Cantwell Moves To The Top Of My Shit List

If I had any doubts about whether or not my decision to support Mark Wilson in the Senate Democratic Primary here in Washington State was the right one, they have all been firmly put to rest. When I watched Senator Maria Cantwell cast her vote for CAFTA live on CSPAN, I thought I couldn’t be more disgusted with her lack of concern for the average working stiff, but I was wrong. Watching her cower from a fight for women’s privacy rights in breaking with her party and refusing to filibuster Alito made me sick. Since her election, she has been a disgrace to the Democratic Party (quite a feat considering all of the competition) and today she has proved a disgrace to women all across this country.

On Sunday, AmericaBlog put up a post explaining why a filibuster was a bad idea. Some of the points were valid, such as support for a filibuster should have been sowed up much earlier and a more coordinated effort to educate the public as to why it was so important should have been launched by the Senators, their staff and the many organizations that opposed the nomination. While I agree with that sentiment, once the decision was made, Senate Democrats should have fallen in line and supported the filibuster of a radical ideologue who will roll back hard fought gains for women’s rights, civil rights and the right of us little people to have access to the courts when abused by corporations or by our own government.

Should the filibuster have been handled more effectively? Absolutely. But the filibuster failed because Democrats caved, not because the numbers weren’t there and I for one, intend to do everything I can to make sure that my Senator pays a price for abandoning those of us who sent her to Washington DC in the first place. If that puts another Republican in the Senate, so be it. Cantwell has been as reliable a vote for the Bush agenda as Chuck Hagel, so really, what difference would it make? If she can’t show up for her party when they need her the most, she’s useless anyway.