Okay, I guess I jumped the gun on this yesterday, but my esteemed Senator and so-called member of the liberal/left coalition, just voted for the HR 3199 (the conference report version of the Patriot Act). You can read the vote tallies
here.
I feel so betrayed by her and by the Democratic party in general on this issue that I don't quite know what to do. Why should I even live in this country anymore when those that say they are here to fight for the good -- just sell out because they are afraid of appearing to be "soft on terror"? What is the point of voting or being here at all?
I mean, Representative John Conyers wrote a nice diary today, saying that what we do really does matter, and that we are appreciated. But all he could cite were the number of letters, emails and calls for action that he has forwarded on to the appropriate people. Has this forwarding of sentiment had any effect? Or do we just fade into the background like the classical music in Rove's Jaguar?
Has anything substantially changed over the last few years? Has our President stopped lying to our faces about what has happened and is happening in this country and the world? Do our Senators and Representatives do anything to stand up to his tyranny?
I mean, you couldn't pick a clearer issue. The Democrats should have voted against this in block -- just as they should have opposed and held up the nomination of Alito -- but they failed there as well.
I want to point out that there were many comments in my diary yesterday that she was just voting for "window dressing" because she thought that would ameliorate the wrongs in the act -- and that she would really show her support for the Bill of Rights today. Well, that vote has come and gone, and she has let the entire State down, and the country.
On top of this betrayal, there is John Kerry who also voted in support of the Patriot Act. A man that had the incredibly bad taste to ask for donations on this site a day or so go -- to then go forward and vote for the Patriot Act -- Skull and Bones indeed.
For me, the only real democrats left in the Senate are those that stand for freedom -- Democrats such as the following:
Akaka (D-HI) Bingaman (D-NM) Byrd (D-WV) Feingold (D-WI)
| Harkin (D-IA) Jeffords (I-VT) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) | Murray (D-WA) Wyden (D-OR)
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If you are a fellow Californian, please give Senator Boxer's office a call and let her know that you support Democracy -- not tyranny. You can reach Senator Boxer at the following numbers, taken from her website:
San Francisco
1700 Montgomery Street,
Suite 240
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 403-0100
(415) 956-6701 fax
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Los Angeles
312 N. Spring Street,
Suite 1748
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 894-5000
(213) 894-5042 fax
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Sacramento
501 I Street, Suite 7-600
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 448-2787
(916) 448-2563 fax
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San Diego
600 B Street, Suite 2240
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 239-3884
(619) 239-5719 fax
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Fresno
2500 Tulare Street, Suite 5290
Fresno, CA 93721
(559) 497-5109
(559) 497-5111 fax
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Inland Empire
201 North E Street, Suite 210
San Bernardino, CA 92401
(909) 888-8525
(909) 888-8613 fax
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Washington D.C.
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3553
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