The only place on Earth where 50 percent constitutes a minority.
Some Republican Senators, yesterday it was Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, would have you believe there is a radical minority in the Senate, trying to take over the country. If this were let's say a group for 5 or 6 anarchists, all the hullaballoo would be warranted.
But this so-called minority is half the Senate, the Democrats, who represent half the country; a country that's by and large a lot more moderate than these Conservative Republicans want to believe.
The only real minority in this debate is the handful of judiciary nominees, these few who out of the 200 plus Bush appointees have not been approved by the Senate. Most presidents would have been thrilled with such a batting average. But that's not enough for this Administration and their rubber-stamping yes-person party. No, with them it's all or nothing.
Hence all the rhetoric about "activist judges." They would have us believe that American judges, up to and including the Supreme Court, are changing the laws of the country based on their liberal preferences.
First of all, not all judges are liberal anymore than all ice cream cones are chocolate.
Secondly, this so-called radical agenda the courts are using to make their decisions are the lawbooks of the states and the nation, and that frighteningly liberal document-- the United States Constitution!
Our nation's founders lived in a world of monarchies, tyrannies, and theocracies. They'd studied history and politics, and the history of politics. And they created a miraculous new form of government that many of their contemporaries scoffed at. But it works! Fabulously.
It works because of the Bill of Rights, and subsequent civil rights amendments, which protect each individual citizens rights.
And it works because of the intricate system of checks and balances that protect the country and Constitution. This ingenious system has keep the US up and running for 216 years, even despite the Civil War. America works because of amazing foresight of our founders. They understood how political power can foster the lust to grab for more power. And they knew that that's how nations die and citizens suffer. So they created these checks and balances to safeguard our fledgling nation.
They knew we'd eventually find ourselves here. And the Conservatives know it too. That's why they want to eliminate the filibuster and appoint their own activist judges. They control the White House and Congress; and now they want the whole country dancing to their tune.
This is my country? I was taught that one-party government was bad; that government controlled media was bad; that quelching dissent was bad. And at that time, I was shown an example of such a heinous government, Soviet Russia; the Cold War equivalent of the Sith.
I grew up during the Cold War, but the 20th Century also gave us enough other examples of tyrannies, dictatorships and theocracies to show us what doesn't work.
Debate, dissent, and dialogue are necessary to maintian a free society. We need the filibuster!
The checks and balances, the filibuster, and our right to dissent are what keep America strong and alive. A few conservative judicial nominees aren't the problem. Congress has appointed other controverial Bush appointees. The problem is that the Republicans, with the thinnest sliver of a Senate majority, don't want to take "no" for an answer.
And the filibuster, the checks and balances, and even the Constitution stand in their way.
The United States Constitution is our national convenant. This is what our soldiers have fought for over two centuries. This is America; our dreams, our power, our greatness.
So use the link above, and tell your Senators to save the filibuster.
After all the Constitution begins with "We the People..." Congress, and the President work for us, not the other way around. And if half of us don't want their conservative judicial nominees, they'd better take notice. This is our country, and it shall not perish from the earth.
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