My Useless Calls to Chuck and Hillary re Censure!

[veracity]

I called the Washington and New York City offices of both Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Hillary Clinton this morning to ask about their respective positions on the censure resolution introduced by Senator Russ Feingold.

Sen. Schumer's Washington DC office told me he had NO POSITION on the issue at the moment. I laughed out loud, and stated that for a Senator who takes public stances on every issue that can get him a photo op....that response was, in fact, a clear position. I stated that having NO POSITION was refusing to hold the President accountable for violating the Constitution. I said a few other choice things that will remain undisclosed for the moment.

I then asked if I could quote the Senator's position in a newsletter issued by TvNewsLIES.org, the alternative news site for which I write and which had a regular radio webcast. Uh...well...not really, was the response. But, the young man to whom I was speaking quickly offered to connect me to the press folks who would give me an official statement.

No luck. Everyone in the press office claimed to have no authority to state an official position for Senator Schumer....but they asked for my contact information and promised to get back to me as soon as someone 'in authority' arrived.

I'm still waiting.

Hillary Clinton's Washington DC office REFUSED to give me her position. Chris, the responder on the phone, totally and abjectly said he could not offer Cilnton's position on the censure because the resolution was in committee and she had not had time to go over it. You don't want to hear what I had to say to the outrageous response that was an insult to any caller's intelligence.

I then identified myself as a member of the alternative press and was redirected to the 'press office." There, an answering machine recording assured me I'd hear from someone soon.

I'm still waiting for that call as well.

Bottom line. The Party's over. There's no hope for anyone expecting some relief from the Democrats to the horror that is facing this nation.

Where to run?

Veracity
http://TvNewsLIES.org

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I guess we need to start dumping tea in Boston Harbor again

because even though we pay taxes we have NO representation. On the Republican side we've got criminals and religious fanatics; on the Democratic side we've got consultant-obsessed cowards; and nobody -- none of those useless tools -- represents us.

Lipton is cheap. Let's go for it.

[ewagner]

3. Cerebral Boston Tea Party

I agree....has anybody got a really really good idea on how to put together a symbolic BOSTON TEA PARTY?

It has to be very clever and legal and has to draw a lot of attention...as well as a million or so people!!!!

[Dunvegan]

8. Good idea. Except let's dump e-voting machines and vote all the...

...bastids out in 2006 and 2008.

[Tesha]

12. You might do better to drop a few Democrats in the harbor.

"No position, huh? Well, no need for you, then!" (Splash!)

Tesha

[Clark2008]

30. Fuck the Boston Harbor - let's dump tea in the Tennesse River.

Or the Mississippi.
Or the Missouri.
That might wake some people up.

[Catrina]

2. No surprise, they're my senators also, and I gave up bothering with

them long ago. They NEVER respond to emails, Schumer doesn't even send the obligatory electronic response. I may as well have two Republicans as senators ~

I'll call them tomorrow just to annoy them. Maybe by then they'll have heard from their DLC overlords as to what their positions are going to be.

[Drum]

4. I'm a NYer too

and calling Schumer and Clinton yesterday were the first such calls I'de ever made (I'd only dealt with e-mails & letters before that.)

So, I was a little less assertive than you, veracity, but the Senators' assistants' responses to me were exactly the same as you describe.

Sigh.

[Cornus]

5. Same here

I'm split between NJ and NY and just registered to vote in NY so I've been contacting Schumer and Clinton. I got the exact same response today when I called.

[Bouncy Ball]

6. Ok, I'll say it:

WHAT THE FUCK IS THEIR PROBLEM????? ARE THEY FUCKING IDIOTS OR WHAT? HAVE THEY **SEEN** THE LATEST POLL NUMBERS???? THE COUNTRY IS BEGGING, FUCKING BEGGING SOMEONE, ANYONE TO STAND UP TO HE AND HIS CRONIES' BULLSHIT!!!!

My GOD, but it boggles the mind.

[DancingBear]

Oh come on BB

Both Schumer and Clinton are "crafty politicians", and realize the futility of over-reaching with this silly "censure" resolution. :sarcasm:

Unless, of course, "internal polling" shows it is the thing to do.

In that case, there is not a TV program on this earth that Hill and Chucky won't push their mugs onto.

Thank the DSCC for this brilliant milquetoast hang on to the middle, lest we be perceived as being (gasp!) liberal "strategy" - whatever the fuck it is.

If two Senators were ever begging for a "Kick me, I'm stupid" sign...

"take two steps to the left, two steps to the right,
then you stand in the middle and you hang on tight..."
-Steve Goodman-
"Election Year Rag"

[Talismom]

10. Clearly, they no longer take their marching orders from their

constituents but from their corporate backers. I'll be collecting signatures to put Jonathan Tasini on the ballot to run against Clinton in the primaries (see www.TasiniforNewYork.org) 'cause I have had it with her and her attitude and her pro-war stance and think he is just fantastic! Hope others will join us and the Progressive Democrats of America and take back the democratic party (www.pdamerica.org).

[Bouncy Ball]

11. Progressive Democrats of America?

Sounds right up my alley, have to check that out.

[Talismom]

14. I bet you're gonna like them! I'm on a role having met and liked

Tasini this past weekend.

[LittleClarkie]

7. 2 Senators = "The Democrats"?

Kind of a broad conclusion, innit?

[DancingBear]

15. They are (rightly or wrongly) the faces of the Democratic Party

As of right now, we have a grand total of 4 (5?) Senators who can actually utter the words "Bush broke the law."

We have 39 (40?) more who actually have to "study" if(!!!!) he did.

Of course, "study" in DemSpeak these days means how will it play in Peoria - let's not let lawbreaking get in the way of 6 more years with private parking!

No, I"m afraid that 2 Senators DOES equal The Democrats in this case.

C'mon Senators - prove me wrong. For the good of us all.

[ClassWarrior]

37. So you must be a troll.

Hey, there are at least two or three trolls at DU, ergo you must be one.

And if you alert on this message, you just prove mine and LC's point - that your characterization is unfair.

:D

NGU.

[veracity]

9. My tactic now...

Whenever I get a letter from either Hillary or Chuck.....which is quite regularly..... I take the request for donations form....and I print in CLEAR LARGE BLACK MARKER: YOU BETRAYED US!....and I add IRAQ, 9/11, PLAME, SPYING....or whatever I can manage to fit onto the page. "

And, of course, I mail it to them.

Trust me, if they get all the letters back without a donation, but with a message from the people they're counting on.....they'll start to open their eyes.

Try it...

[Talismom]

13. I do the same thing! On that day that they renewed the patriot act

Clinton sent me such a fund raiser and I sent it back covered in think, black marker saying to take me off her mailing list since she saw fit to sell out me and my civil liberties. Felt good! Now I'm gonna work to unseat her corporate butt from the senate!

[RazzleDazzle]

18. Chances are your efforts are totally wasted

chances are those fundraising letters are sent to a fulfillment house and the poor minimum wage clerks who open them could care less. The Senators and their fundraising consultants never get a clue. At all.

[PretzelzRule]

19. perhaps there's a workaround for that scenario

such as: go ahead and mark up the donation request slip with whatever message you deem fit, photocopy it and fax the photocopy to the Senator's office.

couple extra steps there, but would ensure someone sees it, besides just the fulfillment house workers

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. Just got one from Hillary, wanting $$ for the DSCC.

I got out a Magic Marker and wrote across the slip where you list your donation, "NOT A DIME TIL DEMS GROW SPINES!" It goes out in tomorrow's mail. Postage prepaid. As soon as they start standing behind Feingold and otherwise doing their damn job of representing us, I'll start contributing. Not before then.

[veracity]

17. spread the word

Get others to do this...someone at their headquarters will get the message.

Another thing to write:
NO HILLARY IN '08!!!!!

[zulchzulu]

20. Shumer should...not surprised about Hillary

There are others that I wonder why they don't come out...

[leesa]

21. Don't waste your time on these people.

They are corporate whores and they will do nothing unless they receive the stamp of approval from their corporate keepers.

[SaveElmer]

22. Calm down...

This is gonna take time...Feingold himself realizes that now. I think he made a mistake going forward with this before he lined up support. The story now is not censure but how the Democrats can't get their act together.

However, it appears Feingold realizes that this is not the number one priority for the Senate right now, and he is now trying to line up support. I think over the next few weeks you will see more and more Senators come on board, and a strategy will be developed to move forward with this in a more coordinated and effective way!

[IndianaGreen]

23. There is a whiff of "keep the powder dry" in the air!

Time for you to change your song and dance routine, don't you think?

:boring:

[SaveElmer]

28. Absolutely not...

If Sen. Feingold had done the smart thing, this whole dust up would not have occurred...he didn't so this is what happens. He seems to realize this now and is taking steps to garner support. So, I feel better about it than I did yesterday.

[IndianaGreen]

32. Where is Hillary?

Harkin and Boxer are on board. Is Hillary consulting her astrologer?

[SaveElmer]

33. You obviously are not looking for a serious discussion...

So I will say goodnight!

[radio4progressives]

25. Did you hear Feingold's interview on Ed Schultz today?

If you did, you might have come away with a different perspective.

Feingold feels very strongly what he did was the correct thing, and it was essential that was done when it was done.

According that interview as well as others, I'm afraid you have the wrong impression of the situation, particularly on this point.

[SaveElmer]

29. Unfortunately...

I cannot listen to the radio during the day. I own a small business and have customers coming in all day...don't always know their political persuasion ;-) In fact where I live it is a 50/50 proposition. Kind of a purple area.

However, I saw on another post that Feingold had made comments along the lines of what I said. If he didn't, then I am a bit distressed by that. I believe he made a mistake in doing it the way he did. I hope I'm wrong, but I guess time will tell.

[veracity]

24. And then there were THREE!!!

Third Democratic senator backs censure resolution

RAW STORY
Published: Wednesday March 15, 2006


Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has become the third U.S. senator to back a move to censure President Bush over the warrantless wiretapping program. She joins Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)

(How embarrassing is this? - the repug lemmings would have fallen over themselves to line up in lock step)

[ClassWarrior]

27. Do you really want us "to line up in lock step??"

I know what you're saying, but still...

NGU.

[ClassWarrior]

26. Keep calling. Daily. They'll say something alright if they get called...

...accomplices to a crime by their supporters over and over and over again.

Hey, thanks for doing good stuff at TVNewsLies! B-):thumbsup:

Never Give Up.

[EFerrari]

31. Their job is to CYA. Our job is UnCYA.

Let's do our job.

I'll call in my capacity as a columnist tomorrow. See how long before the wall comes down.

NGU

:)

[Lebowski]

34. Man, I wish Paul Wellstone was still around...

Unbelievably pathetic that there's no more support on this issue. But that's the Dems in a nutshell: afraid to take a stance. We're in a Catch-22 situation: none of these spineless bastards wants to make a move unless they're guaranteed they'll receive popular acclaim, and we can't show them popular acclaim until they make a move. I firmly believe there's a critical mass forming in this country that wants to take this corrupt dictatorship down.

[EFerrari]

35. We are Paul Wellstone.

:)

[ClassWarrior]

36. Amen.

B-):thumbsup:

NGU.

[Vidar]

38. Good try.