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October 30, 2008

Please Ask the Public to Check the Congressional Voting Record

By Kathryn Smith

Dear friends: The title of my message says it all. If we want OUR America back, the best way to vote is to do it based on information instead of on trust, images held of a person, etc.

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Dear friends:
The title of my message says it all.

If we want OUR America back, the best way to vote is to do it based on information instead of on trust, images held of a person, etc.

Example: "McCain was a prisoner of war. He was tortured. He would never vote for torture!"

You kidding?

He not only voted for the Military Commissions Act (torture bill) but specifically voted against restoration of habeas corpus. That means that people like you and me can one day find our photos in the mainstream newspapers and the claim can be made that we are ringleaders of some terrorist group. All that needs to happen is for the nation to see our photo---and everybody believes it! Lacking habeas corpus, or the ability to challenge the legal grounds for one's own detention, there is no burden of proof.

Is a newspaper photograph enough burden of proof? How gullible, stupid and unwittingly complicit we Americans are! My god. Time to wake people up!

Then there's Obama's "Change" rhetoric. How much "change" do we get from a vote for a police state, gag orders et al? That's the Patriot Act for you, for which OBama (and McCain) voted for not once, but twice.

Please ask your fellow Americans to vote based on information, not images and assumptions.

I urge you to please and immediately write a letter to the editor urging readers to check the Congressional voting record before going to the polls.  One place I like to check is the ACLU's website because not only can you see who voted which way, but you can read the facts about each bill which was voted for/against. It's terribly important information for every American to know. That is, for every caring and concerned American.

www.aclu.org  click on the link at the bottom of the page "Congressional Voting Scorecard" to see which way your Senator or Representative voted for any given bill. You can read a summary of the bill itself and how many members of Congress voted for which law, or you can look up your own Senator or Representative's vote individually by entering their name into the search box (after clicking on the bill in question).

It's not about partisanship. It's not about who to vote for. It's all about voting in an informed way. Please urge the public (in letters to the editor) to check the Congressional voting record before going to the polls.

Thank you!



Authors Bio:
This quote summarizes the nature of my concerns and the content of personal experiences which stir my activism:

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement on human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves". --Paul Revere, House of Commons

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