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Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion

By Jeralyn, Section War on Terror
Posted on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 03:01:25 PM EST
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Crooks and Liars has the video of Senator Feingold introducing the motion to censure President Bush over his NSA warrantless surveillance program.

Josh Marshall reports on Sen. Specter's followup:

It was coming to this. Responding to Sen. Feingold, Sen. Specter is now arguing on the floor of the senate that FISA is unconstitutional. Ergo, President Bush couldn't have been violating the law becuase it's not valid law. Quite a way for Specter to end his career.

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    Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion | 22 comments (22 topical)
    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#1)
    by Molly Bloom on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 03:35:46 PM EST
    Aside from now arguing that FISA is unconstitutional Spector had a bit of a breakdown in his logic. 1. Spector conceded Bush broke the law in failing to properly inform congress as required by law. 2. Spector repeatedly stated we didn't have a enough information to know what the program is about. If that's true, how does he know whether or not what Bush is doing is illegal?

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 03:51:52 PM EST
    Me, my wallet, my time, my effort, and my general support are in an indefinite holding pattern until the gerrymandered states determine who the next Democratic Presidential Candidate will be in '08. Once I am convinced that -- at the very least -- Russ Feingold isn't the DLC ordained lightning rod to once again SUCK in Progressive dollars (ala Howard Dean) for the Corporatist totalitarian cause, I may start to consider coming back. If Feingold stands on national television and reminds America he voted against Iraq and the Patriot Act, he gets my vote. If he stands on National television and tells America how much he loves religious prejudices and killing foreigners to make America rich..er..safe, Democrats lose me in '08. Anyone other than Feingold on the current landscape will not even get a hearing from me. I've heard as much as I can stand from Hillary, Kerry, et.al. I'm taking any and all bets that a Hillary Presidency supports the Patriot Act and commits troops to a long intractable campaign in Iraq/Iran/Syria.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#3)
    by glanton on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 04:15:37 PM EST
    Tama, I'm right there with you, and suspect that your fears about Feingold will be realized. In the end he will sound like the rest of them do. Speaking of futility, are you definitely out for 2006? Me, I'd rather floss with cardboard than vote for any of the Democratic clowns out here in Texas who fail to convince that they are decent human beings, much less decent alternatives.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#4)
    by Patrick on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 04:20:44 PM EST
    Can anyone provide a list of other senators that are supporting this motion?

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#5)
    by Steven Sanderson on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 04:49:45 PM EST
    Yesterday Bill Frist fired the first salvo in the GOP attack on Russ Feingold's patriotism. Conservatives loathe Feingold because what they see in him is how they've long seen and portrayed themselves. Conservatives have long envisioned themselves as our country's true patriots and the sole defenders of our Constitution. That image has been shattered by their evisceration of our Constitution and it's Bill of Rights and the undermining of our country's security under the guise of free trade. Russ Feingold has courageously, and far too often alone, defended our Constitution, it's Bill of Rights, and the security it provides our country and all of us collectively and individually. Conservatives will hate and visciously attack Feingold for being everything they've claimed to be but have failed miserably at.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 05:53:56 PM EST
    Me, I'd rather floss with cardboard than vote for any of the Democratic clowns out here in Texas who fail to convince that they are decent human beings, much less decent alternatives.
    Texas Democrat == Republican Lite. If I'm going to vote Republican I'm going to vote for the real thing. Even nationally, too many Democrats are Republican Lite. A Democrat who takes a stand like Feingold did has got to know nobody's got his back. Wish we had proportional representation voting systems. Then I could vote Green, or even Kinky, without helping the Republicans.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#7)
    by Edger on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 06:02:54 PM EST
    Patrick: Can anyone provide a list of other senators that are supporting this motion? AP Washington March 13, 2006, 8:03 PM EST WASHINGTON -- Democrats distanced themselves Monday from Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold's effort to censure President Bush over domestic spying, preventing a floor vote that could alienate swing voters. Republicans dared Democrats to vote for the proposal.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#8)
    by Edger on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 06:13:27 PM EST
    allen: A Democrat who takes a stand like Feingold did has got to know nobody's got his back.
    And so, what I'm telling you is, is that sometimes in this world you make unpopular decisions because you think they're right. --George W. Bush, October 8, 2004
    Feingold has guts. He's not playing politics. He's doing this because he thinks it's the right thing to do. It is. The world would do well with more like Feingold.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 06:36:11 PM EST
    And so, what I'm telling you is, is that sometimes in this world you make unpopular decisions because you think they're right. --George W. Bush, October 8, 2004
    And then sometimes in this world you make unpopular decisions because you're a lyin' SOB who doesn't give a damn about his Country or the World. Clearly, you opted for door number 2.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 06:37:09 PM EST
    I think it's a fitting way for Specter to end his career, seeing as how he began it by inventing the single bullet theory. But it's not Specter I'm embarrassed for. It's the other Dems in the Senate.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#11)
    by soccerdad on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 07:23:38 PM EST
    Tampa I'm with you 100%

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#12)
    by Che's Lounge on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 07:52:43 PM EST
    Tampa, 100% also. The silence out there is deafening. Cowards.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 09:26:18 PM EST
    Yeah, real profiles in courage. What's he gotta do, get in single digits before they act?! Reptiles are scum. You expect it from them. It's their nature to be UnAmerican slimeballs. It's who they are. It's what they do. It's high time these Democrats dropped their shoulders and went into the corner like they mean business and came out with the puck. These repos are punks. Call their bluff. The Public's on your side. Oh, and then there's that little matter about the facts being on your side and it's the right thing to do, too.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#14)
    by Edger on Tue Mar 14, 2006 at 12:58:36 AM EST
    Marty Kaplan had a great opinion piece about Feingold on Yahoo News Monday:
    I know, I know -- it's nuts. Jewish, twice-divorced, Republicans salivating to turn him into McGovern, can't get the moderates and independents he needs to break 40%... Anything else? Okay, now that the Beltway wisdom has spoken, let's try take two. He's authentic, unafraid, says what he believes. He's as pissed off as most Americans. He doesn't just pay lip service to bipartisanship; he actually has a track record. He wants to save democracy from the Washington sewer it has become. He's got deep roots in the midwestern progressive tradition. He's a good fiery speaker. If you wish Paul Wellstone or Bill Moyers were running, he's as close to them as they come. The current MSM-enabled anti-Dem meme - "they've got no ideas" - is an easy two-step for Feingold to knock down. First, you call what the GOP offers "ideas"? "Cut government" isn't an idea; it's a lie -- they bloated it, and they criminally ballooned the deficit. "Strengthen defense" isn't an idea; it's a betrayal, worthy of censure: they've actually weakend us. "Cut taxes"? Excuse me, have you looked at how the alternative minimum tax is killing the middle class? "Family values"? What -- as in Terri Schaivo? The second step is a strong, simple platform. More...
    This guy needs all the support he can get. He's not 'playing' politics with this. He's serious. And he's real. Feingold, Democrat with Courage of Convictions
    In 2001, Feingold was the lone Senator who voted against the USA Patriot Act, despite pressure for a unanimous vote. He voted against the Iraq War in 2002, and was the first senator to call for a specific timetable for US exit from Iraq.
    Feingold visits every county in his state every year to hold listening sessions with his constituents.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 14, 2006 at 09:03:57 AM EST
    Damned Commie.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#16)
    by Jlvngstn on Tue Mar 14, 2006 at 02:23:48 PM EST
    If the dems will not support Feingold, he should switch to a new party. Greenspan says the time is right for a 3rd party and I agree.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#17)
    by Patrick on Tue Mar 14, 2006 at 02:35:55 PM EST
    Or a fourth party.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#18)
    by Peaches on Tue Mar 14, 2006 at 02:38:44 PM EST
    If the dems will not support Feingold, he should switch to a new party. Greenspan says the time is right for a 3rd party and I agree.
    Oh Lord! This is exactly what the left needs, just like when Nadar handed the election to Bush in 2000 and gave us eight years of pure hell we might never get over. If Greenspan wants a third party, let him form one to split the republican vote. For godsake, keep the left vote together.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#19)
    by Jlvngstn on Wed Mar 15, 2006 at 01:48:06 PM EST
    Problem is peaches, at least according to this story and countless others, the left is not together.... I know divorced couples who communicate better.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#20)
    by Peaches on Wed Mar 15, 2006 at 02:21:15 PM EST
    This is a problem and it is our problem. Talking about a third party at this point is sort of taking a defeatist attitude, don't ya think? Kind of like, "Fiengold is not going to get the democratic endorsement, so lets start a third party and lose that way. At least then we know we cast a vote that mattered, even though we lose." The election of 2000 should demonstrate to every liberal the folly of this approach. if Fiengold is your guy, then I suggest you begin by taking his ideas to the American people and let them decide. Start a local chapter to raise money for a Feingold campaign in your neighborhood. Perhaps, his ideas are really not that radical of ideas if given straight to the American people. Maybe, most Amwericans actually agree that the War in Iraq is a mistake and that this administration should bwe held accountable. Maybe, Americans don't like what this president has done to our constitution in the name of war powers. Then again, maybe not, but you don't know until you try. Convince the American people and the democratic party will listen to you. You don't need a third party.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#21)
    by Jlvngstn on Wed Mar 15, 2006 at 03:05:12 PM EST
    I love Feingold, although would never vote a straight ticket. I appreciate diversity in a party inasmuch I appreciate some consistency in its platform. You can continue to vote democratic and continue to watch blowhards like Kerry get nominated. I will continue to punch a libertarian ticket when I think the dem candidate is a repub lite. I liked Clinton, but he was not the beesknees either. So you give me Kerry, I give my vote to someone else. I see no difference in complaining about death penalty or abortion rights or war etc whether it is a dem or a repub. The lesser of two evils is a silly way to vote and significant contradictions in a party is a silly way to run a party. Feingold is a man who speaks his conscience, the gov't needs more like him and less like Lieberman.

    Re: Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion (none / 0) (#22)
    by Peaches on Wed Mar 15, 2006 at 03:08:56 PM EST
    Sry, JV, but Feingold is a democrat. As long as he's a democrat, you have to work with what you are given. I repeat, if Feingold is your guy then go out and do something. That is what democracy is all about, not throwing a vote away on election day.

    Feingold Introduces Bush Censure Motion | 22 comments (22 topical)