Monday, March 19, 2007

Bill Frist Made My Day

I rarely get e-mail from Republican Senators. Or even Republican ex-Senators.

But I got the e-mail below from Dr. Frist.

I'm happy to share it with you:

Dear David,

Join Me in Calling the White House

Dial 1-800-671-7887 to urge President Bush to save lives in Darfur by launching "Plan B" immediately.

Once you've hung up, click here to report your call back to the Save Darfur Coalition.

Each year I travel to Africa as a medical missionary. I've just returned from my latest trip, a deeply troubling visit to the Sudan.

Due to a series of increasingly violent attacks on foreign aid workers in Darfur over the past six months, international efforts to protect civilians and provide them with food, clean water,
shelter, and medical care are in a state of crisis.

Countless men, women, and children are in real danger of falling prey to violence, starvation, or disease as a result of these attacks.

The U.S. must take the lead in working with the international community to end the violence. The lives of millions hang in the balance.

Please join me in calling the White House comment line today to urge President Bush to launch "Plan B," his tough, three-tiered plan to push Sudan to end the genocide, before more lives are lost in Darfur.

It will only take two minutes of your time and could make a world of difference for millions of people in need. Just follow the steps below:

Dial 1-800-671-7887 (toll-free)

Once you've been transferred to the comment line leave your comment using the talking points below:

I'm calling to urge President Bush to implement "Plan B" to help bring an end to the genocide in Darfur. Specifically, I am asking him to:

Enforce tough sanctions against Sudan;

Work with the UN to authorize and enforce a no-fly zone over Darfur to protect civilians from Sudanese bombers; and

Press the UN for faster deployment of UN peacekeepers to protect civilians in Darfur.

Click here to report your call back to the Save Darfur Coalition (this step is crucial - please don't skip it.)

The U.S. and the international community are all that stand between millions of civilians in Darfur and the Sudanese regime's policy of genocide. Hundreds of thousands have already been killed, and time is running out for millions more.

Without tough "Plan B" measures to accompany diplomatic efforts, the international community's efforts to end the violence in Darfur are doomed to fail.

Please follow the steps above to join me in calling the White House comment line to ask President Bush to launch "Plan B" without further delay, then click here to report your call back to the Save Darfur Coalition.

I hope you will help me spread this message of urgent action by forwarding my email to your friends, family and co-workers and asking them to join you in taking two minutes to call the White House.

Thank you for your ongoing advocacy on behalf of the people of Darfur.

Sincerely,

Senator Bill Frist, M.D.

P.S. Will you join the Save Darfur Coalition in future calls to action? Click here to join our Weekly Action Network and commit to taking one action each week to stop the genocide in Darfur.

5 comments:

laura b. said...

It seems that the U.S. doesn't focus their eagle of eye of justice on the oppressed and their oppressers if they happen to live on the continent of Africa.
It is genocide after genocide over there and we here very little about it, all things considered. It's a disgrace.

Rachel said...

Did you see the interview that Anne Curry conducted with the president of Sudan? Portions of it aired this morning.
It was the worst attempt at spin doctoring that I have ever seen.

David in DC said...

l.b.: That's why I keep banging this particular drum so loudly. It's unthinkable to me that the United States of America has the manpower and willpower to police the Iraqi Civil War but not to work to help stop this genocide. Our priorities (or at least the priorities of those we've entrusted with leadership) are --- not to put too fine a point on it --- ALL FUCKED UP.

Rachel: I never get to see the Today show. At that time of day, our TV is either off or tuned to "The Fairly Oddparents" or "SpongeBob Squarepants".

But I've seen interviews with the civilian and military leaders of Sudan before. Over the last couple of years they've proven willing to tell most any lie to protect their position.

The time for words has passed. The time for action has long since come.

ANON1 said...

My parents hung out with Bill Frist on a private yacht. No joke. His family founded HCA and is worth a lot of money. Good guy.

David in DC said...

Steak Sauce: Welcome back.

Frist is a very good doc.

When some nutcase tried to shoot his way into the Capitol, Frist was one of the first on the scene to treat the wounded, including the shooter. I think I remember him riding in an ambulance from the crime scene to the George Washington University E.R.

Similarly, during the post-9/11 anthrax scare, he was an important resource for his fellow Senators but also for all of the lesser mortals who make Senators and Congressmen look good.

During his time in Washington, he had a special arrangement with the National Zoo that allowed him to help with surgery on sick and wounded animals.

His presidential campaign may have peaked a year or two too early 'though.

His video dignosis of Terry Schiavo was probably not his finest hour, either.

But you get the sense that he's one of the good guys.

It's a shame he chose to be a one-term Senator. Washington needs more work-horses and fewer show-horses, regardless of party.