CALL TO ACTION:

Stop Judicial Tyranny! BE SALT! (Matthew 5:13-16) Proverbs 31:8 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”

While we can no longer help Terri Schiavo, there is still something we can do to prevent further judges from interpreting their own sense of morality into our laws.

We can begin to stop judicial tyranny in a big way by first stopping the minority party in the Senate from continuing to block judicial nominees from having an up or down vote. Call your Senator today and tell them you want sane judges appointed who will strictly interpret the constitution instead of pulling things out of thin air and saying whatever they want the constitution to say.

During the last two years, America watched as the minority party in the Senate used extraordinary obstructionist tactics to prevent conservative judicial nominations from being voted on. For the first time in history, Senate Democrats filibustered (prevented confirmation votes on) not one, but ten judicial nominations – solely on the basis of ideology.

In light of the high probability of Supreme Court vacancies, we must encourage our Senators to confirm President Bush’s judicial nominees who see their sole responsibility to be that of interpreting the Constitution rather than re-making the Constitution.

Please contact your two U.S. Senators and ask them to vote to change the rule to a simple majority as the Constitution requires.

Explain that you support a return to the constitutional tradition of 51 votes being sufficient to confirm a judicial nominee, not the unprecedented 60 votes required to break a filibuster.

The short version of that message:

When you call, if you would like, you can read to the aid who answers the phone the following script I’ve put together here:

“I am calling to see if the senator is willing to do all he can to reign in the tyrannical judiciary branch. Please tell the senator that I support the ‘constitutional option’ to end judicial filibusters. And if the senator will support the ‘constitutional option’ then I will support him in the next primary election. But if he does not support the ‘constitutional option’ then I will oppose him in the next primary election.”

And if you want to say more:

“I want to also encourage the senator to ascend to great leadership. As James Freeman Clarke once said, “A politician thinks of the next election -- a statesman of the next generation.” Please tell the Senator not to be afraid of the media. George Bush is a model of true leadership. Despite overwhelming attacks by the liberal media, he stuck to his deeply held convictions – those also shared by the heart of America. And the people supported him by re-electing him to another four years. I urge the Senator to do the same.”

And if you're really ambitious:

Please call the Capitol switchboard number at 202-224-3121 and ask to be transferred to the offices of each of the following members of the Senate Judicial Committee. Tell them the same thing you told your 2 senators.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas

Also, for those of you with some extra time on your hands, please call and email fellow members of your church and encourage them to call or email their senators too. Tell them how easy it was. (Every call is noted and passed along to the senators. They care very much what their voters think.)

Please Pray.

Lastly, but surely not least -- pray. Pray that God will move hearts and minds of those on our federal court benches as well as in the chambers of Congress towards righteous decisions and decrees.

For Further Information:

• Dr. James Dobson discusses a new book by conservative talk show host Mark Levin called Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America which details the outrageous examples of the out-of control judiciary.

• Dr. Dobson’s entire April newsletter can be found here.

• Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s web site includes an in-depth section focusing on judicial nominations. This web page will provide a one-stop information resource to explore the facts about the judicial confirmation process, the judicial filibuster and the Constitutional option.

• Vote 'em up or down
  Dr. James Dobson writes an op-ed piece in The Boston Globe

• BlueFingerVote.com

• The Ohio Roundtable: Judicial Activism

• Letter to the Editor (Sent 2005-03-30 by me):
  
  Although the media keep talking about the "nuclear option," there's nothing that explosive about the plans of Senate Republicans to end the filibusters against President Bush's judicial nominees. All it really involves is restoring constitutional order to a process that's been hijacked by Senate liberals.
  
  By restoring the number of votes needed to confirm a nominee to a simple majority — not the supermajority required to end a filibuster — conservatives hope to stop the madness that has prevented 10 qualified judges from even getting an up-or-down vote over the past two years.
  
  Democrats know this better than anyone, having previously argued against the misuse of filibusters to block judicial nominees. “If we don't like somebody the president nominates, vote him or her down,” Vermont's Patrick Leahy said in 1998. “But don't hold them in this anonymous, unconscionable limbo, because in doing that, the minority of senators really shame all senators.” No less a liberal icon than California's Dianne Feinstein has acknowledged that the Democrats' filibuster abuse is not “the honest thing to do.” Of course, that was back in 1999, when Bill Clinton was in the White House and she believed that "it is our job to confirm these nominees. If we don't like them, we can vote against them." Now she's a leading filibuster proponent.
  
  The Democrats simply need to admit they are being dishonest and not playing fair.