Feingold blew it yesterday.

[Justice Is Comin]

Why the hell didn't he stay and battle with Specter? It was on Specter's time. It was a golden invitation to reinforce his points.

The "good faith" crap that Specter said Bush acted in could have been knocked out of the park. Bush is on public record with the words right out of his mouth in a televised appearance saying, anytime you're talking about surveillance, you're talking about getting a warrant.

Yet he knew when he was saying it that he was lying. That does not go to the legality or illegality of what the FISA Court would have allowed or considered illegal. Or what the intrinsics of the wiretapping involved.

That was a bold faced lie stated in his official capacity as President. He knew he had signed the order and it was intentionally deceptive. You cannot be acting in good faith and tell a materially relevant willful lie. It was intended to assure America that he was acting within the law when he knew he was not. He later had to admit that he signed the executive order. There's no gray area there.

I would have hammered that home until their heads exploded.

The fact that Russ would not return and take that incredible opportunity astounded me. It diluted everything he had just done. He missed the opportunity which could have been more important than what he said in the censure resolution.

He just proposed censuring a sitting president and then ran off like he didn't want to defend it. After being given the opening I would have killed for. What the hell was wrong with him?

He would have had the floor alone with the Judiciary Committee Chairman. :mad:

[SaveElmer]

1. Also...

he should have had support lined up ahead of time to back him up. Looks like a political stunt the way he left it.

[sheelz]

2. Specter did a helluva job all by

himself.

[Justice Is Comin]

5. Oh strongly disagree.

He gave numerous opportunities for him to come back. He said staffers could tell him to please come back. Kept looking over that way. It gave a horrible impression that Russ just wanted to hit and run.

That's what the "uninformed" voter saw yesterday. They are wondering like I was, if Feingold was so adamant that this was the right thing to do, how come he wouldn't even honor a request by an opposing Senator to debate it. He should have been salivating to do that and pinching himself that Specter was inviting it.

Fox is spinning that like a top.

[sheelz]

8. Who cares what Fox says!

I watched it yesterday and everybody on DU was making fun of how Specter was talking. Feingold made his case and walked out. It is a trick lawyers do all the time!

[dogday]

19. Why did he not ask Feingold to stay any of a number of times

that he spoke before Feingold did? Why did he watch Feingold go out the door and then holler for him... What was Feingold's schedule? Did Feingold even know? Any other questions?

[Dinger]

27. Helluva Job Arlen - Are You Kidding?

You must be, I hope.

[AndyA]

3. I love Feingold, but my only issue with him over this

Is that he didn't get support beforehand from other Democrats. He's like a lone wolf separated from the pack. I'm glad this didn't come up for an immediate vote, because I think the debate will be beneficial overall.

I'm just disappointed that our elected Democratic representatives aren't acting like the opposition at this point. I mean, that's what the Dems are to the Repukes - they are the opposing party. In a system like ours, they need to OPPOSE the status quo. That's what makes the system work, checks and balances, and different ways of seeing things.

So, instead of agreeing to everything, and being WALKED ON by the Repukes, the Dems need to start OPPOSING them - which means they need to support Feingold, who is apparently one of the few with enough guts or ethics to do the right thing.

For God's sake, Bush's approval ratings are in the toilet - what more do the Dems need?!?!?!?!? LET'S GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD, FOLKS!!!

[mattclearing]

25. He's positioning himself for 2008.

That's the only reasonable conclusion I can draw from it.

Otherwise, he would have gotten help.

[mb7588a]

4. So call your senators and help him get support. nt.

[Norquist Nemesis]

6. It sounds weak and apologetic, but we don't know what his

schedule was. He may have had something on his calendar. :shrug: (and yes, I am being serious)

[JohnnyCougar]

7. He left because he said all that needed to be said.

Specter's arguments were ludicrous.

I wouldn't buy into Specter's spin on this. Even without Feingold, Specter's defense was very tepid and weak.

[Justice Is Comin]

9. If it was so weak,

why wasn't Feingold there to exploit it?

You can't turn this into a plus. It looked stupid, unexplainable and unfathomable. In a matter of seconds he was off the floor. It is inconceivable that people weren't telling him that Specter would like him to return. If nothing else, it should have been done as a courtesy.

But this was a Fort Knox opportunity to destroy Specters points.

It is mind blowing to me why he didn't stay. All those who are unbiased viewers saw that as only one thing. He was afraid to engage Specter.

I will never understand why Russ Feingold blew that opportunity.

[DURHAM D]

10. You are repeating yourself, you are repeating yourself,

you are repeating yourself and If you have not served in congress you have no idea what you are talking about.

[Justice Is Comin]

12. What are YOU talking about?

Are you telling me, you preferred Feinglold walking out? If you are, you have no idea how Congress usually works.

It was a boner and contrary to everything I would have expected from Russ Feingold. That doesn't diminish what respect I have for him for introducing the censure.

Those are two separate and distinct things. It could have been a left-right combination. He missed the right. He took a fabulous opportunity handed to him and turned it into a grandstanding issue for the Republicans.

[lakeguy]

14. maybe it was his plan to walk out. what if the repubs could have

forced a vote right away. that puts the focus right back on the dems.

i don't know why he left, but after preparing a speech like that, don't you at least agree that he has enough brains to think about what he was going to do once he was finished?

[Generator]

11. Feingold appears to be the next Cindy Sheehan

I'm loving this guy. You change nothing by being the status quo. Rable rousers change the world. Not the paper pushers. It is RADICAL to say the truth in this stupid country. Bush broke the law. IF not now, when? WHEN? In 2009? Christ on a crutch. Nothing ever changes with the same b.s. Let's have another committee! Murtha also pushed the debate. And they didn't support him, or Cindy and most Dems in Congress don't even support KERRY their goddamn nominee that acutally won the election. This party needs some unity with those that dare to speak truth to power. Because when you do that you actually have some power!

[Hobarticus]

13. No, he'd much rather run to Fox and blame his fellow Dems

I'm sorry, I love Russ, really I do, but this reeks of a stunt. If not, then he played it stupidly. And I don't think much of any Dem who can't settle this in private instead of trumpeting it to effin' FOX.

They'll be playing that reel of him in November, and again in '08, if he throws in his name.

[Justice Is Comin]

15. TA DA ....you are so right.

And why ??

Why would you turn down the opportunity of ramming your argument right down the throat of the person you most want to convince? Why would you want to take a fastball over the middle of the plate belt high and keep the bat on your shoulder?

He could have turned Specter inside out. By doing that, he could have shown more reason for the Dems to support his censure. No vote could have been forced just because he was on the floor.

That requires the agreeement of the Minority leader. It's just baffling to me why he gave the appearance he was hiding.

[EFerrari]

16. By leaving, he denied them a big fat target. And Durbin

did a good job of working clean up. They double teamed the Senate Thugs.

If this is a stunt, I wish all Senate Democrats were trained stuntmen.

As far as blaming fellow Dems, damnn, truth hurts.

[PVK]

17. I agree with you 100%.

It was a great chess move, IMHO.

By leaving, he spit on Specter. And Durbin did an excellent job following up.

[EFerrari]

20. It was a thing of beauty AND shows that Russ has support in the party.

Dick did GREAT.

:toast:

[Hobarticus]

18. Not saying he's not RIGHT...

But hell, Fox has enough Dem-flamers on there, he doesn't need to be doing their job for them.

King Reagan once said: never speak poorly of a fellow Republican, in public. There's something to be said for that.

[dave29]

21. Unfortunately, the spineless Dems agree with Reagans sentiment

"never speak poorly of a fellow Republican"

hence no censure.

[Hobarticus]

29. Ouch...tagged.

Where's the bloody nose icon?

[EFerrari]

22. Sure, that has worked for them. It doesn't seem to work for

progressives. I've no idea why.

Not at all sure where this is going but it is busting out all over.

We, imho, need to be alert and prepared to validate every positive step and lay back from criticizing missteps -- because this is really hard for everyone, the learning curve is pretty damn steep.

And remember, only the 30%ers actually watch Faux for NEWS.

I'm wondering if it wasn't a great move on Feingold's part to go there. Preemptively framing his position -- giving his fellow Dems an out if they need one?

I don't know him very well, but, it's a thought. :)

[Justice Is Comin]

26. I'm mystified by your view.

Feingold was a "target?" Feingold could have had a continuation of battering Bush with the Judiciary Committee chairman. A freebie !!

Are you telling me if that was you, you wouldn't have jumped on that opportunity? I was stunned that Specter was going to give him the opportunity.

My God, if he could have mad Specter look bad, that would have been better than anything we could have imagined. I stated in my OP exactly how he could have done that.

If you search your own conscience, I have to believe if you were a Republican, you would be thrilled that he gave the appearance he was afraid to do that. Specter called him out over and over again. It took a great 25 minutes and ended with a thud, when it could have been Specter on the defense.

My heart is with your sentiment. But the actuality was a disaster.

[EFerrari]

31. Specter did look bad. He fumbled his whole time.

Maybe I'm just hopelessly naive but, in leaving, Feingold didn't allow himself to be captured on a Senate floor controlled by the opposition.

He didn't dignify the b3llshit.

Specter looked pretty silly, talking to nothing and badly, and Durbin seemed to be doing him a favor.

I'm not the world's expert on analyzing these maneuvers. This is just how it seemed to me.

:)

[Rainscents]

28. He did NOT go to FOX news!!! You need to get your facts before

spilling your mouth! Rawstory has story and also WSJ has it too. He was talking with bunch of reporters and fox news pick it up.

[Hobarticus]

30. Better get started, telling everyone else not to "spill their mouths"

'bout it, compadre. It's all over.

[Rainscents]

33. You made it sound like... Feingold went to FOX News studio, which he did

NOT!

[Hobarticus]

34. No, I didn't say he went to Fox Studios.

I picked this up elsewhere on DU, if I'm mistaken several others here are as well, so RELAX.

[otohara]

23. Bad Timing w/ Cheney in Wisconsin Yesterday

how'd that happen? Was yesterday the only day Feingold could do this? I just hated to see that evil bastard Cheney smirking yesterday in front of Wisconsin GOP.

Probably not a big deal in the scope of cowering dems.

[SeattleRob]

24. mmmm....

Maybe he should have got all the Washington DC insider consultants and asked them to run focus groups and see the most effective way to frame the issue as to not upset the Republican/DC Insider masters. Sure a large majority are unhappy with the way Bush is running things, but we don't want to rock the boat and appear to be too much against the courageous Bush/Republican Leadership.

:sarcasm:

[EFerrari]

32. Lol!

:rofl: