Part-Time Pundit: MoveOn Watch: The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

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April 19, 2005

MoveOn Watch: The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

I didn't realize the Republicans were out to put Americans into sweatshops, put arsenic in the drinking water, track every American citizen, and kill everyone in the name of those eeebil corporations. I must not have gotten the memo that we were handing judicial appointments over to special interests.

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We have 10 days to stop radical Republicans from seizing absolute power to appoint extremist judges. Last time we wrote letters-to-the editor, three moderate Republican senators came out on our side. If we get three more, we win. Can you write a letter today?

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Dear MoveOn member,

In the next 10 days the Republican leadership is planning to pull the trigger on their scheme to break the rules of the Senate, seize absolute power over judicial appointments, and stack the courts with extreme judges. Overnight, some of our most treasured rights, like the 40-hour work week, basic environmental protections, and the right to privacy, would be in danger. We must act.

We can win this fight if we sound an unwavering note of protest on a national scale in the next two weeks�emboldening the Democrats to fight in Congress and ensuring that moderate Republicans know the American people are counting on them to hold the line.

We're kicking off the 10 day sprint with a drive towards 10,000 letters sent to the editors of at least 1,500 different newspapers nationwide. These letters are extremely powerful tools to shape the national debate and apply direct pressure on the Senate. Two weeks ago MoveOn members published thousands of letters in papers in all 50 states. Soon afterwards, three Republican senators came out against the nuclear option, including John McCain. If we get three more, we'll win.

It just takes a few minutes to write and send a letter online�please write one today.

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The Republican scheme is known as the "nuclear option". It would break the Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster�the right to extend debate on controversial votes�that has protected minority rights for centuries. Once they "go nuclear," there will no check on who they can force into lifetime appointments on the federal courts, and the Supreme Court.

Janice Rodgers Brown will most likely be the first judge the radical Republicans push through using the nuclear option�onto the D.C. Court of Appeals, a stepping stone to the Supreme Court. It's not hard to see why she is so important to them or so dangerous for the American people.

Judge Brown is against the most basic protections for workers and the environment that have kept our country strong since the Great Depression. She follows a radical judicial philosophy, (often called "Constitution in Exile") that says courts have a duty to block Congress from interfering with a corporation's "right" to profitably pollute, or an employer's "right" to demand unlimited hours at any wage from their employees. With judges like Brown flooding the bench, and as many as four Supreme Court vacancies coming in the next four years, bedrock laws from the Clean Water Act to the 40-hour work week could be struck down and eliminated forever.

We can stop this, but we have to act now. Please send a letter today:

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For the next 10 days stopping the "nuclear option" will require all hands on deck.

After this letters-to-the-editor campaign, we'll send out signs you can put in your windows and give to your neighbors, then organize door-to-door canvasses in major cities to hand out more window signs and flyers. We'll run hard-hitting ads on television, in print, and on the radio. We'll flood target senators with constant phone calls and all manner of grassroots pressure. And we'll culminate next week with a day of coordinated national rallies in cities all over the country.

Our big push begins today on our local editorial pages. The most powerful weapon we have against this assault is the power of our voices. Please take a few minutes to write your local paper about why extremist Republicans must not be allowed to break the rules and roll back decades of progress protecting poor and middle class families by forcing through judges like Janice Rodgers Brown.

If we hit our goal of 10,000 letters in 1,500 papers it will have a broader reach than millions of dollars of advertising, and will have far more impact because it all comes from you. Please take a few minutes to write and send a quick letter�just a couple paragraphs�using our quick online system today.

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Thanks for all that you do,

�Ben, Noah, Joan, Jennifer and the MoveOn PAC Team
Monday, April 18th, 2005

PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
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Posted by John Bambenek at April 19, 2005 3:02 PM