Well, things are moving so quickly on the immigration front, it's a wonder I get any sleep.
You may see me uploading a few posts every day, time permitting between catching up with work and having a life and going to immigration rallies.
Yesterday I wrote about an immigration victory, today I'm here to talk about defeat. Apparently our millions of voices, immigrants and immigrant supporters alike - failed to make an impression on our US Senators. So what we need to do is to call their offices and tell them exactly what we think.
Today there are more than a few senators that I'm disappointed in for their votes to build a 370 mile fence on the southern border. When 28 Dems vote with 55 Republicans, that's cause for crying and then kicking some ass (Democratic and Republican alike.)
Read 'em and weep (my thoughts in italics):
Alabama
Sessions (R) Yes; Shelby (R) Yes. no surprises here
Alaska
Murkowski (R) Yes; Stevens (R) Yes. What do you expect of Lisa "hand me down your Senate seat, Daddy" Murkowski and "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens?
Arizona
Kyl (R) Yes; McCain (R) Yes. I thought McCain was supposed to be pro-immigrant. He cosponsored a great bill with Kennedy, right? Oh sorry, that was the OTHER John McCain. The one who's not running for President and who doesn't appear at Jerry Falwell's university?
Arkansas
Lincoln (D) Yes; Pryor (D) Yes. Two turncoat Dems from a conservative state.
California
Boxer (D) Yes; Feinstein (D) Yes. Two turncoat Dems from a state with the highest number of naturalized citizens every single year. From a state with the most militant immigrant rights organizations in the country. We're talking sit-ins and hunger strikes here. Two Democratic women who don't know the meaning of compassion. Call them and tell them you expect, no demand better. They are in the safest of safe seats. Whip them into shape.
Colorado
Allard (R) Yes; Salazar (D) Yes. It's good to be a Latino and to vote against people who look like you. That way you can say that you aren't just playing the race card or pandering to the community. Then you can say you gave your Republican counterpart political cover. Great.
Connecticut
Dodd (D) No; Lieberman (D) No. Call these guys and thank them for their votes. Although I highly doubt that Lieberman would have done this if he wasn't in a competitive primary with a challenger from the left. Dodd is in a safe Dem seat. I guess it's okay if he sells us out on prescription drugs and big Pharma (???)
Delaware
Biden (D) Yes; Carper (D) Yes. Dems in safe seats again who decided to screw over the powerless.
Florida
Martinez (R) Yes; Nelson (D) Yes. I guess that lovey dovey story from the NYTimes about Martinez's personal refugee escape from Cuba isn't enough. Because you know, an ocean is like a wall, except that you can swim through it. Nelson is a disappointing vote but hey, let's see who else sold us down the river...Let's call both and scream bloody murder.
Georgia
Chambliss (R) Yes; Isakson (R) Yes. Unsurprising. Call them and yell at them for the heck of it anyway.
Hawaii
Akaka (D) No; Inouye (D) No. Good, a pair of Dems who are doing the right thing, unlike Salazar. Plus Akaka's got some serious primary competition and he still does the right thing. Show them some LOVE. Plus our community's only representatives in the Senate do the right thing.
Idaho
Craig (R) Yes; Crapo (R) Yes. Need we go there?
Illinois
Durbin (D) No; Obama (D) No. It's immensely important to have a solid immigration organization (ICIRR) in place to hold people accountable.
Indiana
Bayh (D) Yes; Lugar (R) Yes. Scratch Bayh off my presidential primary list.
Iowa
Grassley (R) Yes; Harkin (D) Yes. Harkin, Harkin, Harkin. Usually you're so good on labor and the minimum wage. Who or what convinced you to vote against future constituents? Plus Grassley's a bit disappointing too, he's normally rational enough.
Kansas
Brownback (R) Yes; Roberts (R) Yes. This is Brownback who is supposed to be an immigrant ally. Everyone's just showing their true colors here today. I'm blinded by the ugly!
Kentucky
Bunning (R) Yes; McConnell (R) Yes. Dos idiotas.
Louisiana
Landrieu (D) Yes; Vitter (R) Yes. Conservative state who got hit hard by Katrina. And who helped rebuild? Why undocumented immigrants did. And they worked damn hard too. Here's how you repay that effort?
Maine
Collins (R) Yes; Snowe (R) Yes. The Senate's too most reasonable and progressive Repubs sell us out too. Maine, just because it's too cold there for most immigrants doesn't mean that we don't matter.
Maryland
Mikulski (D) Yes; Sarbanes (D) No. Thank you Senator Sarbanes. Mikulski, you can go jump in the gutter.
Massachusetts
Kennedy (D) No; Kerry (D) Yes. Thank you Ted Kennedy. Kerry, don't think that the immigrant community won't remember this next time around. In fact, I'm going to turn your vote into a talking point and crucify you with it from the left.
Michigan
Levin (D) Yes; Stabenow (D) Yes. Shoot, Stabenow backstabs us twice in 2 days. It's more like Stab-me-now and Stab-me-later. I'm dying here. Plus Levin?!? Call these guys and yell at them!
Minnesota
Coleman (R) Yes; Dayton (D) Yes. Dayton, you're leaving your seat, you don't have to run again or justify your decision. Couldn't you have taken a courageous stance for once in your life?
Mississippi
Cochran (R) Yes; Lott (R) Yes. Ugh, when you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all.\
Missouri
Bond (R) Yes; Talent (R) Yes. I'm getting tired of ranting typing.
Montana
Baucus (D) Yes; Burns (R) Yes. No comment.
Nebraska
Hagel (R) Yes; Nelson (D) Yes. Hagel's another supposedly supportive Repub. I guess it doesn't urt as bad because it was expected.
Nevada
Ensign (R) Yes; Reid (D) Yes. I need to flip out here but don't have the strength. WTF!?!? Harry Reid, that's the end of my dollars to the DSCC.
New Hampshire
Gregg (R) Yes; Sununu (R) Yes. Blah. I'm falling asleep from the predictable ones.
New Jersey
Lautenberg (D) No; Menendez (D) No. Thank god a Latino who remembers his roots. Will post for now and fill in later/.
[Resumes blogging.]
New Mexico
Bingaman (D) No; Domenici (R) Yes. Good for Bingaman. This inspires me to find out more about the man.
New York
Clinton (D) Yes; Schumer (D) Yes. Grrrrrr. Just Grrrrrr. Call them and voice your displeasure.
North Carolina
Burr (R) Yes; Dole (R) Yes. Expected yeses.
North Dakota
Conrad (D) Yes; Dorgan (D) Yes. More turncoat Democrats. One of the reasons I had stopped ranting was because it was getting repetitive. The other was that I nearly fell asleep (long day)!
Ohio
DeWine (R) Yes; Voinovich (R) Yes. I truly hope that Sherrod Brown wins, if only because I believe and hope that he would vote the opposite of DeWine.
Oklahoma
Coburn (R) Yes; Inhofe (R) Yes. This triple-layered fence is like red meat to a conservative dog, and Republicans are playing up the symbolism for all that it's worth.
Oregon
Smith (R) Yes; Wyden (D) Yes. Well, after the previous vote who could be surprised by Wyden's stance this time around? Doesn't change the disapppointment or anger, buddy.
Pennsylvania
Santorum (R) Yes; Specter (R) Yes. Specter is a ghost conservative. That is, he appears when you least want to see him.
Rhode Island
Chafee (R) Yes; Reed (D) No. Bravo Jack Reed, bravo. Call and thank him! And call Chafee and tell him you always knew he was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
South Carolina
DeMint (R) Yes; Graham (R) Yes. It's Jerry Falwell country.
South Dakota
Johnson (D) Yes; Thune (R) Yes. Not a whole lot of surprises here.
Tennessee
Alexander (R) Yes; Frist (R) Yes. Any time Frist can knife you in the heart, he will.
Texas
Cornyn (R) Yes; Hutchison (R) Yes. Both people who need new jobs.
Utah
Bennett (R) Yes; Hatch (R) Yes. Hatch has previously sponsored semi-pro immigrant legislation.
Vermont
Jeffords (I) No; Leahy (D) Yes. Jeffords is a true independent. What does it mean that a former Republican senator turned-independent votes better on this issue than the so-called leading lights in our party? And votes better than his Democratic counterpart?!?
Virginia
Allen (R) Yes; Warner (R) Yes. Virginia is increasingly a purple state and this will help tip the balance in our favor.
Washington
Cantwell (D) No; Murray (D) No. Thank goodness, call these women and give them your love. Same time, don't forget to shame the ladies from California.
West Virginia
Byrd (D) Yes; Rockefeller (D) Not Voting. Byrd's vote doesn's surprise me. Not sure what the not voting by Rockefeller means.
Wisconsin
Feingold (D) No; Kohl (D) Yes. Yes! Yes! Thank you Gov. Feingold. I mean, President Feingold.
Wyoming
Enzi (R) Yes; Thomas (R) Yes. No surprises here from one of the most remote states in the country.
Labels: immigration reform