Hell Yeah, We're Obstructing

Should Democrats filibuster Alito? Is John Kerry tilting at windmills, running for President, in league with Republicans, suicidal, or courageous though a bit tardier than we would have liked?

The blogosphere and the MSM are aflutter with discussions of what the proposed filibuster means for Kerry, for Dems, for Republicans, for the base, for swing voters, for everything.

This is okay. Let us make room for both "responsible" and "irresponsible" dissent, unlike some people we know.

If you can't decide whether to call your Senator to support a filibuster, or are pissed at Kerry, or mad at Dems in general, or think it's too little too late, or hate the way Republicans seem to be sitting back and laughing their asses off as the Democratic caucus fights over whether to have a filibuster, here are some thoughts for you:

We should have this filibuster. According to well-placed sources, we WILL have this filibuster.

1. But Amy, the Republicans are laughing at us. They think this filibuster is a great idea, and so therefore it must suck.


When was the last time Republicans acted scared about a single thing the Democrats did? It's a fakeout, guys. According to Republicans, there is nothing Democrats can do that will turn out to be good for Democrats politically, or good for the country. Do we expect them to say "Oh dear, we really hope that the Democrats don't filibuster..."? What the Republicans say is relevant for how Dems counter their message, but not for decisions about what policies or people Democrats support.


2. Kerry is a loser for not organizing the filibuster a month ago, and then for announcing it from Switzerland. He's just pandering to the base, and trying to be all heroic.


This is ridiculous. A month ago, were we calling our Senators daily insisting that they filibuster? No, we were gorging on Christmas cookies and waiting for the UPS guy to bring our Amazon orders. Kerry's choice to lead a filibuster is a direct result of our activism. He changed his mind because of us. (Well, more specifically, me. But I'll share the credit ;-) If we turn on him for doing what we begged him to do, because he didn't do it early enough, well, what incentive will he have to listen to us in the future? He is not pandering, he is listening to the base, and we should applaud him for that. He may win big politically speaking for the choice, but he may also lose big. He's taking a risk. And that's a damn good thing.

As for Switzerland, can it. The man was there on Senate business.


3. The filibuster will be a failure, and then we'll look weak and pathetic.


Dems already look weak and pathetic; a failed filibuster may only make that a little bit worse, but it won't make it orders of magnitude worse.


4. A filibuster, successful or not, will distract from the stronger issues we have that might actually take the President down: NSA spying and the Abramoff scandal.
   
   The point of filibustering Alito is that all of these things are related. The President is abusing power, and the Congress has been paid off to keep letting him do so. Alito was chosen not just for his anti-abortion views but more importantly, for his view of executive power. The President expects cases about his abuse of power to come before the Supreme Court for years, and he wants the court to rule in his favor, not in Congress's favor, and not in the people's favor. We need to prevent Alito from getting on the court so that we have a chance of relying on the court to help curb his behavior.
   
   The fight is the same fight, the goal is the same goal: to show the President that he does not have all the power he thinks he has, that he cannot run roughshod over Congress. We move ahead on all fronts. It's the corruption, and the lying, and the incompetence, and the assertion of power, and the secrecy. It's the whole package of government gone wrong, and it's all related.



5. But Amy, they'll use the NUCLEAR OPTION!
   
   Maybe. And maybe not. If Dems are unwilling to use the filibuster, however, we may as well let them take it away.



6. But the Gang of 14 said the filibuster could only be used in extraordinary circumstances.
   
   First, I would argue that these are extraordinary circumstances. Alito supports a dictatorship view of presidential powers; we have just discovered that the President has been breaking the 4th amendment, without apology. Whatever Alito's qualifications, this makes him a disaster for the court right now.
   
   Second, who made the Gang of 14 the rulers of Congress? They didn't ask me what I thought about the whole deal.



7. If we block Alito, he'll only nominate someone worse, or just as bad.
   
   Probably. And we can block them too. We can filibuster till the midterms, and we can filibuster for another two years after that, if we need to. Sandra Day is not dead, and the Supreme Court could survive with only 8 members if it needed to. It sometimes has to do that anyway, because various Justices need to recuse themselves on specific cases. (Except Scalia, who never ever needs to recuse himself.) Getting someone onto the Supreme Court is not an urgent priority for our nation. It is only an urgent priority for the President and his supporters.



8. Voters won't like it.
   
   The majority of American voters don't think much about the Supreme Court, and they don't much care about it. Whether Sandra Day O'Connor gets to retire and when, whether the court has to operate with only 8 Justices instead of 9 -- it's just not that important to them.



9. They'll call us Obstructionist.
   
   To which we shall respond; Hell Yeah, we're obstructing. This President needs to be obstructed. Everything he touches turns to shit. Every program he introduces is crap. The wars he starts, the laws he breaks, the people he supports, the lies he tells -- all that needs to be obstructed, every day and in every way.
   
   Until we can get rid of this Administration and its supporters in the Congress, all we can do is obstruct. We should not collaborate with their destruction of our country.
   
   Obstruction is our greatest duty now.

So please support John Kerry in the filibuster. Call, email, and fax your Senators this weekend and, especially, on Monday morning, to tell them to support the filibuster. If they're Republicans, call, email and fax to tell them not to vote for the nuclear option. See SaveTheCourt.org for more info on what to do.