[Peace] Our Last, Best Chance (fwd)

[patton paul]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 7 Oct 2002 15:43:12 -0000
From: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org" <moveon-help at list.moveon.org>
To: Dr. Paul Patton <ppatton at uiuc.edu>
Subject: Our Last, Best Chance

Dear MoveOn Member,

I want to thank those of you who have responded to previous
alerts on Iraq. We've had an enormous response -- over
70,000 phone calls in the last two weeks -- and we know
that members of Congress are hearing that their constituents
overwhelmingly oppose a war with Iraq.

But since some of our elected representatives still aren't
listening, and since the stakes for our democracy and world
stability could not be much higher, I'm asking for your
help once again.

As the Senate and House rush toward a vote authorizing
Bush's unilateral attack on Iraq, some heroic Senators and
Representatives have spoken out against this blank check
for war.  Senator Robert Byrd, a moderate Democrat from
West Virginia, is so angry about the haste with which we're
moving to war and the unanswered questions that still remain
that there's a good likelihood that he will launch a
filibuster by Tuesday.

In a filibuster, a Senator is allowed up to 30 hours to
voice his opinion, unless 60 of his colleagues vote for the
filibuster to end. The use of a filibuster indicates that a
particular piece of legislation is so odious to a Senator
that he or she is willing to stop all Senate business until
a compromise is reached.

If the majority of the members of Congress will not do their
jobs, ask the hard questions, and represent the will of a
very large segment of the American public, it's time for
the brave few to filibuster. It's the Senate's form of civil
disobedience -- a procedural monkey wrench that may be our
last, best hope for substantive changes to the resolution
authorizing Bush's unilateral attack on Iraq.

When Senator Byrd and several of his courageous colleagues
launch a filibuster, pro-war Senators will immediately try to
end it.  By contacting your Senators and asking them to
support a filibuster against the Iraq resolution, you can
play a key role in ensuring that President Bush doesn't get
a blank check for war.

Please take action today. The vote could come as soon as
Tuesday if the filibuster is not supported.

Please contact your Senators right now at:

   Senator Richard J. Durbin
   Local Phone: 217-492-4062
   DC Phone:    202-224-2152

   Senator Peter G. Fitzgerald
   Local Phone: 217-492-5089
   DC Phone:    202-224-2854


Calling the local office is more effective than calling the
Washington, D.C. office.  Even if your Senators have
indicated that they will support the resolution, it's still
worth calling -- we need to keep the pressure on.

When you reach a staffer, tell him or her that you're a
constituent of the Senator's.  Then simply say that you hope
the Senator will support a filibuster against the use of
force resolution on Iraq.

Once you've made your call, please let us know by filling
out the form at:

http://www.moveon.org/callmade_iraq.html?id=792-483317-970VpgmTfhDCG%2BF7lAyeLw

Keeping a count helps us lobby Congress more effectively.

Please make your call today to support Senator Byrd and the
other heroes of the Senate.

Sincerely,

--Eli Pariser
  International Campaigns Director
  MoveOn.org
  October 7, 2002

__________

You can help decide the direction of MoveOn.org by
participating in the discussion forum at:
http://www.actionforum.com/forum/index.html?forum_id=223

This is a message from MoveOn.org.
To remove yourself from this list, please visit
our subscription management page at:
http://www.moveon.org/subscrip/i.html?id=792-483317-970VpgmTfhDCG%2BF7lAyeLw