07/23/07 Feingold Censure Move Is Hot Topic

Feingold Censure Move Is Hot Topic

The Capital Times
Monday, July 23, 2007
By KRISTIN CZUBKOWSKI The Capital Times

Sen. Russ Feingold is turning to the Internet for reactions to his most recent call to censure President Bush, proposed Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Shortly after the show, Feingold posted a diary entry on the left-leaning blog the Daily Kos, saying "The last time I posted on Daily Kos, it certainly generated a lot of interest. ... As always, I appreciate how honest and passionate the Daily Kos community is about the issues that matter, and even when we don't agree it was important to have the civil exchange that we did."

Daily Kos readers again took up that "civil exchange," flooding Feingold's entry with comments. As of 10 a.m. today, the entry had generated more than 1,000 comments to the senator, more than any other entry from the same time period on the site.

Feingold also explained in his entry the differences between last year's censure resolution and the two he plans to introduce in the Senate within the next few weeks. Unlike last year's resolution, which focused specifically on illegal wiretapping, Feingold said these two would be "broad resolutions," with the first focusing on the administration's handling of the war in Iraq and the second focusing on the "rule of law" at home, which would include last year's wiretapping charges.

According to many Daily Kos readers and local activists, however, Feingold's repeated call to censure the nation's leaders may be too little, too late.

"It is good that he is doing that. What he should be doing is demanding impeachment," said Buzz Davis, chairman of Veterans for Peace. "Censure against these men is like asking killers if they'd please put down their guns."

Censure, as opposed to impeachment, is a public condemnation of a government official, while impeachment is the first step in a two-step process of removing the person from office.

If the House of Representatives voted to impeach, the president would go on trial in the Senate, where a two-thirds vote would be needed to convict him and remove him from office.

The Constitution says the president "shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

Many like Davis have been pushing for impeachment.

Davis was an organizer of an Independence Day rally calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney and is also helping to organize street theater events on State Street today, Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The performances will focus on torture issues at the Guantanamo Bay prison, as well as repeat calls for impeachment from local groups like Veterans for Peace and the Impeachment Coalition of Dane County.

Davis said participants will also circulate petitions and promote resolutions at the local level supporting impeachment of Bush and Cheney. Ashok Kumar, a County Board Supervisor and sponsor of the resolution at that level, spoke more positively about Feingold's call to censure, but said it was still secondary to impeachment.

"Clearly, I prefer impeachment over censure," he said. "But if impeachment is completely off the table, as the Democrats like to say, then I guess we'll have to go to the next best option, which is censure, but I don't believe it's off the table."

Kumar added that censure has become more politically viable now compared to more than a year ago when Feingold first proposed it.

Online commentators, however, said Feingold's call to censure may detract from stronger measures, such as House Resolution 333 calling for the impeachment of Cheney.

"What you did on your last diary, unknowingly or not, was give cover to the House members who would rather spend the next 16 months securing their job than being bogged down in impeachment," said one Daily Kos reader.

Feingold's press secretary would not comment directly on public reaction to the senator's call for censure, but an addendum to his Daily Kos diary entry addressed some readers' comments on censure and impeachment.

"As far as impeachment is concerned, as I have stated, I do not believe it is the right course of action right now," Feingold said. "Censure is a way to formally rebuke the administration for its misconduct so that the historical record is clear, without putting the country through a very trying process."

Davis was critical of that position, saying that investigations that go along with impeachment proceedings would have a larger impact on getting Bush out of office than censure.

"For the U.S. Senate, it's a tremendously strong statement. For the United States of America, it's a failure."

Feingold's own party leader in the Senate showed little interest in the idea. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Feingold's proposals showed the nation's frustration. But Reid said he would not go along with them and said the Senate needs to focus on finishing spending bills on defense and homeland security.

"We have a lot of work to do," Reid said. "The president already has the mark of the American people - he's the worst president we ever had. I don't think we need a censure resolution in the Senate to prove that."

As for the Senate's top Republican, "I think it's safe to say Russ Feingold is not a fan of George Bush. I think that's the best way to sum that up," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

At the White House, spokesman Trey Bohn said, "We realize that Senator Feingold does not care much for the president's policies."

kczubkowski@madison.com