Feingold’s Folly
Well, I used to be proud of being from Wisconsin. Now, unfortunately, that wholesome Midwestern image is sullied. Besmirched by one Russ Feingold, the Senator from Wisconsin.
In a recent political (and, if I may be so bold, stupid) move, Mr Feingold has introduced a resolution to censure the President for the NSA wiretapping “scandal.” [ Feingold Proposes Censuring President Bush ]‚ He has sent his resolution to the Senate Judiciary first, but if the Judiciary doesn’t act on it, Feingold has said he will take it to the full Senate. [ Feingold Draws Little Support for Censure ]
For starters, there has been no specific determination as to whether the law has been broken. Feingold’s resolution actually makes the assumption that laws have been broken. It reads:
“Resolved that the United States Senate does hereby censure George W. Bush, president of the United States, and does condemn his unlawful authorization of wiretaps of Americans within the United States without obtaining the court orders required.”
We are not certain that what was done was, in fact, “unlawful.”‚ Precedent has been set by past presidents, including Jimmy Carter. Shouldn’t we decide if a crime has been committed first? If no crime has been committed, censure would be silly or moot.
And think about this for a moment: members of Congress (both House and Senate) with extremist views have failed to endorse the resolution. Harry Reid, for example, has not only declined to endorse it, he hasn’t even read it. And Nancy Pelosi?‚ Well, for once, she and I come close to agreement on something:
“Both the House and the Senate must fully investigate the program and assign responsibility for any laws that may have been broken.”
Come on Russ. Let’s put aside our pettiness and try to get some real work done.
Comments
Leave a Reply
![[Valid RSS]](/wp-images/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
