Operation Filito Update

I have written some nasty letters to my Senators in the past few years. I wrote a very nasty one to John Kerry after he conceded the 2004 elections, complaining that he conceded too soon and had betrayed the trust and work of his supporters:

Don't talk to me of ending these partisan wars. We should not hope for such a thing -- for our dissent at last to be silenced by the strong and steadfast certainty of our great leader, in the name of unity and civility. This presidency has been a disaster, and will continue to be so. You could have said that last week, and you didn't. You told me a bedtime story....The activists all tell me to write my Senator, to tell my Senator to be strong and stand up to this Administration. And what am I to do? The time for that has come and gone, and my Senator, he blinked.

Last week I wrote letters insisting they impeach:

If you do not believe your job to be superfluous, then you must act. I am not interested in hearing the excuses of my elected representatives about why the President cannot be impeached. You serve The People, not the President. You serve me. I am not so afraid of terrorists that I am willing to give up my power and duty as a citizen to say “Enough is enough.” No more torture, no more renditions, no more spying on peace groups. No more holding innocent people or guilty people without charge. No more breaking the law just because the law is inconvenient. I will not stand for it. I do not stand for it.

I've called their offices every day for the last week about the Alito nomination, insisting they join the filibuster, congratulating them on joining the filibuster (this, before a filibuster had actually been planned), warning them that I would never give them money or vote for them again if they didn't join the filibuster, begging them to join the filibuster.

Yesterday Kerry announced that he would lead a filibuster. Kennedy offered his support. So I'd like to publicly thank my Senators for coming through for me. And yes, I'd like to say that I feel personally responsible for them choosing to do so. I'm sure it's delusional to feel that way, but I do.

Digby has a great post up this morning about how important it us for us to back Kerry up on this, to show him we support him, even if we end up losing, even if he can't muster the numbers he needs:

John Kerry stepped up today. Apparently, that isn't enough for some. He is still a "loser" in their eyes and is to be shunned. He didn't do it soon enough. Or he didn't do it right. Or he is nothing but a political opportunist. I'm beginning to think that some Democrats have gotten attached to their vision of Democrats as losers so they won't be emotionally shattered anymore. That's understandable. It's painful to get beaten. But, the rank and file need to step up too and be willing to lose and not hate ourselves or our leaders for it. How we lose on issues like this makes the difference for the future.

Sustaining a filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee is a huge undertaking with the numbers we have. (Read Kos' Reality Check on this.) It's worth doing anyway because it's important to stand up for principles. We can "lose well" by beginning to make a case to the American people that we believe in something other than splitting the difference. And we might just pull it off. Either way, we make the country (and the media) see that there are lines that we won't cross.

But the way some people are acting, if we now lose this one it will be seen by the grassroots as just another example of Democratic fecklessness, even Kerry's fecklessness, which is self-defeating and unfair. If we carp when our elected politicans take risks just as we carp when they don't take risks, they have no motivation to listen to us at all.

Kerry and Kennedy stepped up today. They aren't going down without a fight. This is worth doing and if we lose it, we should reward them and those who stood with them with our gratitude and support not another round of complaints about how they are a bunch of losers.

Go vote in this stupid CNN poll and give Kerry some props for doing something out of conviction. This isn't a big winner for him and he didn't have to do it. We need to let our politicans know we have their back when they take a stand.

Hear, hear.