I'm thinking of putting up a permanent link to Glenn Greenwald's Blog. He's really, really long-winded, but his points are excellent. Here's an excerpt of his thoughts about Feingold's resolution:
So, to summarize what our survey reveals: We have Democrats running and hiding, afraid to stand up to the President even when he gets caught breaking the law. We have the media mindlessly reporting GOP talking points even when they are factually false and when the falsehood could be easily verified with about 60 seconds of research. And we have Republicans accusing those few Democrats who are willing to criticize the Leader of being on the side of Terrorists, while the media passes along those false accusations without comment and Democrats run away and hide some more, never showing any offense or anger at all from watching Republicans accuse them of treason.Head over there and read more. It's worth it.
2 comments:
Criticizing the Democrats for "not standing up to the Presdient" is something of a pet peeve of mine. People who make this accusation seem to be totally ignorant of the institutional situation in Washington. Democrats have no control over any branch of government or house of Congress. Feingold proposed a censure motion and it was essentially laughed off the floor by the Republican majority. Waxman has tried to hold shadow hearings but the Republicans wouldn't let him book a room other than some sorry looking basement conference room in an office building accross the street from the Capitol.
The only thing the Democrats can do is complain on Sunday morning talk shows - which they do.
People who claim to suppor the Democrats but then justify their failure to REALLY support them by citing their ineffectiveness are the real problem If the Democrats got just a little bit more support from voters, they would be in a position to really take action. Until people are willing to really ante up and support the Democrats (not the Greens, not some vague "I vote for the man" crap but the Democratic Party), they should stop complaining about how ineffective the Democrats are.
// posted by Raised By Republicans
The post referred to didn't blame the Democrats for not being able to pass any laws; it pointed out the numerous prominent Democratic Senators who had the opportunity to talk to the press about the censure resolution, and didn't take any position at all. It pointed out that several Democratic Senators co-sponsored the Clinton censure resolution but haven't supported this one.
It doesn't galvanize the Democratic throng to go vote for you in the hopes that someday you'll be holding the reins of power and actually do something if you're not willing to say that we shouldn't put up with the people in power now.
If the Republicans only give you a sorry looking basement conference room, hold some frickin' hearings in a sorry looking basement conference room. At least the dedicated primary-voting DailyKos-reading Democrats will know you're _trying_.
// posted by Bob
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