Russ Feigold's censure resolution has captured the imagination of the liberal blogosphere.  And why not?

After years of playing the victim, or taking sometimes solitary, albeit ineffectual protest stands against the GOP juggernaut, finally a Democrat has make a positive, pro-active move in opposition.

Will it be successful?  Who knows, probably not by the looks of things.  By getting the issue out there and measuring the support it garners, however, puts the hierarchy of the Democratic Party that "the times, they are a-change-in."

In a town addicted to kabuki dances and puppet theater, the censure resolution brings reality, and the brutal consequences of indulging in fantasy out in the open.  Every Senator, even enablers like Bill Frist know that if the Senators could vote their conscious, maybe by secret ballot instead of their position being subject to the predictable mudslinging that traditionally skews congressional action in favor of self-preservation ahead of the public good, the idea of putting the President on notice that he's gone too far would gain overwhelming support.

Certainly one of the main reasons they went so far against Bill Clinton was because they could count.  Never was there any question that they had the votes, let alone the legal justification to remove Clinton from office.  Nevertheless, they went forward with their Dog-And-Pony show.  It was captivating entertainment -- but the real power games, the real decisions in Washington don't occur on the Senate floor in front of cameras, but in the back of lobbyists' limos.

So it was with Nixon.  And the same bean counters are there today.

Majority Leader Frist and White House Spokes-Puppet Scotty McManiquin want to label this nothing more than a political stunt.

News Flash:  They're right.

Why impeach a President if you don't have the votes to remove him?  To further the political ambitions of those directing the play, of course.  No question that it did Lindsay Graham's career wonders.  These guys became household names.  In putting up a dogged defense against the impeachment sideshow, Chuck Schumer's career was fast-tracked as well.

None of it, none of the ridiculously long and expensive investigation of Clinton's marital infidelity had one damn thing to do with making this nation a better place.  Nothing.  It had everything to do with the petty power game that masquerades as our representative republic.

They never did and knew they never would have the votes to remove Bill Clinton from office.  They did, however, have the votes to censure him.  One man made the difference, Russ Feingold.

Feingold was the only Democrat who voted to give the evidence against Bill Clinton a fair hearing.  With him on board the GOP was assured to defeat a cloture vote.  Like his sole stand on the Patriot Act 1.0, he has built a reputation for acting on principle rather than politics and self-interest.

Not to diminish the fact that I sincerely believe that is how all of our representatives should behave, it's still a stunt.

Feingold didn't introduce a censure motion in the Senate as Schumer and the Dems in the House did as an alternative to impeachment.  Indeed, if the prospect of the impeachment stage-show were not looming and censure were the only thing on the table, both houses of Congress should have approved it by a nine to one margin, but the real vote would have gone down party lines -- in exactly the opposite way censure of Clinton was defeated. (See below for update)

They weren't serious about censure then.  Certainly part of that had to do with the fact that what the President was accused of wasn't all that serious.  They weren't serious about impeachment either, or they would have counted the votes and called it a day before the case got out of the House Judiciary Committee.  When they counted the votes in 1974, Nixon called it a day.

We all know of course, as does every US Senator, that at the very least the crimes of the Bush White House are censure worthy.  What they also know, that we only understand on an instinctive level, is that ad libbing is not something Washington politicians are prepared to do.  Certainly Bill Frist kept to his script, opposing His Royal Bushness helps our enemies.  The rest of the Democractic Party has yet to agree on their lines or who should play which part.

And they're right.  They know they can pander to the liberal wing of the party, just as they've been accused of doing to minorities for years, and ignore us.

Who else are we going to vote for?  Republicans?

As long as they cower, just enough; and act strong, just enough -- they're hoping against hope that the pissed-off left (who aren't going to vote against them and are too active to stay home) won't convince the independents and moderates to once again shun the Party.

To be sure there will be Republican blood-letting if we get a majority in one of the congressional chambers this November.  But we're going to eat our own either way -- win or lose -- because Russ Feingold has pointed a bright spotlight on the Democrat's so-called leadership.  He stood by himself against Patriot Act I, He was one of ten against Patriot Act II.  It looks like he's at least got Minority Leader Ried with him as well as Iowa's Harkin and probably, if push came to shove, at least another 15 Democratic Senators brave enough to vote their conscious -- certainly none of whom are facing reelection this year or have presidential ambitions, but you can't have everything. 

The tide is changing, though.


UPDATE:  It looks like Kevin Drum and I are of the same mind on this, that it's all for show.  That's always good to see.  Misery does love company.  Kevin reminds us, well actually Elton Beard pointed out that there was a post-impeachment Clinton censure motion in the Senate introduced by Diane Feinstein, which (Ta Dah!) went right down party lines.

(Today) BUSH:  The battle lines in Iraq are now clearly drawn for the world to see.

This is a rehashed bit of rhetoric he used last summer.

This is a "Pre-Iraq Civil War Mentality."

Bombing the Gold-domed Mosque at al-Askariya changed everything

Mom Said I had to quit my bitchin' for at least one post and have some fun.  So here goes.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18 and find line 4.
The book was "The Way To Dusty Death" by Alistair MacLean:

[it] was matter for neither wonder nor speculation that those two men, the most unforgiving of rivals on the race-tracks, were, off-track, close friends.

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can, what do you find?
Lamp Shade

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Battlestar Galactica (Like Heights Mom, Cindy, I wanted "the freaky smoking twitching bugged eyed guy" on Survivor to get tossed off the island, but that was Thursday.  Friday belongs to SciFi Channel.  Especially season finale night, and they really went where no show has gone before this time.)

4. Without looking, guess what time it is.
2:00 pm

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
4:28 pm

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
TV

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Cleaning up dog doo-doo from the lawn.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
Glenn Greenwald's excellent essay on how the Bushevik conservatives have completely abandoned their principles on government intrusion.

and before that:

Booman Tribune

Obsidian Wings

The Fix

Sideshow

Eschaton

and Matthew Yglesias

9. What are you wearing?
Jeans, red flannel shirt over a brown polo, black socks and Bart Simpson boxers.

10. Did you dream last night?
No.

11. When did you last laugh?
This was very well done.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Bird Houses (don't ask).

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Other than on SciFi channel?  Yeah, my daughter getting a homework assignment done four days ahead of schedule.

14. What do you think of this quiz?
It's nice to reset the brain and do these things every once in a while.

15. What is the last film you saw?
Rent

16. If you turned into a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
I like Heights Mom's idea of pocketing a republican congressman or two, but I think I'd go for a yacht.

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know.
I've been playing guitar for 36 years and just mastered Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt and politics, what would you do?
Universal Health Care

19. Do you like to Dance?
Of Course

20. George Bush.

Worst President Ever.  Possibly worst head of government since Louie XVI.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
I got my first choice and named her after my grandmother.  The next choice was Samantha.  Sam Adams has such a cool legacy.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what would you call him?
Not John or Sam -- or Mark Jr.  Adam would be cruel.  No clue.

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
I live with too many broads.

24. What would you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
You were wrong, but still a nice guy and I'm sure we can find a spare cot for you somewhere.

25. 4 people who must also do this theme in their journal.

I agree with Heights Mom that "Must do" is harsh, but Rosemary is sure to like this, and Ara Rubyan might too.  Mike might have some fun with this, and Jude might have some time on her hands.

GOP Lawmaker Under Fire For Forwarding Email Calling Blacks "Welfare-Pampered" And "Rampant[ly]" Immoral...: "

A Loveland lawmaker has been blasted by his colleagues for e-mailing an essay written by someone else that accused 'welfare-pampered blacks' of waiting for the government to save them from Hurricane Katrina.

Rep. Jim Welker, a Republican, said Thursday morning that he forwarded the article because of its message about society victimizing people by making them dependent on government programs.

Rocky Mountain News Via Huffington Post

This item got me to thinking about a particularly pernicious lie that has taken hold of the populous -- almost as accepted doctrine.  The fact is that this is a complete revision of the historical evidence.  The socially conscious policies of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society did not increase dependence on government handouts, but actually cut poverty in half contrary to the accepted "truths" of the right wing noise machine.

Indeed, after initial skepticism, when Senator (then Ohio Governor) George Voinovich implemented his welfare elimination reform policies, even I gave some grumbling approval to the approach of limiting the length of time recipients could stay on the program -- as long as it was coupled with job training which was predictably inadequate in execution. Oh the cuts went in, and people survive -- even in a State that still hasn't fully recovered from the last recession -- but the training programs were cut too, and the price of secondary education has skyrocketed.

I always considered Voinovich one of the few truly compassionate men with an "R" after his name (not just wearing that label for effect) and had he not been succeeded by such an incompetent, pampered boob, maybe we wouldn't have taken such an economic hit.  But what do you expect when convicted criminals are permitted to continue in positions of authority by a complacent party machine masquerading as a representative legislature.

Alas I digress.  It's hard to tell if Ohio's welfare reform has been a success or failure.  It probably depends on whether you have an "R" or "D" after your name.  If you consider the high unemployment and the increase in poverty and working poor families, the Republicans in charge of this State for the last couple of decades, and running Congress for the last twelve years, have nothing to brag about when it comes to the public's standard of living.

What is really vile is calling people who find it harder to afford health care, difficult to avoid predatory lenders, impossible to file bankruptcy, ineligible for day care, and unable to pay for school, "victims" of the government only when it gives them a helping hand.  The hypocritical mindset is staggering.

Ahhh, quit yer whining and get to work.  We got burgers to flip and wars to pay for.  Just keep in mind that any policy suggested by someone connected to the powerful and wealthy that is sold to us as something like tough love, but just happens to benefit those powerful interests in some sort of indirect coincidence -- that's only cover for their greed and bigotry -- it's a fucking lie.

Wasn't I just talking about karma and justice yesterday?  So how many times do you think that President Bush looked into his longtime domestic policy aide Claude Allen's eyes and saw his soul?

Via:  Eschaton

According to the Montgomery County Police Department, [President Bush's former domestic policy advisor Claude] Allen was arrested yesterday and charged in a felony theft and a felony theft scheme.  According to a department press release, Allen conducted approximately 25 fraudulent "refunds" in Target and Hecht's stores in Maryland.  On Jan. 2, a Target employee apprehended Allen after observing him receive a refund for merchandise he had not purchased.  Target then contacted the Montgomery County Police.  According to a source familiar with the case, Target and the police had been observing Allen since October 2005.

[Note to self:  Expect your son to be warped if you name him "Claude".  That's just cruel.]

Background:

• Claude Allen, [K]nown as Rove's enforcer, President Bush's longtime domestic-policy adviser, resigned suddenly on Feb. 9.
  
  
• Allen led an HHS witch-hunt that investigated all of the AIDS service organizations (ASOs) receiving any federal funding.
  
  
• San Francisco's Stop AIDS Project and half a dozen other California AIDS-fighting groups, were ultimately purged from receiving U.S. funding by the Allen-led witch-hunt because Allen didn't like their science-based sex-education programs. Allen ordered Advocates for Youth, the leading national coalition for safe-sex ed, audited half a dozen times.
  
  
• Allen was the driving force to replace science-based sex ed with the failed policy of teaching that only abstinence prevents AIDS.
  
  
• A black conservative and religious primitive, Allen helped bludgeon the Centers for Disease Control, which reports to HHS, into purging safe-sex materials from its Web sites and into adopting mandatory new rules requiring AIDS-fighting groups to teach that condoms don't work in preventing the spread of AIDS.
  
  
• Allen proved himself to be so adamantly opposed to reproductive rights that he found it preferable for poor children to go without health coverage than to risk an underage sexual-abuse victim having access to state-funded abortion services."

I'm reminded of the story of this amazing philosopher/prophet/messiah who was nailed to a cross, murdered because he dared cross some ultra religious politically powerful men -- Pharasees, or something like that.  If some of Mr. Allen's supporters could take some time away from mounting their reverse witch-hunt defense and fill me in on the details of this story, I'd be very appreciative.

We are living in the age of the resurrection of the Pharasees.  These theocrats, holier than thou, sanctimoneous hypocrites who cannot abide by the simple norms of treating their fellow man, or woman, with compassion and charity; who would sell their own brother for power and money, and feel entitled to rip off anyone who is unaware of their diabolical nature.

They have no compunction about force-feeding their twisted morality on the rest of us.  This guy is no better than evangelicals Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swagart.  They are only separated from the likes of Dr. James Dobson, Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell because those bastards haven't gotten caught yet; but their souls are black.


True Christians, like peacekeeper Tom Fox, the missionary whose body was found in Iraq today, don't play power games with other people's lives.  They stand, and sometimes fall, for peace.

Dubai Ports World Is Considering Selling U.S. Operations To Halliburton Sully was just kidding.  I thought Norm Ornstein was too.

If this is done now through the backdoor, where D.P. [Dubai Ports World] has any role at all, Congress is going to go ballistic, and it’s going to be a disaster, I think, for the administration.

They have got a dilemma now, because there simply aren't American companies that have the know-how and the breadth to do this. Interestingly, and perhaps ironically, what I had heard earlier in the day, as they were looking at those that have the â€" the kind of resources, Halliburton was a name that came up.

I can tell you this for sure, there is no US company, with the possible exception of Halliburton, that has a fan big enough to handle all the shit heading its way if Cheneyburton gets to buy our ports at a no bid fire sale.

Every once in a while, especially when I read something like this from Digby, or a screed like this over at Firedoglake, it does my heart good to see the corruption conspiracy get what's coming to 'em.

Atrios alerts us to the story of a crooked Iraq contractor, one of those mercenary private security companies getting spanked, made to pay us back and awainting sentencing.

"There is an orgy of greed among contractors in Iraq, and the Bush administration is for all practical purposes participating in it,' said Alan Grayson, lawyer for the whistle-blowers who filed the case. 'They have done nothing to get the taxpayers' money back. They've done nothing to punish the wrongdoers."

This kind of story restores my faith.  I have faith that eventually the Bush Crime Family and all their associates will get what's coming to them.  I may be naive, and seem just as foolish as I think so many religious fanatics are, but deep down inside I believe in something in the cosmos akin to karma or kismet, or simple justice.

If it weren't for the phenomenon of what comes around going around, the old "golden rule," a basic requirement for a civilized society, would no longer be operational.  I believe that history shows that the longer and more deeply we go on this insane journey of catering to the wealthy and greedy, ignoring the basic principles which set us apart from other nations of the world, and rationalizing any depravity to further the ends of a bankrupt ideology, the greater the backlash and marginalization of those that got us here.

Arianna Huffington takes SecDef Rumsfeld to task for just making shit up.

First Rummy bitches about people and the press not putting things in historical perspective, forgetting their history, then he unleashes a volley of claptrap "facts" that simply defy logic or a cursory google check:

"There's never been a popular war."  Wrong.  Support for WWII never went below 75%

"Franklin Roosevelt was one of the most hated people in the country."  Wrong.  FDR's approval during the war never went below 66%, disapproval didn't get above 25%.

"Harry Truman went out of office with 23% popularity in the polls." Wrong, he rebounded to 32% by the end and did go to historical lows at 23% but rebounded.  It's still pretty bad, even for a guy who used a couple of weapons of mass destruction.  But Rummy's boss was at 58% just before Iraq.  Truman's was at a dismal 37% before Korea -- which is where he was in February of the second year after getting reelected, not much above Bush's current 34%.  Bush dropped a lot more than Truman during their respective wars, and when you consider the near 90% approval Bush had at the end of 2001, free-fall would be a kind description.  Nixon was getting us out of Vietnam by this point in his presidency, but his rating was 24%.

"George Washington was almost fired."  Here's where Rummy really jumps the shark.  Washington was almost fired before there was even a United States.  To fire a sitting president you need to impeach him and Washington was never in any danger of that kind of disapproval while in office -- and popularity had nothing to do with Clinton's impeachment.  Slick Willie actually gained in popularity while the Republican hatchet men lined up to throw spit-balls at him.

But what is most amusing is not that Rumsfeld doesn't know what he doesn't know, but that he now is trying to make the whole nonsense unknowable:

Soon after I posted about Rummy's "biggest problem" quote and linked to the DoD website, the entire interview suddenly vanished from the site. It's disappeared from the list of recent transcripts, and the page where the interview once was is now completely blank.

True to form, Bush's wealthy enablers have once again bailed his butt out of the fire to save their own.

First Arbusto and Harken, the Rangers, countless screw ups from the Oval Office, and now Dubai Ports World is going to have a fire-sale and divest themselves of all US operations.

Anybody wanna buy a port on the cheap?

HT: firedoglake's excerpt of the Vanity Fair PDF

"Can't be Newt . . . he never met me. Oh, Newt! What's he doing there? Must be a Newt look-alike. I have more pictures of him than I have of my wife. Newt again! It's sick! I thought he never met me!"

Between this and watching the GOPers in Congress fall over themselves to spit in Bush's face over the Dubai Port crazyness, if I were having more fun I'd have to be twins.

Leave it to Chuck Schumer to tie the two together by adding a an amendment to block the port deal to the lobby-reform bill.   Veto that Shrubster.