Senator Boxer at YearlyKos

Blogging from YearlyKos

In a speech met with multiple standing ovations, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) delivered the lunch keynote on day two of the YearlyKos conference and told a crowd filled with liberal activists and bloggers "never, ever become silent about things that matter and we will get our country back."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who had been scheduled to appear with Boxer, canceled at the last minute due to Congressional business.

Speaking to a packed hotel ballroom, Boxer covered a variety of topics including the midterm elections, the domestic spying scandal, gay marriage and the war in Iraq.

"I voted no on going to war," said Boxer to thunderous applause. "It was one of the best votes I ever cast in so many years of public life. There are only 23 of us in the Senate who voted that way and it was a very hard thing to do."

Boxer acknowledged the presence of Ambassador Joe Wilson, whose wife, Valerie Plame, is the former CIA agent outed by the Bush White House.

"They went after your family. It's despicable and cowardly and you deserve our thanks," said Boxer directly to Wilson, who was sitting nearby in the audience. "He goes out, he went and found out the truth about Saddam's supposed efforts to get weapons of mass destruction. He comes back and tells the truth and instead of getting thanked, what happens? They go after his family. Can you think of anything more cowardly than that?"