A THREAT!

[benburch]

To those Democratic Senators who plan to vote for cloture;

I WILL SEE YOU DEFEATED.

I will work my damned hardest to purge you from the Democratic Party by supporting and encouraging Primary Challenges. Failing that, I will not lift a finger to help you retain your seat against a Republican challenge; We are better off with a real Fascist in the office than a Turncoat.

This is WAR, and you must CHOOSE.

Who is with me?

[stepnw1f]

1. Actually I Am (nt)

[acmejack]

2. Meeeeee!

I've had all I can takes & I can't takes no more! (said in my best Popeye voice)

[PFunk]

5. I'm way ahead of you...

...because I've felt that way before that due to the way they just rolled over to the Repugs in the past.

[Ninga]

3. Never have I spent the time I have contacting Senators. I sent email,

now I am going to fax, and tonight I am going to call.

We need to keep beating the drums of justice, with our faxes, emails and calls.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. Me.

I'm not sure how to proceed, suggestions welcome. I suggested last night that perhaps the DNC could enforce discipline but it seems that many here think that is not a good idea (I give up why.) All I have is money and time, and mostly money. Currently my money goes through the DNC 'cause I chose to support Dean's efforts to rebuild a grassroots organization. But if I am rebuilding a grassroots organization of spineless assholes, perhaps I am not interested in that anymore.

I am pissed shitless at this point. Frustrated beyond despair.

[MrBenchley]

6. Between you and the Democrats

I'll stick with the Democrats.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. K&R

[KarenS]

8. me,,,, This is crazy,,,,,

I read a quote from my Democratic Senator ~ Salazar ~ earlier,,,, He will vote No on Alito but Yes on cloture,,,, the Senate has too much important work to do,,,,

whatever,,,,

I am waiting for his office to open so I can call (again,btw),,,,

edit: spelling

[samhsarah]

32. too much important work....

yeah covering up for the shrub and stealing from the poor to give to the rich is hard work. how can we put a halt to that to stop a fascist from sitting on the highest court on the land? you must be part of that michael moore, move on.org crowd.

[lyonn]

47. Shutting down Congress would be great

Save us from more repub. style legislation. Can we stand any more of this hard work?

[Leopolds Ghost]

60. ROFL.... "Can We Stand Anymore of This Hard Work?"

Where can I get the bumper sticker?

"Congress has too much important work to do." --DLC

.......CAN WE STAND ANY MORE OF THIS HARD WORK?

[Sammy Pepys]

9. I'm with you.

I will stick with the party, though. Instead of focusing so much on getting people defeated, I will work to find more progressive candidates out there to take the reigns.

[LiberalAndProud]

10. This is supposed to be removed from politics.

This is supposed to be about JUSTICE FOR ALL ...
not PARTY over all.

It's SUPPOSED to be CONCENSUS between our political leaders, not COMPETITION between political parties.

This whole process has been bastardized. It has turned into some kind of frat-boys hazing session.

I share Senator Byrd's dismay.

We should NOT have to be out-matching letters and faxes and e-mails and phone calls.

I will never forgive the Republicans for bringing our court to this level.

THIS WHOLE THING IS A TRAVESTY.

[benburch]

12. Then consider the color of your coat. nt

[LiberalAndProud]

13. Pardon?

I'm not saying it is removed from politics. It's not because Rush said it's not a long long time ago.

I'm saying what it should be.

[benburch]

16. Who do you stand with if you stand with Byrd?

No, this was never supposed to be political, but the Senate was never supposed to be controlled by men who cheated to gain office, and Supreme Court nominations were supposed to be made by people legally elected to the Presidency. THAT is why this has gone beyond the normal civil discourse.

[LiberalAndProud]

23. Helping him cry over the state of politics today is not standing with him.

Just so you know, I will never vote for Ben Nelson again. I will never forgive him for selling out my country for the sake of his own political future. He has betrayed me.personally.
But I want Maxine Maul (D) for my Congresswoman. The state party will lose my $ (Maxine gets 'em), but Dems will never lose my vote or my heart.

...Ben Nelson rant deleted...
(Sorry Mods, but he really pisses me off!

[benburch]

27. My sincere apologies, in that case. nt

[Laelth]

46. I beg to differ.

It has always been political. It was always supposed to be political. And, thus, Dems. that support Alito seem to be betraying the party. No wonder we're frustrated.

-Laelth

[Warren Stupidity]

17. Huh?

The republic slipped into competition between opposing political parties almost the day it got founded. That bullshit went out the window at the start. Byrd is senile and spineless.

The problem is that we don't have a functional political party. We have a collection of mostly corrupt spineless assholes more interested in cashing in and keeping their Washington connections than in leading their country or their party. The problem is that we are fighting a very disciplined ruling party with a collection of pink-tutu surrender monkies who roll over with their butts in the air at the first wiff of alpha male anger from their masters.

[joe_sixpack]

40. And come every election,

we will still vote for them with either the reason that they are at least better than republicans, or the statement that they are the only ones electable.

[Warren Stupidity]

52. Yup.

Our situation sucks. It will take a massive domestic breakdown to change the current state of affairs. Of course such an upheaval does not at all guarantee that change will be for the better, only that things will change.

[Le Taz Hot]

54. Um, no we won't.

The progressives, at least in the blog community and most I know IRL have had it. "Shut up and vote" won't work anymore.

[Leopolds Ghost]

62. I Agree w/ Byrd. If you Can't f**n filibuster, VOTE CONSCIENCE VOTE ALITO.

Otherwise you (Senators) are double dealing.

Byrd of all people would remember what the Old Southern Democrats would do to a judicial nominee who, openly and in advance, proposed to overturn Plessy vs. Ferguson!

Rest assured, the tradition of voting ones conscience is far more ancient than the tradition of nominees being ASSURED an up-or-down vote without the risk of a filibuster. And you can't vote your conscience when you're playing the scab. Anyone who opposes Alito and votes to kill the filibuster is playing the scab.

Filibuster is happening. Either stand with Byrd or stand with Kerry (or abstain).

Those are the only legitimate courses of action I can see.

Everyone else should face the consequences of double-dealing, which is an ancient political sin, more venerable even than the traditions of the Senate.

If a presidential nominee is worth opposing, that in itself is an extraordinary circumstance. When did these anti-filibuster folks forget that? What happened to Byrd's fear of losing the filibuster?

Get real -- if Byrd opposed Alito he would join the filibuster.
The rest of the Senators who oppose Alito should do the same.

The filibuster is a tradition he holds to be a cherished right, up there with voting ones conscience on a nominee (which Byrd has every right to be doing, since he honestly supports Alito.)

Nobody said DINO's couldn't vote to confirm Alito. Just don't get in the way of a filibuster if you intend to vote AGAINST the man.

Doing so is like claiming to support a piece of legislation, then putting up a rival bill that says the same thing but siphons off enough votes to defeat it.

I.e. sandbagging and monkeywrenching.

[Dhalgren]

11. I am with you...

[Catbird]

14. Count me in

Apparently some of the Democrats are planning to support both cloture and Alito. This position is at least consistent, even if wrong.

But others are apparently planning to vote for cloture and then against Alito. This is rank cynicism. You can't have it both ways. These are the people I would be particularly willing to work against and have been sending them messages to this effect.

:dem: :dem: :dem:

[Leopolds Ghost]

63. Hear, hear n/t

[thoughtanarchist]

15. I will contribute to primary opponents of those who vote for cloture.

You hear me Biden? Salazar?

Harry, do your job and show some leadership.

Don't fuck with your base.

:mad:

[Armstead]

18. I disagree -- I'll be mad but.....

...I don;t believe we shoukd cut off our noses to spite our face.

Centrist spineles Dems make me as mad as anyone, but if we let this cause a schism on the left side that perpetuates this imbalance of power, we're just doing Rove's work for him.

P.S. That doesn't refer to the primaries. Anything goes there. But we still need a common front against the repugs.

[Warren Stupidity]

22. Yeah right on.

Lets just do nothing and hope and pray for deliverence in '06 or maybe '08 or perhaps it will be 2010, '12?

Lets just do nothing and perhaps the corporatist slugs will continue to control the party and get their creeps re-elected and if and when by some odd quirk we technically regain control of the congress we will find that it is just more of the same from the other side of the aisle. By all means lets not reorganize the Democratic Party as a real opposition party that actually stands for policies and programs that are opposed to the kleptocracy and tyranny.

[Armstead]

24. Your sarcasm is very misplaced

You obviously haven't read the majority of my posts here on DU.

I'm often railing against collaborationist corporate Democrats. But I also don;t believe that it's going to be very helpful to increase the power of the Republicans by working against the only opposition party with the potential to do better.

[TahitiNut]

19. How about those Dems with 'Leadership PACs' who fund these DINOs?

Let's remember that campaign funding is a form of inbreeding that's helped give our body politic hemophilia.

[Walt Starr]

20. I'm adding congressmen to the list, too. Not to mention my governor

They should be contacting my Senators to let them know, they face consequnces in their own elections should the Democratic Senators do the same.

Broaden the consequences and you're turning up the heat.

Mass defection from the party would be the only thing that'll get their attention.

[Cobalt Violet]

21. Me. n/t

[Snivi Yllom]

25. i've heard this talk before

and even thought it myself at times

and it's not helpful

[converted_democrat]

26. I'm with ya....K&R.....n/t

[seabeyond]

28. i dont do threats. they are full of bluster, hollow, shallow, empty

not productive and just immature, silliness

nope

i guess i am not with you

[kid a]

35. so is self-righteous, smugness - nt

[seabeyond]

36. just a fact. i dont do threat. n/t

[GrpCaptMandrake]

29. Some real world suggestions

IF you don't like being sold out by a gang of go-along-get-alongs like Byrd and Nelson, for chrissakes, DO something about it. Check your local filing deadlines. Run for your county Democratic Party's Executive Committee. Here in WV, that costs ten bucks. If you're successful, you can start changing things from the inside out.

Moreover, the idea expressed upthread of withholding your money is crucial. Byrd took 88-thousand dollars that MoveOn raised for him and paid us back with a shiv between the ribs. Screw that. Screw him.

Finally, withhold your vote, especially in the primary. Politicians, even unopposed ones, pay attention to their primary vote totals as a harbinger of November.

[DemInDistress]

30. count me in from NYC where we live with an EMPTY PIT

MIHOP FOR ME.....

[samhsarah]

31. I'm with you, Ben!

Enuff is Enuff!

[Pab Sungenis]

33. I'm with you.

I'll give money to every primary candidate who opposes any Senator who votes for cloture. Up to the legal limit.

If Menendez votes for cloture, since all the other possible Democratic contenders have already backed out of a primary, I'll run a protest campaign against him myself.

[benburch]

34. And if you do run...

I'll donate.

[Roho]

41. Now that is fight

That is exactly what we need to do.
That will scare them even more than media spin.
That mill make a difference.

I salute you.

The quitters and malcontents threatening to leave the party are WORSE than the gop robots and spineless Dem's they PRETEND to rail against.

Bravo

[Roho]

42. Bravo Ben

That will wake them up faster than pretending to quit the party!

[joe_sixpack]

37. Actually, I predict

we will have all forgotten about their vote by the time the 2006 elections heat up.

[Pab Sungenis]

43. I doubt it

...and we need to make sure we don't.

I was elected to the local committee in 2001. In 2002, Bob Torricelli was running for re-election, and his past was catching up with him. He was going around to the committee people looking for support. I told him I wouldn't support him.

When he asked why, I told him because he didn't stand up and contest Florida's electoral votes from the 2000 election.

I don't pretend that I was the reason, but he withdrew from the election shortly after.

The current Democratic leadership is spineless, so we have to fight to take our party back.

[Blaukraut]

38. not a threat, but a promise

and unlike certain Dem senators, I keep my promises.

[radio4progressives]

39. I'm With You Ben...

Can we get you to run for the House or the Senate?

[benburch]

50. Senate is covered here (Durbin and Obama)...

And My Rep is Dennis Motherfucking Hastert, and my man Ruben Zamora is already running against him.

Now, should Obama decide finally to support cloture, I might look into running.

[Usrename]

44. Heads on pikes!!!

:kick:

[jillan]

45. You should say YOU'RE EITHER WITH ME OR AGAINST ME

And I am with you!

[unkachuck]

48. count me in....

....it's going to be a 'before alito' and 'after alito' world for many of us....

[flyarm]

49. to senators who vote for cloture or do not support filibuster..i will

send a check in the ammount of $19.84 to all of their primary challengers ..in the entire USA!
and in my two states where i reside..i will support to the fullest amount possible their challangers!

and if it is tight anywhere in the USA, i will send $198.40

fly

[benburch]

51. Excellent...

I wonder if anybody will catch the significance as they process payments, though?

[Paulie]

55. Sure, just need to advertise!

The symbolism will be noticeable AFTER their defeat.

[mom cat]

53. I agree, but lets stay focused NOW on convincing their sorry

asses to vote No, No No
No on Alito
No on cloture (or abstain)
No on the nuke.

[benburch]

56. Absolutely.

But part of that is making them aware that their political asses are on the line for this one.

[jmatthan]

57. So glad to see you come out so strongly

Mike really set the airwaves on fire today morning. Wish all America could hear him!

Thanks Ben, as I had to listen to your archives as it was my only chance in 364 days to sleep late.

[mountainvue]

58. I'm with you. If Salazar votes

for cloture, he won't get my vote again.

[Leopolds Ghost]

59. If they want to vote for cloture, they should vote for Alito.

Otherwise their careers should be over.

That should be the message from leadership on down.

That's my idea of a "vote your conscience".

When it comes to cloture there is no such thing as a conscience vote.

Either you are voting for cloture because, as a practical matter you support Alito (perfectly legitimate reason for a DINO) or else go against a filibuster mounted by senior Dems with no principled reason for doing so.

(Landrieu, who is worried about getting back to the business of "managing" the ethnic cleansing of her home state to prevent whites from getting angry at her; Salazar and Obama, who want their egos stroked by Senate leadership by flexing their muscles so they can be known as respected strategists; "red state Dems" who are not afraid of actually voting against Alito thinking if they keep quiet nobody would notice, thereby allowing them to continue raising out of state money; etc.)

There is no room for turncoats, monkeywrenchers or scabs who want to have it both ways by pretending to oppose Alito when their friends in business / DLC / the conservative Democratic community don't have a problem with the man.

[FogerRox]

61. NJ Checking in-- You want my vote SHUT THE SENATE DOWN

[benburch]

64. Amen, brother! nt

[in_cog_ni_to]

65. ME! I am with you!

I will donate time, $$$ and efforts to seeing the SOBs removed from office.