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The crowd gathered at 5PM (about 65) There were some chants and Z21 interviewed several people. We chanted some chants: -Don't give up the fight, our courts, our rights -Save our courts - E.M.P.I.R.E. does not spell demorcracy We marched up Oregon Street to Wall, accross Greenwood and up the the Deschutes County Court house where several people spoke. Portland: Rally to stop the Republican Judicial Takeover 12:00 Noon on the stairs and sidewalk outside of the courthouse on Broadway and Main there was a rally, put on by MoveOn PAC. There were several speakers rallying the crowd to call senator Smith whos vote could stop this blatant corruption fo our system, and educating the public about this huge issue. The estimate was 600-775 people in attendance, all of whom were peaceful. After the rally ended, a small group of 50-100 (i never took a good count) people marched on the Portland office of Senator Smith in the World Trade Center to demand his office listen to our opinion. We marched up the skywalk and into the building intent on getting into the office, only to find the elevators shut down and the stairwell locked. One of the security officers forcefully ejected a female protestor from the elevator with no provocation. The other "nuclear option" Senate majority (Republican) leaders have made it plain that either the Democratic majority must allow the Republicans to appoint Bush's extreme anti-environmental nominees for the Federal judiciary OR the Republicans will go ahead with what they (Republicans) coined as their "nuclear option" -- eliminating the long-standing Senate rule that allows unlimited debate on votes that rise to the level of issues of conscience for the minority. That's what filibusters have generally been about -- issues of conscience -- as when Oregon's Senator Hatfield attempted a one-man filibuster against the development of a neutron bomb back in the 1970's. It turns out that the Senate Democrats have what they don't call, but could be called, their own "nuclear option." Democrats have made it plain that either the Republican majority must back down and allow vetting of Bush's extremist anti-environmental nominees for the Federal judiciary OR the Democrats will slow the Senate down to a crawl and block all legislation (except for matters of national security). When you look back at the history of this Congress, shutting down all legislation doesn't look like a bad idea. Shutting down the Senate would mean no more of Bush's so-called "reforms" -- bankruptcy "reform", tort "reform" -- and it would preclude any more talk of so-called "Social Security reform." related: [ FilibusterFilibusterFilibuster | You don't have to be a Senator to fillibuster ]
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