The power of one call

I normally don't do this to my friends, despite being a political activist. And I normally do ignore entreaties to call your Senator, but -

Sam Alito must be OPPOSED for the Supreme Court.

I did not spend my time working for Kerry thinking that he was going to be the greatest president ever. I worked for him because I am only 24 and I knew that if he got another term he would appoint 1-2 Supreme Court justices. If Alito gets on that bench, it will take the rest of my life to overturn whatever awful decisions he will contribute to. I worked my butt off because I know it will already take a good 30 years or so to reverse the horrible policies of the Bush administration, and if Alito gets on the Court, it'll be a good 50 years worth of hard work to reclaim our country. I would like to leave a better legacy for my kids.

So I called my Senators yesterday, and left a comment. It was short and it took 1 minute each. I said, "I would like to leave a comment for the Senator. I am a constituent of the Senator's. I hope that Senator_____ votes no on Alito and votes to filibuster him. Alito is a dangerous right-wing ideologue who will overturn many of the civil liberties that we as Americans cherish. Thanks."

Sometimes they didn't even ask for my name. Then I told my partner to call, and watched while it happened.

I normally don't think calling makes much of a difference, despite being an organizer, but lo and behold today's Sun Times: Durbin to vote against Alito, filibuster possible

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announced Thursday he will vote against Judge Sam Alito for the U.S. Supreme Court. And he said so many other senators intensely oppose Alito that they may have enough votes to sustain a filibuster against the conservative jurist.

......"A week ago, I would have told you it's not likely to happen," Durbin said. "As of [Wednesday], I just can't rule it out. I was surprised by the intensity of feeling of some of my colleagues. It's a matter of counting. We have 45 Democrats, counting [Vermont independent] Jim Jeffords, on our side. We could sustain a filibuster if 41 senators ... are willing to stand and fight.

I LOVE DICK. . . DURBIN that is. He is a great man. This is a far place from where the Democrats were even just a few days ago, when See, the Democrats WANT to oppose Alito, they just need to hear from their constituents that this is the right thing to do. Because the Senate is like high school and they react to peer pressure.

The moral of this story? One person makes one call. Now multiply that one call by 100 people, and you have Senators who are running scared. Hold them accountable, I say. Call your Senator.

Then get your friends to call as well. Because you will regret it for the rest of your life if Alito gets on that bench. (End Asian motherly guilt-trip.)