Don’t Ignore the Feingold Resolution. Embrace It-By Donna Brazile

[kpete]

Or this article from Donna Brazile in today’s Roll Call (Subscription required to see the whole thing, so I’m going to pull a short excerpt here, but it is worth a read.):

Don’t Ignore the Feingold Resolution. Embrace It
By Donna Brazile
Roll Call Contributing Writer
March 14, 2006

The progressive blogosphere is on fire right now. Web loggers are pumped up about the effort by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) to censure President Bush for breaking the law on domestic surveillance and taking matters into his own hands.
The progressive blogosphere is on fire right now. Web loggers are pumped up about the effort by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) to censure President Bush for breaking the law on domestic surveillance and taking matters into his own hands….

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.

From faulty pre-war intelligence to the negligent response to Hurricane Katrina and the unjustified cost for Medicare prescription drug benefits, there has been no meaningful oversight by the GOP-controlled Congress. It is doubtful whether they would be willing to hear evidence against the president.

While the Feingold resolution is not going anywhere given the full Republican control of Washington, D.C., a change in leadership in the fall would make this a ripe item for conversation and action in 2007 and beyond….

Oversight is a fundamental responsibility of Congress, which until the Republicans took over was a coequal branch of government. It’s long past time for the Republican Congress — and in particular the House and Senate Intelligence committees — to stop protecting the administration and start doing more to protect the American people.

The 2006 political campaign season, which is under way across America, will truly come down to a test of wills. If my party’s leaders, whom I admire and respect, cannot figure out three things this electoral season that the GOP will use as wedge issues to distract and divide — Iraq, the war on terror and national security, and cultural issues like abortion and same-sex marriage — then my party finally will have earned its minority status.

http://firedoglake.com/2006/03/14/advancing-the-ball-on-censure/
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/51_96/brazile/12511-1.html

[xultar]

1. So, do we still hate Donna now and call her a DLC/DINO MSM WHORE?

Or do we like her now cuz she's backing the Feingold Resolution?

I get confused. Somedays we hate Democrats and some days we love them? :crazy:

[mattclearing]

2. We still hate her.

She was probably sent by Rove to "push us off the cliff." :D

I'm half-serious.

[KoKo]

6. One column does not redeem Donna... But, maybe she's starting to

"get it." Unfortunately when she appears on both CNN and MSNBC as the
"Democratic Spokesperson" and nods her head in agreement with every RW Fashist Repug who is with her...she loses any credibility.

Plus she is "paid" as a Dem Consult by CNN yet she shows up on MSNBC and other places. Wouldn't that be a conflict? Or is MSNBC slipping her some money, too.

I hope this column shows she's willing to speak out now...

[goclark]

11. Maybe since some of her relatives

were in Katrina( I believe that is so) she saw the light!

Please let it be so, if not Gore had two spies in his camp....Donna and Joey.

[papau]

20. I never hated Donna - and she knows it :-)

But you are allowed to disagree!

Indeed her weekend talking heads of late has been great - as in I agree with her!

:toast:

[BootinUp]

3. Wish I could read the rest of it.

edited, I want to agree with her, but need to read the whole thing.

[ewagner]

4. That'svery unusual

for Donna to take that kind of stand.....

I wonder why....

[ChiciB1]

8. Could Be That She Might Have Put Her Finger In The Air

and decided that there are so many of us that are truly truly ANGRY and want something done!

Surely, she must read the blogs... it's not that HARD to pick up on!

We do need to keep this going... I signed two petitions yesterday, and contacted both my Senators (Mel Martinez & Bill Nelson) and "sweetie-pie Cruella" none of which I expect to reply to me. But I let them know anyway!

How many other petitions are there??

[Rose Siding]

5. Someone's been reading the tea leaves

Good for her :thumbsup:

[myrna minx]

7. I actually agree with Donna Brazile on something.

Wow. :wow:

[wisteria]

9. She is wrong on this one. This Feingold move does not make us

look strong, but weak on defense. I don't trust her. She is working for Hillary who has been trying to position herself as middle of the road and a war hawk. What better way to come out ahead then to have the liberal wing of the party look weak on defense issues.

This wiretapping thing is not over by any means. It was not necessary to address it right now.

[quiet.american]

10. How is holding Bush accountable through censure a "weak" action?n/t

[goclark]

12. Yes, how is it weak?

[wisteria]

16. It says nothing more than you did wrong now admit it and don't

do it again. It also plays right into the repubs hands on security and defense issues. Bush claims he needs this to fight the terrorists. We Dem's have not been able to counter this statement with anything remotely as forceful as trying to keep us safe. We are made to look like we are being careless with our national security.

I'm not saying I disagree with Feingold's motivation behind this, I just question his timing right now. This may make it impossible to bring more serious charges against Bush at a later date. Patience people, patience!

[quiet.american]

24. Censure is a formal condemnation, not to be taken lightly

I strongly disagree with you. Bringing attention to Bush's criminality, which is also a matter of national security (the President of the United States allowed to wholly break the law without accountability is a matter of national security) is not something to be "pooh-poohed."

Dems have forcefully countered Bush's lies with the truth, namely, Bush does not have to break the law in order to "fight the terrorists," which he has absolutely no interest in doing anyway.

The FISA law has ample allowance for Bush to spy on legitimate targets; his refusal to operate within this law can only mean one thing -- this program is being illegally used by Bush, and he should be held accountable for this by whatever means are available.

[RufusEarl]

13. We have to stand for something, someday!

This is as good a place as any IMHO. I support the censure, because it's correct. To hell with politics, this is right and that's the bottom line.

This NSA thing is serious stuff, and for americans that don't understand that well i suppose we'll have to save them as well as ourselves.

[jsamuel]

14. would you rather wait until it is over to address it?

When no one will care about it because the Republicans have already made it "retroactively legal"

[wisteria]

19. very few people care about it now. The Repub Senate and the

White House have come to an agreement on this and the President has been put on notice. It is only a matter of time before Bush over-steps his bounds again and we may have the numbers in the house and the senate to actually show some muscle.

[jsamuel]

22. sorry, but I feel that sentiment is very weak

we must stand our ground. No more giving in. This thing is too important. No more...

[radio4progressives]

15. Domestic Spying does not make us "weak on defense"

That's a Repuke Straw Man MEME - Feingold KNOCKS IT DOWN EASILY as it should be..

I can't believe people are drinking this kool aid.

[wisteria]

21. Agree,but it isn't being framed that way. The Dem's missed an

opportunity a while back to frame this issue as it should be framed and we weren't successful. Unfortunately, it is all tied up now in the guise of protecting us from terrorists. Just check out the repub talking points and Chaney's remarks. They are running on this security and safety issue this year. IMO, they have gained the upper hand on this now, i hope only temporarily.

[radio4progressives]

25. Not necessarily... Here's an Excellent Read on this point:

The Dems have been hemmed in since 2002. And at times they have been desperate. But since they failed to understand that they were in a partisan political war instead of a deliberative democratic body, they did not take advantage of their opportunities. The good news is that this system also made it impossible for the Democrats to impede Republican hubris (not that Joe Lieberman isn't trying.)

To be fair, 9/11 was a traumatic experience and many people lost their heads. The Democrats, afraid of being tarred once again as soft on national security --- and perhaps just afraid --- failed to raise the kind of arguments early on that might have ripened before the 2004 election. In fact, they didn't make them in time for them to have ripened even now, which was a mistake. We have seen such terrible foolishness as the Gang of 14 and the lackluster political skills of the intelligence committee. But it isn't too late. The Republicans are in free fall, but the Democrats need to step into the breach. Russ Feingold is doing that today.

(snip)

This is an election about throwing the bums out and Democrats need to make a clear statement of fundamental values, not policy differences.Some strategists insist that Democrats must adopt the religious code words that Republicans use to signal character and values to evangelical voters. I would suggest that all Americans, religious and secular alike, share a language that is full of words that describe character and values. How about we start using some plain English words like unethical, dishonest, unfair, untrustworthy, dishonorable and lies.I think everybody can understand what those mean.

(snip)


It is past time for elected Democrats to begin laying out the case that the leader of the Republican party, the man to whom the congress has blindly followed at every turn for the past five years, is dishonorable. They must begin to create a low hum that reverberates throughout the body politic that says "the Republican party is unethical, untrustworthy, inept and dishonorable." Make people hear it in their heads before they go to sleep each night.

Russ Feingold has just taken the first step to doing this. His censure motion will not pass, of course. But he's started the hum. The press is listening. They are shocked, it can't be, how can he say that? But Feingold is saying outloud, for the whole nation to hear, that the president defied the law and broke his oath to defend the constition.

As the magnificent helmeted Cokie Roberts once said, "it doesn't matter if it's true or not, it's out there." In this case, it's true. And now it's out there. Take a moment and hum this tune in your senators ears today. It's time they get used to hearing it.


excerpted from digby, read text in full:

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_digbysblog_archive.html#114228282699552384

this was referenced and linked from firedoglake:

Advancing the Ball on Censure:

http://firedoglake.com/2006/03/14/advancing-the-ball-on-censure

[rniel]

17. Don't trust her a bit

I don't care how many columns she writes. We all know one of her best friends is Karl Rove. Anyone that could actually like that man I will not trust.

[Taverner]

18. Me neither

Didn't know that about her and Rove tho...

[radio4progressives]

26. don't trust her at all - but apparently someone is forcing her to read the

what is in the hearts and minds of the Democratic Party base -

and how about all of the calls to elect Feingold for president in 2008?

I bet THAT has the bejeezus scared out the DLC'rs. And if they understand, it appears they finally do, that the recent Alito fiasco was a major tipping point in disaffection and changes in registrations from Dems to Indy's - dollars to donuts a few key operatives are finally getting the message. Brazile has taken her share of hits and they are all deserved, every last one of them - i'm not changing my mind regarding her credibility or her trustworthyness whatsoever - that isn't the moral of the story (no puns intended) the moral of the story is that these traitorous bastards are finally listening up and someone identified as Beltway "leadership"/spokesperson/insider is responding appropriately.

finally.

but as firedoglake suggests in response to Brazile article and our struggle:

It’s about damn time a member of the party establishment stood up and said what we’ve been saying all along. Sounds to me like Donna Brazile picked up a copy of Crashing the Gate (which is fantastic, btw) and realized she’d better get on board or risk losing her consulting gigs when the progressive wave crashes down. Or perhaps its just that she thinks this is the right thing to do, given the President admitted publicly to breaking the law and it is the job of Congress to provide oversight and censure and all. Good on her — change is tough, but the Democratic establishment needs to fully understand that change is coming, whether they like it or not, because all of us in the progressive roots refuse to go back to the status quo, which really isn’t working for anyone anyway.

This is not a one-day battle. It is a series of skirmishes we are going to be waging for quite a while…and that we will keep on waging.

The grassroots are not going away — Russ Feingold understands and appreciates that fact, and is willing to work with us to harness our energy and drive in a synergistic fashion, and the rest of the Democratic establishment is beginning to wake up to it as well, if only because we’ve needled them enough that they know we aren’t going to be silenced.

It is because so many of you put in the work yesterday, making phone calls, sending faxes, and making your voice heard in the halls of the Senate that this Censure Resolution is now moving to the Judiciary Committee for further consideration. Thank you so much for this — you’ve helped to make a difference. Truly, we can’t know which phone call may have helped to stiffen Paul Sarbanes’ spine or Harry Reid’s, but Frist’s overplayed hand and arrogant tone certainly didn’t help matters — and knowing that all of us were in their corner had to help stiffen that resolve. So great work everyone.

But there is more work to be done. I’ll be outlining more action steps shortly — and I look forward to your input on how to continue to advance the ball on censure — and on framing this discussion writ large in terms of the corruption, the incompetence, the outright lying, the abysmal failure that is this Republican Congress and their cowardly rubber stamp actions on behalf of the Bush Administration.

Nothing like a conversation on how the President broke the law, how he isn’t above the law, and how we can best hold him accountable as a starting point, is there?

THIS is the genie that Frist was trying to shove back in the bottle yesterday…because this is just the conversation that the Republican leadership and Rove and all of their power-crazy cronies don’t want citizens in this nation to have. Once you start thinking about that single instance of law-breaking, you inevitably begin to question so many other aspects of the Bush presidency — the lies about Iraq, our failure to capture Osama, Katrina, the budget deficit and the profligate spending habits of Republicans in power, what all of this means for our children’s future, the failure of Medicare reform…it’s endless — and then the house of cards begins to tumble in around them.


read text in full:
http://firedoglake.com/2006/03/14/advancing-the-ball-on-censure

[SeattleRob]

23. Good for her...

But if I was a Democratic Candidate for President, I would not hire her.

[mdmc]

27. a test of wills

[mitchtv]

28. It's time for Donna to join the Democrats

she should visit the Doctor, so he could remove that ugly "mole"