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From someone who has been fighting far longer than the vast majority of us -- kos)
Even though we knew it was a dicey proposition from the get-go, many of us are righteously furious about the cloture vote, especially furious that so many of the Democrats who crossed the line couldn't even fall back on the rationalization that their "aye" was essential in order to survive politically in a swing or red state.
I'm not naming names. The list is up for all to see. And each one on that list has just made my life more difficult. Because every time I walk a precinct or call somebody for a financial contribution this election year, I'm going to run into a lot more "Screw the Democrats. They don't stand up for me." And my only reply will have to be a sheepish, we have to elect more Democrats so those unwilling to stand up for you don't weigh as heavily on the party.
That pitch for more Democrats - made again today by Markos - is absolutely true. We need more of them, obviously. And I plan to work to get more. But what do you say at the front door or on the phone when somebody asks, "How do I know the extra Dems will be any better than the ones who already refuse to fight?" That even if they don't fight they're better than Republicans? Ayi. Scarcely persuasive at cinching the deal.
Therefore, don't think because of what I'm about to say that I am taking this cloture vote lying down. I'd like to kick the aisle-crossers all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue and back.
But ...
For now, I'm laying off the recriminations. Instead, the first thing I'm doing as soon as this is written is to call my two Senators - Boxer and Feinstein - to tell them I appreciated their "No" votes. And I urge others to do so as well.
But, more important, I urge others to put their energy into a new fight. Because the Alito nomination is all over but the final vote, and we need to invest the next week into making something useful out of next Monday's Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings on "Wartime Executive Power and the NSA's Surveillance Authority."
Given what an atrocious job most of the Democrats on the committee did in querying Samuel Alito, particularly bad when it came to follow-up questions, and in framing the issues of concern raised by Alito's extensive judicial record, it is incumbent upon us to try to ensure that Democrats ask tough questions at these hearings. We need to push the Dems away from playing enabler for what is sure to be Attorney General Gonzales's efforts to make the hearings nothing more than a forum for the idea that the Administration's evasion of FISA is being done to protect us from the bad guys.
Many of us are, I know, psychologically exhausted from seeking victory that we knew since November would be a long shot. And I've seen a fat chunk of comments saying: what's the use, the right wing has won, there's no point in fighting anymore. Understandably. But a battle is not a war. And, disappointing as it was, and as devastating as Alito's tenure on the court may turn out to be, giving up is simply not an option.
No matter what the odds, and no matter how few of our elected representatives we can count on to stand with us on this matter, and a hundred others, we have to keep up the fight. The war against Big Brotherization is as crucial as that for abolition, for women's suffrage, for civil rights.
In every case, the warriors in those wars suffered immense setbacks, repeatedly so, and found it hard to get the politicians to speak up and stand up for them. Eventually, however, because they refused to surrender, and because they took the fight beyond the electoral arena, they won.
We will, too.
