I noticed on your profile page something about the runaway Democrats here in Texas. If you've been reading the 'moveon.org'/Drudge thread, you might be interested in reading a couple of letters I archived regarding these same chicken-little Texas democrats and our buddies at moveon. The swell group at moveon also patted themselves on the back for stopping the appointment of a fine Bush judicial nominee, Miguel Estrada. A bunch of busy little bees over there at moveon...I wonder when they have time to hold down actual jobs! (P.S. Interesting tag line!)
https://www.moveon.org/texasads/letter.html Contribute to MoveOn.org's "Defend Democracy" Campaign
The following is a letter by Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis written from "exile" in New Mexico.
August 18, 2003
Dear friends,
I am writing to you from a hotel room in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I and 10 of my colleagues in the Texas Senate have been forced to reside for the past 20 days. If we return to our homes, families, friends, and constituents, the Governor of Texas will have us arrested.
I know, it sounds more like a banana republic than the dignified democracy on which we have long prided ourselves. We are effectively exiled from the state due to our unalterable opposition to a Republican effort -- pushed by Tom Delay and Karl Rove, and led by Texas Governor Rick Perry -- that would rewrite the map of Texas Congressional districts in order to elect at least 5 more Republicans to Congress.
You may not have heard much about the current breakdown in Texas politics. The Republican power play in California has obscured the Republican power play in Texas that has forced my colleagues and me to leave the state.
Recognizing that public pressure is the only thing that can break the current stalemate, our friends at MoveOn have offered to support our efforts by sharing this email with you. In it, you will find:
• Background information on how the situation in Texas developed;
• Analysis of what's at stake for Democrats and the democratic process; and
• How you can help by contacting Texas politicians, signing our petition, contributing funds, and forwarding this email!
The Republican redistricting effort shatters the tradition of performing redistricting only once a decade immediately after the Census -- making redistricting a perpetual partisan process. It elevates partisan politics above minority voting rights, in contravention of the federal Voting Rights Act. It intends to decimate the Democratic party in Texas, and lock in a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. And Republican efforts to force a vote on this issue by changing the rules of legislative procedure threaten to undermine the rule of law in Texas.
We do not take lightly our decision to leave the state. It was the only means left to us under the rules of procedure in Texas to block this injustice. We are fighting for our principles and beliefs, and we can win this fight with your support.
Sincerely,
Rodney Ellis
Texas State Senator (Houston)
http://www.moveon.org/news/1633.html From: Peter Schurman, MoveOn.org
Subject: A terrific victory
Date: September 4, 2003
Dear MoveOn member,
Because of your help, we won a terrific victory today. President
Bush's top-priority right-wing judicial nominee, Miguel Estrada,
withdrew his name from consideration, and the President accepted
Estrada's withdrawal.
As far as we know, this is the first time President Bush has conceded
defeat on any nomination. It's a big day.
Your work made it possible. When Estrada stonewalled the American
people -- refusing, with the White House's blessing, to answer basic
questions about his radically conservative views -- you stood up and
fought back, with more than 40,000 phone calls and more than 90,000
online messages to the Senate.
President Bush was counting on us to roll over and allow the right wing
to tighten its grip on power by packing America's top courts with
conservative ideologues, who would serve for lifetime appointments.
Instead, we and our friends in the Senate stood strong, and today we
prevailed.
Last November, after the right wing took control of the Senate, we set
a goal of driving the Democrats to dig in and stop the right-wing
power grab.
We continue to have our work cut out for us, especially in California
and Texas. But Estrada's withdrawal is an incontrovertible sign that
we are turning the tide.
Congratulations!
Sincerely,
- Carrie, Eli, Joan, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn team
September 4th, 2003
Thanks. I FReepmailed it to myself for future reference (whenever I finally decide to update my site). Re garding the tagline, I've got a real doozy coming, but I'm going to wait for jigsaw to notice this one.