Feingold's Folly

"If you dig a grave for others, you might fall into it yourself."  (Irish Proverb)

Russ Feingold picked a moment when President Bush's job approval rating is at an all-time low (or so we are told) to introduce legislation seeking to censure President Bush.

It may seem like cynical political opportunism at its best, but it is rapidly beginning to look like "Feingold's Folly."

Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters has a nice update.  Here is an excerpt from "Feingold Isolated By Angry Caucus," with a few highlights of my own:

Senator Russ Feingold has discovered the key difference between leadership and grandstanding. The former involves motivating a group of people to follow your lead by engaging the group's enthusiasm for your direction. The latter involves making decisions for others without bothering to consult them. Democrats have made clear that Feingold is a party grandstander and not a leader:

Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold accused fellow Democrats on Tuesday of cowering rather than joining him on trying to censure President Bush over domestic spying.

"Democrats run and hide" when the administration invokes the war on terrorism, Feingold told reporters.

Feingold introduced censure legislation Monday in the Senate but not a single Democrat has embraced it. Several have said they want to see the results of a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation before supporting any punitive legislation.

Republicans dismissed the proposal Tuesday as being more about Feingold's 2008 presidential aspirations than Bush's actions. On and off the Senate floor, they have dared Democrats to vote for the resolution.

Feingold's fellow caucus members have watched as the presidential hopeful pushed them into an embarrassing Hobson's choice. On one hand, they could follow Feingold and fight to censure George Bush for taking action to protect America from terrorist attack -- measures that have found approval by two-thirds of American voters -- and reinforce the widely-held belief that the Democrats have no stomach for taking the necessary steps to protect the nation. The censure would never work, however, since the Democrats only have 45 votes in the Senate, and not even all of those would ever agree to support it.

The Democrats chose the only other option, which was to run away as fast as possible from the Wisconsin senator. That made them look craven and disorganized while allowing Feingold to roar with righteous indignation at their failure to support him. That posturing may sell well with the far-left netroots but it won't with his colleagues. Raw Story has apparently spoken with staffers on the Hill and discovered that Feingold never bothered to consult with any of his caucus before launching this ridiculous effort . . . .

You can read the rest here.

And Flopping Aces points out that Democratic Senators seem to be fleeing from questions about whether they support Feingold's resolution, noting this coverage from Dana Milbank writing at the Washington Post:

Democratic senators, filing in for their weekly caucus lunch yesterday, looked as if they'd seen a ghost.

"I haven't read it," demurred Barack Obama (Ill.).

"I just don't have enough information," protested Ben Nelson (Neb.). "I really can't right now," John Kerry (Mass.) said as he hurried past a knot of reporters -- an excuse that fell apart when Kerry was forced into an awkward wait as Capitol Police stopped an aide at the magnetometer.

Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) brushed past the press pack, shaking her head and waving her hand over her shoulder. When an errant food cart blocked her entrance to the meeting room, she tried to hide from reporters behind the 4-foot-11 Barbara Mikulski (Md.).

"Ask her after lunch," offered Clinton's spokesman, Philippe Reines. But Clinton, with most of her colleagues, fled the lunch out a back door as if escaping a fire.

In a sense, they were. The cause of so much evasion was S. Res. 398, the resolution proposed Monday by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) calling for the censure of President Bush for his warrantless wiretapping program. At a time when Democrats had Bush on the ropes over Iraq, the budget and port security, Feingold single-handedly turned the debate back to an issue where Bush has the advantage -- and drove another wedge through his party.

Comments

[M.A.]

The law Bush broke was created in response to a President who abused his power to spy on Americans. Dick Cheney never liked that law when he was in the Ford administration, and he encouraged Bush to break it.

The fact is, the law says Bush needs to get a warrant (he can even get a warrant three days after the eavesdropping takes place; that's how easy it is to follow) and he broke the law and dared Congress to say anything. Congress has basically agreed to pretend that Bush's illegal actions were legal.

It's too bad no one else has gone along with Feingold (yet) but at least someone is out there pointing out that Bush broke the law, and standing up to cowards like Bill Frist, who would drag us back to Cheney's beloved Nixon era and the super-powered, secretive executive.

[Mike's America]

If it was that easy MA, Bush would be doing it.

Apparently you haven't looked into the weaknesses in the FISA process.

It amazes me how many of you folks are still trying to handcuff those who are keeping us safe.

I've heard almost as many lies about "domestic spying" as I have about DPW "buying our ports."

Gina: Love the Irish proverb. Very appropriate for St. Patty's Day.