KEEP CALLING Your Senators. The fight isn't over.
Wed Jul 18, 2007 at 07:17:55 PM PDT
Cross-posted from Left In Alabama, with minor changes.
Well, over a hundred thousand of us called, emailed or FAXed (about 60,000 FAXes alone) our Senators yesterday and this morning, urging them to allow an up or down vote on the Levin-Reed amendment that would require the President to redeploy most American troops out of Iraq in 120 days. In spite of that, only 4 Republicans broke with the President and voted to allow an up or down vote -- the final tally was 52-47, short of the 60 needed to stop debate in the Senate. Predictably, my two Senators from Alabama, Shelby and Sessions, were among the obstructionists.
This is the time to work harder, not give up! Please don't stop the emails and calls to your Senators yet. The fight isn't over and there is still time to convince these Republican Senators that it is wrong to remain loyal to Bush at the expense of American soldiers who find themselves trying to police a civil war in Iraq, extended again, with inadequate time for training between deployments and, unbelievably, still short of equipment.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this after the Republicans blocked the Levin-Reed vote (emphasis mine):
... I have temporarily laid aside the Defense Authorization bill and have entered a motion to reconsider. But let me be clear to my Republican colleagues – I emphasize the word "temporarily." We will do everything in our power to change course in Iraq. We will do everything in our power to complete consideration of a Defense Authorization bill. We must do both. And just to remind my Republican colleagues – even if this bill had passed yesterday, its provisions would not take effect until October. So we will come back to this bill as soon as it is clear we can make real progress. To that end, I have asked the Democratic Whip and Democratic Manager of the bill to sit down with their counterparts to work on a process to address all outstanding issues related to this bill so the Senate can return to it as soon as possible.
"In the meantime, we will continue to work with our Republican colleagues who are saying the right things on Iraq but aren’t yet committed to voting the right way. We will get there. As W.E. Gladstone once said, "You cannot fight against the future. Time is on our side." In this case, time and the American people are on our side. The Levin-Reed amendment would have allowed us to rebuild our badly overburdened military and return our focus to the real security threats posed by Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. As the new National Intelligence Estimate makes clear, these growing threats demand our attention.
Go read Harry's entire statement -- lots of good stuff there. This will come back up when some Republicans have had a change of heart. That change of heart must come from from their constituents. That would be you and me, and others just like us.
I know many Democrats are extremely frustrated that it is taking so long to get any legislation to reduce troop levels in Iraq. I share that frustration, but legislation takes time, especially in the Senate, which was designed to be a deliberative body, the saucer to allow cooling, and Harry Reid is working with the slimmest possible Democratic majority. He is playing it very well, so far. Of course, every month's delay costs more lives in Iraq, but the Republican Senators don't see that as a problem yet, and don't look for progress until about seven more of them see the light. Actually, Warner, Voinovich and a couple of others are already talking the talk, but they're still voting with Bush. Hypocrites!
And if you are frustrated and tempted to just throw in the towel, consider what that will mean. No pressure on Republicans like Shelby and Sessions and the others means we will have no chance of forcing a course change in Iraq until sometime in 2009, at the earliest! And if you give up on the political process now, what guarantee is there we will elect enough Democrats to change things even then? The solution is not to give up, it is to fight harder. Obstructionists like my Senators need to hear from us twice a week, every week, about the need to change course in Iraq. The need to break with this President's failed occupation. The need to start bringing those American soldiers back home sooner rather than later. The need to put the focus back on the real enemies of this country, like Osama bin Laden.
Add their office numbers to your cell phone. Put it on your calendar and call them twice a week, Monday and Thursday, or Tuesday and Friday, whatever is most convenient for you. Or add their emails to your address book and make yourself a reminder to send them a quick note 2 or 3 times a week, every week, until they pass legislation to start getting out of the quagmire in Iraq. Don't worry if they don't answer, but be sure to make your title descriptive, like "Bring them home" or "Up or down vote on Levin-Reed." Pass this on to your friends and urge them to call or email, too. That is the way a movement happens. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, my friends. We have to be the squeak they need to hear, and crank the volume all the way up. The fight is just starting.
I'm told it is more effective if you call their Washington offices. I like to call the local office and the Washington office, but that's just me. Click here to find out how to contact your Senators, and if you happen to have a Democratic Senator (or two, praise be) please call or email them too, to let them know you are with them on this issue. We don't want the Democrats to lose heart in this fight.
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