To Feinstein's Staffers: RESIGN!

Guest Blogger: Michael Jay

Letter to Trevor Daley, District Director for Senator Dianne Feinstein

Dear Trevor,

Thank you for meeting with us yesterday.

I was deeply disappointed to awake to the news that Senator Feinstein has chosen to again side against her constituents and instead enable the Bush administration, this time by voting to confirm another atrocious choice as the highest law officer of the land. Mukasey's tortured parsing of his position on waterboarding is widely seen as a maneuver to protect those who would otherwise be guilty of war crimes for having ordered the use of this procedure.

It makes sense that Bush would offer a nominee who would cover for him; what doesn't make sense is why the senior Senator of the country's largest left-leaning state would give cover to Bush.

Don't take my word for that: Even Keith Olbermann could find a cynical reason as to what his own Senator had to gain by dealing with Bush, but was at a loss about California's Feinstein; he said, "Sen. Schumer has seen it, reportedly, as some kind of puzzle piece in the New York political patronage system, and he has failed. What Sen. Feinstein has seen, to justify joining Schumer in rubber-stamping Mukasey, I cannot guess."

I can guess, for here, in California, Diane Feinstein's miserable record precedes this latest vote: Her votes to extend the Patriot Act and Bush's illegal circumvention of FISA, her support of Hayden to head the CIA (no surprise, in light of the aforementioned support for illegal wiretapping), her championing of bills and amendments on flag burning (I know that issue sure keeps my neighbors up at night), her atrocious giveaway to the vendors of electronic voting machines - oh, excuse me, I meant, her recent bill to revise HAVA, and her vote to censure MoveOn all make many wonder which Party our Senator belongs to.

Excuses about the possibility of Bush installing a much worse candidate, via a recess appointment, collapse in light of the courageous action by the many true Democrats on the panel, including Ted Kennedy and Russ Feingold.

But there's a much deeper factor, isn't there? Senator Feinstein's current husband, Richard Blum, was a majority owner of the military contractors URS Corp. and Perini Corp. at the same time that the Senator supervised the appropriation of billions of dollars through her position on the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee (MILCON) That means that, from 2001 through 2005, every time Senator Feinstein directed an appropriation, citizen Feinstein had a little bit more money for some fine dining in San Francisco. Again, this isn't just my theory; as you know, enough heat was brought to bear on this gross conflict of interest that the Senator had to resign from MILCON.

As you noted yesterday, I've politely lobbied the Senator in semi-private meetings, and it doesn't take much to see that the problems of one constituent don't amount to a hill of beans in the crazy world of the military industrial complex. Whether for profit or because she can't remember which Party she's in (let alone remember her oath to protect and defend the Constitution), Senator Feinstein chooses to enable Bush's disastrous agenda. So, now I need to repeat the request that I made to you yesterday:

Resign.

As District Director, you are enabling one of the worst offenders among those who betray the Democratic Party and their country in this time of crisis. I submit to you that one man can have an impact; your resignation would be felt by the Senator, and noted around the nation. You said that citizen comments on Mukasey amounted to only a third of those concerning Judge Roberts, yet you also heard from several who reported that it was nearly impossible to phone the Senator's office. We are frozen out; you can send a message:

Resign.

You could regain employment with one of the true Democrats. Help us build an opposition Party, before America goes past the point of no return. Help reverse the ludicrous stance of the Party, which has disappointed and abandoned its constituency to the point that more Republicans now approve of Congress than Democrats- despite our majority rule of both houses.

Please stop enabling those false leaders who enable this assault on our Constitution, our country and the world. You'll be able to look yourself in the mirror in the morning. Resign.

Thank you for considering this.

Yours,

Michael Jay

Delegate, California State Democratic Party, 42nd Assembly District
Steering Committee, Progressive Democrats of America, Los Angeles
Coordinating Committee, SoCal Grassroots

PS - After our meeting yesterday, you saw me return to the building's lobby to criticize those guards who had lied to the police. Let me explain that, while Mimi Kennedy (National Board Chair of Progressive Democrats of America), myself and four others waited politely for you to come down from the Senator's office, the lobby guards barred others from entering. After just a few complaints from these others, the guards summoned the police, by lying that "people were, or were trying to, break down the doors." I learned of this (mis-)characterization from the police officers themselves, who, thankfully, explained that they are experienced enough to know that people often exaggerate or fabricate in order to procure police presence. Know that the guards lied, that we were mischaracterized, and that the Senator and her staff are being ill-served by her landlord's employees.

To the hundreds of others reading this message: Please call Senator Feinstein's offices, and tell her how you think a Democratic California Senator should vote.
D.C.: 202-224-3841
SF: 415-393-0707
LA: 310-914-7300