Before the apology, there were many threads asking DU's support for Durbin

[Robbien]

Sadly only a dozen or so responded by sending letters of support. But in the meantime Durbin's phone, fax and email were flooded with hate mail from the religious crazies and dittoheads and freepers.

But now that Senator Durbin caved there are hundreds if not thousands of DUers posting about how they hate Durbin.

In my calls to Durbin's office they said they felt there was very little support out here for him. Why wouldn't he cave. He was almost alone in his battle.

If the DUers complaining now had shown their support previously, then today's story may have been a lot different.

[LoZoccolo]

1. I wonder how many "support" calls consisted of things like...

..."back down and you will never see a vote from me again".

[democracyindanger]

2. Of course they said they felt there was little support

It justifies him caving.

[Goldeneye]

10. Rush limbaugh was all over Durbin.

He and Newt G. were calling for him to be censured. You can't bet there were a lot of wingers calling his office and writing. I'm willing to bet very few liberals took the time to encourage him.

[Robbien]

12. Go ahead keep piling it on especially with no basis for your criticism.

The statements of little support were on Thursday and Friday when Durbin was standing firm.

But go ahead and keep piling on Senator Durbin. You are in good company.

If you want to criticise someone, criticise the DNC. Where were they in their show of support during this whole mess?

[democracyindanger]

26. I'm a multitasker. I can criticize Durbin and the DNC at the same time

He still caved.

And just because nobody replied to your post about contacting Durbin with support doesn't mean nobody did. Talk about criticism lacking a basis.

[Sid Demo]

19. I agree with democracyindanger

When we elect officials why is it that no support = cave? Do we have to babysit them all the time? It's important to support them when they are trying to get some legislation through, I agree. They trashed him on something he did not say. Why the apology?

[dogday]

3. I am happy to report that I post two post on Monday on how to

contact his office and I told his office about Rick Santorium's statement comparing Democrats to Nazis and Rush's statment.

I could not get alot of recognition on the posts.

More people are always ready to say one "awh shit" than one thousand "attaboys"

[geniph]

4. Um, what about just standing on principle

instead of swaying with the political breeze?

Jellyfish go wherever the currents take them.

[mike_c]

8. best answer of all....

Kudos for stating what should have been obvious to all. :toast:

[LandOLincoln]

11. What about supporting our side for once, instead of attacking

like a pack of hyenas whenever someone does something you don't agree with?

[Lerkfish]

18. how about...

if people speak up when they disagree without having to be called hyenas?

you know, that free speech thingie. Its messy.

[LandOLincoln]

31. Yeah? So's the circular firing squad. How's about aiming at

the REAL targets just this once, 'kay?

I'll tell you something. I grew up in Illinois, and I agree with the poster who said it was Daley's kneecapping of Durbin that put him over the edge, not all the wingnut howling.

Like father like son, and it was Daley's swine of a father who was largely responsible for the disaster that was the 1968 convention and the subsequent victory of Richard Nixon and the Dark Side.

How's about aiming a little righteous DU anger at Daley and his corrupt machine, and giving Durbin some grassroots support so he can tell Daley to go fuck himself?

How about displaying some political SMARTS for once, and worrying a lot less about your "free speech thingie?" How much longer do you think you're going to have THAT if you keep behaving like a hyena and attacking your own whenever you smell blood?

[Lerkfish]

37. well....on the one hand...

You correctly point out Daley had everything to do with his capitulation, but then you wish to continue to blame everyone else here at DU. erm...can't have it both ways.

and I find this part very interesting:

"How's about aiming a little righteous DU anger at Daley and his corrupt machine, and giving Durbin some grassroots support so he can tell Daley to go fuck himself?"

you're saying that unless Durbin gets grassroots support, he is unable to stand up to Daley, but that if we send him an email, he will magically be able to?

Perhaps the political realities that lead him to abandon principle and apologize, in his perception, would still exist no matter how many emails he gets?

Lastly. you don't know me, so this comment is completely over the line:

"How about displaying some political SMARTS for once, and worrying a lot less about your "free speech thingie?" How much longer do you think you're going to have THAT if you keep behaving like a hyena and attacking your own whenever you smell blood?"

[Robbien]

24. Durbin represents the people and all the people were telling him to cave

except for a few who stood behind him.

The People told him to cave, the media told him to cave, the DNC told him to cave. He is supposed to be a representative of the people and he thought he was until we didn't show up.

[patricia92243]

5. When a e-mail address was finally given I e-mailed him. Don't have a fax,

and could not get through on phone. Most of the posts here saying to contct him DID NOT have an e-mail address.

[Edgewater_Joe]

6. I Wrote Him Last Week - And I Wrote Him Monday

But apparently the most important call came from Da Mare, and THAT'S the problem.

[orleans]

20. i sent him an email either friday or monday (friday i think)

and i even sent him a copy of a email i was sending to that furgess jerk who was saying durbins comments were "reprehensible"--i told furgess i thought his comments were reprehensible and said he should apologize to durbin.

i totally showed my support.

(now what? maybe we should email daly about shooting off from his big mouth again--and then maybe i'll ask him why he seems to have such a crush on george bush the last couple of years. ha!)

[Goldeneye]

7. I've been trying to say this.

People keep telling me that

...he's a wimp
...if he can't tell the diff. between freepers and constituents he should resign
...we shouldn't have to tell him what to do

I say its all bs. If you guys want him to stand up, make sure he knows your behind him.

[ArkDem]

9. I wanted to write but it's virtually impossible to get the email

address of a senator.

[Goldeneye]

16. Do a yahoo search for the senator you want to contact,

then when you get to their official site search for a "contact me" button. There should be an e-mail form.

[orleans]

17. go to senate.gov

(i always have to google it to get the link)

click on senators

look down the list--you can click on the senator's website or you can click on their email link and just go right to the email.

piece of cake

[ArkDem]

28. Thanks for the help but I was being facetious.

:toast:

[orleans]

49. lol. sorry--i really believed you didn't know how.

i've had a weird and spacy day--i'd like to blame it on the MOON!

(actually--is there such a simple listing for the house folks? i can't find one--if you know of such a list we can access without typing in every zip code in the country, please let me know)

:)

[ArkDem]

52. You go to http://www.house.gov/ then click the down arrow

on representative web sites. The email addressd should be on the web site.

[orleans]

53. thanks!

[Lerkfish]

13. um...so its OUR fault he caved?

mmmmmkay.

no, the problem is, if he's waiting for phone calls from us to know whether to stand on principle, the battle is already lost anyhow....hate to break it to you.

[Robbien]

27. When the right wing sites out in full force promoting hate campaigns

and we see this and do nothing to counter, yes we need to accept partial responsibility.

When Senator Durbin is getting thousands and thousands of emails daily telling him to apologize, he does need to respond. If he also got an equal amount of letters of support, he would have had something to back him up and stand firm when his party told him to apologize.

[Lerkfish]

35. Actually, I have to disagree, here.

I'm not his constituent. If I called him, and influenced him, he would no longer be representing his constituents but rather those people who called him. Anybody can pick up a phone.

Someone should have principles in the first place, and do what's right, without having to have his principles "phoned in".

[Robbien]

39. Durbin was talking about a national issue, not a regional one

You would be correct if he was concerned about an issue which matters to Illinois only, but the military and our treatment of prisoners should matter to all of us equally.

[Lerkfish]

41. ok, I'll concede the national issue point...

but it still doesn't address why we need to handhold politicians in order to prevent them from faltering...for one thing, we aren't going to know they will falter until they do.
what do you suggest? blanket emails asking them to stick to their principles?

I still contend they either are going to or not, irregardless of support. Principles have nothing to do with popularity.

[Robbien]

43. No we don't have to "hand hold" all the time, just when

we are aware the right wing is in full out attack mode we need to have the back of the person being attacked. When they attacked Dean for his statements the progressives went out in full force defending him and Dean felt he had the support to tell the DNC political consultants where to get off. But Durbin got very little support from the progressives while the right wing attack machine hit him over and over again for five days.

[Lerkfish]

45. I have no problem with your position...

However, I have a problem with chiding threads like this one, and the OP. s

thanks for sharing your opinion, though, and I respect it and how you presented it.

[jonnyblitz]

33. exactly.

geesh.:eyes:

[cynatnite]

14. RW propaganda machine at work

RWer's were on TV, in newspapers, internet and radio going full board with it. It was a malicious campaign designed to break the man down. With no big name dems standing next to him prior to the apology what is everyone expecting?

To me it was like people leaving their friend in shark infested waters in favor of saving their own hides.

[jokerman93]

15. Irony

Maybe it's a little like the way Freepers support the troops? We should do better the next time the opportunity arises.

And it will.

[theplutsnw]

21. I tried to send him a thank you

but I could not get it to go thru on the congress.org site. To bad he caved, we do need to make sure we adequately support Dems when they speak out for America.

[ComerPerro]

22. I think you are absolutely right

[ComerPerro]

32. Just sent Durbin an email

of support.

Figured he could use one...

[Dragonfly]

46. Such a tangible sign of

support is what really counts, IMO.

We'll see what develops up the road a piece. This gross unkindness on vivid display throughout the rabid RW planet lets us know who the advance/sustained aggressors are, in a way.

Durbin will be alright; his allies are in many places 'round the U.S. et al.

[ComerPerro]

48. Well, yeah. I told him not to worry, that I can understand he was getting

a ton of pressure from the fanatics and Bush loyalists, especially since Limbaugh kept hammering him.

And I reminded him that there are still Illinoians who support him, who are proud to say he is their Senator, and figured he could use a kind word.

[seabeyond]

23. kinda like dean being attacked and dems supported him

with both email and contribution. what did he do, said, hey all, getting to much support from my people to back down. not gonna

yup

i sent an email of support, to durbin, without conditions

[Robbien]

29. Exactly. Dean knew we were behind him. Durbin didn't.

We need to be there covering one's back when someone is bucking the system.

[dbonds]

25. He DID NOT apologize for the remark.

He apologized if it offended any Holocaust survivors. He never backed down from the substance in his statement.

[in_cog_ni_to]

30. No, no, no. Last Thursday when he was being attacked

on the Senate floor, I started a thread to call and email him and had many, many, many people responded. Thank you all again. :hug: I wasn't the only one who started a thread and the other threads had many, many people supporting Durbin too.

I called his Chicago office AND his DC office. He had a LOT of support from DUers.

[Robbien]

34. He wasn't being attacked on Thursday

He was attacked Friday, all weekend and is still being attacked.

On Thursday when I finally got through the lady was so happy to hear a friendly voice. On Friday it took me all day to get through and the woman was almost in tears from all the hate. On Monday it was impossible to get through. The haters were out in full force and a couple dozen support calls doesn't offset the thousands of haters out there.

[im10ashus]

40. That's so sad.

I emailed through his website thanking him as a former Illinoian now living in Manhattan. I COULD NOT get through to his telephone line and had to actually do some work for a living that day. I am sad to see he stepped back on his comments, but I will call again and tell him I still support him.

[Dragonfly]

42. I appreciate your general stance

re support of Sen. Durbin. As a fellow Midwesterner (Missouri), the middle-ring progressive dance for our particular region's societal enhancment employs a necessarly nuanced rationale on occasion.

Both the wording of his original statement and the text of the apology give me a portrait of a soul sending a warning to the American populace and then trapping the theocons into tripping all over themselves, steadily disrespecting him (showing real colors/goals), after he displays sincere humility.

Between now and autumn, I hope to see the debate honorably sharpened within our own ranks about what this grand progressive alliance can be in all it's slow ascent.

I'm going to call his office Friday to wish him well and see how some of his neighbors might help him tweak up the next version of the good Senator's essential narrative. Thanks for your in-kind viewpoint.

Peace...

[H2O Man]

36. "In matters of conscience,

the law of the majority has no place. It is slavery to be amenable to the majority no matter what its decisions are." - Gandhi

"When it is relevant, truth has to be uttered, however unpleasant it may be." - Gandhi

[Lerkfish]

38. *applauds*

much more eloquent than myself.

IF the man has principles, he has them whether he stands alone or in a crowd.

[deutsey]

44. Well, I wrote to him and encouraged others here to do so

I had to keep kicking the post to keep it afloat.

I'm sorry to learn he caved. However, if not receiving a lot support was what led Durbin to cave then I have to wonder what kind of leader he's supposed to be.

[MadHound]

47. C'mon, that's a horseshit excuse.

It wasn't like our reps were listening to us before the IWR, when messages to the Congress, email, phone, fax and letter were running 268-1 against the IWR. Why the hell didn't he listen then? But ooo, the man loses his spine and he blames it on us? Give me a fuckin' break. Real courage needs no feedback friend, just principles. For whatever reason, Durbin lost his.

[dansolo]

50. Umm, Dick Durbin voted AGAINST the IWR

Why don't you bother to get your facts straight? As a matter of fact, I believe that he and Paul Wellstone were the only senators facing re-election who voted against it. Dick Durbin has been one of the strongest progressive voices in the Senate.

[Mythsaje]

51. I sent an e-mail

immediately. And that's not something I usually do.

I'd love to send a letter of support to Dean, but I don't know where to send it.