Censure Referred To Judiciary Committee / Democrats Cower

Not too much to update on in regards to the censure resolution. The big news is that the resolution is headed to the Senate Judiciary Committee, "advancing a contentious debate over whether the president deserves a formal rebuke for his secret wiretapping program". Feingold stated in response to this that-

"I look forward to a full hearing, debate and vote in committee on this important matter. If the committee fails to consider the resolution expeditiously, I will ask that there be a vote in the full Senate."

So much to the chagrin of the Bush/Frist crowd, this issue will remain in the public spotlight.

I called my Senators' offices again... still no decision. Surprise, surprise.

Via ThinkProgress, the following is a quote by Sen. Feingold on Fox News:

"I’m amazed at Democrats, cowering with this president’s numbers so low. The administration just has to raise the specter of the war and the Democrats run and hide. … Too many Democrats are going to do the same thing they did in 2002 and 2004. In the face of this, they’ll say we’d better just focus on domestic issues. … They cower to the argument, that whatever you do, if you question the administration, you’re helping the terrorists."

Agreed. Shameful. The real election-year politics is being played against Feingold.

The AP has a great story on Feingold's comments today.

What the Democrats are afraid of are accusations like this one, hurled yesterday by Sen. Allard, accusing Feingold of 'siding with terrorists'. Finally ahead in the polls on national security issues, the Democrats fear those kind of smears. However baseless they are. But beside being tasteless, such comments are part of the false debate people like Frist and the White House are engaging in. Feingold's resolution is not about the war on terror- it's about the rule of law.

Democrats, repeat after me: This is not about terrorism! This does affect the war!

If you have time, also mention how poorly the President is bungling said war.

Let's please, please get that false debate over with so we can have a real debate on the President's actions.

For this demagogic talking point in action, check out this post at Blogs For Bush, which reposts an insanely moronic entry from Sen. Cornyn's website. See also my repeated comments to that entry, desperately trying to get Bush cultists (and it is scarily like a cult at this point) to actually debate the issue on its merits. Spoiler... they won't. The very fact that Republicans like Cornyn are resorting to such childish drivel only reinforces how strong Feingold's argument is.

Democrats would do well to take note of that.

Instead, they're quietly lashing out... at Feingold. A Senate aide said-

“Feingold’s grandstanding screwed the pooch and played into Bill Frist’s hands,” the aide said. “Thank God Dems punted this down the field. Frist was going to force Democrats to vote on a resolution Feingold had kept a big secret and he would’ve split the caucus on an issue that needed time to get the whole caucus to support. Russ Feingold had only one persons’ interests in mind with his Sunday bombshell, and those were his own. He practically handed a victory to a Bush White House that desperately needs a win.”

Now, I can understand this anger from their point of view. They feel blindsided by Feingold's decision. This person isn't wrong in that regard. But that doesn't mean that Feingold did the wrong thing... unless you believe a Senator's job is purely political and not about actually taking action.

Sure, this very well may play into the White House's hand... after all, they are desperately looking to restore their credibility on national security and (lord knows) could use any boost they can get. However, think about this... if Republicans like Frist believe this debate will work to their benefit, why try to get a vote out of the way now? Why not milk it? Just to call Feingold's bluff? No, I think they wanted this over as quick as possible, before enough public support build up to change the minds of many Senators.

More importantly, the Senate aide quoted above fails to note the important factor here- the reason that the Republicans are dictating the terms of the dialogue on this issue is because the Democrats have let them. If the Democrats had stood as a whole here and gone wall to wall to knock down the "treason/war on terror" talking points, then the issue would have the credibility it deserves. Instead, they have given these smears legitimacy with their silence.

These cowards have let Bush and Rove fear-and-smear this country toward one-party rule.

Perhaps the Democrats should be reading Roll Call (the official Capitol Hill paper) more often. It has an article by Donna Brazile encouraging Senators to embrace the resolution. She states "As a Beltway insider, I am convinced that we cannot continue to tell those who have loyally supported our Democratic leaders to wait. Wait for what? Wait until our pollsters give us the green light to speak up?... It's time to break with the same-old, same-old and use the Feingold resolution to force the Republican-controlled Congress to commit to serious oversight of the controversial, but increasingly popular, surveillance program."

Digby has more excerpts and other thoughts on the issues surrounding the resolution.

The Democrats need to understand this- the Republicans didn't take power by playing it safe. They got their hands dirty and spread their message like wildfire, in their case actually shitting on the very same people whose votes they courted (and won) along the way. No way should the Democrats adopt that horrid model, but they should understand that the squeaky wheel gets the votes. Polls show the American people (by a significant majority) no longer support this President and the direction he is taking this country in. So Senators should not be afraid to stand behind Sen. Feingold and explain to the people what we can do to get us back in the right direction.

Simply reminding the President that he is bound by the rule of law (and that's all censure is- a scolding) is hardly a radical start to that campaign.