Censure: Good Politics and Good Policy
by KevinMarch 13th, 2006
Senator Feingold is going to attempt to bring a motion of censure to the Senate floor:
In an exclusive interview on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold called on the Senate to publicly admonish President Bush for approving domestic wiretaps on American citizens without first seeking a legally required court order.
“This conduct is right in the strike zone of the concept of high crimes and misdemeanors,” said Feingold, D-Wis., a three-term senator and potential presidential contender.
He said President Bush had, “openly and almost thumbing his nose at the American people,” continued the NSA domestic wiretap program.
President Bush has long asserted that the so-called ‘warrantless wiretaps’ are an essential tool in the war on terror.
But in a copy of the censure resolution obtained by ABC News, Feingold asserts the president, “repeatedly misled the public prior to the public disclosure of the National Security Agency surveillance program by indicating his administration was relying on court orders to wiretap suspected terrorists inside the United States.”
First and foremost, this is the correct thing to do. Bush broke the law and lied to the American people about breaking the law. And when he was caught, he and his people advanced a theory of executive power that essential amounted to assuming a throne, at least as far as national security was concerned. Censure is the least that such blatant disregard for the law, the Constitution, and common decency deserves. Feingold is absolutely correct to attempt this.
But Feingold’s resolution is also smart politics. If any of his Democratic opponents for the 2008 nomination refuse to sign onto the resolution, then they hand him an issue in the primary. Feingold immediately looks tough, especially to our shallow chattering class, by taking what they consider to be an unpopular and risky stand on principle. This also fits his past. He voted against the PATRIOT Act, led a bipartisan filibuster of the PATRIOT Act renewal and now has very publicly come down on the side of accountability with this move. He is obviously positioning himself as the Constitution’s candidate. That could be very attractive considering how unpopular the authoritarian Bush has become. And it also gives him a core set of well accepted values and principles upon which to build a coherent theory of national security. Even better, it gives him the opportunity to portray opponents of his vision of national security as fearful or cowardly. After all, you would have to be an enormous coward to throw away the Constitution because of terrorism. This move also has an outside chance of peeling away a Republican Senator or two. The Senate has been treated like an abused lap dog by the White House, asked to swallow all manner of insults and attacks on its powers. You can be sure that at least some of those Senators are unhappy with that treatment. And at least some of those Senators must be aware that Bush has been mired in the thirties for a very long time with little prospect of improving. A censure vote would give those hypothetical Senators a chance to punch back at the White House without actually affecting the GOP’s chances to retain the White House in 2008. Again, it is not likely that a GOP Senator will break ranks, but this censure motion provides a much better chance of that than an impeachment motion.
This is one of the reasons that I am so intrigued by Feingold’s run. He seems to be trying to do well for himself by doing well for the country, and he seems to have a talent for turning conventional wisdom in the process.
UPDATE: From ReddHed:
I have a request: Russ Feingold really stuck his neck out today, and it would be great if he — and every other Senator — knew that we had his back. It’s a gutsy move, not without risk in the polarized environment that is Washington these days and with the hatchet squad that Rove and his ilk generally deploy when their actions are questioned, so you have to hand it to Sen. Feingold for having the guts to raise the censure issue — not just in the privacy of his office or at home, but right there on national television for all the world to hear.
… Your action steps: call both your Senators first thing in the morning and ask if they support Russ Feingold’s censure proposal. If they don’t, ask what their position is on the issue — and why.
The more people we have calling, the more staffers in the offices start to realize that Feingold struck a political chord with a bunch of us in America.
… You can contact the US Senate via the switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and they will connect you with any Senator’s office. Or you can find your particular Senator’s direct dial here.
Politicians very often need to hide behind the crowd. Let your Senator know that Sneator Feingold has a crowd.
Categories: Politics |
Liberal democrats can’t leave well enough alone. They always come back to their looney toons roots. Democrats scored points with the kneejerk reaction about the UAE port deal. Then one of their leaders comes out and shows what a bunch of nutjobs liberals are. Thanks Sen. Feingold.
BTW, isn’t it ironic that the senator who led the charge to deny free political speech is now accusing someone else of violating the Constitution?
Fred:
On what planet? It was mostly conservatives who torpedoed the deal.
And for the record, for all the doom and gloom, McCain-Feingold doesn’t “deny free political speech” — it denies, under very limited circumstances, paid political speech. And the 2004 election showed us that it didn’t really put a stop to anything; it just changed the rules of the game a little bit.
Actually, I think two things are obvious.
One, Bush broke the law otherwise why all the scrambling GOP senators seeking to pass a law absolving him of the crime and then legalize it in the future?
Feingold knows this has no chance and wants to get his name more visible with the netroots and the other activists within the party. I don’t view it as being much different than McCain’s current sucking up to Bush and company. It’s more about 2008 than anything else.
tg: McCain-Feingold doesn’t “deny free political speech” — it denies, under very limited circumstances, paid political speech.
Fred: Sorry. I guess I missed that section of the Constitution that says people can’t join together and pay to get out their political speech. Under your belief that it is okay to deny paid political speech, then books, newspaper articles, college speeches, etc. should be illegal if the person pays to get the article out or receives compensation for his speech. What is it about freedom of political speech that bothers liberals so much?
As for conservatives lining up on the anti-Arab bandwagon, you are right. I never denied that. The point is that kneejerk liberals tried to use the issue to pretend that they care about national security so they could score political points. Then Feingold comes up with the insane censure motion. Liberals - the gift that keeps on giving.
Notice how Democrat senators wanted no part of an immediate vote in the senate. They don’t want the light shone on their extremism.