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With 57 Senators voting in favor of DC voting rights, the majority was not enough to stop a few small, small Senators from dropping the F-bomb. The filibuster came from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Minority Whip Trent Lott, the one who celebrated Strom Thurmond’s failed 1948 segregationist presidential bid as glimpse of a rosy alternative history. Hmmmm. I wonder why he didn’t support DC voting rights?

As DC Vote notes,

This is the first filibuster of a voting rights bill since the era of segregation. The opposition of Mitch McConnell and Trent Lott reminds us of a time when a minority of Senators blocked the door to democracy and freedom … Shame on them. Shame also on Thad Cochran, John McCain and Gordon Smith, a group of Senators that did not have the courage to stand with us and against the outrageous tactics of their party leaders.

It really is hard to see longstanding politicians draw a line that stands not on principle nor integrity, but an atavistic partisan stance reminiscent of jim crow. Really hard. It makes one doubt not just human character, but the principles of the party. A supermajority could’ve passed the bill, and the few who couldn’t step up are marked by their neglect. Perhaps smaller than the Senators who filibustered were those who refused to defy a party position they know to be unjust.

History will note their names, though the character of such men are, perhaps, better suited for footnotes.

As DC Vote notes, “This marks the first time in nearly 30 years that a DC voting rights bill has made it to the Senate Floor for vote. It’s crucial that we show Senators that we demand the vote for DC!”

As Senator Reid has committed to bringing the bill to the floor tomorrow, DC Vote is sponsoring two huge activities today which are essential to passing the legislation. If you’re in DC, come join the leadership down on the Hill to call on members of the Senate to grant DC the right to vote. If you’re not in DC, today is a national call-in day to demand DC voting rights from your Senators.

In DC? Get out of work and join DC Vote:
Press Conference and rally
Monday, September 17, 11 am - 12:30 pm EDT
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Constitution Avenue NE and 1st Street NE

Not in DC? Call your Senator toll-free and demand DC voting rights:
National Call-In Day
Monday, September 17, 9 am - 5 pm EDT
Call 1-866-346-3008

And for Indie Roots’ part, we are releasing a single featuring three DC bands called “Three Red Stars (Over Two Red Bars)” about DC Voting Rights. Download it for free and share it with your friends and spread the word nationwide about the call-in!

For friends both in and out of DC
Indie Roots free DC voting rights download
“Three Red Stars (Over Two Red Bars)”
by Analog Jetpack with Gist, The Dance Party, Max Glass and Eleanor Holmes Norton
www.indieroots.org
Download and forward to your friends!

Help solve a problem left over by the Founding Fathers and make your own contribution to American History! Get busy today and stay tuned for more activities. Today and tomorrow are historical moments to be a part of!

…you know we’ve got a chance. Never known as a progressive publication, the Times usually gets a what-what from the far right. So it’s a huge pump of the fist to see their commentary this morning (via DC Vote), “DC vote threshold” by Republicans Michael Steele and JC Watts.

Steele and Watts do a tidy summary of the issue in saying:

The difference between the District of Columbia and every other city and state in America is that Congress is the final arbiter on how the bills are paid and what laws shall govern the people of Washington. The citizens have absolutely no say on the floor of the Congress — through the vote of their duly elected representative — about the matters that directly affect the people born and raised in our nation’s capital. This is a blemish on our democracy and it must come to an end.

And cheers to their nice deconstruction of the Constitution argument against DC voting rights: “… the argument that a right granted by statute and rescinded by statute can now only be granted by a constitutional amendment fundamentally makes no sense.”