Trickle Down Attitude

Judy at LivingBlue has a terrific follow up post about last week's Americans Against Escalation in Iraq event at the Brighton Mill Pond.

Featured is a funny-if-it-weren't-so-sad video of veteran Tom Ford (of Shiawassee Veterans for Peace) as he visits Rogers' Lansing office and tries to give an End the War yard sign to a Rogers staffer. As Judy notes,

Notice that the staffer doesn't actually take the sign or even touch it. Apparently, he's afraid it might be contagious.

Rogers' attitude -- "If I don't agree with you, I can ignore you" -- has apparently trickled down to his staff.

On the bright side, at least this staffer didn't run out the back door when a Democrat came a-callin'.

'Congress Decides' Event Goes Well, Despite the Ducking of Rogers' Staff

With a crowd of 20+ people, Thursday's MoveOn.org sponsored event at Mr. Rogers' Lansing office went quite well. Despite a blustery wind, the event received quite a bit of public support from passing motorists in the forms of honks and thumbs up to our signs that read "Bring U.S. Troops Home from Iraq Now".

We peacefully gathered outside, and filed in as we presented our signed letters from many of Mr. Rogers' constituents to his front office personnel.

Missing in action? Mr. Rogers' Michigan Director of Outreach, Tony Baltimore, who was observed ducking out the back entrance as we began to gather. I'm sure he had much more important outreach duties to attend to then a group of constituents who were dropping by the office. *snark*

Further outreach events are in the planning stages directed towards Mr. Rogers, and we hope you'll stay tuned and pitch in!

Take Action Today in Lansing

There's lots of things in Michigan and Lansing that we all need to fight for, but as a country, we need to stand up to those who aren't looking out for our troops best interests.

I hope you'll consider taking a half-hour out of your lunch break today to do something to protect our troops from their own worst enemy, our President.

Consider joining me at noon at Mike Rogers' office to personally deliver letters from tens of thousands of Michigan's residents calling for a stop to the troop escalation in Iraq. From MoveOn -

On Thursday, MoveOn members are gathering outside hundreds of congressional offices to keep the pressure on Congress to block the escalation. We'll be holding signs and listening to compelling speakers, and we've invited the media.

We want to make sure we have a good-sized group from your district.

Can you join us at a "Congress Decides" letter delivery on Thursday around lunchtime in Lansing?

Where:Mike Rogers office on Michigan (between Holmes and Ferguson) Lansing
When: Thursday, Feb 22 2007, 12:00 PM
RSVP: MoveOn

A majority of those in Congress oppose the president's plan to escalate the war. Now we have to make sure they stop him. In a few weeks Congress will have to decide how far they're willing to go to block the escalation.

They're home for recess and this is our best opportunity to influence what they do when they return to Washington. They need to know that we're not going to rest until they start bringing our troops home.

The more of us who participate on Thursday, the louder our message will be. If we keep the pressure on now, we can make sure Congress does the right thing by blocking the escalation and taking steps to bring our troops home.

Can you join us on Thursday to tell Congress, You're the decider, you must stop the escalation?

Rep. Jack Murtha—who's been leading the fight to stop the escalation—recently told MoveOn members, "The time to act is now...We can get this done. We can bring our troops home."

Here in the 8th District we have an even bigger motivating factor, Mike Rogers' refusal to do what's right for the troops. As we've seen time and time again here at Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, Mike's not in the game of representing anyone else's interests besides his own extreme views.

We might not be able to bring them home tomorrow, but as our closest allies start to pull out there's no reason we should be putting any more troops at risk.

Our troops are the people that voluntarily risk everything to ensure our country stays great. Don't they deserve us fighting for them?

The Neighborhood Joins the Block Party

Less than 3 weeks into existence, The Neighborhood is honored to join a national list of respected and powerful congressional-watch blogs, at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee or The DCCC for you wonky-types.

What's the big deal?

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the official campaign arm of the Democrats in the House. The DCCC is the only political committee in the country whose principal mission is to support Democratic House candidates every step of the way through this critical election year.

The Neighborhood becomes the 48th Blog to make the Congressional Blogroll at The Stakeholder, which is The DCCC's official blog.

'08 Campaigns - Are you listening?

The Internet is the place to reach voters.

The Neighborhood is the place to replace Mr. Rogers.