So far 3,341 of you have joined our Democratic Donor Strike against the DSCC (Senate Democrats) and DCCC (House Democrats).

And it must be scaring the bejeezus out of Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer, because the DSCC just sent out an email from "virtual James Carville" to try to convince progressives that we should put aside our rage at Senate Democrats and give them our hard-earned money anyway.

From: James Carville info@dscc.org
Subject: More horses

Dear X,

I'm not going to sugarcoat it.  I'm as frustrated as you are that more hasn't gotten done in this Congress.  Like you, I want to see more progress on getting us out of this mess in Iraq, getting more folks health care, and kicking our oil habit.

I'll give the DSCC credit, this letter is punchy. And it's clever to have "virtual Carville" pretending to be on our side, feeling our pain. 

Of course real Carville spends his time on TV selling Hillary Clinton and trashing her Democratic opponents. He never demands an exit from Iraq, universal health care, or "kicking our oil habit" because the Corporate Media would never let a Democrat say such anti-Corporate things. And if he tried to slip something past the Corporate Censors, Cheney's enforcer Mary Matalin would cut off his dick head when he got home.

But I want to be clear: That's not the fault of the horses we have.  It's because we need more horses.  Fifty-one Democrats in the Senate just isn't enough.  Don't just take it from me.  Stu Rothenberg is the gold standard of political analysts and he just said "Sixty seats is what it's about. And if the Democrats can get close to that, then they really can do things."

Stu Rothenberg's "gold" is painted Republican poop - just ask Kos, Stoller, Kos, or Stoller. Shame on "virtual Carville" for quoting him. But I digress.

Sure it would be nice to have more horses. But if those horses are trained by Carville, all we'll get is more horsesh*t.

Let's get this straight: we have all the horses we need right now to get out of Iraq and do a whole lot more.

We have a majority of the Senate, which means Majority Leader Harry Reid controls the Senate calendar and every bill that gets on that calendar or - equally important - doesn't get on that calendar.

Sure, Republicans can filibuster bills they don't like if they can get 40 votes. But it takes just one vote - Harry Reid's - to stop a bill Democrats don't like.

One vote - Harry Reid's - could stop all funding for Iraq, except what is needed to bring our troops safely home.

One vote - Harry Reid's - could stop the bill to allow warrantless wiretapping with retroactive telecom immunity.

One vote - Harry Reid's - could instruct the Democratic majority to send the Sargeant-at-Arms to arrest Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, Joshua Bolten, and other former and current White House officials, for contempt of Congress in refusing to testify pursuant to subpoenas.

And on and on it goes.

If we had 60 Senate votes, Harry Reid's one vote would still decide whether to allow a vote to fund the Iraq Occupation or not. If we had 70 votes, 80 votes, 90 votes, or even 100 votes, Harry Reid would still control the calendar.

We're not stupid, and we're not sheep. We're not in the Senate so we don't know every arcane rule, but we have lawyers and we know history and we're watching every move they make - including Harry Reid's "midnight massacre" to confirm Waterboarding Mike Mukasey as Attorney General when all four anti-Mukasey Senators running for President were out of town.

The bottom line is simple: once you get past 50 in the Senate, values matter more than votes.

Our Democratic Donor Strike has four conditions:

1. Restrict any new Iraq funds to a safe withdrawal of U.S. troops - not another penny for occupation or the Bush-Maliki "enduring security guarantees"

2. Prohibit any use of funds to plan or execute a pre-emptive attack on Iran, and repeal the
post-9/11 Authorization of Use of Military Force that Bush and Cheney believe authorizes
them to attack Iran or any other country they please, as well as to wiretap all our calls
and emails without warrants

3. Fully restore the Constitution by strictly outlawing warrantless wiretapping and torture,
closing Guantanamo, and restoring habeas corpus

4. Complete the investigation of White House crimes by using "inherent contempt" to
compel testimony by current and former White House officials

If Harry Reid wants our money, he can stop hiding behind "virtual Carville" and just do it.

And while we're waiting for Godot, you can join our Democratic Donor Strike.