I’ve just gotten a rather non-sensical email from Jessica Smith (jsmith@fenton.com) at Fenton Communications (202-822-5200) informing me that,
MoveOn PAC will kick off a week of campaign activities to oppose a Republican attempt to eliminate the filibuster of presidential nominations for the federal judiciary. A new TV ad and at least sixty rallies in over forty states will spearhead the effort. On Wednesday, Vice President Al Gore is scheduled to give a major address on the subject at a MoveOn PAC rally in Washington DC. The Senate may vote this week to eliminate the 200-year-old rule.
That should be a treat! Nothing like having an Al Gore stemwinder to make one’s cause look mainstream. One can only hope Howard Dean does the intro and Michael Moore leads the benediction.
The e-mail contains multiple cut-and-pastes in various font sizes, which makes one wonder about the ability of Fenton Communications to communicate.
“Our government was founded on principles of checks and balances to ensure that no one party holds absolute power,” said Ben Brandzel, MoveOn PAC Advocacy Director. […] “You would think it would be enough for Republican leaders that their party controls both houses of Congress, the White House, and has appointed most of the sitting Supreme Court Justices and appellate judges, but no, they want complete control of the federal government. To get it, they’re willing to toss out a 200 year old rule that has balanced the rights of political majorities and minorities and served the American people well since the early days of the Republic, said Brandzel”
Actually, the filibuster doesn’t protect majorities, since it is a measure designed from preventing the majority from voting. But, yes, the Republicans are willing to toss out a rule that was used for such wonderful minority-protecting things as delaying a vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in order to get an up-or-down vote on judges appointed by a president who was just re-elected by a majority of the voters by the majority of the upper house of Congress. I can live with that.
