Earlier this week, Senator Russ Feingold, of Wisconsin, showed America why he is regarded by many as the most viable progressive Democratic candidate for President in 2008. While so many other Democrats in the Senate are ducking their heads, and trying to just coast through the controversy about President Bush’s illegal warrantless spying against Americans, Senator Feingold stood up and said what all sane Americans have been thinking: President Bush broke the law, and if the law is to continue to mean anything, we must hold President Bush accountable for his criminal actions.
Below are a few choice excerpts from Russ Feingold’s speech. You can also read a full transcript of Russ Feingold’s speech to get the total effect.
“The President was blunt. He said that he had authorized the NSA’s domestic spying program, and he made a number of misleading arguments to defend himself. His words got rousing applause from Republicans, and I think even some Democrats.
The President was blunt, so I will be blunt: This program is breaking the law, and this President is breaking the law. Not only that, he is misleading the American people in his efforts to justify this program.
How is that worthy of applause? Since when do we celebrate our commander in chief for violating our most basic freedoms, and misleading the American people in the process? When did we start to stand up and cheer for breaking the law? In that moment at the State of the Union, I felt ashamed.
Congress has lost its way if we don’t hold this President accountable for his actions.”
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“I don’t want to hear again that this Administration has shown it can be trusted. It hasn’t. And that is exactly why the law requires a judge to review these wiretaps.
It is up to Congress to hold the President to account. We held a hearing on the domestic spying program in the Judiciary Committee yesterday, where Attorney General Gonzales was a witness. We expect there will be other hearings. That is a start, but it will take more than just hearings to get the job done.”
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“The President is not a king. And the Congress is not a king’s court. Our job is not to stand up and cheer when the President breaks the law. Our job is to stand up and demand accountability, to stand up and check the power of an out-of-control executive branch… this administration reacts to anyone who questions this illegal program by saying that those of us who demand the truth and stand up for our rights and freedoms have a pre-9/11 view of the world. In fact, the President has a pre-1776 view of the world.”
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“The President’s actions are indefensible. Freedom is an enduring principle. It is not something to celebrate in one breath, and ignore the next. Freedom is at the heart of who we are as a nation, and as a people. We cannot be a beacon of freedom for the world unless we protect our own freedoms here at home.”
I can’t wait for 2008. I want Russell Feingold in the White House. Imagine that – American could have a President capable of thinking, and speaking, once again.
