Forty-six for, fifty-three against

The people's protest roared forth across this vast nation, from Maine to Midway and from Barrow to Brownsville. The calls and faxes and e-mails inundated Washington. The Senate's telephone system crashed and stopped working because of the overload. And in the end, they heard us. Amnesty came up fourteen votes short -- not able to muster even a simple majority.

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), consistently one of the strongest voices against the amnesty bill, probably said it best:

When the U.S. Senate brought the Amnesty bill back up this week, they declared war on the American people. This act created a cri-sis of confidence in their government. Thankfully, the American people won today. This is remarkable because it shows that Americans are engaged and they care deeply about their coun-try. They care enough for their country to get mad and to fight for it, and that’s the most important thing of all. Americans made phone calls and sent letters, and convinced the Senate to stop this bill.

This is a time for celebration -- even gloating -- but it is not a time to forgive or forget. Note well who voted the right way, and who voted the wrong way -- and remember, when the time comes to cast your own vote for or against a Senator.