Take 5 to call Dayton on giving Bush a Free Pass on domestic spying!

[katinmn]

Dayton assails Feingold's call for censuring Bush
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/14114820.htm
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Minnesota Sen. Mark Dayton Thursday strongly criticized fellow Democrat Russ Feingold's resolution to censure President Bush over domestic spying.

"It's an overreaching step by someone who is grandstanding and running for president at the expense of his own party and his own country," Dayton said of Feingold, a Wisconsin senator and potential 2008 presidential candidate.

"I think it's a very dangerous territory for the democracy that we have in this country to be playing around with those kinds of resolutions, without any consultations from his colleagues. I think it was irresponsible."

What was he thinking??? Is he trying to knock Feingold out to ensure Hillary will be the nominee? Why is he attacking a patriot who is standing up to Bush? Why does he come out of wherever he has been hiding for the last year to make such a statement?
:shrug:
http://dayton.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2171352&mesg_id=2171352

[KyndCulture]

1. Oh NO he dinn't.....

Picking up the phone right damn now!

[KyndCulture]

2. Done! here's my message I left for him.

Please tell the Senator that I said he either supports censuring the President for illegal activities or he supports those illegal activities, there is no in between. I also did not care for the Senator's statement about not consulting with his collegues, that sounded like so much sour grapes. Lisa - From Detroit Lakes.

[katinmn]

3. Thanks. I said

Please tell Senator Dayton that I am shocked and disappointed that he chose to attack Senator Feingold for taking a stand against Bush, a move that has much support among American citizens. Doing so lets Bush off the hook for his unlawful spying on Americans. Dayton's attack was misdirected.

[preciousdove]

4. I emailed. I have trouble keeping my anger in check with those

who could do something about the destruction of America and chose not to.

[katinmn]

5. I hear you. I had a hard time controlling my anger.

:grr:

[Demrock6]

6. Dayton wtf?

I used to support him. He has done some good things in the senate, but he is tarnishing himself.

Some say Feingold did this so the gop will have to take a stand. "Do you support the president breaking the law?" Mark Kenney does according to his website.

Congress people up for re-election: your either with the rule of law, or against it.

[KyndCulture]

7. I really wish he'd just keep his pie hole SHUT until November.

and not cause us anymore problems, because it's obvious he's not going to fight for us.

Lame duck POS.

[dflprincess]

8. Has he lost his mind

I sent him an email and told him he can either support censure or he can support criminals.

[CrazyForKucinich]

9. I just left a message on Dayton's machine to "Rot in Hell"

It felt good.

Give him a call:

[phone]

[scottymortensen]

10. I called too.

Ok, I've become a conspiracy theorist. The only thing is.. it's no longer theory. It sure seems like Dems are in on the fix. Why on earth would Dems shrink back from this? Just like they continually do time after time, after time. Now the RNC and neo-nutcase gasbags are using this as a rallying cry to circle the wagons around the embattled president. And namby pamby Dems scurry for the exits. This move by the RNC should be good news! The GOP facing the grim prospect of losing Congress have now decided to hitch their wagons to a 36% approval rating president! This "should" be reason to celebrate. And Dems like Sen. Dayton make statements like this? Ok, I called too.

[scottymortensen]

11. I wonder

I wonder, are they blackmailing members of Congress now? Or, are they just paying them off. Think I'm kidding? Something is seriously wrong with the federal government... more than we thought.

[dflprincess]

12. Dayton isn't running again

he has plenty of money of his own and he made his dirty laundry public himself before he ran six years ago. The only way I can think of someone getting to him is if they threatened him or his kids - and I wouldn't put that past Bushco.

[preciousdove]

13. Same thoughts...how are we ever going to get out of this? (rhetorical) n/t

[scottymortensen]

14. Call me a Conspiracy Theorist

Call me conspiracy theorist if you want to. I no longer care about the political fallout. I only care about truth. Here's reality: Our federal government has been hijacked by a secret CIA-esqe underground shadow government since the 50's. Throw me out of the DFL if you want to, I'm a delegate to my senate dist. conv. and don't expect anyone to support me after what I say. "You don't need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows" anymore. If it's not obvious to you that this is happening, you won't believe it. Because you are living under the fantasy that the mock government controls much. I fear for our nation, and believe the American people have lost the will to be free. Look, Bush purged the intelligence community already, the super-elite are in total command, our media is nothing more than a corporate lap-dog, our people are too soft, affluent and cowering in fear, the miltary industrial complex is in total command, and the Democratic party at the federal level has by and large been comprimised. I fully believe Wellstone was murdered, and a full 25% of our people already not only accept, but fully embrace fascism. Federal elections are a complete sham. What more can I say? I think we are fools to believe anything else. Soon Congress will pass a bill that flushes your right of freedom of speech on the internet down the toilet and it's over kids. You can keep fooling yourself if you want to, I no longer will.

[dflprincess]

15. I would disagree only on a couple points

While Eisenhower saw what was happening and tried to warn the country, I don't believe there was much of a shadow government until November 22, 1963.

And, I have hope that, with the kind of people we have here at DU, we will somehow get our country back.

[katinmn]

16. I agree, Scotty. Some of the stuff we're seeing today is beyond reason

There is no rationale for the way our government is performing.

Quite a while ago I developed a sense that government views the people as "the enemy."
How else to you explain the failure to fight, the manipulation, the secrecy, and the acquiesence to fascism?

When the rare Congressperson dares speak out they are attacked by both parties. We've been hijacked.

[scottymortensen]

17. Some thoughts on history

Growing up in the 60's, I had the distinct feeling then that the MIC had indeed "hijacked" the government. I argued at length with my Korean war vet father that Vietnam was wrong and that the hippie movement was much more appealing to me than the "warpig" imperialism of the LBJ and Nixon administration. It was apparent to me then that the songs of John Lennon and others rang so true. We were a mob back then. Nearly my whole class in school had long hair, no bras, and peace & love were our mottos. The reaction to the MIC started then and was strong. Once Jimmy Carter was elected we thought things indeed may begin to change. How wrong we were. The hippie movement was an idealistic movement based in rebellious youth with a hope for world based on love, without war, and true freedom of expression. I really believe the government was behind the shift from psychedelic drugs and marijuana, to heroin and cocaine. I believe the drug epidemic was unleashed upon the youth of the nation to guarantee their disenfranchisement and to squelch the militant anti-establishment groups that had gained strength. JFK, RFK, MLK all represented real threats to the MIC and the status quo. Cocaine and Reaganism effectively brought all this to an end. Is it any wonder that people like Spector, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Daddy Bush, etc. are all cold war relics who represent the MIC, and today we are in the fix we are in directly because of the success of Reaganism in splintering and crippling the peace movement of the 60's through a wide variety of methods. One thing I totally agree with is that the assassination of John Kennedy was the first daring action by them to prop up their war machine, and ever since we have been duped into thinking our federal government was real. It is astounding how far and deep the conspiracy is embedded into the federal government today. We've all heard all of the comparisons of 9-11 to the Riechstag fire. Hitler=Bush etc. and we are made to look like "moonbats" by the right and even the Dems for saying it, but America is very much a parallel to pre-WW2 Germany, in the sense that fascism is being presented to us in a very similar manner. Except, that the fascism of 2006 is much more sophisticated and shrouded by the conspiring media, the secret government and our "Fuhrer" is not an ingenious war hero with hypnotic oratory skills. He's the backwards cowboy oil gazillionaire Eisenhower warned us about.

[Minnesota Libra]

18. I wrote to Dayton about this that said nothing of how he would ........

....ensure laws were followed in the future. My reaction on reading this was, "Ok, and................."

His reply to me was.........

Dear.......

Thank you for contacting me regarding the National Security Agency's
(NSA) domestic surveillance program.

Congress has historically tried to strike a balance between protecting
our country and ensuring the rights of law-abiding Americans. In 1978,
Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to
provide for the use of domestic electronic surveillance in the context of
foreign intelligence gathering. Additionally, the law created the FISA
courts, which would review and authorize warrant applications for the
wiretapping of suspected terrorists.

It was deeply troubling to read in The New York Times that shortly after
the 9/11 tragedy, President Bush authorized the NSA, without seeking
warrants from the FISA courts, to eavesdrop on international phone calls
and obtain access to E-mails of American citizens. The Administration
contends that it has the authority to conduct domestic spying without
warrants and that these actions have been reviewed periodically by White
House and Department of Justice lawyers.

Congress has a duty to investigate and hold hearings on this disturbing
report. On February 6, 2006, the Senate Judiciary Committee conducted the first hearing on the NSA's domestic spying activities. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales testified at this hearing. The Senate and House Intelligence Committees are also expected to hold hearing on this matter soon. I look forward to the information that will emerge during these hearings.

Again, thank you for sharing your views with me. Please do not hesitate
to contact me again, if you have any other comments or concerns.

My best regards.

Sincerely,


Mark Dayton
United States Senator

[katinmn]

19. "Intelligence Committees are also expected to hold hearings soon"

Yes, senantor, and Specter refused to put Gonzales under oath. How will the next whitewash be any different than all the others?

I got this form letter as well and was disappointed that Dayton neglected to explain why he attacked Feingold.

[mn9driver]

20. I finally got a reply from him today.

It was essentially the same response that you got, with these additional paragraphs at the end:

"...I am a cosponsor of Senator Robert Byrd's bill, the Surveillance
Activities Commission Act of 2006 (S. 2362), which would establish an
independent commission to investigate the warrantless surveillance
program. It is important to have a full accounting of the facts
surrounding the program, its effectiveness, and potential violations of
civil liberties. I believe that as we seek to protect our nation from
security threats, it is vital that we not sacrifice our basic freedoms.

On March 13, 2006, Senator Russ Feingold introduced a resolution to
censure President Bush for authorizing the domestic surveillance program.
On only one occasion in its history has
the Senate invoked censure on a sitting President, Andrew Jackson, which
it rescinded three years later. While I share Senator Feingold's
concerns, I believe a censure resolution is premature until the
congressional committees complete inquiries into the program...."

We'll see.

[mnSky]

22. If the Shoe Fits

The GOP introduced a resolution to censure a President when Clinton was in office. Two dozen democrats signed on to that resolution. Where are those democrats today?

I'm not attacking Dayton because I know he's a person of integrity and is basing his actions on those beliefs but not so all the rest of the senators particularly the 2 dozen demos that arrogantly wanted to censure Clinton for personal behavior (that was not up to standard) when compared to: Presidential misuse of power and privilege that involves lies, intentional cover ups, illegal wiretapping, holding civilians without rights, and the murder of innocent persons. All of which beats a consensual affair. Moral outrage aside, where's are those democrats?

[DemonFighterLives]

21. Great Thread!

I'm here a little late but I will send Dayton a letter. I don't expect anything, because he has seen the light of the * administration. He will cause no rift and he is gone by sunset(next chance to be someone).

It is hard to remain hopeful in these times. Without the acid, I am tuning in and dropping out or however the saying goes.

:dem: