Category: Politics Page 61 of 73

The more I look at what happened with the Republican filibuster of the DC voting rights bill, the angrier I get. And not just at the Wish-I-Were-in-Dixie GOP that prefers to preserve the Old Plantation. It’s at the utter lack of interest in the issue by anyone who lives more than 20 miles from DC. And they’re the only people than can do a thing about it.  That’s the very core of the issue.

Short of violent revolution, DC residents do not have ultimate control over those that govern them. Sure, there’s the DC City Council, but that exists at the pleasure of Congress (who has a long history of micromanagement and meddling in DC’s issues anyway, over the objection of the Council). And yet no one really seems all that concerned about it. What little conversation you do find about it on liberal discussion sites seems to boil down to a few desperate voices from DC which are overwhelmed by variations on the following:

• Oh well, it was unconstitutional anyway.
• If you don’t like it, move someplace else.
• DC shouldn’t have as much power as [my state].
• DC is represented by all 100 Senators and 435 Representatives.

The first can be almost always be ascribed to ignorance and laziness. The rest are ridiculous on their face. But what really really gets me is the underlying theme: that DC doesn’t deserve representation. And my response to that? Best left unprinted, I think.

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Correction to my piece yesterday – Democrats were *not* unanimous in their support of the bill.  Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) voted against it, reportedly citing worries about it resulting in less influence for Montana.  It’s been reported that he said he would have voted for it, if it would have been the deciding vote.  So much for principles.  Also, on today’s Kojo Nnamdi show, a number of political reporters claimed that Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS), John McCain (R-AZ) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) had each indicated that they were planning to support the bill earlier in the week (this would have gotten the bill the 60 votes it need to overcome the Republican filibuster).   Apparently they “came under intense lobbying pressure.”   From who, the RNC?

So today, the GOP successfully blocked a vote that would have given DC residents what every other US citizen already has – representation in Congress. Every Democrat (save Byrd, who was absent) voted for it, as well as seven Republicans (Robert Bennett, Norm Coleman, Susan Collins, Richard Lugar, Olympia Snowe, Arlen Specter and Orrin Hatch). My Virginia readers will note that our Gosh-Darn-He’s-Such-an-Honorable-and-Decent-Fellow John Warner is not on that list of supporters.

Just stop and think about this for a moment. The GOP just said that some Americans don’t deserve what the GOP is willing to spend thousands of lives and billions of dollars for in Iraq. Unfuckingbelievable.

Martin Austermuhle at DCist.com has been doing an admirable job of following this, and lays out the tactical options as follows:

Amend It: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisted yesterday that the cause of voting rights is as important to him as it is to anyone else. Fine. Let’s hold him to that. If it takes an amendment to the Constitution, let’s propose one, and let’s regularly remind him of the very words he used — “If we want to give the residents representation, then we should begin the amendment process.” [MB: I do not think a Constitutional Amendment is required, but would be more than happy to see voting rights enshrined in the Constitution.]

Publicize It: Let’s force the voting rights message on to everything the District owns, controls or has even the scantest of influence over. The new baseball stadium? We’ll call it Taxation Without Representation Field. The Wilson Building? Let’s get a big sign out front tallying how much in federal taxes we have paid, how many residents we have lost in foreign wars and for how many days the injustice has continued. Let’s partner up with local businesses to have them display signs supporting District voting rights. Whenever members of Congress come back to town, they should know that the cause is still alive. Whenever tourists come to visit, they should be forced to ask what the ruckus is about, and then ask their own members of Congress where they stand on it.

Change It: One of the biggest impediments to effective lobbying for District voting rights is a law Congress passed that forbids the city from using its funds to lobby for the cause. This has to be changed. Our shadow delegation should be paid so they can make this more than just a part-time gig. If the District wants to hire a lobbyist to incessantly push the issue on the Hill, it should be able to.

I’m not about to let Democrats off the hook on this. We’re NOT waiting another two years for this bill to come back up. If Senate Democrats can roll over in a heartbeat to legalize the Administration’s illegal spying, they can get their asses in gear to do this again. Soon. Please help me – and our fellow disenfranchised Americans – by contacting your Representative and Senators about this.

(A modified version of this was crossposted at DailyKos and RaisingKaine)