WRITE CONGRESSS NOW: Restore haabeas corpus, bring our soldiers home

A letter from our friend Rabbi Arthur Waskow

Dear Friends,

The military funding bill is before the Senate RIGHT NOW. Two important amendments have been proposed - one to restore the ancient and crucial right of habeas corpus, abolished for some prisoners by the last Congress; and one (by Senator Russell Feingold) to set a firm six-month step-by-step process for bringing our soldiers in Iraq safely and swiftly home no later than next April.

Both these proposals deserve strong support. Both are efforts to restore the Constitution's desire to limit presidential arrogance and power lest it become destructive and oppressive. If you click here -

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/tsc/campaign.jsp?c...

you will find a model letter to your Senators. You can - I hope you will—make changes in the model text to specify your own thoughts.

At the deepest root of our Founders' concern for limiting presidential power were the teachings of our religious traditions about the behavior of pharaohs and caesars. The Founders' fears were well-founded and their solution - our Constitution - is brilliant. But in every generation it takes courageous citizens and representatives to turn their solution into more than ink on paper.
As many of you know from my article in The Nation, I have been deeply concerned by the unwillingness of practically all large Jewish organizations to speak out on these issues. So I am specially happy to report that the Reform movement's Religious Action Center in Washington has urged its local activists to write their Senators in support of these proposals.

PLEASE ACT RIGHT AWAY. CLICK TO --

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/tsc/campaign.jsp?c...

and send your letter.

Thanks - and blessings of shalom, salaam, peace -

Arthur