Posted on 03/14/2002 7:41:57 PM PST by Angelwood
Around a dozen FReepers and Lurkers attended the Senate Judiciary Committee vote for Judge Charles Pickering, President Bush's nominee to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
When Kristinn and Angelwood arrived outside the hearing room in the Dirksen Building around 1:30 p.m., a lengthy line of left-wing and conservative activists had already assembled. We met some Lurker friends of Reagangirl who were glad to see some FReepers there. We exchanged greetings and pro-Pickering stickers.
Angelwood had printed up a large number of stickers with four different messages. We handed out about five dozen stickers to conservatives and a couple of small groups of visiting students who got in at the end of the line. The head of the line was filled with liberals. We could tell because none of them wanted our stickers.
The messages on the four stickers used at the hearing today were as follows: DEMOCRATS PUT PARTY BEFORE COUNTRY; QUIT BICKERING VOTE FOR PICKERING; THE CONSTITUTION READS: ADVISE NOT OBSTRUCT; and FULL SENATE VOTE FOR JUDICIAL NOMINEES.
One liberal man good-naturedly asked Kristinn if we had anything for "the other side." Kristinn laughed and pointed to buttons on his FReeper jacket: "Democrats Put Party Before Country" and "Never Trust Democrats With National Security." The man ruefully chuckled and declined Kristinn's generous offer.
A teacher with a group of students was about to decline the offer of stickers because they were supposed to remain non-partisan, when one of her students quickly spoke up and said, "I'll take that one." She relented and let them all choose stickers.
There was a bit of a brouhaha when people from NARAL and Planned Parenthood were called into the hearing room for special seating before the doors were opened to the general public. The staffer working the door said that she was not playing favorites and that the two groups had called ahead for special seating. She further explained that it was standard policy for groups that call twenty-four hours in advance and ask for reserved seating to get it. (We'll have to test that one day.)
We found RFP in line and gave him a bunch of stickers, most of which ended up on the back of his suit jacket. We also met Paul Stam from North Carolina, who is running for the Republican nomination for the NC House of Representatives.
Most of the media were already inside the hearing room, with only a few reporters hanging around in the hallway in case a Senator came by. We barely missed our chance to "lobby" Ted Kennedy as he snuck in a back entrance. Nina Totenberg, reporter for NPR, slinked by us a few times. She scowled at us each time she passed and read our buttons. The last time, Kristinn called out to her, "Nina, your bias is showing." She just kept slinking.
A few minutes before 2:00 p.m. everyone who was in line was able to enter the hearing room. We went to the end of the line and followed everyone into the room. RFP, who had been in the middle of the line, ended up getting a seat all the way in the last row because the good seats went to the left-wing lobbying groups. That turned out okay actually, because everyone who walked behind him couldn't help but notice all the pro-Pickering stickers on the back of his sports coat. All the other seats were taken and we elected to stand in the back of the room since we would have to leave soon to return to work.
The hearing was delayed because of a vote in the Senate. While we waited, FRiends and Lurkers stopped to greet us. From our perch in the rear of the room, we watched Ralph Neas, head of People for the American Way, anxiously work the room. The media tables were filled with reporters drawn to the spectacle of a Republican nominee being crushed by hard-line democrats. We had the pleasure of speaking to people that we hold in high regard -- Byron York, the great investigative reporter with the National Review, and Virginia Thomas of the Heritage Foundation.
We told Mrs. Thomas how much we appreciated the article she wrote supporting Judge Pickering which was published in The Wall Street Journal this week. She wrote the article from the perspective of what her husband, Justice Thomas, had gone through in his confirmation battle over his nomination to the Supreme Court.
Senator Leahy, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, came out of the door behind the dais and preened his best, cock-rooster-like, for the cameras. A few minutes later, Leahy went back to the door and brought out Orrin Hatch. We couldn't hear what they said, but it looked like Senator Hatch was pleading to Leahy to "be gentle with me." Leahy was in a very good mood and in fine form for a lynching. Hatch smiled for the cameras, but it was clear that he was not too happy about what was going to occur.
We had to leave at 2:20 p.m. to get back to work at our respective jobs. Hopefully, RFP can tell what he saw during the hearing. Photos will follow late tonight or tomorrow.
EAGLES UP! FReep On!
From the left coast, thank you.
To me this means that "W" and his crew picked a little fight and made into a big fight. And "lost". And they knew they would. But this means that his future fights may be easier. We will see.
Thanks to all of you who made it to this hearing and stood up for the Constitution today!!!
Thanks for taking the time out of your busy days to be there! I had to work... and was waiting to hear something from the DC CHAPTER leaders and hard core members. Even on such short notice I knew you'd do us proud.
DC CHAPTER ROCKS !!
This is hyperbole. The bill will grant green card status to people who would have gotten it anyway as their paperwork was simply caught in the Mohammed Atta Bermuda triangle at INS.
In trade for extending a Clinton measure for several months (one that has been going on for a couple years), we get the Democrats to agree for the first time to allow the INS to track aliens in this country.
I'm still reeling, this was a "threat", as G-d is my witness, these people threatened our President and his administration, and that is the same as threatening me.
It is these "special interest groups" that are holding this nation hostage. They were never elected to so much as "dog catcher" by any of us, yet they are actually able to pull the strings of the Democrates and flush Judge Charles Pickering's lifes work down the drain.
These people are actually in control of our White House without ever being elected....I just never knew, I just can't find the words to descibe how sick and angry I feel.
I've done research on these people, they are the most brazen "RACISTS" in the United States of America, yet they have the power to humiliate, digrace and destroy the lives of men like Judge Pickering or anyone else that dares defy their twisted politics. Please, besides all of the letters, phone calls and E-mails we have been sending out, is there anything else we can do to get this out all over American, let the American voters that don't know, have this knowledge? I don't believe everyone does, I didn't.
These are the ones I have been keeping track of:
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, PFAW, Aliance for Justice, NARAL, NAACP, AAUW and the Black Caucus.
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