Grassroots agree with Feingold on censure

In case you needed another sign that Washington politicians are out of touch with the mainstream in this country, consider this:

Washington - The Republican National Committee says it will begin airing an ad on talk radio shows in Milwaukee and Madison this week criticizing Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold for his proposal to censure President Bush.

The ad describes Feingold as the "leader" of a group of Democrats "working against" the president's efforts to "secure our country" by monitoring terrorist communications and disrupting terrorist plots...

Feingold issued a statement late Monday that says in part:

"The President has broken the law, and the censure resolution I introduced is intended to hold him accountable. Nobody says that we shouldn't be monitoring suspected terrorists. Of course we should, and we can under current law. We have yet to hear a reasonable argument from the president or anyone else why it was necessary to break the law."

The RNC action, of course, is part of the campaign to try to isolate Feingold as some kind of far-left lunatic. But Congressional Dems haven't been much better on this issue. The only ones who agree with Feingold are the people.

The trouble for the GOP is that national polls show people split right down the middle on the question of whether to censure the President, as Feingold has proposed. That hasn't translated into much support in the Congress, as chickenshit Democrats avoid Feingold like he as avian flu. Only Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Barbara Boxer of California have signed on as co-sponsors. That despite the fact that the poll show Dem voters favor censure 60% to 30%.

Stirring up listeners to Republican talk radio shows won't hurt Feingold a bit. It will help him with his Democratic base.

The report from a Shawano County town meeting:

But when Feingold made his case to censure the president, he received sustained applause from a crowd of nearly 100 people at the Belle Plaine Community Center in Shawano County.

"If you were on the phone with an al-Qaida person, I support your being wiretapped, all the time, for a long time," he told the audience. "We have laws already that allow the president to wiretap your line for 72 hours without a warrant. All he has to do is apply for that warrant. . . . The whole thing they're saying about how Senator Feingold doesn't want us to be able to wiretap. That's absolute nonsense. I support wiretapping every single person who is working with a terrorist. Just do it within the law. That's all we ask."

In an interview, Feingold said letters to his office were running 3 to 1 in favor of his censure position...

Vermont's two senators, Democrat Patrick Leahy and Independent Jim Jeffords, support hearings onFeingold'ss censure motion, and others will come out of the woodwork.

The Tomah Journal, probably soon to be called the Tomah Daily Worker by the wingnuts, has this to say:

Nobody argues against eavesdropping on terror suspects. Nobody argues that warrants shouldn't be classified or post-dated under exigent circumstances. However, it doesn't take a pacifist to insist that a magistrate -- someone who doesn’t serve at the pleasure of the president -- review electronic eavesdropping requests. It's not only the law; it's the only way to conduct surveillance consistent with the Fourth Amendment. Senator Feingold is right to insist that the President honor both the law and Constitution. If Feingold's fellow Senators won't vindicate his stance, history will.

The paper is absolutely right on.