So we go through the e-mails this week and one stands out. Sharon, 21 years-old, lives in Nebraska. Sharon's got a job, she's got college classes, she's maid of honor at her best friend's wedding (two weeks away) and she really doesn't have "time to waste."
She wrote about how she believes in reproductive rights, supports reproductive rights and is sick of the Democratic Party backing away from the pro-choice position, she wants a filibuster, "but what's the point? They're not going to do it."
What's the point? That's actually a good question.
We don't know Sharon's exact time schedule but we do think it's worth letting as many senate offices as you can call on Monday know that you want a filibuster.
Here's why.
We believe in the filibuster as an option to be used by the opposition party (that includes when Republicans are once again in the minority). We believe in using the filibuster on the Alito nomination.
Do we believe that senators will use the filibuster for this?
Some of us are hopeful, some of us are guarded and some of us are flat out disgusted with the party's "leaders" and don't think there's a chance of a filibuster.
But we're all doing our part to insist upon a filibuster.
Is that because those disgusted are such good friends of the others that we'll freely give of our time for something we doubt will happen? No.
It's because the base is calling the leadership out. The people are saying filibuster.
What's the party going to do?
We know what they should do, fight. Listen to the base's cries of "Fight!" and fight.
We believe in fighting for what you believe in. We believe in standing up.
And we also believe in knowing who won't fight.
If the Dems don't filibuster, the spineless will be on full view.
We'll know they can't be counted on.
There's a scene in Shampoo where Goldie Hawn's Jill confronts Warren Beatty's George on his infidelity throughout their relationship.
JILL: So who else was there besides Jackie? Huh? . . . huh?
GEORGE: Baby, don't do this. I do love you.
JILL: Obviously there were others, weren't there?
GEORGE: Obviously.
JILL: How many?
GEORGE: What do you wanna know for?
JILL: I just want to know, that's all.
GEORGE: What difference does it make?
JILL: I just want to know while we were seeing each other . . . I just don't want girls looking at me and knowing and me not knowing . . .
GEORGE: Baby, please don't . . . I love you.
JILL: I don't want to be a fool! . . . I want to look them in the eye and say, I know!
GEORGE: Baby, don't do this --
JILL: -- it'll help me if you'll tell me.
GEORGE: -- please, baby --
JILL: -- no, it'll help me, really --
GEORGE :How?
JILL: I'll know you've lied to me . . . all along. I'll know you're incapable of . . . love . . . that'll help me . . . not now, but eventually.
(From the script by Robert Towne and Warren Beatty)
That's really where we are right now. The loyal voters are Jill. We've been willfully blind to what's gone on (and continues to go on) behind our backs. We've believed the sweet talk. We've accepted the excuses.
Why demand Democrats filibuster? Because you believe in reproductive rights. Because you believe in standing up. And because you believe in knowing the truth. It'll help you. Not, if they take a dive, the morning after, "but eventually" (as Jill says). It will open our eyes.
Early in Shampoo, Jill has an offer for a modeling job that will take her to Egypt. She's interested in the job but putting her life on hold because she thinks George is with her, by her side. When she realizes that George is in it for George, she takes the modeling job and gets on with her life.
Knowing who will fight and who will cave will help the loyal base get on with their lives too. It will certainly make it easier to toss those mass mailings begging for donations into the trash without a second thought. It'll make us rightly skeptical of certain Dems who, when they campaign for president in 2008, speak of how they will fight for us.
What it will be is a very revealing moment.
We hope it doesn't come to that. We hope the Dems filibuster (and we hope the filibuster is successful). But it's time to call them on it one way or another. It's time to know if they're going to fight or continue to roll over.
Need help getting active? We'll note this from NOW:
Support the Filibuster - Defeat Alito
After all your calls, emails and action, two senators are taking the lead in defeating ultra-conservative Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) are organizing the filibuster of Judge Alito and they need the support of 39 other senators in order to block a straight up or down vote.
Please make as many phone calls as you can before Monday at 4:30pm, when Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will call for a vote to end debate on Alito. Of the self-proclaimed women's rights supporters in the Senate, more are announcing public support for the filibuster every hour. Hillary Clinton and Dianne Feinstein have just signed on in support, and more of those who have offered private support need to give it publicly. Others are on the fence, and need to hear from us that their support for women's rights is hollow unless they back the filibuster and vote NO on cloture.
NOW has put together a list of senators (self-described women's rights supporters) who need our firm encouragement to come out publicly and join the filibuster (and some, like Chafee and Snowe, haven't even said they'll vote NO on the nomination!).
Remember, without a filibuster, Judge Alito WILL be confirmed. In a straight up or down vote, we need 51 "NO" votes to defeat Alito, but in a filibuster, we need only 41 votes to block Frist's effort to end debate.
We've asked for a lot from you over the last few months, and together we've made great progress—just a week ago a filibuster seemed out of the question! Now that we've come this close, we need your help with this final push. If Judge Alito takes a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court—replacing Justice Sandra Day O'Connor—all of our hard-fought rights are in danger.
Please call one or more of the Senators below, especially if you live in their state (click on the Senator's name for district office numbers). Please share this alert widely and ask friends to join the fight!
Senators to call (list as of 1/27/06 4:30pm) - an updated list is available on our website:
Mark Pryor (D- AR)
202-224-2353
Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D- AR)
202-224-4843
Ken Salazar (D- CO)
202-224-5852
Joseph I. Lieberman (D- CT)
202-224-4041
Thomas R. Carper (D- DE)
202-224-2441
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D- DE)
202-224-5042
Bill Nelson (D- FL)
202-224-5274
Daniel K. Akaka (D- HI)
202-224-6361
Daniel K. Inouye (D- HI)
202-224-3934
Tom Harkin (D- IA)
202-224-3254
Barack Obama (D- IL)
202-224-2854
Evan Bayh (D- IN)
202-224-5623
Barbara A. Mikulski (D- MD)
202-224-4654
Carl Levin (D- MI)
202-224-6221
Mark Dayton (D- MN)
202-224-3244
Max Baucus (D- MT)
202-224-2651
Byron L. Dorgan (D- ND)
202-224-2551
Robert Menendez (D- NJ)
202-224-4744
Frank Lautenberg (D- NJ)
202-224-3224
Jeff Bingaman (D- NM)
202-224-5521
Charles Schumer (D- NY)
202-224-6542
Lincoln D. Chafee (R- RI)
202-224-2921
Patrick J. Leahy (D- VT)
202-224-4242
Maria Cantwell (D- WA)
202-224-3441
Patty Murray (D- WA)
202-224-2621
Herb Kohl (D- WI)
202-224-5653
John D. Rockefeller, IV (D- WV)
202-224-6472
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[This editorial was written by The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim; Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man; C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review; Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills); Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix; Mike of Mikey Likes It!; Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz; and Wally of The Daily Jot.]