Send Sen. Feinstein a Message!

Dear fellow Californian,
Last week, every member of the Senate had a chance to take a stand against torture. Most Democrats did—they opposed the nomination of Michael Mukasey for Attorney General because he left the door open to torture. He wouldn't, for example, say whether water-boarding—an interrogation technique that simulates drowning—constituted torture.
But Senator Feinstein wasn't with the majority of Democrats—she actually cast a pivotal vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee to confirm him.
And that's not all. In recent months, Senator Feinstein backed the president on issues ranging from right-wing judges to immunity for phone companies that broke the law.
Now, California Democrats—led by our friends at the Courage Campaign—are seriously organizing to get her attention. They've launched a grassroots campaign to ask the California Democratic Party to officially censure Senator Feinstein when its executive board meets this weekend.
We only have a few days before the meeting, so it's important to make our voices heard right now. Can you sign the Courage Campaign's petition asking the California Democratic Party to censure Senator Feinstein? Click here to sign:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3163&id=11668-8580774-ubHeUo&t=1
Only 29% of Californians—and just 9% of California Democrats—approve of the president, but Senator Feinstein has sided with him on key issues.
On Torture: Senator Feinstein recommended Michael Mukasey for Attorney General, despite his refusal to call the practice of water-boarding "torture."1
On Judges: Senator Feinstein was the deciding vote to confirm Judge Leslie Southwick,2 even though Southwick had ruled that a white employee couldn't be fired for using a demeaning and offensive racial slur towards an African-American co-worker. Southwick also took custody of an eight-year-old girl away from her mother, because the mother was living with another woman in a "lesbian home."3
On Wiretapping: Now Senator Feinstein says she is going to support immunity for phone companies that helped the Bush administration illegally spy on the phone calls and emails of innocent Americans.4
When Senator Feinstein sides with President Bush and the Republicans on key issues like these, she not only goes against what a majority of her constituents want—she gives cover to other weak Democrats, too. This means it's even harder for Congress to make progress on the critical issues that so many voters care about.
Senator Feinstein isn't up for election again until 2012, but we can't afford another 5 years of this. She needs to hear from Californians that she needs to start siding with them—not George Bush.
A censure from the California Democratic Party is the strongest way to send that message.
Can you add your name to the Courage Campaign's petition asking the California Democratic Party to censure Senator Feinstein? Click here to sign:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3163&id=11668-8580774-ubHeUo&t=2
Let's send Senator Dianne Feinstein a message she can't ignore.
Thanks for all you do,
–Wes, Ilyse, Joan, Carrie, Tanya, Marika and the whole MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Thursday, November 15th, 2007