|
Last
Action Alert: Gonzales' Appointment As US Attorney General On Wednesday, 2-2-05! Dear Friends:
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee
confirmed US Attorney General appointee Alberto Gonzales by a party-line
vote of 10 to 8. That means the SJC's ten Republicans ignored a
flood of telephone calls coming from the public. Of course, it also
means that we, the people, succeeded in pressuring the SJC's eight Democrats
to take a principled stand against the man who laid the groundwork for
torture at Abu Ghraib!
However, it's not over yet! This
Wednesday, the Gonzales appointment will be debated
on the floor of the Senate (and possibly televised live on C-SPAN2).
Immediately following that debate,
the full Senate will vote to confirm or reject
him.
As you know, the Senate's current composition
is 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats, and one Independent. Therefore,
we can defeat Mr. Gonzales' appointment only if we convince 51 Senators
-- every Democrat, one Independent, and six Republicans
-- to vote "no."
And that's why it's crucially important
that we continue our lobbbying efforts!
If we, the people, vigorously pressure our US Senators from today through
Wednesday morning, we just might succeed
in convincing: (A) all 44 Democrats to
unite against torture's advocate; and (B) at least six principled Republicans
to vote according to their conscience instead of rubber-stamping this
terribly ill-considered appointment.
Finally, please see section A below for
three easy ways to contact your US Senators.
And if any reader somehow remains undecided, please see section B below
for 30 recent articles opposing USAG appointee Gonzales!
A. 3 Easy Ways To Urge Your Senators To
Vote Against Alberto Gonzales
1. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 (9-5 EST) and ask to be connected to your Senator's office. Every state has two US Senators; please call both! 2. E-mail a prepared message (which can
be modified) from this Leadership Conference
on Civil Rights website: http://lccr.convio.net/site/R?i=ucESAhsFzickkXtYQtUwLw
3. E-mail a prepared message (which can be modified) from this Alliance For Justice website: http://capwiz.com/afj/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=6841271 B. 30 Recent Articles Opposing USAG Appointee
Alberto Gonzales
1. UV Professor Huck Gutman's 1-26-05
CD essay, "Speedy Gonzales And The Rule
Of Law":
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0126-36.htm 2. The Capital Times' 1-26-05 CD/CT editorial,
"The Gonzales Nomination: Feingold's
Key Vote":
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0127-34.htm 3. Human Rights Watch's 1-26-05 CD article,"US
Justifying Abuse Of Detainees [Through
Torture Advocate Alberto Gonzales]": http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0126-05.htm
4. Frank Davies' 1-26-05 CD/KR article,
"Torture Treaty Doesn't Bar 'Cruel, Inhuman'
Tacics, Gonzales Says":
5. Daily Kos' 1-25-05 DK editorial, "No
On Gonzales," at:
6. The Capital Times' 1-25-05 CD/CT
editorial, "Feingold Should Rethink":
7. Jonathan Schell's 1-20-05 CD essay,
"What Is Wrong With Torture":
8. Eric Mink's 1-12-05 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
essay, "War On Terror: Grabbing Power,
Losing Respect":
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/columnists.nsf/ericmink/story/2DC297C42BB554FB86256F8700380EC8?
OpenDocument&Headline=WAR+ON+TERRORISM%3A+Grabbing+power,+losing+respect 9. Thom Hartmann's 1-11-05 CD essay, "First
They Came For The Terrorists":
10. Ted Rall's 1-12-05 CD/TR essay, "The
Normalization Of Horror: American Gulags
Become Permanent": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0112-35.htm
11. Marie Cocco's 1-12-05 CD/Newsday essay,
"Democrats' Fury And Values Go AWOL":
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0111-27.htm 12. D. Lindley Young's 1-10-05 TMT essay,
"Above The Law or Outside It: The Legal
Limits Of Torture":
13. Andrew Sullivan's 1-9-05 TO essay,
"Bush's New Sheriff Reveals A Double Standard
for Torture":
14. Dick Meyer's 1-8-05 CD essay, "Senate
Democrats: Advise & Rubber Stamp":
15. Minneapolis Star-Tribune's 1-7-05 CD
editorial, "Alberto Gonzales Has Blood
On His Hands":
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0106-22.htm 16. New York Times' 1-7-05 editorial, "Mr.
Gonzales Speaks":
17. Bob Herbert's 1-7-05 NYT essay, "Promoting
Torture's Promoter":
18. FP Law School Dean & Admiral John
Hutton's (USN-Ret.) 1-6-05 Jurist essay,
"Against Gonzales":
Also see Yale Law Dean Harold Koh's 1-6-05
"Testimony To The SJC" (download it
at this URL):
19. Former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern's 1-6-05
CD essay, "It's Not Only Illegal, It's
Wrong":
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0106-32.htm 20. FC Law Professor Brian Foley's 1-6-05
CP essay, "Supporting Torture Is Not
Gonzales' Worst Sin: A Contempt for Civil Rights": http://www.counterpunch.com/foley01062005.html
21. Jim Lobe's 1-5-05 CD article, "50 Civil
Rights Groups Express Concerns About
Alberto Gonzales' Civil Rights Record":
22. Evan Augustine Peterson III's 1-5-05
VH essay, "Unfinished Business: Confirming
Bush's USAG Appointee Is Unthinkable": http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=24173
23. The Nation's 1-5-05 TN essay, "Oppose
The Gonzales Nomination":
24. Robert Scheer's 1-5-05 CD/LAT essay,
"Backing Gonzales is Backing Torture":
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0104-26.htm 25. Maria Blanco's 1-2-05 SFC essay, "Not
In My Name: Latino Appointee Does Not
Appeal":
26. Daily Kos' 12-28-04 essay, "Why We
Must Oppose Alberto Gonzales For AG":
27. Nat Hentoff's 12-3-04 TO/VV essay,
"Alberto Gonzales, Torture & Death":
28. Evan Augustine Peterson III's 11-30-04
NFNZ essay, "Why The USA Must Reject
Bush's 'Marquis De Sade' Nominee For Attorney General": http://nuclearfree.lynx.co.nz/gonzales.htm
29. UIUC Law Professor Francis Boyle's
11-18-04 CP essay, "War Criminal For Attorney
General?": http://www.counterpunch.org/boyle11182004.html
Also see the related "Nüremberg Principles"
-- and especially Principle VII:
30. Bernard Weiner's 6-15-04 CP essay,
"No Other Way To Say This: Torture Memos
Reveal Fascist Mentality": http://www.crisispapers.org/essays/fascist.htm
With Heartfelt Gratitude To Everyone Who
Makes Those Calls & Sends Those
E-Mails To Their Senators Today Through
Wednesday Morning,
Executive Director
American Center for International Law ("ACIL")
|
