Photo credit: Julia Ewan - The Washington Post
Posted on 11/14/2003 8:43:53 PM PST by kristinn
A multitude of conservative and Republican groups came together Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to help Republican senators highlight the obstruction by the Democrats of high profile judicial nominations made by President Bush. The Justice for Judges Marathon began at 6pm Wednesday. It featured continuous debate on the Senate floor by both parties through Friday morning.
The D.C. Chapter of Free Republic was honored to be asked to help. We were able to provide homemade food, assistance in the War Room and the Mansfield Room, moral support in the Senate Gallery, and hundreds of anti filibuster buttons. Two of the buttons were prominently featured in a photo accompanying an article in the Style section of today's Washington Post. The photo was part of a montage on page C7 that is not available online. Angelwood scanned in the image shown at the beginning of this report from her copy of The Post.
Freepers from near and far answered the call to come to the Capitol to help the Republican majority fight the good fight. While Freepers were up in the Gallery and other rooms, Chuck Muth and Jeff Gannon were braving the rats (two and four-legged) in the Senate's basement radio studio to broadcast Radio Free Republic interviews.
For the support groups, it took awhile for everyone to get in the groove, as this was thrown together at the last minute; but things came together quickly and soon we were rockin'!
At around 8:30pm we dropped our food off at the Hart Building (in my case it was tgslTakoma's beloved patriotic shortbread cookies), and then it was off to the Senate. We had to park several blocks away, and walk through the torrential rains and high winds before we arrived at the security entrance to the Senate side of the Capitol. After passing through the much-improved Capitol Police checkpoint, we went to the Appointments Desk and picked up our Gallery passes. We walked off down the heavily guarded hallway toward the stairs leading up to the Gallery, and we immediately ran into FRiendly faces from out of town (including LisaFab and her lurker friend Ed). We were told that Angelwood was already in the War Room, so we went directly there. The War Room turned out to be more like a waiting room, because we had to wait until 10pm for the Democrats to leave the Mansfield Room, so that our side could take over the room and begin setting up for our scheduled press conferences.
A Capitol Police officer had come by earlier to remind people that sleeping was not allowed in the War Room. Fortunately, he could not see the two toddlers curled up asleep underneath a table.
Maria Heil, of the Second Amendment Sisters, was in the War Room resting her injured knee, as she was scheduled to speak to the press at oh-dark-thirty. At ten o'clock it was back to the appointment desk to get our passes for the Mansfield Room. Angelwood and I carried a bunch of D.C. Chapter anti-filibuster buttons with us to distribute at the press conferences. In our travels we ran into Taxman and Eternal Vigilance.
Once at the Mansfield Room we set about doing what we could to help. Angelwood and I laid out approximately 50 buttons on the press table outside the Mansfield Room. Several reporters and photographers took great interest in them. Jake Tapper, of Salon and ABC News, spoke with us for a few minutes.
While press and staffers milled about waiting for the press conferences to start at 11pm, I got a cup of coffee from the industrial-sized coffee urn. TgslTakoma had her camera with her, and Angelwood and I went over to the microphones so she could take some practice shots. Not bad, huh?
The first round of speakers started promptly at 11pm. Senator John Cornyn of Texas led off the press conference, followed by representatives from the Young Republicans, and Senators Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. Senator Santorum brought a round of laughter to the room with his comment about the Democrats' so-called mainstream standards for judges. He suggested that we would be more correct to replace the "main" in mainstream with "EX," as the Democrats standards were extreme - and very far afield of mainstream.
TgslTakoma and I had to leave around 11:30. Hopefully those who were able to stay can report more from the press conferences that were held throught that night. On our way out we noticed that, of the approximately 50 buttons that Angelwood and I had laid out, only four remained. Apparently two of them found their way into the pocket of a Washington Post photographer.
Angelwood, tgslTakoma, daughteroftgsl and I returned Thursday evening after work. On our way in, we ran into maica who was on her way out, and Eternal Vigilance who was on his way in! We went up to the Gallery for a little while where we met up with LisaFab and Ed. Sitting in the Gallery has its advantages and disadvantages. Some of the advantages are that you can see more of the action on the Senate floor than you can on CSPAN-2, and you can see who's in the Press Gallery. Some of the disadvantages are you can't see the entire floor, so sometimes you can hear senators speaking but not know who it is. Also one must remain seated at all times, remain silent and not make any sudden moves.
Whenever I sit in the Senate Gallery I think back to our FRiend Dave Delp, who was thrown out of Clinton's impeachment trial for wearing a tee-shirt that said, "Clinton Doesn't Inhale - He Sucks." We stayed in the Gallery for about 45 minutes and then went off to have dinner with our friends.
The War Room and Mansfield Room were inactive Thursday evening, so our work was done for the night. We know there were other Freepers in attendance throughout the marathon. We invite you to post your reports to this thread.
One side note: The Democrats were complaining of the extra costs of keeping the Senate open. I wonder how they figured that, as all the staffers we spoke to told us that they were salaried employees, and were not getting paid overtime.
Whether by being there in person, or following along at home and making phone calls to the cloakrooms, and sending emails and faxes, Freepers did a great job of supporting President Bush and Republican senators' Justice for Judges Marathon.
ya'll did GREAT!
free dixie,sw
free dixie,sw
In the four sessions Ed and I attended we watched at least 39 Senator speak (we were not allowed to take notes), 22 of which were Republicans. As kristinn points out, it was difficult to see the entire floor from the one seating area that was open to the public--only half of the seats were utilized.
All of the Pubs were great but I was especially impressed by the diligence of Norm Coleman who seemed to be everywhere, even sitting and chatting with the help in the Senate canteen. Also good was a duet by Orrin Hatch and Mitch McConnell when, in the spirit of trying to help Senator Hatch regain his already scratchy voice, McConnell led him through a recital of the ways in which Miguel Estrada (nomination filibustered and withdrawn) and John Roberts (confirmed by unanimous voice vote) were treated "differently" by the Dems--a must-read.
I was present when the opening 'procession' took place at 6:00 PM Wednesday and I can say that the pride I felt was only equaled by that on December 19, 1998 when the Republicans in the House of Representatives lived up to their oaths to the Constitution.
I encourage all FReepers who have never visited our nation's capital to do so and, despite whatever the Congress critters are up to, take in the beauty of the Capitol building and grounds. And if you're lucky, you'll be able to time your visit with one of the many, many events conducted by the D.C. Chapter, and witness the true dedication and patriotism that make them the great group they are.
Watched a few of these speaches. Saw Chris Dodd's ridiculous speech and Barbara Boxer's. Also saw Santorum's quite impassioned speeches a couple of times. And Smirking John Breaux denigrating Saxby Chambliss for reading out of Zell Miller's book. Slime.
I had a button made for an Estrada press conference a few months ago using Nick Danger's image of the Eagle Behind Bars with the caption "Judicial Nominations Held Hostage." That was a very popular button and quite a few of the young men and women who came to fill the Senate Gallery chose that one.
Some of the other buttons:
I am sorry that there was no way to meet all of the FReepers who came during the 39 hour Marathon. But I thank everyone who made it, especially those who traveled long distances and those hardy souls who supported the Republican Senators throughout the late evening and early morning hours.
You know, it is the duty of all senators to advise, and the duty of all senators who respect the nominee to consent. I think the senators who respect those appeals-court nominees should just get together in a press conference and announce that they consent to the nominees, and let that be that. I suppose that that is no different from the "nuclear option," de facto . . .
john warner is a "tough ole bird".
free dixie,sw
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