Something I've been meaning to post about for a while...

via Amanda at Pandagon:

"The U.S. Army in Iraq has at least twice seized and jailed the wives of suspected insurgents in hopes of “leveraging” their husbands into surrender, U.S. military documents show."

Further evidence that BushCo thinks they aren’t fighting a war so much as directing a really crappy action movie about a war. While I’m sure it’s all thrilling in neocon dreams to have romantic plots where one’s enemy is defeated because you exploit his foolish love for a mere woman, in real life once you open up the door to treating women’s bodies as strategic weapons against the enemy, you’re opening yourself up to moving onto the next level of war atrocities.

Of course, this is the administration that is about to appoint Strip Search Sammy, who argued that women should be required to tell their husbands about getting an abortion. In the BushCo worldview, women aren’t people with minds of our own that are responsible for ourselves. We’re just extensions of men, available to be seized as property in order to punish them.

And for those of you who haven't done so already, please contact your senators regarding the filibuster of Alito. I understand if you're philosophically opposed to this, certainly you're excused, but if you believe that Alito should not be sitting on the Supreme Court today's the day to act. Apparently Dems have been filling up the voice mail, fax machines and email boxes of their reps all weekend long. And to my fellow Californians, drop Feinstein and Boxer a little love for their support, won't you? Remember, positive reinforcement is a good idea too.

Still on the fence about the filibuster? I highly recommend reading this piece over at Battle Panda:

One school of thought for why we should hold off on the filibuster is that somehow the responsibility for protecting the filibuster is in Democratic hands because we know that the other side is crazy enough to use the nuclear option. Now, personally I don't know if our congress is better off with or without the filibuster, but what I do know is a situation in which we cannot use the filibuster except with the permission of the other side is not only bad for the Democratic party in this round, but a state of affair that weakens our democracy in the long run because the bully is being rewarded.
[...]
In fact, I have this sinking feeling that the onus is always going to be on us to preserve the dignity of the republic from this point on forth because the Republicans just don't care anymore. Starting from Al Gore's gracious acceptance of his "defeat", we have bit our lip in the face of Republican shenedigans and outrageousness. Sometimes, when we feel uppity, we sigh dramatically and perhaps even roll our eyes a little. We keep waiting for the American people to recognize our patience and forebearance, but all they see is a party that won't stand up for itself. So why should they think that we would stand up for Americans either?

Like Dadahead said. The Dems must have the world's driest powder keg by now. If not now, then when?

(no subject)

Well, that's that:

On Alito for cloture:
Aye 72
Nay 25

Okay, so it's obvious there is cloture today. It sucks. But it happens in the big leagues that sometimes you lose an inning. That doesn't mean you stop playing, it just means you take a deep breath and go back to the dugout for some fresh plays.

All this Faxing and phone calling and e-mailing...has scared the bejeebers out of the Washington establishment over the last couple of weeks. You know why? It came from a true grassroots movement. From anger, from true concern, from patriotism -- from a wellspring of individual citizens who cared enough about their nation to get off their butts and do something.

That is a lot of power waiting to be harnassed, folks.

And the powers that be that have controlled Washington, D.C., aren't the ones in the driver's seat of this vehicle. The citizens of this nation are. Something out of their control entirely -- a group of angry citizens who know how to use communications tools, and who aren't going to just sit by and be silent any longer.

If they think the Alito battle is the only one we're willing to fight, they can think again. This was merely the first skirmish.

ReddHedd is absolutely right, and I for one feel proud of myself for acting on my beliefs, and for those 25 brave souls who stood up for what they thought was right. One of them, Barbara Boxer, had this to say:

Although we knew the votes were not there for the filibuster, we though it appropriate so that the American people would know that we are even willing to pursue a losing effort, because the stakes are so high.

Damn straight. I shall be fascinated to see how the actual vote goes, will the Dems who voted against cloture step up and do the right thing? We shall see. If they don't, though, they'd better be aware that their constituents are paying very close attention now.