Christy!

Hope you’re feeling better today (and the Peanut, too)

Now to read…

Important stuff. Make the calls.

Christy — spare in the trunk. Off to work.

My cousin went to high school with these guys in Baghdad about 12 years ago (my Dad’s Chaldean, Mom’s Finnish.) Very moving video, for us at least.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsSIokfbuGg

kdh22 at 0 — We are both feeling better. The antibiotics have kicked in quickly — she’s not even running a fever today, so momma is much, much happier at the moment. Thanks much for asking. Scarlet fever is scary — I’m just glad we caught it early for her.

Democrats are seriously considering whether it’s politically advantageous to fight for this principle now?

First, if they don’t fight for this principle now, they may not get a *chance* to do so later.

And second, it’s a goddamn shame that Democrats still don’t all entirely understand that fighting is better than retreating, and fighting *sooner* is better than fighting *later*, because there are certain things you learn and show by fighting that help in later fights (you’d have to be awfully goddamn stupid to think there won’t be later fights, or that you wouldn’t benefit from learning how to fight better in the future), and there are certain things you learn and show by *failing* to fight, and in fact, *choosing* not to.

Unfortunately, there are apparently too many Democrats from the “I don’t want to fight now” wing of the party. We *should* call them Republicans - except you don’t see *Republicans* *letting* their members back away from fights. But postponing standing up for Democratic, and even *American*, values, serves Republican purposes. Would it be out of bounds to ask why there are more than a few Democrats who enjoy doing that?

Found these somewhere this weekend…. they work!
800 numbers to capital switchboard

1 (800) 828 - 0498
1 (800) 459 - 1887
1 (800) 614 - 2803
1 (866) 340 - 9281
1 (866) 338 - 1015
1 (877) 851 - 6437

I tried the first and the last number and it does connect to the capital switchboard right now.

Because “Trust us to not abuse our power” is not a solid basis for Liberty

Christy.

Thankyou for the PUSH on this post!

Very very glad to hear good news about Peanut.

Now, back to read….
and pester….

Habeas corpus is threatened in part because there is a faction in this population who think that “their” habeas corpus will remain intact, and only “some” people will be affected. They are convinced that they can rely on their own standing with those in power to keep them safe. And those in power want them to continue to believe this falacious and feeble illogic.

Half our battle to restore and retain habeas corpus is about reframing the case around the permanent dangers while our constitutional attackers do their work behind closed doors, and slip clauses into bulk legislation. We need the vigilance of our lawmakers to protect the law of the land while we work in the public sphere to build awareness and support.

Gotta head into work, so I’ll check in with you later gang. [Been lurking for awhile, but habeas corpus is too important to stay quiet].

Good point, jcricket - these are the same kind of people who think that “their” right to abortion, or birth control, or a lawyer, or civil rights/liberties generally, won’t be threatened by legal and political actions and language that attack the right to any of those things.

Now, if only we could figure out how to make them realize these things *do* affect them…

Christy, thanks for pushing this. As a professor of constitutional law, I would like to be able to teach students that they have their Constitution back.

I’ll make a call or two. How about the other laws that need to be reversed? Like the one that makes it easier to declare martial law. Anything being done on that?

I called Loesbeck of Iowa, not my rep. but am lucky to have Bruce Braley. They wanted a bill number but assured me that he will support restoration of habeous corpus. Thanks for doing this Christy… hope you are feeling better.
(((Jane, Esten,Christy, and the peanut)))

Chris @ 10

Good point, jcricket - these are the same kind of people who think that “their” right to abortion, or birth control, or a lawyer, or civil rights/liberties generally, won’t be threatened by legal and political actions and language that attack the right to any of those things.

Now, if only we could figure out how to make them realize these things *do* affect them…

That really is a great point. How do you get through to the people who say, in response to being told the NSA is wiretapping, “They can listen all they like, I don’t have anything to hide” (my father-in-law’s words)?

i just spoke for five
minutes with rep. ike
skelton’s staff, on the
urgency of habeas restoration. . .

the earnest young gentleman there
said they are being “deluged“,
yes, deluged(!) with calls in favor
of full habeas restoration!

way to go fdl, talkleft, and
all others noting this today!

jcricket @ 9

Habeas corpus is threatened in part because there is a faction in this population who think that “their” habeas corpus will remain intact, and only “some” people will be affected. They are convinced that they can rely on their own standing with those in power to keep them safe. And those in power want them to continue to believe this falacious and feeble illogic.

Half our battle to restore and retain habeas corpus is about reframing the case around the permanent dangers while our constitutional attackers do their work behind closed doors, and slip clauses into bulk legislation. We need the vigilance of our lawmakers to protect the law of the land while we work in the public sphere to build awareness and support.

Gotta head into work, so I’ll check in with you later gang. [Been lurking for awhile, but habeas corpus is too important to stay quiet].

Habeas Corpusis the vital rock upon which our Constitution stands. For citizens. For people who live here. Not for enemies caught trying to undermine our civilization on the battlefield. Not for aliens not even on US soil. Not for individuals caught trying to make it impossible for you and me to enjoy our rights of Habeas corpus.

JF @ 14

Chris @ 10

Good point, jcricket - these are the same kind of people who think that “their” right to abortion, or birth control, or a lawyer, or civil rights/liberties generally, won’t be threatened by legal and political actions and language that attack the right to any of those things.

Now, if only we could figure out how to make them realize these things *do* affect them…

That really is a great point. How do you get through to the people who say, in response to being told the NSA is wiretapping, “They can listen all they like, I don’t have anything to hide” (my father-in-law’s words)?

You say “amongst other things, they’re listening to their political enemies in the hopes of either discovering blackmail material or short-circuiting any plans which may hurt them. Their goal is a one-party nation. And everything they do is a means to achieve that goal.”

I will make a call to Jim Marshall at lunch. He’s not my rep, but from my state. I really think he’s one that may need a lot of pushing.

Solai @ 16

You say “amongst other things, they’re listening to their political enemies in the hopes of either discovering blackmail material or short-circuiting any plans which may hurt them. Their goal is a one-party nation. And everything they do is a means to achieve that goal.”

My response was “Would you feel the same way if Hillary Clinton was president?” He replied “that will never happed, so it doesn’t matter.”

Christy, while we are defending the Constitution, I wonder whether, as a former prosecutor, you considered the statements by the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey in his interview on PBS to cross over the line of legal ethics for prosecutor’s statements.

I just left Unclaimed Territory, where I was inspired to call a couple of congresscritters about this issue. I am so heartened to see it addressed here too. So heartened, in fact, I am gonna call two more members of the committee right now!

6 katymine - thanks for the toll free!

Just called Sestak’s office, since I will become one of his constituents if all goes according to the house buying plan. They couldn’t give me an answer! Will e-mail to me. I impressed upon the young man in the office that this was one of the issues that the online community which raised money and helped the Admiral get elected had on the top of the to do list. Told him I’m already on his mailing list as I gave money even before I thought I’d be moving into the district!

Anyway, the point was made repeatedly that he was elected to restore the Constitution to it’s previous power and if that doesn’t happen, we will elect someone who will do so.

Oh, and it sounds like he hasn’t been talking to many people about this as he didn’t seem to be prepped. More calls to Sestak needed . . . hint, hint.

Prof at 19 — I didn’t see them. The Peanut has strep and scarlet fever at the moment, and it is all I can do to put posts together and comment here and there and take care of her. Was it bad?

I have a family member like that. Believes that repubs do no wrong, dems no right. Have had many debates w/ him and he’s never given an inch. Well, funny thing happened. Last election, he didn’t vote. First time ever. He still will not admit that BushCo is hurting this country, but his failure to vote means something is getting through.

called the 2 Texans, Chairman Skelton’s office - all three pleased to get the calls -

I reminded the Texans - Sam Houston insisted on inserting Habeus Corpus at the 1833 Convention to frame a constitution for Tejas

anyone get through to Tauscher’s office yet ?

You can always tell when there is an Action post… in 39 minutes there is only 23 comments…;)

LibertyLee at 16 — That’s swell. You can explain that to the parents of some young kid in uniform who gets picked up and treated like shit, given no hearing on why he’s been detained, and thrown into a dark cell for years because that’s just how the US of A treats its prisoners and we no longer have a moral leg to stand on to argue otherwise.

Once upon a time, the United States maintained a moral high ground in the application of our laws to all persons in our custody, whether or not they were citizens. Those soldiers or others who deviated from the rule of law were severely punished when caught because the treatment that they inflicted on our prisoners is exactly the treatment that then gets exacted on our soldiers elsewhere. We either have morals or we don’t — and if we are going to demand that other nations stand up for human rights and the rule of law, it’s a huge dollop of hypocrisy for us to say “but, of course, the rules don’t apply to our prisoners, and screw you if you say otherwise,” now isn’t it? I mean, honestly, there are reasons that we require other nations to live up to their treaty obligations and legal principles — shouldn’t we likewise live up to ours?

Solai @ 23

I have a family member like that. Believes that repubs do no wrong, dems no right. Have had many debates w/ him and he’s never given an inch. Well, funny thing happened. Last election, he didn’t vote. First time ever. He still will not admit that BushCo is hurting this country, but his failure to vote means something is getting through.

My FIL supported the war at the beginning. Now he’s come around to the idea that we need to pull the troops out and “let them all kill each other.” We shouldn’t waste time looking back at why we’re there, though.

When I say it’s time for a new president, he says that there’s nobody that could handle the situation there any better. I pointed out that if that’s true, this country is in deep shit.

Phoned Pelosi, Hoyers line went dead, Skelton, Ortiz, Spratt was great, thanked me for phoning and fully agreed, Taylor of Mississippi guy said that there was a lot of misinformation and lies out there. That Americans never lost habeas corpus, that it did not apply to US citizens and then he hung up on me. Guess I’ll phone the dems first.

Will make more calls later. Thanks for the heads up Christy.

katymine @ 26

You can always tell when there is an Action post… in 39 minutes there is only 23 comments…;)

Yeah!

Personal action in defense of the Constitution is satisfying and urgent. We can and do make a difference!

Christy Hardin Smith @ 23

Prof at 19 — I didn’t see them. The Peanut has strep and scarlet fever at the moment, and it is all I can do to put posts together and comment here and there and take care of her. Was it bad?

Oh, wow, poor little thing. Hope she is better soon!

Habeas Corpus is a bedrock principal of the constitution and a basis for our liberty. Without it we are all at the will of this monkey man who holds office without the will of the people. This stupid vapid man obviously wants to destroy our country for his and his friends benefit. IMPEACH and IMPRISON NOW. Uphold the constitution? Guess the chimperor missed his civics class.
I’ve called but my representatives are all in lock step with bushit. I’m told it’s okay, only those who would “damage” the US are to worry. Right.
Is it time for revolution again? Will americans get up off the comfort of their couches to gain their freedom back? Hard to say but I doubt it given the lack of concern I see.

Christy, there are a lot of new people on FDL lately, many of whom may never have called a congress critter and may be a bit on the timid side. Maybe someone should suggest a script? Not regarding substance, but what happens and what one should expect when calling these numbers. Just a thought.

nolo @ 15

i just spoke for five
minutes with rep. ike
skelton’s staff, on the
urgency of habeas restoration. . .

the earnest young gentleman there
said they are being “deluged“,
yes, deluged(!) with calls in favor
of full habeas restoration!

way to go fdl, talkleft, and
all others noting this today!

Cool! Excellent to hear!

Hi Christy –

I don’t have time to peruse the comments this morning, but I just wanted to let you know that I called Reps. Skelton, Meehan, and Shea-Porter to urge them to put in the provision to restore habeus corpus. I also called Speaker Pelosi and Maj. Leader Hoyer to urge them to support this when it comes out of committee, and further that they should press for a full repeal of the disastrous Military Commisions Act.

I’m a bit of a phone-phobe, so I will always weasel out of making a phone call if I can, but on this occasion, it was just too important not to dial the phone. Thanks for the heads up and the list of phone numbers!

Gene Taylor is a Blue Dog

was asking about Tauscher earlier as she has been labled as such in the recent past - yet I can’t find her name on this linked list - I did, however, find Linda Sanchez - oy

Prof @ 20

Christy, while we are defending the Constitution, I wonder whether, as a former prosecutor, you considered the statements by the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey in his interview on PBS to cross over the line of legal ethics for prosecutor’s statements.

Transcript/audio of last night’s NewsHour available here (vid should follow later):

NewsHour Interview w/Christopher Christie

carmen @ 29

Phoned Pelosi, Hoyers line went dead, Skelton, Ortiz, Spratt was great, thanked me for phoning and fully agreed, Taylor of Mississippi guy said that there was a lot of misinformation and lies out there. That Americans never lost habeas corpus, that it did not apply to US citizens and then he hung up on me. Guess I’ll phone the dems first.

Will make more calls later. Thanks for the heads up Christy.

Spratt will do the right thing! And yes, he is one of those backwoods South Carolinians like me who were being trashed by snooty, South-hating FDL’ers yesterday.

The Prof might know more about this, but I would just like to point out that there is some disagreement among historians about whether habeas corpus actually began with Magna Carta. Article 39 of the 1215 charter said “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land.” Habeas corpus is considered to have its origins in this article, but there is disagreement about how exactly it led to the actual right, and how long the process took.

Use the link Christy posted Matt Stoller of MyDD (oops the linkage didn’t cut/paste), get the full Committee list, and call the Republicans too!!

Lee, our laws must apply to anyone or they mean nothing to everyone.

Christy

I am not from the USA so cannot contribute directly.

But I really hope you succeeed in this approach. The important thing to understand is that this is not just a theoretical point. Too many Americans still seem to believe that if anyone is in Guantanamo then by definition they are bad men anyway. This is simply not true. There are and have been people there who are innocent by any possible standards whatever.Without habeas corpus they can be held forever.

Has Clive Stafford Smith’s book “Bad Men” been published Stateside yet?

What the Bush Administration has done on behalf of the USA is to legitimise every tinpot tyrant around the World in imprisoning,torturing and if necessary despatching whoever they like on the basis it is all in a good cause.

Keep up the good work. The World needs you to succeed.

Hope you and the Peanut get well soon.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 27

I love the way you do that.

Ike Skelton’s office is reporting lots and lots of calls in support of restoring habeas corpus!

Thank you, Christy! I feel hopeful that we may get our Constitution back.

Did you all see Boston Legal last night? It was about this very subject. Part of the theme was that Americans have become complacement & don’t care about this issue. Let’s prove that that’s wrong.

Why is this important!
Jury Seated for Padilla Trial

“A jury was seated Tuesday to hear the trial of alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla and two co-defendants, accused of being part of a North American support cell for Islamic extremists around the world. The 36-year-old U.S. citizen was held as an enemy combatant for 3 1/2 years. The government initially claimed he was on an al-Qaida mission to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” inside the United States, but that allegation is not part of the Miami case.” (Associated Press)

An American Citizen held for nearly 4 years without right of habeas corpus for years.

Libert Lee @16

Just finished my last post and saw Christy’s response to your’s which I’d missed. Great to see what you think of all of the rest of us in the World. And people wonder why some folks (not me, definitely not me) hate America.

So far I called Pelosi, Sanchez, and Davis. Took me a few minutes to get through to Pelosi. her office reports several calls this morning regarding this issue. Supposedly Mrs. Pelosi is in agreement this issue something that should not be sat upon.

For people who’d like the bill number - it’s H.R. 1585.

Elliott @ 43

Christy Hardin Smith @ 27

I love the way you do that.

DITTO!

RE the previous post and the bogus argument that “if we leave Iraq the terrorists will follow us home.”

Another attack on American soil at some time in the future is probable. By making this argument, Bushco & Co. are laying a foundation to put the blame for any subsequent attack on the bloggers, progressives, etc.

It’s the cynical lesson they learned from Vietnam.

Looks Sanchez, Tauscher, & Davis get my calls. Too important an issue to let my preference for faxing get in the way :)

OT, from David Ignatius in WaPo today — interesting use of the Ignatius as back channel from WH:

The ferment in the region is driven partly by the perception that U.S. troops are on the way out, no matter what the Bush administration says. To dampen such speculation, Bush is said to have told the Saudis that America will not withdraw from Iraq during his presidency. “That gives us 18 months to plan,” said one Saudi source.

nolo @ 15

i just spoke for five
minutes with rep. ike
skelton’s staff, on the
urgency of habeas restoration. . .

the earnest young gentleman there
said they are being “deluged“,
yes, deluged(!) with calls in favor
of full habeas restoration!

way to go fdl, talkleft, and
all others noting this today!

Woo-hooo!

jim oconnor @ 51

RE the previous post and the bogus argument that “if we leave Iraq the terrorists will follow us home.”

Another attack on American soil at some time in the future is probable. By making this argument, Bushco & Co. are laying a foundation to put the blame for any subsequent attack on the bloggers, progressives, etc.

It’s the cynical lesson they learned from Vietnam.

The blame falls squarely on bushco’s shoulders. The invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq is an Al Qeada recruiting wet dream. As far as the MSM trying to pass off the 6 jihadis trying to take down Ft. Dix is more than laughable IMO. The republic party is desperate, I agree they will try to blame anyone and everyone. We all know where the blame belongs and the rest of the sheeple are starting to awaken from their ignorant slumber.

Mandrake @ 31

Christy Hardin Smith @ 23

Prof at 19 — I didn’t see them. The Peanut has strep and scarlet fever at the moment, and it is all I can do to put posts together and comment here and there and take care of her. Was it bad?

Oh, wow, poor little thing. Hope she is better soon!

I am in awe Ms Christy Hardin Smite! Strep throat, scarlet fever and you still manage to put together a long, detailed action post. I have no idea how on earth you do it. I hope you are taking some time out for “you” — what a scare. And I am so glad she is doing better!

Edit: I meant to type “Smith” but Smite is an interesting slip–smiting illness at home and in Washington all at once, you are!

OT - Bush threatning to veto Iraq funding bill that would fund through July.

http://apnews.myway.com/articl.....TR200.html

JF @ 57

OT - Bush threatning to veto Iraq funding bill that would fund through July.

http://apnews.myway.com/articl.....TR200.html

btw
Senate funding hearing w Sect’y Gates CSPAN 3 now

OT - Bush threatning to veto Iraq funding bill that would fund through July

.

They should send it back to him every fucking day until the slimy bastard comes to understand it’s this bill or NOTHING.

JF @ 57

OT - Bush threatning to veto Iraq funding bill that would fund through July.

http://apnews.myway.com/articl.....TR200.html

Another case of Republicans failing to fund the troops or be responsible. Why do they hate our troops? Why do they refuse to support them?

Christy Hardin Smith @ 27

LibertyLee at 16 — That’s swell. You can explain that to the parents of some young kid in uniform who gets picked up and treated like shit, given no hearing on why he’s been detained, and thrown into a dark cell for years because that’s just how the US of A treats its prisoners and we no longer have a moral leg to stand on to argue otherwise.

Once upon a time, the United States maintained a moral high ground in the application of our laws to all persons in our custody, whether or not they were citizens. Those soldiers or others who deviated from the rule of law were severely punished when caught because the treatment that they inflicted on our prisoners is exactly the treatment that then gets exacted on our soldiers elsewhere. We either have morals or we don’t — and if we are going to demand that other nations stand up for human rights and the rule of law, it’s a huge dollop of hypocrisy for us to say “but, of course, the rules don’t apply to our prisoners, and screw you if you say otherwise,” now isn’t it? I mean, honestly, there are reasons that we require other nations to live up to their treaty obligations and legal principles — shouldn’t we likewise live up to ours?

If these individuals had respected treaties then we wouldn’t be in this situation. These are terrorists who don’t wear uniforms. Khalid Sheik Muhammad’s first comment was that he wasn’t going to talk because he thought he was going to get a lawyer in New York. He talked after he found out he wasn’t. Lincoln suspended habeus corpusin the Civil War. Survival sometimes means you act first and ask questions later.

JF @ 57

OT - Bush threatning to veto Iraq funding bill that would fund through July.

http://apnews.myway.com/articl.....TR200.html

MSNBC just said Pelosi said she could sue Bush if he added a signing statement to the next war funding bill

UPDATE:

via TalkLeft:

Bump and Update: It looks like it will be a stand-alone bill. A reader just wrote in:
FYI– Congresswoman, Rep. Kathy Castor, (D-FL-11th) who serves on both the Armed Services Comm. AND is the only freshman on the powerful Rules Committee which makes decisions about moving bills forward, met with Armed Services Chair Ike Skelton early this morning and they have decided to file a stand alone bill to restore habeas corpus rather than put it in the Defense Authorization Bill.
I spoke to her Chief of Staff personally, and he said she promises to work to move the bill along, so everyone will have to vote up or down on restoring habeas, and we’ll all know by their vote where exactly everyone in Congress stands on restoring habeas.

twolf1 @ 61

MSNBC just said Pelosi said she could sue Bush if he added a signing statement to the next war funding bill

ALL RIGHT!

Woodhall at 56 — Well, to be honest, I put a lot of this together last night after The Peanut went to sleep. Couldn’t have gotten it done otherwise. *g* But thanks for the thanks. :)

Can we now rely on the media to start the “obstrucionist president” chant?

JF @ 65

Can we now rely on the media to start the “obstrucionist president” chant?

no

Liberty Lee –

How old are you??? When I was a kid we were raised to believe what made America better than everyone else (i.e., the Soviet Union) was that in our legal system EVERYONE had a RIGHT to defend themselves in a court of law against false accusations. Honestly, what would be the point of a legal system without such an opportunity?!?

It was Turkey that through people in a hole forever if they broke their drug laws, Singapore that would flog people for graffiti, and the Soviets who would ship people they didn’t like (i.e., political opponents) off to Siberia to rot for all eternity.

WE weren’t like THEM. Until now.

You have the same number listed for Jim Marshall of Georgia and Jim Cooper of Tennessee.

Jim Marshall’s DC office number is listed on his website as being (202) 225-6531.

Just fyi; I’ve also submitted the correction to mydd.

RevDeb @ 62

UPDATE:

via TalkLeft:

Bump and Update: It looks like it will be a stand-alone bill. A reader just wrote in:
FYI– Congresswoman, Rep. Kathy Castor, (D-FL-11th) who serves on both the Armed Services Comm. AND is the only freshman on the powerful Rules Committee which makes decisions about moving bills forward, met with Armed Services Chair Ike Skelton early this morning and they have decided to file a stand alone bill to restore habeas corpus rather than put it in the Defense Authorization Bill.
I spoke to her Chief of Staff personally, and he said she promises to work to move the bill along, so everyone will have to vote up or down on restoring habeas, and we’ll all know by their vote where exactly everyone in Congress stands on restoring habeas.

We may know but as a stand alone bill it has a much better chance of being filibustered, voted down, not voted on, or vetoed.

Phoenix Woman @ 54

nolo @ 15

i just spoke for five
minutes with rep. ike
skelton’s staff, on the
urgency of habeas restoration. . .

the earnest young gentleman there
said they are being “deluged“,
yes, deluged(!) with calls in favor
of full habeas restoration!

way to go fdl, talkleft, and
all others noting this today!

Woo-hooo!

yeah-babey! — “shag-a-delic“, no?

he he!

much to cheer, here, this morning.

note this devastatingly-perfect 30 second
video clip-ad that nails the bush lie
on the iraq war — straight from the mouth
of a retired major general, john batiste,
1st infantry division, in iraq, from
2002 to 2005 — and a life-long repub-
lican — who voted for bush. . . what a
searing-indictment!

do take thirty seconds.

and bring it — habeas — back, baby!

Good morning all. I wil definitely make some of those calls today and also publicize the list.

RevDeb @ 62

UPDATE:

via TalkLeft:

Bump and Update: It looks like it will be a stand-alone bill. A reader just wrote in:
FYI– Congresswoman, Rep. Kathy Castor, (D-FL-11th) who serves on both the Armed Services Comm. AND is the only freshman on the powerful Rules Committee which makes decisions about moving bills forward, met with Armed Services Chair Ike Skelton early this morning and they have decided to file a stand alone bill to restore habeas corpus rather than put it in the Defense Authorization Bill.
I spoke to her Chief of Staff personally, and he said she promises to work to move the bill along, so everyone will have to vote up or down on restoring habeas, and we’ll all know by their vote where exactly everyone in Congress stands on restoring habeas.

Castor is GOOD! She was about the only intelligent elected official in the tampa area when I lived there.

theresa at 68 — Thanks much — will correct it above. Appreciate the heads up.

OT - cheney live on CNN

theresa @ 68

You have the same number listed for Jim Marshall of Georgia and Jim Cooper of Tennessee.

Jim Marshall’s DC office number is listed on his website as being (202) 225-6531.

Just fyi; I’ve also submitted the correction to mydd.

Try the 800 numbers in #6 - the first and the last number work, connect to the capital switchboard, ask for the congressperson and they will transfer you.

nolo @ 70

[snip]

much to cheer, here, this morning.

note this devastatingly-perfect 30 second
video clip-ad that nails the bush lie
on the iraq war — straight from the mouth
of a retired major general, john batiste,
1st infantry division, in iraq, from
2002 to 2005 — and a life-long repub-
lican — who voted for bush. . . what a
searing-indictment!

do take thirty seconds.

and bring it — habeas — back, baby!

definitely worth seeing!

twolf1 @ 74

OT - cheney live on CNN

where are my tomatoes?

Elliott @ 76

nolo @ 70

[snip]

much to cheer, here, this morning.

note this devastatingly-perfect 30 second
video clip-ad that nails the bush lie
on the iraq war — straight from the mouth
of a retired major general, john batiste,
1st infantry division, in iraq, from
2002 to 2005 — and a life-long repub-
lican — who voted for bush. . . what a
searing-indictment!

do take thirty seconds.

and bring it — habeas — back, baby!

definitely worth seeing!

thanks, man!

i sure think so.

I’m all for people taking action and calling if they’re so motivated. The matter of habeus corpus is absolutely central to everything America stands for.

However, that’s precisely why I won’t be doing this myself. That habeus was ever restricted is unconscionable in the first place. If Congress doesn’t understand and fix that on its own, the so-called nation is fucking doomed, and no amount of phoning, emailing, or even demonstrating is ever going to put things right.

More crudely put, if they’re all determined to chop off their own dicks, they’re too far gone to notice me or you. I’m sick and tired of urging Congress not to be cruel, stupid, or insane. They ARE insane. The dominant culture is insane, and nothing will change until it dies.

What we should be doing is building a new culture, ya know…

OT:
Air Tower at Dulles evacuated due to fire. Two air traffic controllers taken to hospital.

Libertylee - You’re still hanging around here? And now you’re preaching against Habeas Corpus? You’ve really bought the Bush speak, hook, line and sinker. Or maybe you’ve finally realized that the Bush Administration is a failure and you’re fishing around for alternatives.

Habeas Corpus is the only thing to prevent innocent people from being treated like guilty people. That’s why it’s there. Nobody says that we shouldn’t treat terrorists like criminals. What we’re saying is that we shouldn’t treat innocent people like terrorists.

Solai @ 12

I’ll make a call or two. How about the other laws that need to be reversed? Like the one that makes it easier to declare martial law. Anything being done on that?

Please click on the following link to read a Wikipedia article about modifications to the Insurrection Act of 1807: Insurrection Act

(snip)

Efforts to repeal changes

On February 7, 2007, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) introduced legislation that would revert the Insurrection Act to its previous state. Sen. Leahy argues that the modifications to the law make it unnecessarily easy to assert federal authority over national guard elements without the consent of governors, and that the changes removed a “useful friction” that existed between the Insurrection Act and the Posse Comitatus Act.

(snip)

Please pay particular attention to Section 1076 of the Defense Authorization Act of 2006; Section 1076 is mentioned in the Wikipedia article that I cited. Let’s look carefully at the constraints imposed in that section of the Defense Authorization Act.

Here is a link to the full text of S. 2766: S. 2766 [109th]: John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007

Hugh @ 69

RevDeb @ 62

UPDATE:

via TalkLeft:

We may know but as a stand alone bill it has a much better chance of being filibustered, voted down, not voted on, or vetoed.

Hugh, this is the House, not Senate so filibuster doesn’t apply—YET, until it’s equal is submitted to the Sen.

It sure would be helpful to know more about the strategy of this. It is way too important an issue to play games with. Could they possibly not get enough for a cloture vote in the Senate on Habeas? I can’t imagine it. But what do I know . . .

George Wastrel Bush has totally misgovernated everything he’s touched.

Our first responders [cops, firefighters, EMTs] are in Iraq via their NG service while they’re needed here.

He cut and ran from the Constitution in his quest to be the Decider Dictator.

We must let our Congresspeople know we expect oversight, restoration of habeas, rule of law…

Or we can’t claim we’re better than the guys we’re fighting…

Christy sez

The Democrats do not get to sit back and keep their powder dry, either. This is an issue of ethics and national character — and I expect them to stand up and fulfill their oath of office to serve and protect the Constitution of the United States and its laws.

yes.yes.yes

OT: Clueless Debbie is explaining how wonderful she is as an Omsbud in an on-line chat at WaPoo.com right now. I think she took tap dancing lessons from Gregory Hines at some point.

troll forgot to mention “Lincoln suspended habeus corpus”

you kidz are slipping in your eleventh hour

Repubs don’t change parties when they get dis-enfranchised with their leadership.

Instead, they indicate dissatisfaction by not going to the polls. When the Party isn’t ‘punishing’ the Left, the rank-and-file ‘punish’ the Party by withholding support.

With the Goopers, it’s all about framing and shaping life *negatively* - with pain and the threat of pain.

What a sad, fatalistic and mean world they choose to make. These aren’t nice people, by and large - when will America wake-up and realize that Conservative Hate is a Last-Man-Standing interpretation of life’s potential.

EPU’d from prior thread:

LibertyLee @ 89

As for the USA firings, my opinion is that that the Administration wanted their political appointees to reflect their views.

Ah, but appointees to the Justice Department are supposed to have no political bias in executing their duties. Most of those USAs who were fired were pursuing cases where Republicans were going to be charged.

When removing a political appointee from office, especially in DoJ, the least appearance of political motive has to be avoided. This is where the current Mal-Administration tripped up.

BTW, I ask you to find one post on this blog where Bush has been called “a devil.” My favorite title for the man is “The Idiot-in-Chief” and believe me, he’s earned it.

katymine @ 26

You can always tell when there is an Action post… in 39 minutes there is only 23 comments…;)

haha!

i figured i had to at least call the first 10 numbers before commenting… i’m finding surprisingly positive responses (compared to calling last september)… let’s do what we can to keep the change happening!

ok, back to call some more!

JF @ 57

OT - Bush threatning to veto Iraq funding bill that would fund through July.

http://apnews.myway.com/articl.....TR200.html

Then it is Bush who is not supporting our troops. He asked for a clean bill. As long it is clean with enough money to Fund the occupation through July, then he is the one responsible for cutting off the funding to the troops. We all no that the Whitehouse does not support the troops, now they are proving it.

dakine01 @ 87

OT: Clueless Debbie is explaining how wonderful she is as an Omsbud in an on-line chat at WaPoo.com right now. I think she took tap dancing lessons from Gregory Hines at some point.

Or Earl “Fatha” HinesHines