Three things I wanted to put out there today.
1.) Information about over 1,000 State of the Union Watch Parties taking place tomorrow night across the United States.
2.) I get letters too, a lot of them, wondering just where Governor Dean stands on the impending vote to confirm Samuel Alito -- I wanted to take an opportunity to address that.
3.) The Democratic National Committee just created a new ad for the web, and even put money behind it, purchasing airtime in Las Vegas.
Consider this a Kos only entry. While all this information is available on the DNC blog in various places; I wanted to put it together here for those of you who inexplicably aren't visiting every day.
State of the Union Watch Parties
You shouldn't have to watch it alone. Tomorrow night, Democrats from across the country will gather together and watch the State of the Union. At one of those parties hosted by a Democracy Bond holder in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, Governor Dean will join you (I'll be there too!).
For information on the North Carolina event, click here.
To find an event near you, click here.
Following the State of the Union Address, Governor Dean will participate in a conference call with each and every watch party across the country. The call will be hosted by Air America Radio's Al Franken.
Governor Dean on Samuel Alito
While Judge Alito dodged legitimate questions about his judicial record and philosophy, his agenda is clear. His troubling support of unchecked executive power, in light of current scandals over the President's domestic spying program, should concern all Americans. He supports intrusive government power over individual liberties, and has failed to protect crucial Family Medical Leave protections. He used legal technicalities to excuse gross sexual harassment, and supported prosecutors who constructed all-white juries to try black defendants. Worse still, Judge Alito broke his promise to the Senate to recuse himself from cases in which he had a clear conflict of interest-a deeply troubling failure in light of the current Republican corruption scandals.
When the full Senate votes on this nomination, Judge Alito should be rejected.
It's important to remember, Governor Dean is the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and not a United States Senator--thus he has no vote for when it comes to cloture, or if that vote leads to a termination of debate. That said, you know him better than anyone else, and Governor Dean has been one of the most outspoken critics of Samuel Alito for quite a while now.
New DNC "Lies" Video
This is actually one of the better ads the DNC has put out, and very relevant given the State of the Union Address tomorrow night. Take a look, come back, and let us know what you thought about it.
I'll have much more from North Carolina tomorrow night and the day after over at the DNC blog and inevitably here at Daily Kos and other community blogs.
Tim