Feingold in 2008?

[ocvictor]

So, our right-wing brothers and sisters are beside themselves with glee at Russ Feingold's efforts to censure the president -- efforts met with ire from the GOP and cowardice from the Dems.

And I'll admit there's been a blunder here, but not by Feingold. The blunder belongs to Hillary, Kennedy, Kerry, Obama and all the supposed bright lights of the Democratic party who remained silent rather than be seen going on the record wanting to censure the president.

I think we're seeing a bad case of political tin ears on both sides of the aisle here, especially considering a plurality of Americans support the measure. Meanwhile, the supposed GOP base-rallying has done nothing to shore up Bush's sinking poll numbers, now down to 33% at the Pew Center, which is my personal preference of polls. (You know you're a wonk when you have a favorite poll...)

It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, when candidates are out stumping for the 2008 presidential race, no one will remember the details -- but Feingold will be able to say he was on the record wanting to censure Bush when everybody else was waffling.

Comments

[babbott.livejournal.com]

Hillary has NO reason to censure anybody. It'd be best if she'd shut up permanently, rather than give her opponents any reason to look into her past (or present), but I don't think that'll ever happen.

[ocvictor.livejournal.com]

Thus, the rub. Because lying to Congress about sex and having consensual sex with an employee, thus causing mild damage to sexual harrassment laws, are the sort of activities I think censure would have been perfect for.

Whereas impeachment should be reserved for serious crimes and misdemeanors, like lying to Congress about the reasons for a war that's cost thousands of lives and billions more dollars than projected, and spying on U.S. citizens without a warrant despite the fact that there's a perfectly good law that allows them to do that, thus causing damage to civil liberties in general.

Yeah. America's sense of proportion is ALL out of whack.

[babbott.livejournal.com]

I wasn't thinking of Monica, as that wasn't Hillary's "sin," but more of Whitewater and the ethics involved in being a Clinton in general...

[ocvictor.livejournal.com]

Except most of that they were exonerated for after some of the most dogged prosecution thrown at a sitting U.S. president. Seiously, the Clinton ethics, while not the best out there, pale before the current crop.

And besides, if that's enough to cowl her, we need better.

[babbott.livejournal.com]

I see we disagree in too many ways for this conversation, but that doesn't surprise me. I don't find many people who agree with me politically, especially in the Slam scene.

I distrust the Clintons too much, and while I distrust the current batch as well, I don't think Hillary's in any position to throw stones, though she probably believes she is, since she is who she is. No politician is blameless, but the last two administrations (two rounds each) have been a bit more corrupt than usual, it seems to me (and maybe only to me).

[ocvictor.livejournal.com]

On the last point, I definitely agree.