Dear Democrats

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Dear Democrats,

Today is the traditional First Monday in October. The new Chief Justice was installed, shortly after the next Supreme Court nominee was announced. The President, who was installed after the Supreme Court stopped the 2000 Florida vote count, nominated his own attorney to the Court.

The response from Democratic leaders seemed as lukewarm and noncommittal as the testimony of the first Bush SCOTUS nominee-- and possibly the second.

The real world that Americans live in includes a precarious economy where one can't get a job without experience and can't get experience without a job-- that is, when there is a job to be had.

Yet John Roberts was made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court with a minimal 2 years of judicial experience. The judicial record of the next SCOTUS nominee amounts to none. With Roberts, the nominee's lack of judicial decisions and evasive behavior left the Democrat's with "a roll of the dice." With the President's attorney-- well, she's the President's attorney. Her reported qualification is that she is an excellent corporate lawyer.

Americans are left to guess the meaning and the motivations behind all the Democratic niceties-- with concern that this nomination process will be another case of "going through the motions." Some would like to believe that you are very clever and have a strategy in mind. Some think we need a George Galloway under the Dome to give you all a reality check.

You congregate in marbled halls and hold forth from the TV screens. You make the rounds and deliver your lines and reinforce the deepening cynicism of Americans who believe that you do not represent them.

The Republican Majority Leaders in both the House and Senate are under investigation-- one was indicted last week. The head of FEMA was removed in disgrace after the unspeakably horrific (lack of) Katrina response. The same corporation with ties to the White House received no bid contracts in New Orleans and in Iraq-- where the war based on lies continues to bring death and destruction, rather than democracy. The word "cronyism" is on everyone's lips. Americans are convinced that corporate cronyism runs both Houses and both Parties of the Congress.

In response to the SCOTUS nomination, at least one of the Democratic leaders could have stepped forward and said something of substance. The American people see a corporate President appointed by the highest court in the land appointing his corporate lawyer to that Court. This amidst an ever-shifting shooting gallery of White House and Republican scandal that no one can keep up with. Maybe somebody should?

Do you hear the People slipping away, turning away? Today would have been an excellent opportunity for you to prove your relevance.