Glenn Greenwald on what I call "Drumitis" -- A chronic, lethal beltway ...

[understandinglife]

... virus afflicting many of our representatives.

Kevin's assurance that Democrats will lose is nice conventional wisdom (and the standard beginning premise for many Democrats), but it's actually completely baseless. If the public became convinced as part of the debate that is finally happening that the President broke the law and that such law-breaking is intolerable, does Kevin actually think that it's impossible to find 6 Republican Senators to vote for the Resolution? Congressional Republicans defied Bush on the port deal for only one reason: because public opinion demanded it.

If public opinion begins to move even more than it already has to the view that Bush broke the law, it is far from certain that the Censure Resolution will fail. As I've noted many times, polls showed for two consecutive years that the public thought Watergate was a meaningless scandal and Nixon's popularity remained sky high throughout those years. The arc of that scandal ended up changing only because tenacious politicians and journalists continued to pursue the story and the public finally became educated and angry about it. If Democrats had followed Kevin's advice in 1972, Richard Nixon would have retired as a popular two-term President.

But even if the Censure Resolution ultimately fails, the rationale for pursuing it is self-evident. Kevin frequently frets about (among other things) the fact that Democrats are perceived as being weak. The reason for that is because Democrats often are weak, precisely when they do things like abandon their own Senators and refuse to take a principled stand against a President who got caught breaking the law.

People like Kevin -- who believe that Democrats must "prove" to the country that they can be strong -- should most understand the value in having Democrats take a stand regardless of whether they ultimately prevail. Strong and resolute people fight. Weak and spineless people run away from fights -- or fight only when their victory is guaranteed in advance. The Democrats have been running away from fights for five years now based on the Kevin Drum theory that fights are only worth fighting if you know in advance that you will win. It is beyond irrational to think that the Democrats are going to look strong by simply crawling away meekly and allowing George Bush to break the law.

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Link:
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/03/stirring-defense-of-indecision-and.html

Kerry stepped to Feingold's side, immediately. Boxer, Harkin and Menendez (per www.firedoglake.blogspot.com) are now supporting Feingold.

The only substance sufficiently strong to kill the Drumitis virus is "We the People ..."

It's best to inform each Senator that "We the People ..." will not tolerate any member of our government committing crimes and that if they do not intend to be complicit in Bush's crimes they'd best start doing their job and hold him and his minions accountable.


Be The Bu$h Opposition - 24/7

[jean]

1. Bravo, Glenn! (thanks for the link ul)

[tularetom]

2. Judgement WILL come

and the backlash will be severe. When enough people finally wake up it won't be enough to say "we were deceived". If you were in a position to stop it and did nothing, you will be deemed equally culpable with those who perpetrated the evil. I would welcome a wholesale housecleaning in congress including a lot of our do nothing spineless Dems.

[understandinglife]

3. fdl: "Dayton Wobbly on Feingold Opposition?"

It appears the phone calls are having an effect. Although Mark Dayton told Bloomberg that Feingold's censure resolution was "premature, and over- reaching, which often involves losing more than gaining," callers to his offices are now reporting that he has backed off of this and has decided to take no position.

Could it be that Democrats are finally emboldened against a President with a 33% approval rating?

We've put up a list of "lions" and "lemmings" in the sidebar (so named by Digby). Maybe we should find out where Dayton belongs:

http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/2006/03/dayton-wobbly-on-feingold-opposition.html

Apply more "We the People ..." pressure.


Be The Bu$h Opposition - 24/7

[Johnny Noshoes]

4. I just watched the clip

from Boston Legal that was mentioned on the firedoglake site. I can't believe they actually aired that on ABC. It was beautiful man. In Feingold I have found my candidate for '08.

[enough]

5. The dem's "conduct mocks itself."

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What is a more serious political crisis than having a President who believes he has the power to break the law and who exercises that power repeatedly and enthusiastically - and who, by the way, is still defiantly breaking the law as we speak? What possible rationale could exist for passing up the opportunity to educate Americans that George Bush is breaking the law and claims he has the power to do so?

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Third, Kevin claims that Republicans are "having a field day" with the Censure Resolution. That's true. They are. And why is that? Because other Democrats, like Kevin, are transparently afraid to support it. The mockery from the Republicans is not about the Censure Resolution but about the fact that most prominent Democrats seem petrified to death of confronting George Bush even when he gets caught breaking the law. That conduct mocks itself.

As usual, Kevin internalizes false Republican propaganda by believing that Republicans love this scandal and think they can benefit from it. But the Republicans' conduct since this scandal began proves that the opposite is true. They tried to kill every investigation. They have tried to sweep it all under the rug. And just this week, Sen. Frist tried to force an immediate vote before anyone had a chance to even read, let alone debate, the Resolution, precisely because the last thing Republicans want is the spotlight on the fact that the President broke the law and the GOP-controlled Congress is doing nothing about it.

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