---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 12:40:20 -0700 From: PFAW Activist Network <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Alan Sondheim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Brace yourself: Frist going nuclear!
================================================================ SUPREME COURT CAMPAIGN -- People For the American Way April 20, 2005 ________________________________________________________________
Dear Alan,
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will stop at nothing to push his "nuclear option" on the American people. This Sunday, he is speaking via closed circuit television to thousands of church congregations organized by the radical right Family Research Council as a part of "Justice Sunday," a desperate and offensive campaign claiming that the 200 year-old Senate filibuster is being used to target people of faith.
This is a campaign of religious McCarthyism. We must not let it pass without calling Frist to account for his pandering to the Religious Right and his unconscionable injection of religion into the business of Congress. And House Speaker Tom DeLay's recent threats against the judges in the Schiavo case make this all the more urgent.
Support People For's response to Frist's tactics:
http://pfaw.kintera.org/supportstoptheabuse
Frist and his "Justice Sunday" allies want to clear the path for President Bush's extreme far-right nominations to the federal courts, including the Supreme Court. They can do it by nuking the filibuster, the last "check and balance" against the majority's abuse of power.
The independence of the federal courts is all that stands between democratic checks and balances in government and unchecked total far-right domination. That independence rests on our ability to defeat the nuclear option, which could come up for a vote as early as next week.
Take a moment right now to support our efforts to defend America's democratic traditions:
http://pfaw.kintera.org/supportstoptheabuse
For several months, People For the American Way has been working to educate the public, the media and elected officials about the critical role that the filibuster has played in protecting minority rights in the Senate. Last month, we helped collect more than one million signatures via the Internet on petitions presented to Frist and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid urging them to preserve the filibuster. In addition, People For the American Way is continuing its long-standing opposition to far-right nominees to the federal courts.
In a separate effort, People For the American Way Foundation, which launched a "Mr. Smith" ad campaign a few weeks ago that helped bring the nuclear option threat into the open, ratcheted up its ad campaign by releasing yesterday a new ad with a sharper message that makes the stakes ever clearer. The new ad features Ted Nonini, the same common-sense Republican firefighter who appeared in the original ad, telling viewers that far-right political leaders abusing their power, threatening judges, and injecting religion into politics and shutting down debate is a sure sign that something is wrong.
In reaction to both organizations' efforts, the far-right has intensified its counter attack on the independent judiciary. The Radical Right and their allies on Capitol Hill are putting intense pressure on Republican Senators to support their nuclear option. Radical Right groups have started running highly personal attack ads on Senators who do not support the nuclear option. They're pulling out all the stops now to force Frist to pull the trigger as early as next week!
People For the American Way needs your support right now to help preserve the Senate's last check and balance against the majority's abuse of power. Please support our Supreme Court Defense Fund today.
http://pfaw.kintera.org/supportstoptheabuse
With sincere gratitude for all that you do, Ralph G. Neas President ________________________________________________________________
People For the American Way 2000 M Street, NW | Suite 400 | Washington, DC 20036 http://www.pfaw.org/ 1-800-326-PFAW | 202/467-4999
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