So, what is really going on in the Censure hearings. PLEASE READ

[TayTay]

This is from another thread in here that was getting pretty full. Please read and comment on what Karen wrote in here. It's a more realistic view of what is happening and it addresses a lot of what people here have been saying. (From all sides. Really.)

Where Kerry is... (Written by KarenDC) 4/1/06
Yesterday his counsel walked me into the hearing and we chatted on the way. Suffice to say he supports Feingold. But I also will share what Dick wrote in response to the comments at Kos and even DCP about the lack of overt Dem support. This is not about JK so much, but still may be helpful in dealing with the JK bashers:

I had to leave the Senate hearing yesterday to lobby with my friends from the American Dance Therapy Association, and my husband, Dick Bell, took over for me, documenting the hearing at http://www.democracycellproject.net . He also stayed for the post-hearing media event.

We just finished our Saturday morning review of the week (Dick is a progressive communications strategist and I am a college professor; he has the inside information and I do the performance analysis from observations). As we went back over the comments on Kos and at the DCP, it became clear that people were feeling angry at the Democratic Senators for not showing up for the hearing yesterday. Below is Dick's analysis of why that did not happen, and why it was unnecessary at this point in time.

I will only add that as I observed the audience in my time at the hearing, it was full of staffers for Democratic Senators, and the audience was decidedly on the supportive side of Senator Feingold.

Here is Dick's first-hand analysis:

The Senate, in operation, rarely resembles the model described in 6th grade civics books. When matters of great national and international import are at stake, one expects to see the Senate floor jammed with Members, or a Senate Committee Room stuffed with Members, the press, and the public, all sweltering under the hot lights of multiple network cameras.

Alas, it is rarely thus. As viewers of C-SPAN quickly learned when C-SPAN began broadcasting from the House and Senate floors, much of the legislature's business was conducted with barely anyone in the room at all. The visual images were so embarrassing that both houses placed bans on allowing C-SPAN cameras to pan the empty chambers.

The number of Members present at a hearing is an inexact measurement of the importance of the hearing. Talking to press after Friday's Judiciary Committee meeting, Feingold said that he was "perfectly satisfied" with the turnout. He repeated several times that he believed that the issues that he was raising, and the way in which he had chosen to raise them, was nonpartisan, that the nature of Bush's power grab transcended party lines. In a funny sort of way, he sounded relieved that there had been no dramatic outpouring of Democratic rage.

He noted that the Senate almost never holds hearings on Fridays because most Members travel back to their states. He laughed and said he had seen fewer Senators at hearings in the middle of the week, and he noted that Senator Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, had made by far his strongest statement of support (during the hearings, Leahy was very active in pushing back against the Republicans, especially Senator Graham's personal attacks on John Dean.)

Feingold said that what mattered was that this hearing had taken place, period. He's absolutely right. Against great odds, starting off completely alone, in a matter of mere weeks, Feingold had taken chatter from the back rooms of the blogosphere and forced it onto the public record in an official hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. We have to recognize that Senator Arlen Specter played an important role in making this happen, since as Committee Chair, Specter could have quite comfortably chosen to do nothing.

The scorn that Bush supporters feel for Specter dripped from statements by Sessions, Cornyn, Orrin Hatch, and Lindsey Graham. These Republicans and the witnesses they chose to present did not want to be in that room. They did not want to hear what Feingold had to say; they did not want to hear what Bruce Fein had to say; and John Dean, trailing the cloud of Watergate behind him, drove Senator Graham completely around the bend. There were times when Senator Graham was rocking back and forth so violently, biting his tongue as he waited his turn, that I thought Graham might pitch himself forward, completely over the Committee table.

Would it have been nice if every single Democratic member of the Senate had shown up with rippling muscular statements of support for Feingold? Of course. Was there anyone who thought such a display would happen? No. If this had been the SECOND hearing, we would be right to be angry that only one other Democrat showed up. But this first foray was designed to be balanced and nonpartisan.

Feingold was very impressive yesterday, both during the hearing and afterwards. He is a smart man and I am convinced that he has launched this effort with the expectation that he will be engaged in a long campaign.

This hearing was a victory. Unalloyed. Bush is still in the White House, but Feingold succeeded in making the case against Bush inside the belly of the beast, and walked away smiling. He should be happy. OUR job is to savor the victory, briefly, and continue the daily organizing that produced the grassroots support that made this hearing possible, to build toward the next steps in ending the Bush regime.


Thanks Karen. I don't normally (or ever) steal and repost other people's writings. But this is the stuff we need to hear. It's relevent and it answers a lot of questions about how things operate in DC. (All the Hardball tv shows in the world aren't going to address this they way it should be. That inside baseball stuff just focuses on the horse race aspect of things, not on why things are the way they are and how things do and do not work.

Now discuss. This is actual meaty stuff here. Have at it. What did you think of 'Gonzo' Graham and his weird actions at this hearing? And Corny. (Geez, good thing you don't have concealed carry permits on the Hill. I think he might have shot someone. He looked that mad.)

[globalvillage]

1. Who better than Dean?

He knows how this stuff works. I read "Worse than Watergate", and it is.
I wasn't able to watch much of the hearing, but what I saw of Russ, he did very well. As for Specter and Graham, I think fear was the motivator. And with good reason.

[whometense]

2. A thousand thank you's for re-posting this.

I've been avoiding all written words concerning censure like the plague, and would have missed this post entirely.

It reads like good common sense. Something the left blogosphere is in dire need of.

I thought Feingold was excellent yesterday. He, Leahy, and Fein and Dean were the most reasonble, best-spoken, and calmest people in the room yesterday. I thought Graham was going to sock someone. Noted that he left the room for a while, and when he returned was infused with a preternatural calm and spirit of good fellowship and compromise. (Valium? A stiff belt of bourbon?) I fond that interestiung, and Karen's observations make it even more so.

Cornyn and Hatch were completely vile, and off-the-rails venomous to the point where they made no sense at all. My sense was that they were being shown up by being forced to stick up for Bush - an untenable position. Attacking Dean?? This made no sense at all. No matter what Dean did for Nixon 34 years ago, he has long since established himself as a serious, non-partisan, and highly intelligent commentator. He's not Walter Cronkite, but he has a bundle of credibility. Attacking him in such a personal way made them look even pettier than usual - and they're already scraping the bottom of the barrel on that one.

[whometense]

4. One more thing.

I find that right now I am really angry at a lot of the "usual suspects." There's a scent of a kind of groupthink from the lefty blogs that makes me want to go in the opposite direction. No, not voting republican. But it seems like every week there's a stampede in one direction, the next week in another, and rational thought seems to play no part in any of it.

I have no burning need to be different for the sake of being different. But I'll be damned if I'll join in on a crusade that makes no sense to me, just because Kos or FDL dictates it should be so. My allegiances and my ideas don't turn on a dime.

[kerrygoddess]

7. Me too

I feel as though I am watching people spinning wheels, who can't see that they are not being all that successful with their demands, threats and namecalling. It's a massive ego stroke as they all pat each other's backs and get other's to jump through hoops. I'm not interested in being a sheep led by ideals that go against mine and those I believe in.

[ProSense]

11. Exactly!

Some of the responses were obnoxious.

Funny, I didn't see a single post about Kos' appearance on the Ed Schultz show. Did anyone hear anything? I'm especially interested in this statement: Kerry spent $11 million on media vs. Bush's $5 million.

[kerrygoddess]

3. Thanks Tay Tay

Karen's piece on Kos was wonderful and I thanked her and Dick for sharing their insight. Dick was always the voice of reason during the campaign that I knew I could trust to explain things I didn't understand. Suffice to say, this isn't about JK, and I think we all know that. The other blogs will say what they will, no matter what we say. This will play out as it does because it's Feingold's baby. It sucks that JK and others are getting caught up in this mess. Personally I have been trying to just focus on what JK is doing and ignore the other blogs who are up in arms about this.

P.S. For whatever reason there is no statement directly from JK on this, I trust that decision. I was told when it broke to hang tight on it. So, as always, I'm following the direction I get.

[TayTay]

5. KG: We should hang on tight.

This is a long process. The fight here is not to get all the Dems to show up in a committee hearing. (That rarely happens, as Dick mentioned in the article.) It is to keep up the notion that this President has screwed up and has committed illegal acts. We have to keep this in the public eye.

Why is that so important? Because it is a gateway to discussing all the other things that this President, aided and abetted by a do-nothing Congress, has screwed up in the country. As Sen. Kerry has tried to point out, again and again, there is a logical line from the incompetence of Brownie during the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina to the incompetence of the SBA under Hector Barreto to the incompetence of the Admin in being unable to design a decent Medicare Drug coverage bill and so forth.

This Admin is terrible. It is completely unable to govern. It is completely unable to tell the truth about what it does. And it is also incapable of following the law. Feingold's actions are another step in connecting the dots for people so they can see just how awful this present government is.

[kerrygoddess]

8. It would be grand if everyone understood that

Remember Watergate... Remember Nixon. It didn't happen overnight and as much as I believe in the power of the internet, because I've seen it work, this will play itself out over time and meanwhile those of us with the voice of reason just need to keep reminding people of ALL the things that he/they have done wrong. It's not just one thing, it's a mountain of things, a river of wrongs and yes, Feingold's actions are just a step - not an end all.

Dick is great at explaining all this stuff, I had the benefit of learning a lot from him during the campaign and I really value the time I had working with him, because he helped me to get a good sense of how things work on all of this.

[karendc]

10. Just another thought

we keep saying to each other. It is not that this administration is terrible at governing; they HATE governing. They are outsourcing as much oversight as they can--the ports sales were just another in a long sequence of sales that go way back. All of Homeland Security is one big privitization project.

They seek power, but have no commitment to government.

THAT'S what people need to understand.

[ProSense]

13. Excellent point.

I believe they hate governing, but I also think they're not qualified to govern because the only way they know how to operate is by wielding power and engaging in dirty deal making. Cheney, Rumsfled and the rest are no different from Frist. That's how they've always operated. Frist has no governing skills.

[_dynamicdems]

16. The Lazy Administration. That's really sad.

They say we get the government we deserve...there is a quote about this but I can't remember who to attribute it to. Most Americans are too lazy to look past the MSM spin and investigate the real issues that affect their lives. So we get an administration of elected couch potatoes. If it weren't for the rest of us who are frustrated to Hell about this, I'd say it was poetic justice.

Lazy voters (and non-voters) = Lazy Officials

[kerrygoddess]

18. and

many Americans also don't care about the issues that don't affect them personally even if those issues affect their family and friends.

[kerrygoddess]

19. privitization, corporatization

it's about the almighty $$$ to them, not about the people. I think they HATE the people as much as they HATE governing, sometimes.

Why are these points lost on some bloggers who seem to get on a roll with the flavor of the week theme and forget that so much else is happening that is SO important.

[jillan]

6. I really enjoyed the hearings

I recorded them, and have been watching them on and off today for a second time.
I applaud Russ. He was very articulate, and did a great job of making his case.

Leahy was great too. He started out like a kitten, then quickly turned into a tiger.
I have become a hugh! Leahy fan over the last couple of months.

But watching the hearings the second time, the one thing that really stood out to me was Graham.
(I think watching the first time thru I was too focused on Russ and Leahy). Graham kept asking questions, and would not let the panel answer!!! There was an exchange between him and Fein when Graham was trying to make an issue about a discussion that took place in the FISA court in 74 about how the law could change during a time of war. Nothing was put into writing. It was a question that came up. Graham was trying to make it sound like it was law. Fein kept reminding him that the threat of a nuclear attack during the Cold War was very real, even more chilling than what is going on today. Graham acted like a total ass. He just kept pushing with his questions, never waiting for answers, even true with the members of the panel that were there to support the administration.

Another thing about Graham. Now to be catty - his face is so red, and his hands are so white.
Why do you think his face is so red? Looking at that, along with the unprofessional way he handled himself, I couldn't help but wonder if there is something medically wrong with him?
Of course I checked it out!
http://www.hyperhidrosis-usa.com/facial_blushing.html?source=overture&kw=causefacered&OVRAW=cause%20of%20red%20face&OVKEY=cause%20face%20red&OVMTC=standard
Many physicians don't recognize that these blushing episodes are commonly associated with hyperpyrexia of the face which is actually what is so debilitating and causes the severe functional impairment. The combination of facial blushing with the warm/burning sensation of the head commonly makes the individual extremely anxious and quite uncomfortable. This uncomfortable feeling can be so intense that the individual can lose all ability to concentrate and function properly.
There you have it! Lindsay Graham is medically unable to function properly.

(Hey - if Frist can do it, so can I---lol)

[ProSense]

9. Thanks for the excellent insights. I concur

with the responses that:

Feingold did great
The Democrats will vote yes if this comes to a floor vote
It's worse than Watergate
Bush is on a similar impeachment track as Nixon
It is going to be a long process
Democrats don't have to display group think
Enough with the knee-jerk responses


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=658142&mesg_id=658142

[karendc]

12. ANOTHER thing I keep forgetting to point out:

OK, so did anyone else catch this? Professor Turner (who was testifying just as Dick came in and I was heading out, so I was turning the laptop over to him and did not get to write about this) said something about Presidents all the way back to George Washington opening mail during times of war. He said we "opened the mail of the British."

Only problem: George Washington wasn't President during the Revolutionary War (he was what the Republicans would now call a *terrorist*), and the Constitution was not written yet.

I swear. This guy is a professor at the University of Virginia. And most of the Senators studies American History; I am sure they did. No one called him on this.

It's a small point, but since he was basing his case for the unitary executive on this statement ("everyone does it"), I thought using George Washington as an example demonstrated a lack of added value to his case.

[whometense]

14. You're right.

My jaw was on the floor during every second he spoke. I had missed his intro, and kept wondering "Who is this guy????? He just sounded crazy. That thing he said about censuring the post-70's congress?? I wondered if the senators were just ignoring him. Though someone should have torn him to pieces.

[fedupinBushcountry]

15. I did notice

after his first response to Specter, on questioning him again, Specter asked him for a YES or NO answer. I think even Specter realized his spin was ridiculous. His testifying made the republican's argument on this look totally contradictive, so Specter was trying to shut him up before he caused anymore harm to their ridiculous argument.

[babylonsister]

17. Thanks, Tay Tay and Karen. I'm happy to read a voice of reason

and explanation. I'll be the first to admit I'm not too savvy about the goings-on in these hearings, so I do appreciate this perspective.
I have come to realize the wheels of justice grind ever so slowly; while maddening, that's not about to change. So the important fact is that the hearing was held at all; I'll grudgingly give Specter a nod despite the fact that he seems to have done a complete turnaround, RE: wiretapping, compared to when we first learned about it.
I'm at least comforted that Feingold was happy with the results, and will be watching this unfold, armed with more facts!

[TayTay]

20. Thanks my dear for this, but it's Karen's writing.

I thought it was significant and presents the information in another way from what we have been seeing on DU. We have been reading across the liberal blogs complaints about 'the other Dem Sens' not showing up and that just didn't ring true as earned criticism. (Oh, you know I have a big geeky side and watch hearings all the time. Hell I even watch old hearings sometimes to re-get stuff that slipped by me the first time.) They don't usually have everyone there. (Geez, wasn't Sen. Kerry alone at the night sesssion last year in questioning Condiliar Rice about her fitness to be Sec of State? Just him and Sen. Lugar. Nobody said anything then and it was a huge, huge hearing.)

Anyway, I felt guilty enough for stealing Karen's post without permission. But it's really important to see how Washington does and does not work. I don't know this stuff. I can guess at some of it, but that's all it is, a guess. Karen was there and so was her husband Dick. She knows this stuff far better than I do. I wanted us to hear from that voice and, for a change, read about the actual dynamics of that hearing and how it really played out. It's important.

And Karen, I couldn't agree me about the Repubs hating governing and government. They hate everything to do with government. Hell, look at the 'donation' that Barbara Bush made to Katrina Relief. She couldn't even donate money to charity without it going back to benefit her son and benefit private enterprise. These people are horrible. We have to connect the dots on them. The NSA wiretapping and their arrogance in thinking they are above the law and above the Constitution has to be stopped for the good of the nation. They menace democracy. They really do. (I think this is why that speech that Sen. Kerry gave back in Sept is my favorite. He really laid into these people. Now, if only the 'leadership' would allow him and other Dems to do this more often. Sigh! We have to get these people on their indifference, incompetence and ignorance. They have to be excised from the government, like you would excise cancer cells. It's that bad.)

[karendc]

21. I was fine with your repost!

I do not always feel "privileged" to be living where I live and married to who I am. There are days when I am weary and discouraged, and hard-pressed to find reason for hope. I watch the "good guys" -- the ones who are honest and just and who work their tails off every day doing good governance in the service of the people--you know, that DEMOCRACY thing--and I see how they are treated by the "bad guys"-- the ones who love power but not the responsibility that goes with it--and it hurts my heart. I envy those in Idaho and Vermont and Colorado and Alaska--places where one can go through a whole day and never think about what George Bush is doing...

Dick and I just went out to the Anacostia to watch a gorgeous sunset, and to see the trains going by (Dick is a train nut). Guess who flew over?

Anyway, I do feel privileged when I get to witness even small successes such as Friday. And I know it warmed the hearts of all those "good guys" as well. I was glad that Dick got to be there too; to see it with his much wiser and experienced eyes. And so, when the inevitable Dem-bashing came in, I made him dictate that piece to me, and I put it in as many places as I could think of. If anyone here wants to send it around some more, please feel free. Dick spent the last 20 years working closely with the "good guys"--including and primarily John Kerry--and he really does give me hope more often than not.

[TayTay]

22. I hear ya! But still, thanks!

And I just have this 'thing' about words, I try not to take others without permission. It's just a 'thing' with me. (I have to give attribution, it's a compulsion. Keeps me honest and, I hope, humble.)

You know, it still rankles me that Sen. McConnell from Kentucy wouldn't let Sen. Kerry finish his speech on the Monday of the filibuster vote. He did that on purpose. McConnell smiled as he invoked time on that speech and purposely left the floor open afterward with no Repubs speaking just to show contempt for Kerry. What a nasty piece of work he is! (I know I am not exactly engaging in polite discourse here, but that bastard can go Cheney himself.)

I can't stand these people. (And I am tired of not being able to stand these people.) I want them gone, I want my country back and I want sane people in DC. Well, at least not foaming-at-the-mouth Rethugs. I could live with the Shays and the Snowes of the world. What I loved about this piece of writing was that it showed the Rethugs in all their ugliness, their hatred for Dems, their fear that the truth will get out about Bush and that truth will reveal them to be nothing but empty little creepy bastards as well.

Cornyn, ferchrissakes, was a judge once. It's hard to even imagine the incarnate insult to the law that Cornyn represents, a former judge who thinks that the law itself is disposable and subject to the whim of the President. Graham was a JAG officer, yet he thinks that Bush can play with the law like he's picking petals off a daisy, "I will obey the law, I will not obey the law, etc." These people are a disgrace to the Senate, a disgrace to the concept of democracy and a disgrace to the very idea of representative government.

I guess that's why I'm still here. I am not leaving this country to my kids and, someday, to my grandkids with these disgusting perversions in control. No way, no how. So, we go to work for the 'good guys' and worry about them and how they manage to get up and still do this every day when they have to actually face the George Allens and Jeff Sessions and Inhofe's of the world. I mean it, God bless the Kerrys and Durbins and Feingolds and Sarbanes and Kennedys of the world. I sometimes don't know how they do it.