I know there are a couple of conservatives that read this blog. I know there aren't many, but there are a few... and a few of you have your own blogs and have a larger conservative readership. So, this is a sincere appeal to you.

Yes, I'm still bitter about George Bush being re-elected, and I don't want him representing our nation. No, I don't feel like he has his heart or his head in the right place. But there he is, and I know you guys are happy about it, and that's an honest difference of opinion, I guess. But that doesn't mean that you guys can't oppose anything he does. Some of you have already spoken out about some of the spending that he and the Republican Congress have undertaken. Some of you have even lamented that you might have voted on our side if we had run a better candidate. But that's all kind of small time, and now you really have a chance to shine.

Join the Democrats who have a spine in opposing confirmation of Gonzales. Make the case to all of your conservative friends and/or readership that the U.S. will be compromising its moral authority by confirming an A.G. who wrote memos suggesting that the President could ignore U.S. laws on torture if he felt they were unconstitutional restrictions on his war powers, who advocated taking the teeth out of any definition of torture, and who basically built a legal framework meant to open the door to American use of torture. Ok, some of you think that Rumsfeld's torture memo, and the U.S. command structure really didn't cause the "bad apples" at Abu Ghraib and Camp X-ray and elsewhere. I think that's wrong (and naive), but that's ok. We can disagree on that. Surely we can agree that the President is not, as Gonzales believes, above the law if he "thinks" it is unconstitutional? Surely we can agree that it is objectionable to set up a system to provide legal cover for torture or other forms of prisoner abuse? I think we can. And I think that no matter whether you are happy with Bush in office or unhappy with that - we all have to live with the country that we wake up with in 2009. It can be a country that condoned torture - and face it: a vote to confirm Gonzales is a vote for a man that condoned torture - or it can be a country that stood on principle; at least in some respects. It can be a country with or without moral authority on human rights. Republican senators will, if they believe their constituents want it, oppose Bush on the confirmation of Gonzales. And, if enough of you guys speak out, eventually enough constituents of Republican Senators will want a no-vote on Gonzales to make something happen. It's possible for the grassroots to do what the Congress and President have been unable or unwilling to do: unite. We can unite in favor of an America that believes in human rights and opposes the use of torture. We can do it because it is the right thing to do. Are y'all with me?

P.S. Ricky, Uncle, the usual suspects? If you are with me on this, why not give Markos a link for the list in this post?

P.P.S. To make it extra-official, I'm going on record as asking for all senators to vote "no" on Gonzales... and ask for this post to be included in the No To Gonzales database. I think that she said it best. Conservatives, after thinking it over, should have an opportunity to offer their own posts to the database as well.