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[Incognito]

http://dailykos.com/story/2005/1/27/124226/410

I can't thank all of you enough -- the Daily Kos community, and the blogosphere as a whole -- for all of your effective work during the recent debate over Condoleezza Rice's nomination. Your support and participation in this critical debate meant so much to me.

More than 94,000 Americans from across the country signed my petition and stood together to demand the truth from Condoleezza Rice. It was truly an overwhelming response -- much more than I could have anticipated. You helped to get our message out to millions of Americans -- I couldn't have done it without you.

And you made a difference. You gave me the voice I needed to ask the tough questions during Dr. Rice's confirmation hearings. And you gave the entire United States Senate the voice it needed to take its "advice and consent" responsibility seriously. In fact, Condoleezza Rice received 13 votes against her confirmation -- the most votes against any Secretary of State's nomination since 1825.

Diaries :: Barbara Boxer's diary ::

Two weeks ago, who would have thought that Condoleezza Rice's nomination would allow us to have a full debate about our policy in Iraq? Who would have thought that we'd have the chance to truly expose all of the misstatements and misjudgments that led us into that conflict and continue to plague this Administration to this very day?

The Republican Senate leadership intended to easily approve Dr. Rice's nomination in a routine voice vote last Thursday afternoon, after President Bush's Inauguration and before the Inaugural balls got into full swing.

But you didn't let them ram this nomination through the Senate. You forced the Republican leadership to give us the debate we wanted on the floor of the United States Senate, and you gave us the opportunity we desperately needed to hold Dr. Rice and the Bush Administration accountable for their failures in Iraq and in the war on terrorism.

The American people deserved no less.

As you and I both know, this is just one more of the many battles we'll be having as we fight for our nation's future. It started with contesting the Ohio vote, it continued with the debate over Dr. Rice's confirmation, and it will certainly continue over the Gonzalez nomination and on many other looming issues. We're going to need to keep working together to make our voices heard and build a better America.

I enjoyed the dialogue we started over the past few weeks, including the chat I had with Armando and DavidNYC on the eve of the committee hearings, and I look forward to future interactions with the Daily Kos community. I hope to have the time to drop by here and participate in the discussion from time to time -- I value your input, and I thank you for caring so much about the future of our country.

Thanks again for all of your hard work. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your continued support. And I look forward to standing with you in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

In Friendship,

Barbara Boxer

How cool is that?

 

[Fragamemnon]

Boxer's pretty much the darling of the progressive left right now. She's been on a roll:

1) Exposing the HMO anti-abortion language in that terrible omnibus budget bill that made for some of the best CSPAN-2 last year. Forced Frist into bringing it to the floor later for a vote-not just to floor discussion, but an actual vote.
2) Contesting the Ohio electors and allowing election reform issues to take the front page, if just for a day. It's become a platform in the minority agenda for this Senate.
3) Grilling the crap out of Condiliar, and giving everyone else the spine to do so. Unlike Powell, she's now tarnished going into office, and we won't have another "I believe it because it's Powell" moment like we had at the UN where he lied through his teeth and we honestly believed him. Senate Dems got a change to debate and rip her apart, with one Senator calling her a flat-out liar, which was fantastic.

Her actions are paving the way for more flaming and debate over Abu Gonzales and more attacks on the administration for devaluing America's ability to stand for human rights because of the torture he and his team signed off on.

She's definitely got the room to be as provactive as she wants-she won her seat very handily and won't be up for re-election again for six years, when everyone thinks she'll retire anyway. Posting on dailykos, a site that has had its share of contraversy, takes some guts, especially for a sitting Senator's office.

 

[Macam]

Regardless of political affiliations, I think it's encouraging to see direct involvement and acknowledgement by a notable politician on an issue as important as this. This administration has been almost completely unaccountable and though the issue of Iraq may be tired to many and the inevitable question of political motivations will surface, I think it's largely undeniable that senators, whether Republican or Democrat or otherwise, need to confront the administration and do everything can to institute or influence a change of behavior in the administration. Condoleezza Rice and Alberto Gonzales have both had a direct hand in the current state of affairs and regardless if they get approved in the end or not, it's important that the Senate make their arguments and debate their approval process. I certainly hope we can see more active involvement from politicians, as I think often times, they get far too distanced from the public bases and mired in the usual political mudslinging that goes on in Washington. I'm personally far too weary of things as they are and given that the administration seems content on continuining its first term policies with no real consideration for a change in course, I'm hoping the House and Senate will give the administration some second thoughts over the next four years.

 

[cvxfreak]

Thank you, Barbara Boxer, for representing California. I feel satisfied about making Condoleezza look like an idiot.

 

[Iceman]

I'm not fond of career politicians as a rule... but I don't like her especially. Yes, I'm a Californian.

*just making sure this doesn't become a 100% boxer lovefest.

 

[Greenpanda]

94,000 Americans out of a population of ~293 million?

That's about 0.03% of the nation.

Yeah, how "overwhelming."

 

[videogamer]

94,000 Americans out of a population of ~293 million?

That's about 0.03% of the nation.

Yeah, how "overwhelming."

Consider the context. It was done pretty much through only liberal blogs. In fact, from what I've seen, advertisements for the petition usually consisted of an ad on the side. The key part in Bab's statement is that it was that the response was more than expected. Hopefully, this will signal that internet base can be used in other ways than as an atm.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

94,000 Americans out of a population of ~293 million?

That's about 0.03% of the nation.

Yeah, how "overwhelming."

Well, tough guy, exactly how many Americans signed the petition to not demand the truth from Condoleezza Rice.

...

60 million!?

 

[Triumph]

94,000 Americans out of a population of ~293 million?

That's about 0.03% of the nation.

Yeah, how "overwhelming."

Care to respond to any of Senator Boxer's criticisms of the Bush administrations MIShandling of Iraq instead of making cute comments?