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Gold9472
01-28-2005, 01:24 PM
GOVERNMENT OF, FOR, AND BY THE PEOPLE
by Don Barletta

1/27/05, Thursday, 11am ET:

I just completed a 10 minute phone call with Senator Rick Santorum's office. I phoned to ask if they keep a tally of the amount of calls they receive on any particular issue, and I was specifically interested in any constituent input his office had received regarding the vote to confirm the nomination of Condi Rice. She told me that they did have that information, but it could not be released to me, as it was for their internal use only. After she put me on hold three times when she would not answer my simple repeated question, my call was transferred to a Santorum staffer named Josh.

First Josh told me that yes, they do keep a tally. Then Josh told me that they keep a tally, but they only do so after the fact, after the vote. Then Josh told me that they have a good idea as to how much constituent input they receive, and which way the constituent input is leaning, either for or against. But then Josh told me that they discount a lot of the constituent input, if they believe that it was generated by any activism organization of any type. Then Josh told me that while the Senator does ask him (Josh) which way the will of the people is leaning, he told me that that does not determine the Senator's vote. He told me that the Senator votes "his" conscience, "his" opinion, and "his" will, and not the will of the people.

So I again asked him if he would tell me if he knew whether the will of the people was in favor of, or against, voting for the confirmation of Condi Rice. He told me that the constituent input that the Senator's office received; that the people were strongly in favor of voting against her confirmation.

Of course Senator Santorum voted in favor of her confirmation.

So I switched the topic slightly, and asked Josh for his opinion of government of, for, and by the people. I told him that I thought that the Senator was supposed to represent the will of the people. I asked him what quantity of input or preponderance of demand on one side of an issue would encourage the Senator to vote accordingly. I asked "what if the Senator had received one million requests, and that 90% of them were against her confirmation?"

Josh told me that while that would be significant, that the Senator would still vote his own conscience. I again asked about the part of representation being "of, for, and by the people." Josh told me that if I were to ask the Senator that personally, that the Senator would tell me that the U.S. is not a democracy, but rather a Republic, and while the will of the people might be of consideration, it is subordinate to the will of the Senator. Then he told me that if I don't like that, too bad, and that my only option is at the voting booth in the next election.

Having written letters, sending emails, and telephoning my and other Senators, my Congressman, the President, and the Vice President - and those contacts totaling well over 1,000 in just the last 8 months alone - I can tell you that Senator Santorum is endemic of a much larger problem.

And that is, with VERY FEW EXCEPTIONS, no one in government is listening to the people. No one. They are just doing what they want. And if you don't know by now that our government is taking America down the toilet, then you are either a victim of government psyops brainwashing, media collusion, or you are simply disinterested or uninformed.

If you are aware of what our government is up to, and you are doing nothing, then get up off your ass, and do something. It doesn't take much time, very little effort, and certainly no cost to email or toll-free phone a politician. If you know better, and are doing nothing, it is inexcusable.

It is time for all of us to rise up, start screaming, and bombard the government and media with our demands. Will that achieve anything? I don't know. But I hope so. So excuse me while I go write yet another letter, and make another phone call.

C2005 -- Don Barletta 1/27/05

Personal Note: Gold9472... I have my own experience with Sen. Santorum that I will be posting in this thread later tonight. Take my word for it... he is a SCUMBAG.

Gold9472
01-28-2005, 05:49 PM
Dear Mr. Gold;


Thank you for contacting me regarding the 9/11 Commission's Final Report. I appreciate hearing from you and having the benefit of your views on this important matter.

As you may know, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, is an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation (H.R. 4628) and signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002 (P.L. 107-336), following the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States. This commission is comprised of 10 members, 5 Republican and 5 Democrats, who are responsible for preparing a full account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11th, 2001 attacks on our country.

During its public and private hearings over the past months, the 9/11 Commission received testimony from members of both the Cliton and Bush Administrations as it worked to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Among those who testified publicly before the Commission were former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of Defense William Cohen; former assistant to the President for National Affairs Sandy Berger; former National Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council Richard Clarke, Secretary of State Colin Powell; Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet; and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice.

As you may be aware, the 9/11 Commission issued its Final Report o the President, Congress, and the American public on Thursday, July 22, 2004. The Final Report incorporated the Commission's findings about the circumstances surrounding the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well as recommendations to better organize the U.S. government and intelligence community to protect the United States from further terrorist attacks. Specifically, the Commission's Final Report concluded that there were deep institutional failures within the United States that led to the success of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The 9/11 Commission issued a multitude of recommendations in its Final Report, including the establishment of a National Counterterrorism Center that would unify strategic intelligence and operational planning against terrorist threats across the foreign and domestic divide; the creation the position of the National Intelligence Director to unify the intelligence community; unifying and strengthening congressional oversight to improve quality and accountability of the Intelligence Community; and strengthening the FBI and homeland defenders.

On August 2, 2004, President Bush endorsed several of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations to better faciliate communication throughout the intelligence community, and to prevent futher terrorist attacks against the United States and its citizens. President Bush announced that he inted to create a position of National Intelligence Director that would be responsible for overseeing national intelligence collection centers and the agencies that contribute to the national intelligence program. In addition, he urged Congress to reorganize itself to provide better oversight concerning intelligence and homeland security issues. Next, he called for the creation of a National Counterterrorism Center to help to faciliate communication within intelligence community. Then, so as to build on current momentum, he directed the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction to consider the merits of creating a new center to track the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Finally, President Bush noted he intended to direct other federal agencies to continue to make the structural reforms necessary to prevent further terrorist attacks.

I am pleased that the 9/11 Commission has produced a thorough and conside report concerning the circumstances surrounding the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I also commend the Commission for its suggestions on ways the federal government can improve the process of gathering, processing, analyzing, and acting upon intelligence. As the Commission has noted in its Final Report, there are systemic changes that must be made in order to prevent further terrorist attacks against the U.S., both domestically and overseas.

Additionally, I applaud President Bush for acting expeditiously on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. I am certain that President Bush and Congress will continue to devote consideralb energy and resources to fully vetting the Commission's analysis and its recommendations, and together, I am confident that we can improve upon current efforts to protect the United States and its citizens from terrorist threats.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if I can be of additional assistance in the future.

Sincerely,

Rick Santorum
United States Senate

princesskittypoo
01-28-2005, 08:28 PM
I've had many views on this "911" issue. My latest thoughts are that it was planned by the United States government. Do i have proof. No. It's just a feeling i get... perhaps the greed of power... the less power the people have the more power the poliicians have. the closer we come to a dictatorship, total terrorism... granted dictatorship isn't necessarily wrong until a whole group of people start getting mass murdered and no one steps up to say hey wait....
I think it's great that you are able to have contacts and balls to contact the very people who are NOT DOING ANYTHING TO HELP. But with only two major parties how can anyone truely vote out the suckers making us a facist government? i guess i should have voted for nader.

danceyogamom
01-28-2005, 10:28 PM
Josh told me that if I were to ask the Senator that personally, that the Senator would tell me that the U.S. is not a democracy, but rather a Republic, and while the will of the people might be of consideration, it is subordinate to the will of the Senator. Then he told me that if I don't like that, too bad, and that my only option is at the voting booth in the next election.


A Senator, a representative of our democratic system, would say we are a republic!?!
I wonder what would happen if the international press got wind of that!?!?!?!!!

Gold9472
10-10-2005, 04:55 PM
bump

Gold9472
12-05-2005, 12:50 PM
bump

jetsetlemming
12-05-2005, 03:55 PM
We are basically a republic in practice. The "will" of the poeple is supposed to be enforced by the people voting for senators who represent their ideas, unfortunatly, there are many tricks politicians use to get their area voters to support them regardless of politics. They will claim that they will get more jobs and money for the county, or that if they, as an incumbent, leave office, those jobs and that money will go away. If they use political points, they focus on one issue that they polled to find important to that particular community, and repeat that, which will get votes even if on other issues they don't represent the people.

Gold9472
12-24-2005, 08:55 PM
bump