Today Was a Good Day

Let light shine upon America. On this Feast of the Epiphany, something important happened in the Congress which will go down in history as a shining moment. No, we're not in Camelot. But today the light of democracy peeked out from backstage. May we continue to see the light more and more.

William Rivers Pitt was in Washington this week and blogged before, during, and after the Joint Session of Congress today, January 6. This was the day the electoral college vote was to be certified. It was certified, but not before the EC vote was successfully challenged by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the courageous congresswoman from Ohio, and an equally, if not more, courageous senator from California, Sen Barbara Boxer. I am not sexist, but I do call attention to the fact that two woman made the difference. Of course, there were good men, too, especially Rep. John Conyers of Michigan whose efforts to bring this day to fruition were crucial. Thank you to these leaders in Washington who have shown their love of country and democracy and have stuck their necks out. That is more than can be said for most members of Congress, including the ones I usually agree with and respect. There should have been more voting for the challenge, but in the end, the process did proceed and the goal was accomplished.

Will Pitt had this to say:

Today was a good day

Thursday 06 January 2005 @ 06:05
I can't recall a day in the last several years when the efforts of citizens yielded fruit in the Senate. Didn't work with the Patriot Act vote. Didn't work with the Homeland Security Act vote. Sure as hell didn't work with the Iraq war vote.It worked today. Voices were heard, and something we haven't seen since 1877 took place today. This is what Congress exists for, and for once, they responded.The rest is up to the same people who got this ball rolling. Today was a beginning, an introduction into the national dialogue of the fact that lots and lots and lots and lots of Americans get jobbed out of their right to vote every election.We can fix that. We should fix that. Today, the task was well begun.

List of House members who voted 'Yea'

Revised down to 31: Brown, Corrine, Carson, Clay, Clyburn, Conyers, Davis (IL), Evans, Farr, Filner, Grijalva, Hastings (FL), Hinchey, Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee (TX), Johnson, E. B. Jones (OH), Kilpatrick (MI), Kucinich, Lee, Lewis (GA), Markey, McKinney, Olver, Owens, Pallone, Payne, Schakowsky, Thompson (MS), Waters, Watson, Woolsey

We are all indebted to these congressional leaders who stood up and were counted today because they value every American's right to have all the votes counted.

In the Senate only Barbara Boxer voted for the challenge. And where are Clinton (NY), Kennedy (MA), Kerry (MA), and all the other senators and congress members who chose to put something else above this fundamental matter? Many of them spoke in support of Ms. Boxer's challenge, but then voted against it. In effect, they said, "We know our election system is broken and that many people were disenfranchised on Novemebr 2nd. However, we vote NO." There is something wrong with that. Congress can't have it both ways.

[To check out William Rivers Pitt and his Truthout blog, go to www.truthout.org/fyi.]