Did You Know...

This is not a joke. Just arrived in my e-mailbox via Democrats.com. Seriously:

Dear Democrats.com Member,

When you pay your mobile phone bill each month, you probably don’t give a lot of thought to where your money goes. But given what’s going on in Washington these days, maybe you should.

Congress has finally started the process of holding Karl Rove — a.k.a. “Bush’s Brain” — accountable for his blatant (and possibly illegal) politicization of the Justice Department. All we can say to that is, it’s about time. (1)

But you probably weren’t aware that your mobile phone company may be among those that helped fund Rove’s rise to power, or advance his dream of a “permanent Republican majority.” Are you comfortable supporting that kind of company?

Consider the facts on record:

* AT&T’s® Political Action Committee contributed the maximum amount allowable by law to the Bush/Cheney campaign — twice. (2) In 2000, these funds helped pay Karl Rove’s expenses.(3)
* So far in this 2008 election cycle, contributions from the joint Political Action Committee of Verizon Wireless® and Verizon Communications Inc.® lean decidedly Republican (4), including five-figure donations to the National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee.
* AT&T’s current CEO, Randall Stephenson, has donated tens of thousands to conservative politicians and PACs. (5) AT&T’s former CEO, Ed Whitacre, was a Bush-Cheney “Ranger” in 2004, raising more than $200,000 to give us four more years of Bush. (6)

Here at CREDO, we have a profoundly different set of values than Karl Rove and the companies that have shown support for his dream of a permanent conservative majority in Congress:

* We’ve been calling for Karl Rove to be fired and prosecuted ever since 2005, when his role in ‘outing’ covert agent Valerie Plame came to light.
* Instead of right-wing politicians, CREDO has given $60 million to progressive nonprofits like Planned Parenthood, Earthjustice, the ACLU and Iraq Vets Against the War.
* Rather than suppress voter turnout — Karl Rove’s signature trademark for stealing elections(7) — CREDO’s voter registration programs have helped 1.1 million people register to vote since July 2007.

If you want to see progressive change for America, it’s probably time to stop supporting a company that supported Karl Rove, and make the switch to CREDO Mobile. With CREDO you’ll get the same quality coverage, phones and accessories that you enjoy from any major provider — plus fantastic customer service from our team of dedicated and knowledgeable representatives.

Best of all, if you switch now, we’ll pay your early termination fee from those other guys (up to $200). Click here to visit credomobile.com and learn more, or call 866.513.8670 to talk to someone right now about making the switch. Be sure to mention code 500177 so they’ll know I sent you. But please don’t delay — this offer ends September 15, 2008.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Sincerely,

Michael Kieschnick
Co-founder and President
CREDO Mobile

* All with a two-year CREDO Mobile service agreement. Offer subject to credit qualification. Early Termination Fee: We’ll credit your CREDO Mobile account (up to $200) 30 days after we receive a copy of your prior carrier’s termination fee charges; details to follow by mail. Offer only available to new CREDO Mobile customers.

Sources:

1) Just a few weeks ago, CREDO teamed up with Brave New Films to help deliver more than 120,000 signatures to House Judiciary Committee members, calling on them to hold Rove in contempt and arrest him if necessary to compel his sworn testimony.

2) AT&T’s support of Bush-Cheney in 2000 here: http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?20035274581 and 2004 here: http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?24990933215 .

3) Rove expenses covered by Bush-Cheney 2000:

http://www.opensecrets.org/capital_eye/inside.php?ID=143

4) In 2008, PAC giving from Verizon’s joint Political Action Committee favors Republicans by more than $10,000: http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pac2pac.php?cycle=2008&cmte=C00363127

5) Randall Stephenson donations: http://www.newsmeat.com/ceo_political_donations/Randall_Stephenson.php

6) Ed Whitacre “Bush Ranger” Status:

http://www.tpj.org/docs/pioneers/pioneers_table.jsp

7) Rove’s role in voter suppression efforts: http://harpers.org/archive/2007/04/horton-rove-cashiered-328483284823 and here: http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/editorials/134