very good at pointing out the flaws in the repugs but not very good at putting forward anything positive. A "blockade" approach, whether to legislation or appointments, will not send the message that we can lead.

onenote