Senate confirms Mukasey as attorney general
Bush nominee wins backing for post despite waterboarding flap
updated 12:56 a.m. ET, Fri., Nov. 9, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed retired judge Michael Mukasey as attorney general Thursday night to replace Alberto Gonzales, who was forced from office in a scandal over his handling of the Justice Department.

Mukasey was confirmed as the nation’s 81st attorney general after a sharp debate over his refusal to say whether the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture.

President Bush thanked the Senate, even though the margin had been whittled down from nearly unanimous by a sharp debate over Mukasey’s refusal to say whether the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture.....

Roll Call Vote...

I guess this means no water-boarding simulations in front of Bill Nelson's offices!

Dems pressured to temper war protests
By: Jim VandeHei and John F. Harris
September 27, 2007 07:32 AM EST

The vast majority of Democrats in Congress are powerfully clear about what they think about the war in Iraq. It is the greatest strategic blunder of a generation.

It is a lost cause. Above all, it is immoral — with more men and women dying each day for a war that many Democrats concluded years ago was a terrible mistake.

Feingold Amdt. No. 2924; To safely redeploy United States troops from Iraq.

Senator Nelson votes against safe deployment of troops from Iraq. What is this man thinking? The votes by Nelson for 9/19/07 were encouraging and then he bursts the bubble the very next day.

Florida's Joe Leiberman, aka Senator Bill Nelson, joined with twenty-two other candy-assed Democrats to condemn MoveOn.org's ad. Check the roll call vote here....

Senate Approves Resolution Denouncing MoveOn.org Ad
By David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — The Senate approved a resolution on Thursday denouncing the liberal antiwar group MoveOn.org over an advertisement that questioned the credibility of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq.

MoveOn.org, with 3.2 million members, has become a powerful force in Democratic politics and the advertisement it paid for, which appeared in The New York Times, has come under sharp attack from Congressional Republicans and others as unpatriotic and impugning the integrity of General Petraeus.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, both Democratic candidates for president, voted against the resolution, which passed 72 to 25.

But curiously absent from the vote was Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, also a Democratic candidate for president, who had canceled a campaign appearance in South Carolina so he could be in Washington for votes.

Mr. Obama issued a statement calling the resolution, put forward by Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, “a stunt.” Mr. Obama said, “By not casting a vote, I registered my protest against these empty politics.”...

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 1st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Specter Amdt. No. 2022 )
Vote Number: 340 Vote Date: September 19, 2007, 10:47 AM
Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Cloture Motion Rejected
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 2022 to S.Amdt. 2011 to H.R. 1585 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008)

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 1st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Amendment (Webb Amdt. No. 2909 )
Vote Number: 341 Vote Date: September 19, 2007, 05:30 PM
Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Amendment Rejected
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 2909 to S.Amdt. 2011 to H.R. 1585 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008)

FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY TO THE SENATOR'S DESK

August 28, 2007

FAX TO: Senator Bill Nelson
All District Offices and
Washington, D. C.

FAX FROM: Lydia Vickers, CODEPINK
Florida For Peace/Focus on Nelson
Phone: 850-385-5322

Dear Senator Nelson,

Thank you again for welcoming Pat, Mary and I to your Lafayette County town halls August 22nd.. We met some very nice people, lots of true "Nelson" supporters. Unfortunately it wasn't easy finding where you would be.

Senator Nelson, we believe that it's important for you to hear what Floridians are thinking and talking about regarding the war in Iraq. Staff in 3 of your district offices refused to give Florida For Peace members any information about where you were going to be and told us to call your Washington, D.C. office. The D.C. office was completely surprised and we were told that we should, indeed, be getting the
local meeting schedules from the district offices....

FFP member conference call - Thursday, August 30th, 8:30 PM (EDT)

Please join FFP members on the call Thursday night. Lydia Vickers, Cactus Pat, Mary Stone and Beverley Wiscow and many others will be in Washington, D.C. in September. Could we take your personal message
to your district representative? (details below the fold)...

National Take A Stand Day -- Come join Florida For Peace, MoveOn.org, Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace, Code Pink, Veterans For Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against The War, Tallahassee Now, Military Families Speak Out, True Majority, United for Peace and Justice, USAction, Working Assets and Americans Against Escalation in Iraq. Go to http://political.moveon.org/event/septembervigil/40436 to sign up.

Please come join us on August 28th at 7:00 pm in front of the old Capitol Building at the corner of Apalachee Parkway and Monroe Street. We will be holding a candlelight vigil to let our congressmen know "Enough is enough".

When most members of Congress get back to DC this September, what do you think they're going to remember about their August vacation? That day out on the fairway with the oil and gas lobbyists? The fat check they got from that big developer? The 100th baby they kissed?...

Boasts, Prevarications, and a Rattlesnake

On Tuesday August 7th ten members of Florida For Peace traveled to Kissimmee, FL to meet with Senator Bill Nelson at the public library. They represented over fifty groups from from all parts of Florida.

When the group arrived a staff member directed us to a conference room where the senator was waiting. A local news crew had a camera set up. After shaking hands and sitting down, Senator Nelson mentioned how he was having town meetings, three just yesterday in Jefferson, Pinellas and Pasco counties.

Lydia Vickers - CODEPINK Tallahassee, Co-Founder/Florida For Peace - began by stating she had traveled to all eight of his offices around the state and had meetings with his staff and thanked the Senator for meeting with us.

Senator Nelson began by thanking us for coming from all over the state to see him. He then talked about what he termed as townhall meetings, two of which he had the previous day in the Tampa Bay area. He said that 150 people had attended one meeting and 130 had attended the other one and that no one had brought up the issue of the Iraq War...

Senator Nelson’s PR spin on “Town Hall” meetings
by Deidra Lynch -- Orlando, FL August 10, 2007 -- Florida’s Senator Bill Nelson's office is falsely reporting that he is touring the state doing "Town Hall" meetings yet his meetings are not being announced publicly until just hours before he arrives and most of them have only been with city and county officials, not the public. These "invitation-only" audiences with selected press only are costing Florida taxpayers and lulling them into believing the he is concerned about public sentiment. His office has refused to even announce his travel schedule or place any requested alternative press members on the pre-notification list. This is open government? NO, this is a PR spin!...

Florida Groups Push For End To War POSTED: 3:03 pm EDT August 7, 2007
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Florida For Peace pushed for a meeting with Sen. Bill Nelson at the Kissimmee library on Tuesday.

Members said they want Nelson to stand against President George W. Bush and end the war in Iraq.

Many groups congregated at the library to meet with Nelson, including Code Pink: Women For Peace.

Members said they feel Nelson has been supporting the war and want him to be one of 67 senators to override a presidential veto and bring troops home.

"I think he needs to realize he's hurting these troops more by not saying, 'Enough is enough' it's time to come home, and let's come up with a plan,' so the only way that's going to happen is to stop funding," Deidra Lynch of Florida For Peace said...

FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY TO THE SENATOR’S DESK
August 8, 2007

FAX TO; Senator Bill Nelson
All District Offices and
Washington, D. C.

FAX FROM: Lydia Vickers, CODEPINK
Florida For Peace/Focus on Nelson
Phone: 850-385-5322

Dear Senator Nelson,

I would like to thank you for attending the meeting with Florida For Peace members in Kissimmee, Florida yesterday, August 7, 2007. Many of us traveled a very long way to share our concerns about your support of the war in Iraq, funding torture, terrorism, Iraqi civilian atrocities, our 1st and 4th Amendment Rights, support for our troops and their families, Florida’s financial deficits, homeless and veteran issues, your responsibilities to your Florida constituents, permanent bases in Iraq and your voting record on these issues.

For me, personally, I was disappointed that you tried to put me in the uncomfortable position of arguing with you, or even worse, being lectured to about your recent yes vote on S. 1927 (to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978). It was totally unnecessary and a little unkind. None of us at the table were swayed with your lengthy discourse regarding your vote. And is was disturbing that you might use most of the little time we had with you talking rather than listening. Senator, we desperately need you to listen to us....

August 1, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Lydia Vickers
850-241-3191 or 850-385-5322

Deidra Lynch
407-385-3183

FLORIDA FOR PEACE MEMBER GROUPS Scheduled to meet with Florida’s Senior Senator

11:00AM – August 7, 2007 – Kissimmee, Florida

A coalition of Florida peace and social action groups joined forces in May, 2007 to begin a state-wide campaign. Their goal was to ask for meetings with Senator Bill Nelson, Florida’s senior senator, in every district where he has an office.

Senator Nelson has agreed to meet with 10 Florida For Peace members in Kissimmee, Florida at 11:00AM on August 7, 2007. Request for meetings in additional Florida locations will be made at this meeting. “We feel that it is his responsibility to meet with us rather than having his constituents drive all over the state to meet him” said Florida For Peace co-founder Deidra Lynch. Request for Town Hall meeting dates around the state will also be requested.

Florida For Peace member groups include: CODEPINK, Military Families Speak Out/Florida, Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans for Peace, Environmental and Peace Education Center, Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace, Food Not Bombs, Democracy For America and others...