Feingold fights the good fight on censure

March 14, 2006

When Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) unveiled his censure resolution yesterday morning, the common belief was that Senate Republicans would never let it see the light of day, better yet hold a vote on the floor. As it happens, the opposite was true — Bill Frist brought the resolution to the floor just hours after it was introduced.

Senate Democrats on Monday blocked an immediate vote on a call by one of their own to censure President Bush for his eavesdropping program. They acted after Republicans said they were eager to pass judgment on a proposal that they portrayed as baseless and disruptive to the antiterror effort.

Minutes before Senator Russell D. Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, formally introduced his resolution reprimanding Mr. Bush, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the majority leader, said Republicans were ready to vote by day’s end or Tuesday.

“When we’re talking about censure of the president of the United States at a time of war, when this president is out defending the American people with a very good, lawful, constitutional program, it is serious business,” Mr. Frist said. “If they want to make an issue out of it, we’re willing to do just that.”

The AP made a big deal suggesting that Dems were hostile to Feingold’s measure, but it wasn’t quite as bad as it seemed. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), whom the AP said had “distanced” himself from Feingold, actually commended him “for bringing this to the attention of the American people. We need a full and complete debate on this NSA spying.”

That said, it’s fair to say Feingold launched this initiative on his own and, at least as far as the Senate is concerned, will fight for his censure resolution on his own. I’m not necessarily blaming Feingold — I think he deserves a lot of credit for having the guts to do this — but it’s clear that the censure flap is uncoordinated.

Dems are acting as if they didn’t even know it was coming until Feingold said so on Sunday morning, and there was no strategy in place to address the controversy yesterday. By the time Frist brought the measure to the floor, most Dems hadn’t even read it yet. It’s one thing for a maverick Dem to stick his neck out, but couldn’t the party approach this in a slightly more organized fashion? That’s a rhetorical question; don’t answer it.

For what it’s worth, Donna Brazile wrote a column for Roll Call today that said this is a bold move that Dems should take seriously.

Many bloggers say they want Democrats to be bold and decisive when it comes to protecting the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law. For those who worry that this issue will create more tension between the progressive “net-roots” types and the party’s base, I say fear not. Let’s use this resolution to talk about what’s really troubling so many Democrats and other astute Americans: the lack of Congressional oversight and accountability.

No sooner had Feingold made his announcement than Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) was on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer” urging caution. In other words, hold your powder — wait until the investigation, if any occurs, is completed before urging action.

As a Beltway insider, I am convinced that we cannot continue to tell those who have loyally supported our Democratic leaders to wait. Wait for what? Wait until our pollsters give us the green light to speak up? Should we continue to wait, hoping that the Republicans will finally invite Democrats into the room when important decisions affecting our national security are made?

All I know is that people outside the Beltway have grown deeply impatient with our focus-group style of politics. They want to see some bold changes and some new leadership.

It’s time to break with the same-old, same-old and use the Feingold resolution to force the Republican-controlled Congress to commit to serious oversight of the controversial, but increasingly popular, surveillance program.

The message from the left-leaning blogosphere is clear: Democrats should understand the real issue. The point is not censure or impeachment; it is Congress’ lack of oversight and its failure to hold anyone accountable for major mistakes or missteps. And especially, it’s about clearly misleading the American public.

Stay tuned.

March 14, 2006 at 9:25 am

The NSA Program is “a very good, lawful, constitutional program” – Senator Bill Frist

What is this guy smoking? Even John Ashcroft didn’t think this was a lawful or constitutional program.

I suppose as Bill is retiring from the Senate to run for the Presidency, he no longer cares about checks and balances or the constitutional authority of Congress to pass the country’s laws.

After six years of trying to appease Republicans and relying heavily on focus groups, I’m glad Donna Brazile has figured out Democrats should stand for something. Good for her. She’s finally coming around to the base’s way of thinking.

But she still should be fired immediately and denied any campaign job other than posting yard signs. That woman has the worst political instincts.

I agree with Lance and prm. I’d wonder why the Dems weren’t organized on this but I have a hunch they were, in a way. This censure motion rocks the boat that elected Dems are lolling in (granted, not the dry areas), so their knee-jerk reaction (since 1994 … 12 years now) is to do what the Senate leadership asks.

At this point, I have to agree that we need some kind of investigation into the legality of the wiretaps before we can proceed with censure or (gasp!) impeachment.

Let’s stick to message here. The American people know this Prez is a no-account lying lame duck. Even the Kool-Aid drinkers are starting to acknowledge it. When your enemies are destroying themselves, it’s best to just get out of the way.

Keep people focused on the mismanagement of the war in Iraq, the mismanagement of the War on Terror (esp. port and border security), the mismanagement of the economy (esp. corporate (energy co.) welfare and the destruction of the middle class.

“When your enemies are destroying themselves, it’s best to just get out of the way.” – Gridlock

Not true!

We can’t let the Republican Congres take credit for killing the Dubai Ports World control of six American East Coast port facilities and we can’t let them be seen as the ones standing up to George Bush’s increasing irratic policies. The Democrats need to speak up and be FOR SOMETHING to win in 2006 and 2008.

Right on, prm. All I can say is is that Donna Brazille is the kiss of death, one of the many in the Dem chattering and consulting classes.

Same old spineless, cowardly Democrats. With
any decent opposition party, the 2006 and 2008
elections would be an absolute blowout. But not
with this gang of feckless, visionless wonders.
Just watch that huge poll margin of Democrats over
Republicans in Congress shrink as this rotten
crew pops up in place of the anonymous Dems
that the people are thinking more and more of
as our national salvation.

As the real Dems fail to stand up, so will their
fortunes fall.

There’s an old saying, “It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees,” and it’s time that either the Washington “professional consultants” get it – that there are some things more important than feathering their nests with polling fees, advertising fees, consulting fees, etc., etc. – or they get the hell out.

These guys come out to the “grass roots” occasionally to get the pulse of the “little people.” If you’re a member of a local democratic organization, you’ll hear about it. Go to the meeting! Confront the moron and tell him he’s so full of shit his eyes are brown! Give him a choice between running out of the room or a good swift kick between the legs (I won’t say “the balls” because these schmucks don’t have any, like Republicans don’t have hearts).

Give them the message: pull your head back to where the sun shines! That’s not Chanel No. 5 you’ve been sniffing!

Yes, I am shrill. I get shrill when I get frustrated, and watching these morons for the past 20 years is frustrating as hell.

There have been times when Donna has irked me but in this I think she is right on. I think many Americans and obviously Democrats would like a discussion on the Censure and the issues related to the NSA. This lack of discussion on every topic has been a real frustration to many during the Bush administration. Have the discussion. The Democrats need to have a discussion that takes the high road and doesn’t look like we are wimps (like the GOP accuses us of all the freakin’ time) because Democrats don’t back other party members or avoids the discussion becuase we are afraid of looking weak/tentative.

The GOP accuses the Democrats of not having a plan. Well part of what they are really talking about is that Democrats aren’t proactive in pushing ahead with their agenda or their beliefs. Talking about censure is part of that. Do I expect the GOP to descend into their snide little games. Of course. That doesn’t mean we just say “they are going to kill us on this so lets not bother.” That is exactly what they want us to do! It is the MO of a bully. Why let the GOP set the Democratic party agenda? Why let the GOP tell the Democratic party how to run itself?

Opportunistic politicans who spin their “beliefs” to be popular are becoming discredited bythe results of their lack of leadership.

What America is longing for is a leader that justifies faith in democracy.
If a clueless batch of democrats take control of power, how are they ever going to clean up the mess left by Bush?

We need leadership with real vision and substance. Just getting elected will not be enough. Dems need to take risks and stand for something before they forget who they once were.

“It’s time to break with the same-old, same-old and use the Feingold resolution to force the Republican-controlled Congress to commit to serious oversight of the controversial, but increasingly popular, surveillance program. ”

Increasingly popular? Is that a typo?

All I know is that people outside the Beltway have grown deeply impatient with our focus-group style of politics
Translation: Focus groups have told us they have grown deeply impatient with our focous-group style of politics.

Anonymous Liberal an occasional commenter here has a good guest post up at Unclaimed Territory. Here is his take on this matter.

Maybe someday these “strategists” will learn something by watching how their opponents operate. When was the last time the Republican party let fear of appearing “extreme” stop them from doing anything? And they now control every branch of government. GOP strategists long ago realized that, in politics, the only difference between an “extreme” idea and a “reasonable” one is the number of politicians willing to endorse it.

And these are the same guys who complain about Howard Dean’s proactive approach. They oughta be ashamed of themselves. Sheesh…..

Sen. Finegold is not being disruptive to the antiterror effort, he is protecting what makes American great, TRUTH and LAW.

“The American people already made their decision,” Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday in an appearance in Mr. Feingold’s home state, The Associated Press reported. “They agree with the president.”

Nope, that’s wrong. The President during the Presidential Campaign lied to the American People about domestic spying, saying it was all conducted correctly with warrants from the FISA court. Cheney is plying a load of BS when he tries to claim the 2004 election was a referendum on this, because none of us knew they were doing it.

I am so discouraged by the Dems. They seem so spineless. They have a very important issue with the NSA wiretaps, but they seem so frightened. With the exception of Feingold, they all seemed to have misplaced their moral compass. Isn’t it about time for a call to arms? Aren’t they facing an election in November? They are throwing away victory with both hands.

I see Feingold’s resolution to be like the opening break in a game of pool. Many are disappointed that not enough balls fell into the pocket, but in reality, the balls are still rolling. The game is now on.

I expect this will reverberate for some time. It will enter the discussion at each new White House scandal. (Lord knows, there’s been no shortage of those.) This will force repubs to defend Bush, rather than distance themselves like they’d prefer to do for the midterm races. If the Dems play the rest of the game right, this is a great way to hang Bush and his low approval around the necks of every republican. In the long run, it could end up hurting the repubs worse than if the censure had been adopted.

Feingold isn’t too happy with his fellow dems. via Think Progress,

Sen. Feingold said the following to Fox News’ Trish Turner:

I’m amazed at Democrats, cowering with this president’s numbers so low. The administration just has to raise the specter of the war and the Democrats run and hide. … Too many Democrats are going to do the same thing they did in 2000 and 2004. In the face of this, they’ll say we’d better just focus on domestic issues. … [Democrats shouldn’t] cower to the argument, that whatever you do, if you question the administration, you’re helping the terrorists.

If The Dick in Charge thinks the American People have already decided they agree with Dumbya, perhaps he needs to read CB more often and become informed about those 36%, all-time-low approval ratings. . .

I had the opportunity to see Feingold’s powerful, eloquent speech on C-Span this morning — followed by Specter’s pathetic response (he sputtered that “nowhere did the Senator from Wisconsin ever say that the President acted in bad faith!”).

Feingold knows he has no chance of getting the Senate to censure Bush. He’s using this as a way to shake up the conversation, a conversation the GOP and the MSM have been starting to sweep under the rug after the Bush/Senate “compromise” last week. He realizes that without a dramatic soundbite, this crucial story will soon fade into the background static of all the other Bush crimes we’ve “moved along” from.

Feingold is saying: Let’s take a stand, before it’s too late. But I can only hope that this aspiration, this time, has more staying power on Capitol Hill and in the media than Harry Reid’s Senate shutdown last year, which ended up accomplishing nothing.

Dem’s are so fearful of being painted as “extreme,” that they seem unable to recognize that everything they say that is critical of Chimperor will be labeled as extreme. Harry Reid has shown in flashes that he understands what he is up against and what it takes to compete against it. But, alas, flashes of leadership get us nowhere if there is no follow through, and there NEVER seems to be any follow through. The party is so factionalized that it cannot respond effectively to attacks upon it – let alone attacks upon the programs and ideals held dear by its constituents. Dem’s have had one clear victory over these past many months, and that involved saving social security. But, I must say, I think Bush lost that battle more than Dem’s won it. I thought Harry Reid had a “War Room.” Perhaps someone who is closer to the Belt Way than I can tell me what the “War Room” has accomplised since its formation? Is it even still in existence? The Dem’s need to understand that they must hit back on Republican talking points early and often to prevent them from working their way into the political narrative and vernacular. Studies seem to show that the deck is stacked against them in terms of access to platforms (such as the Sunday Talking Head Fests) for articulating their message. It seems like they should work extra hard to make the most of the time they are on the air. But, no, they seem unprepared and uncoordinated and unconcerned with knocking down the latest Republican nonsense (such as Darth Cheney’s pronouncement that the American people agree w/ Bush on the NSA surveillance program). I can’t even watch anymore because I become frustrated by the lack of preparation and rebuttal. I have concluded that congressional Democrats think they are irrelevent. And if they think they are, they are.

“If The Dick in Charge thinks the American People have already decided they agree with Dumbya, perhaps he needs to read CB more often and become informed about those 36%, all-time-low approval ratings.” – Carl Jung

He’d just point out two important facts. One, only the poll on the first Tuesday of November every four years counts,

and Two, even if only 36% of the people support Bush now, remember in elections that more people have to support the Democrats, which, while true in 2000, wasn’t in 2004.

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