The folks at DFA are targeting Silvestre Reyes for his willingness to give Bush a win on telecom immunity. They’re encouraging people to call his office (202-225-4831), and to pony up some shekels so they can run an ad targeting the big coward. You know how much I like a phone call.
Boy oh boy, was that office angry with me.
First, I brought up the fact that AT&T wrote FISA: how could they not know what they were doing was illegal?
Then I brought up the fact that this line about how it only protected law-abiding companies was nonsense, since A) if they didn’t break the law they wouldn’t need immunity, and B) anyone that participated BY DEFINITION broke the law. Why would anyone give Bush the benefit of the doubt given all the lies surrounding Iraq. This was answered with a long-winded response about Reyes’ vote against the AUMF, which I pointed out wasn’t the reason i called.
Then I mentioned DFA and the upcoming ad campaign. They didn’t like that.
Then I mentioned Al Wynn. “Have you heard of him?”
That’s when the woman got angry. “Yes, I know who he is,” she hissed. And then she began to talk over me, loudly to the point of yelling at me, as I pointed out that the fact that Reyes is running unopposed this year doesn’t make him immune to a primary challenge in the future or immune to ads targeting him for doing Bush’s bidding. “In fact,” I added, I think I’m going to give DFA a big fat donation to get those ads going. Congressman Reyes needs to stand up for the Fourth Amendment and stop doing Bush’s bidding.”
That’s when she hung up on me. That Democracy thing… it’s HARD WORK.
Way to go.
they can’t hang up on an e-mail….here’s the place to start:
silvestre reyes…contact information
No, but they can delete it without even bothering to read it. Likewise, they can toss out a letter without opening it. Telephone calls and in-person discussions are typically more effective against assholes such as Reyes.
What you did was great! Part of making representative government, you know, represent the people is getting up in the faces of recalcitrant politicians and giving them the riot act. Sometimes you have to push politicians’ buttons in order to get them to do what they’re supposed to be doing: representing us. It’s not pleasant, but if it gets the job done, you’ve got to do it.
Congratulations for having the courage to get tough!
It’s pure spite, piss and vinegar.
I have about as much personal affection for our elected representatives as I do for a ball-peen hammer or a circular saw. Less in fact, because if my circular saw breaks down, i know it’s a mechanical problem, and not that the tool told me it would accomplish various tasks that it never intended to do.
If my saw breaks down, I throw it out and buy a new one. With politicians, who are also tools (and not in the pejorative sense), you try to get them to do what they’re supposed to do through letters, phone calls, and pressure. And like the saw, if it still refuses to work, then I throw it out and get a new one.
It’s not courage: it’s a reasonable demand that the tool do what it’s supposed to do.