Dear DUers - I just updated my list of TOLL FREE Capitol Hill Switchboard numbers:

[calimary]

One on my list has been removed - it no longer works.

But the others still do:

(866) 338 - 1015

(866) 220 - 0044

(877) 662 - 2889

I just tried the four numbers I had and these three, above, still get you there. Hey, try it! The staffers do seem to be at work today. Be nice and polite to them even if the person they work for completely disgusts you. And you might even get a reward! I called Congressman Ron Kind's office (one of five Dems who wouldn't sign the clean CR) and was told that he had changed his mind this morning and signed it!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023800580

(Crossposted here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251329032)

[livetohike]

1. Thank you calimary

[we can do it]

2. Thanks

[Pretzel_Warrior]

3. This is great! Thanks!

[DonRedwood]

4. an enthusiastic K & R

[Lars39]

5. Thank you !

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. pls keep kicking this

rec and kick

[etherealtruth]

7. Thank you

[roguevalley]

8. bless you, calimary! :D

[calimary]

9. I do enjoy calling these folks. Besides, it allows me to check that the phone numbers still work.

And I try to be nice. I've only had one in-yer-face'r who felt it necessary to argue with me and get in my face about it. I just argued back. I figured - tie him up, then, so he can't take other calls or get anything else done for awhile.

Besides, the opposition NEEDS to hear from us. They NEED to know and hear, first-hand, that WE are out there and there are LEGIONS of us. They NEED to hear and see and have it proven to them - that despite the sloganeering of their bosses, those senators and congresscritters DO NOT speak for "The American People." Not ALL of 'em anyway. WE are there, too, and those assholes do NOT speak for us! And there are more of us than these folks on that side of the aisle either are honestly aware of or are trying to ignore, or hoping to fool themselves into thinking we don't exist in large numbers. You know, out-of-sight, out-of-mind. If all they hear from is their own rubber-stamping stampede, they have zero chance to open their own minds. Hell, they have zero chance of even becoming halfway aware that there IS a different side to the argument! They close their ears to the President and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. But they can't do it as easily when it's force-fed into their own personal ears on the phone they just answered in their boss's office. Bad enough when you're steeped in that shit all day every day. YUCK!!! I could not work for somebody whose politics I didn't support!

[calimary]

10. And in this case, especially, they NEED to hear how much opposition they face, and how

dug-in we are. They need to hear and see and be made fully aware of the walls that are beginning to close around them. They NEED that.

[Scuba]

11. Kick, thanks calimary. And can't we find a progressive candidate to primary Ron Kind?

[calimary]

12. I'd like to find progressive candidates to primary ALL these unruly partisan know-nothings!

Ron Kind finally gave up the ghost and got in line, evidently. But what about the other four?

And even more important: what about all those unredeemable teabaggers who only want anarchy, tear down the government, screw the poor ('cause they're just lazy moochers!) screw the sick and hungry and homeless ('cause they're just lazy moochers too!!!), for the sake of their own "Golden Rule" - "Screw You, Suckers, You're On Your OWN!"? The folks from Political Bizarro World who think this is somehow a good thing? The assholes like michele bachmann who says she hasn't seen her fellow idiots this happy in a long time. They're HAPPY about this? THIS is what makes them HAPPY??????

ASSHOLES!!!!!!!

[Scurrilous]

13. K & R