news

GRAB YOUR CAMERA: Tell�Your Senator�You Deserve "Better than Bolton"!

(And we'll give you some cash to help you do it.)

If you're wondering�who John Bolton is, here's a brief overview:�He's our country's ambassador to the United Nations. See,�last year, President Bush�asked�the U.S. Senate to give�Bolton�the thumbs�up to be�our�ambassador.�But many�senators�did not think he�was a good pick. He constantly put the U.N.�down�(still does), and has said, "There is no such thing as the United Nations. There is an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world and that is the United States when it suits our interest and we can get others to go along.''

Despite all of this,�President Bush wanted Mr. Bolton to be�ambassador. So,�he ignored the majority of Senate�and gave�him what is called a "recess appointment", which basically means he named him ambassador when no one was around to vote on it. It may sound shady, but this is perfectly legal.
Fast forward a year and a half.�John Bolton's time in office is almost up, and the president, once again, is asking senators to approve him for another term. The problem is that Ambassador Bolton has not changed his ways. In fact, the U.S. is�even more isolated,�distrusted and disrespected�at the United Nations�than ever!

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC -�a group of 18�senators responsible for�the foreign policy activities of the U.S. Senate) is set to vote on his�renomination�as ambassador in early September. If the SFRC�agrees to pass the vote to�the full Senate, your senator will be asked to vote for Mr. Bolton as ambassador. This means we have just under�a month to tell our senators that we want an ambassador who's "Better than Bolton"!

We are asking you�(and any of your friends) to grab a camera (or any video-recording device) and tell your Senators why you deserve BETTER THAN BOLTON. In fact, we want you to record�as many people as you can, telling�us why they think�Mr. Bolton's not the man for the job.

And for each person you get on camera, we'll give you a buck. We know that ain't much, but with a couple hours of work at your local hang-out, it will pay for�the�digital video cassette that you'll use...and a large�pizza to keep up your strength.�

We'll collect your work, put it�on a disc and hand-deliver your�recordings ourselves�to your senators' offices here in Washington DC. (Extra points if you take a copy to your senators' local state offices as well). There's not much time, so hurry!

The first step to getting started: Send me an email with�your name, state�and phone number, stating that you want to participate in the "Better than Bolton" project. Then, click here to go to a page with all the info you'll need�to become a gorilla-style-citizen-video-lobbyist-extraordinaire (okay, I admit, we're still working on the title...this has never been done before). And if you have any questions, drop me a line at the address below.

Good luck! I look forward to hearing from you!

Erica Tafoya
Manager,�Advocacy & Special Events

Visit our Stop Bolton Campaign site (listed below).