Governor Howard Dean, M.D.: Why bother to fight Roberts?

[paineinthearse]

by email

A few weeks ago more than 100,000 of us filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for key documents on Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. This week, just before the legal deadline for a response, the Justice Department formally brushed aside the public interest and refused to release the documents.

Senate Democrats waited for the Bush Administration to come clean about Roberts's record -- the administration chose not to. During the hearings, they asked Roberts serious, precise questions about his record and his views -- but Roberts dodged question after question.

Our Senate Leader, Harry Reid, is right: there are simply too many questions left unanswered. John Roberts, and the sham process that has accompanied his nomination, does not deserve our support.

But it is obvious that the Republican-controlled Senate will confirm John Roberts. Some people even say that it's useless for us to speak out against him. They say we're wasting our time.

But how will we win any battle if we don't stand up for what we believe and speak the truth? More importantly, how will Americans know what to expect from a Democratic Congress and Democratic president if we don't fight for our values at every opportunity?

Democrats can disagree with Democrats in good faith -- and many do on this issue. But when political calculations silence our conscience, we have abandoned our true values. We cannot let that happen.

Our party must speak plainly and fight for the values of equality, opportunity and security that bring our party -- and the vast majority of Americans -- together.

And that's exactly what we're going to do.

If you want to take a stand in your community, you can start by writing a letter to the editor of your local paper about why John Roberts is the wrong man at the wrong time. Nearly 75,000 letters have already gone to newspapers.

Don't be afraid to fight:

http://www.democrats.org/robertsletters

Thank you.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Read the entire letter (PDF)


http://www.democrats.org/page/speakout/letterstoeditors/

[electropop]

1. Done!

Both to Congress and media.

[Meldread]

2. What I REALLY want to know...

...is what CHAIRMAN Dean is going to do with the Dems who are jumping ship. That is the real question. He is obviously disagreeing with them, and choosing his words VERY carefully. I want to know WHAT he is doing about them. What sort of punishment is in store for Democrats who do not align themselves to the party?

I am glad he is speaking out, but I feel he chose his words too carefully. I want a plan, a vision, and damn it... I want to see something being put into action!

[CityDem]

4. What can he do

What can Dean possibly do to someone like Leahy, Feingold or Kohl? All have been members of the senate for some time and will be incumbents when running in their next election. Financial resources will not be a problem given their tenure in DC. Dean's only weapon is his rhetoric -- which is a pretty weak weapon.

[Meldread]

5. Hmm...

Encourage another Democrat to run for their seat and give them funding while denying Leahy, Feingold, Kohl and any other Dem funding. Go out of his way to ruin their careers, that sort of thing. Use every dirty trick he can pull out of his sleeve.

Let it send a strong message to other Democrats who are thinking about straying from the base. Let them know if they do, we'll cut them off and then cut them up, and feed their remains to blood thirsty Republicans.

[madfloridian]

6. You want action? You want a plan? You want a vision?

Well, I will say this for Governor Dean, he is trying.

He is doing his job, which is a hell of a lot more than many of our Senate Democrats are doing.

What can he do? We will have to wait and see. He is trying, he is speaking out. He is saying what needs to be said. He has often said it will take decades to change the party back for the people.

In a couple of years we may see what he can do. Or not. We are all so afraid to speak out that he is criticized for that and then for not doing enough.

Talk to your reps like I do....they are not for action, plans, and visions. Tell them to get on the ball.

[Meldread]

7. I would talk to my Reps, but...

...they are all Republican. They are also firmly entrenched in the Christian Corporate Right, so talking to them is pointless.

I am not slamming Dean, I supported Dean long before he became known (for the fact that he signed Civil Unions into law in Vermont) in the primaries. I voted for him in the primaries despite the fact that it was obvious he was going to lose.

However, I am holding Dean to a high standard. He works for us, not for Washington D.C. He works for us not those on the inside. He is our voice and leader, and I am looking to him and demanding that he take a strong, heavy handed, leadership role. I supported him as Chairman because I believed he would be just that. I believed he would be forceful, and he was in the begining, but he has lost steam. Now is the time for him to take action, not to carefully weigh his words.

He get out there and hold some Democratic Feet to the fire!

[madfloridian]

8. What do you think he is doing?

Also keep a close eye as DFA grows. Just a tip.

[Generator]

3. "Political calculations silence our conscience"

That is it in a nutshell. That's why I have no FAITH in most of the Dems on the hill anymore. Their bottom line is keeping their damn job instead of doing it as we hired them to do and what they actually believe in.

Dean is basically calling all the Dems that are voting for Roberts out as the frauds they are. Either that or they have been HORNSWOGGLED which means decieved by Roberts. Which is worse?

[paineinthearse]

9. Call the DINO's out is right!

It's past time to jetison the DINO's.

[Cha]

10. And leahy is one of them,,

A Senator who endorsed him in the primaries but who is taking a very Strange turn on roberts!

[paineinthearse]

11. Leahy is a lame duck

Senator Sanders has a very nice ring.

[Greeby]

13. But he's taking Jeffords seat

So we're still stuck with Leahy

[AntiCoup2K4]

14. I agree, but the problem here is a lot of the DINO's voted right this time

This one's right out of Bizarro land, with the DLC-PNAC team voting against Roberts and Feingold & Leahy voting for him.

[Zodiak]

16. Well, Kohl is a DLC-PNACer

and so is Baucus.

So it is more like a betrayal with an equal distribution on both sides of the Democratic divide.

[Zodiak]

15. It is becoming clear to me

That we of the blogosphere have become more intelligent, more politically savvy, and more knowledgeable than our elected leaders. In many cases, news and information that is well-known within DU and other liberal news-gathering sites completely escapes the attention of our elected leaders. Why is this?

Political consulatants.

These people keep their bosses in a "bubble" where no information gets to them save through the advisor. A lot of these advisors are not serving the party at all...they only want to preserve their jobs, as well, and so consult their bosses to do the same. When I write a letter to my Congressman, I get a form letter back that doesn;t even acknowledge the issue which prompted me to write. How the heck am I suposed to know my rep "got the message?" But I sure watch them follow Donna Brazile's advice as if it came from Jesus Christ.

The gassroots do NOT have a direct conduit to out elected leaders, so there is a disconnect. These Dems do not KNOW that the blogosphere happened to be correct on just about every single issue over the last five years. This is because we are directly competing with political consultants, and frankly, they don;t like it and make sure we do not get an avenue to our elected leaders.

Some of our leaders really suck; I'll be the first to attest to that. But when good Dems go bad, I cannot help but to think that some stupid political analyist gave them this advice. For five years, these analyists have been consistent with one thing: they have allowed Bush to run roughshod over the American people EVERY single time.

The only time where Bush wasn;t allowed to do that was Social Security, and that is because Dem leader had townhall meetings all over the country...talking directly to the gassroots.

So let's not call out the dogs of war on Leahy. He screwed up; he is misguided, and he is terribly in the dark about how we feel about this. His 70% progressive voting indicates that he would vote the right way most of the time.

I save my Democratic barbs for those like Feinstein (CA), Nelson (NE), Carper (DE), Leiberman (CT), Salazar (CO), Pryor (ARK). All of these (and a few more) are less progressive than about six of the Republicans in the Senate. That's pretty hard to do when the Repukes are in lock-step.

And yes, Kohl is an ass-wipe who deserves to lose the support of the grassroots in his next primary. He votes progressive 40% of the time.

[paineinthearse]

12. .

:kick: