Welcome to the club, Russ. A lot of us have been pissed for about five years now.

It is truly a sad situation. Sen Feingold is to be commended for his courage to hold true to his oath as a legislator for the people. At least he's trying to uphold the law. Keep pluggin' Russ!

Feingold is to be applauded by those of us who love democracy and freedom. For those who oppose us, run and hide. I am 71 years old and have only voted for one Republican in my life and the rest of my votes went for Democrats, but I am mad as hell with the bunch of "pussies" that call themselves Democrats. Right now Bush is on the ropes and now is the time for the "knockout".

Forget censure, that is a sad joke! It will do nothing. IMPEACH, he broke the law (see US Constitution Bill of Rights Amendment #4) Impeachment is for high crimes and misdermeaners, if breaking the law (in this case the 4th amendment) doesn't meet the muster for impeachment nothing does. For those of you that buy the argument of Article 2, READ IT! quit parroting and carrying water for this group and be an American and start thinking for yourself!

So the Democrats are waiting for some 'Intelligence' committee to do something?
Come on! The Senate Intelligence Committee has already shutdown, closed shop, and went on vacation on the issue of the Bush Administration breaking any law. The Honorable(?) chairman of said committee won't even see to it that key witnesses are sworn in, like any small town judge would do.
The Democrats are worthless tail-dragging currs, whipped, cowering in their corners of the yard, peeing on themselves, too beaten down to look anyone in the eye lest they wet themselves again.
I'm sickened by the Democrat Party! I'm sickened by the Republican Party - just look at how John McCain is acting now. He must have been recently beaten into submission.
On this, the 15th of March, the Emperor can rest easy. It is us common folk who must be wary of the Ides of March.

Both sides of my family have been life long Democrats since they came over on the boats from Italy in the 1920s.

After the roll over of Gore/Liberman to the stolen election of 2000 ("for the good of the country") and after the 2002 congressional elections, it became obvious to me that the once strong Democratic Party had evolved into Republican Lite. I couldn't take it anymore and in early 2003 became the first in my family to re-register as an Independent.

With black box voting and serious questions on whether elections matter anymore, maybe registering to vote is a mute point. But at least it shows what one stands for. Right now the Demos (except Feingold it seems) stand for everything the Republicans do.

I highly suggest all current Democrats to re-register as an Independent. The Demo leadership (if you can call them that???) are spineless cowards who stand for nothing that I can relate to. They are just enabling the Republicans to bring our once great country down.

Impeachment is obviously the correct thing that should be done. But with the current make up of Congress Feingold tried the most tame of all measures. There already are articles of impeachment introduced in the House with a small handful of supporters over Bush lies re: the Iraq debacle. That has gone nowhere. Feingold is trying the most tame of all options other than doing nothing. Which it seems is what the rest of the Democrats approve of.

This is only getting constant, main stream media, coverage because it is not being presented as an attack on the administration. It is being turned into a show of Democratic weakness. Had it been voted on and passed it would have lost all media coverage within 24 hours. I am sure the Republicans are "asking" for coverage. The democrats are afraid of how the coverage will be presented to the public. If you see the Dems huddling it is not for strategy - it is cowering.(At least they are unified in that).
What an embarassing group.

Russ is on the right track - and is pretty brave to go it alone. Obviously he did not consult the party or strategist PR man. That is shooting from the hip with conviction.

With everything going through John McCain's mind all of a sudden, and with the unbelievable cowardice the Dems are showing, I've got to believe that maybe the illegal wiretapping was directed at the opposition politicians in the Senate and House, and that the Neocons are using "dirty little secrets" to keep the Democrats silent (i.e. blackmail). It's possible!

Russ Feingold should be piss at the Dems. I e-mail a note to Howard Dean and my other Senator Herb Kohl. Most the Americans want the Dems to support Russ Feingold. The Dems need to get a backbone.

My suggestion would be to E-Mail your Senator and tell them to support the Resolution Censure Old Bushie.

It is time for the Democratic Party to stand on its hind legs, state what we are and not be afraid to show what true compassion and concern is all about. I'm tired of us sitting in chairs with our knees together, staring at our shoe tops like kids who got caught doing something wrong and mumbling ineffective words in response to Rove and company. We deserve far better than that and above all, so does the country.

I couldn't agree more strongly with the comment posted by "George Orwell, Jr." I intend to give up my position in the local Democratic party and to self-identify as an Independent. I believe that Senator Feingold should do the same.

I am so proud of Russ Feingold and that he is from my state. This man has more courage than any other in the Democratic party. I feel the same as other people do on here.I too, think that the Republicans have something on the Dems. If they don't speak up soon, we need to get them out. I don't think the voting machines will put any of our party in with the way they are so corrupt.

I would like to see a list of senators who are offering any kind of support to Feingold.
Re hind legs: Hard to do when your head is up your ass or up that of a lobbyist.
Re independent party: For an independent party to be of any use whatsoever would require people who call themselves democrats to move enmasse to the independent party...which ain't gonna happen and this country can't afford to wait for an independent party to become strong enough to be serious opposition to the right wing dingalings/criminals/religious fundamentalists.

To praise Senator Feingold for doing less than his job is ridiculous. He should be leading a movement to impeach Bush and Cheney. What has happened to the Representatives in Congress? Have they all committed so many crimes that they are too dirty to chance beginning impeachment hearings?
We need to clean house, clean The House, get rid of them all, once and for always. Impeach the entire Congress and Executive Branch and start fresh with some honest representation for the people--if such persons can be found in America. Our politicians are thieves, our ministers are pedophiles, our police are killers, it seems like we have sunk to the depths of Sodom and Gemorrah and need a cleansing flood to purify ourselves again. Anarchy and apocolypse--let's start at A and work our way thru the alphabet! Unless you have a better solution...

RE: Impeachment

While I agree that Bush should probably be impeached , the Senate cannot impeach anyone. That is the sole domain of the House of Representatives. The Senate can, however, Censure. I am actually shocked that a number of Rupublican senators haven't hopped onto this one, never mind Democrats.

The past 5 years have been a nightmare. There is no hope for the next 3 years. Senator Feingold has the courage to do what no one else has done; censure the President for illegal, unwarranted searches. We all have to wonder WHY there is little or no support from fellow Democrats and the few "normal" Republicans for this action. It is the very least that Bush should get. But the numbers favor Bush in the house so impeachment is not a practical option. Senator Feingold is a brilliant, straight shooting man who has been left by his own party to "twist in the wind."
We have been beaten down by ourselves--the Democrats--on every attempt to make this president accountable for his actions and I have to believe many others across this country feel the same way. This administration has scared the hell out of everyone to the extent that they have paralyzed any attempt by the the Democratic Party to speak out against them. It amazes me and it is frightening to see us cower in the corner while this insanity continues.

I, too, am a lifelong Democrat and an outraged American (perhaps more importantly)!

It is clear to me that Russ Feingold should be supported for the Presidency in 2008! YES!

Folks, if we want change than we are going to have to roll up our sleeves and take over the Democratic party by getting involved! We must do this for the preservation of democracy in this country! This will require us to reach out and work with the independents and Greens. America doesn't have time to try to create another 3rd party - we must snatch the Dem party from the corrupt and spineless DC Beltway Dems, force reform and move forward.

Let's get organized, get involved in politics in our own communities and run good candidates and make it plain that the Dem party will only get our money and volunteerism if they do our bidding - it is the only hope!

Didn't Ben Franklin say, " Those who sacrice liberty for temporary securty deserve neither liberty nor security."? They are either pussies or complicit. I think Dr. Martin Luther King said, " Those who stand aside and do nothing while atrocities are being committed are just as guilty as the criminals themselves." A third party would be refreshingly welcome at this point in time in history; sweep all of the trash to the curb, and find patriotic people who truly love this country, and haven't sold their souls for the dollar. If there is one on this planet who is not free from oppression, then no one is free. This is a "WE THE PEOPLE" stuggle.

While we're on the subject of our pussy-footing party, I have this to add:

I wrote this piece after participating in the grading of the Bush State of the Union address in which I suggested (in all seriousness) that our party employ the services of the writers and producers of The Daily Show. I did this because of their knack for nailing the administration on double-speak and contradictory statements, merely by playing video clips and sound bites that accomplish that end.

Now I am writing to you because of the Democratic rebuttal and for what I, along with many of my like-minded friends, thought about the governor from Virginia's response and the ineffective message of "There's a better way." With all due respect, he sounded like a Sunday morning evangelist and the expression "There's a better way," really rang hollow.

With that in mind, I would like to submit a couple of possible campaign slogans around which to build our message for the upcoming mid-term election:

1. We'll listen. We'll act.

2. We'll listen and we'll take action.

Femocrats, be on notice my friends and I are reregistering as Independents.I guess the spineless Femocrats, who eat from the same trough as the Big Business Party, are so dirty themselves they are part of the malignancy in Washington. We need term limits now. Way to go Russ, tell your friends in the house that Censure falls way short of the call for Impeachment, which is what any true patriot now demands.

The Democrats cannot even get together to decide what day of the week it is. A sad commentary and one which has allowed the most radical conservative movement to bankrupt the US and to move us back to the ideological mind-set of the early 1900's.

Most of the social changes which has made the US the moral standard and the brightest light of freedom and democracy are in jeopardy today.

What a legacy we are leaving for our grandchildren.

The Democrats cannot even get together to decide what day of the week it is. A sad commentary and one which has allowed the most radical conservative movement to bankrupt the US and to move us back to the ideological mind-set of the early 1900's.

Most of the social changes which has made the US the moral standard and the brightest light of freedom and democracy are in jeopardy today.

What a legacy we are leaving for our grandchildren.

The frustration of the citizenry in this country is unbelievable. The Congress ignores our phone calls, our e-mails, our petitions, our protest gatherings. Why? Because we have been pussy-whipped into submission. If your mortgage payments are met regularly, your car payments, too, you have savings for the kids' college tuition, and your family excursions are to Disneyland and not just to Mickey D's, then, perhaps, you are among the complacent, apathetic populace of this once great country that is now mired in the muck of the Bush administration.

Those who lived through the depression, WW II, Sen. Joe McCarthy's demagoguery, the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts, the era of Civil Rights finally being enacted, know that none of the forward political actions in this country were made without some form of protest and personal sacrifice.

Senator Feingold is in the forefront of the protest to this administration that can only move forward, if Americans once again take to the streets en masse. COngress is not listening to the phone calls, the letters, the e-mails, the petitions....they only see the complacency of people who are unwilling to physically demonstrate their frustration. Their aides read the e-mails and letters and they only watch themselves on television. Perhaps it is time for Americans to wake up and take to the streets once again where television will show these patsies what we are thinking.

That's it. I'm going to stop voting "against" Republicans and start voting "for" principles. This has got to stop.

We have to show these cowardly bastards we mean business, and stop handing them elections as a reward for their taking us for granted, over and over and over again.

Are you listening, 2006 Democrats? We have a saying around these parts: "Don't let the door hit you in the donkey on your way out."

When I read these comments I wonder if we aren't doing exactly what the opposition party wants us to do - declaring that we won't support our own party. What a windfall that is for the fascists. Sounds like Ralph Nader all over again - or are some of you moles??? If Democrats won't lead us, then we have to lead them, but forming a new party will take years. Go with Feingold - or anybody else with some spirit - look at Gore - but don't "piss" away all possibility of reining in this out of control political cabal. Get involved, don't jump ship in high seas.

Either Americans want the rule of law or they want the rule of tyrants. No senator, judge, representative, president, vice president, or attorney general can be forgiven for failing to protect and defend the Constitution and the rule of law. We are witnessing the mass abdication of the political class in the US. They are a source of shame for not supporting the Censure motion.

Damn them.

Most Americans just don't get it. These politicians have all been bought and payed for. Their goal is just personal enrichment and they will bring this country to its knees. Will the citizens rise? Will their vote even count? Welcome to the new Reich of America.

This confirms that they've merged into one party known as the "republicrat's". Nader coined the term some time back. American's have no choice at this point. Feingold is demonstrating that he would be their best choice as a candidate for making a win in '08', but that won't happen. Instead they'l probably give the American people a "Billary/?" vs. Condi/?. Both of these future candidate's are reprehensible choices as candidate's, because they both report the same corporate master's. So even if participation in the election is abysmally low, the corporate guys will still have their "duty" shill's in office, and we'll have to suffer another 4-8 years of creeping fascism and a bankrupting of the U.S. It already is "bankrupt";i.e., financially, politically, and morally. I see a very dark cloud descending on this once great Republic. American's are more in love their privilege's and toys than their freedom at this point in history. The only right left, is the "right to shop until you drop"...! I'll supply my favorite one-stop shopping link so folks that are interested can contact their reps. I do so all the time, but all I get from them as reps, is my "tough-crap" card punched.
They always manage to vote for that which is bad for America.

http://www.conservativeusa.org/megalink.htm

Carl Nemo

It seems to me that what we need to do in this country is achieve campaigne finance reform. How? If I knew that I'd be doing it. But as long as campaigning involves accumulations of tons of money there will be corruption and bargaining and selling out in the process. Feingold is brave and I hope more follow his lead. Surely we need to be more conscious of who we are electing and why - that is, if there still are real elections. Talk to candidates about reform, see what they have to say about it. Demand that they make a system responsive to the poeple who vote for them. Get to understand what a politician is and how he/she operates. Understanding goes both ways and if you are rebuffed, then consider who you're talking to. Maybe that one doesn't get your vote. Get involved in the primaries - do it. Our country rides on what we accomplish.

Go to Vichydems.blogspot.com and help up identify the rightwing democrats. We are working to replace them with more qualified democrats. They left Feingold out in the cold and ran for cover like cockroaches. That was very bad politics.

Sen Feingold, is pretty much the only Democrat that has a pair of BALLS!! This is exactly why I
am getting out of the Democratic party. I can't
take anymore of these sniveling little cowards!!

What a repulsive show of cowardice on the part of the "Loyal Opposition". This seems to be the age of hyperbole so let me add to it,,I've never seen a bigger bunch of repugnant cowards in my 75 years. What in holy hell does it take to get them motivated?

This pushed me over the edge, I intend to write to both my Senators and my Congresswoman TODAY, that I intend to support anyone but them, based on their stand of censuring the criminal Bush. With my Congresswoman it will be decided on whether she supports Rep. Conyers stand for a thorough investigation towards impeachment. I've had it with the Dems.

I am embarassed for being a Democrat. I cannot believe that Feingold has no declared support from other Democrats AND Republicans. Why are the people so cowed? Why has the American people put up with Bush's Bullshit policies for so long? It's time to kick out Diebold and all of congress except for a select few progressives/liberals. They can't possibly do any worse that the clown we now call "Mr. President".

Senator Feingold,
If you are reading this, I want you to know that your courage, your perserverance, and your integrity are attributes that should define all members of congress. What we see at this end of the world is a congress lost in the pool of corporate dollars that wooed Democrats away from supporting labor and allowed the Unions to be demonized.

The result is a dwindling middle class, lower wages for American citizens, disappearing retirement funds, and a total loss of future security which is exactly why Social Security Insurance was established.

You seem to be only one of a few voices in Congress reflecting the voice of the people. Keep it up. Don't stop.

AND FOR GOODNESS SAKE GET THE DEMOCRATS TO STOP THE PATHETIC MOTTO "WE CAN DO BETTER". If you can't come up with anything better than "We can do better" than I question your intellect to actually run the county. Come on I challenge you to come up with something better.

How about:

Progressives Priorities are the People, the Planet, Peace, and Prosperity.

Now this is worth chanting!

I agree with Marple the D's have to STOP saying they can do better. Hell my Cat can do better then Bu$hCo and gang. They have to 1st grow a set of balls and then come up with something better then They can do better?

@Marple-
Too long. From my limited experience with politics and the press, 7 syllables is the typically suggested limit; 5 or less is better (which is the reason "We Can Do Better" is 5 syllables).

How about "People! Planet! Peace!"? In any case, it probably should change each election; otherwise you risk having a "stale" phrase.

Note that this has nothing to do with my liking or disliking the Democrats; I'm likely to vote Democratic on the national level next election simply because in my opinion my Republican representative and senator have been breaching their oath of office. If I were to suggest a campaign slogan: "Vote the bums out!"

I made calls to my Senators, and after 4 calls to different offices I got hold of Senator Boxer and her office said she will stand with Feingold!!!

When is the Democratic Party going to stand up to the Republicans like are fine Senator from Wisconsin just who are we going to offend. Already so many of us feel betrayed by are party now is the time to take back Washington from the party of greed and deception . If the dems don't stand with Feingold then maybe we need bigger changes to both parties who won't stand up to corporate America.

My problem is that I am too nice....too mellow...too polite...too decent...when what we are facing are horrible crimes of murder and torture that can only be compared to Hitler's Gestapo, when inside I feel rage that the country of my birth would engage in such atrocities, when I know that these outrages will continue so long as we allow them to continue.

This monstrous behavior is nothing new in American history right from 1492 to the present, but now there is no excuse for anyone NOT to know what is going on. Now is not the time to ask those who represent us to meet with us....Now is the time that we demand their presence to listen to us and to explain to us why our tax dollars are being spent on murder, torture, and slaughter.

What kind of people are we? What kind of people will our grand-children think we were to let these horrors go on and on and on?

For those who choose comfort over commitment...and the sofa over speaking out...and passive watching over participation...and fear over fearlessness....I just hope that the guilt of their inaction and compliance will rip their souls apart..

When is the Democratic Party going to stand up to the Republicans like are fine Senator from Wisconsin just who are we going to offend. Already so many of us feel betrayed by are party now is the time to take back Washington from the party of greed and deception . If the dems don't stand with Feingold then maybe we need bigger changes to both parties who won't stand up to corporate America.

I have written to Sen. Feingold thanking him for his integrity and guts. I have also written to both my Senators urging them to forget party lines and join Sen. F. in his fight. Each one of you who take time to write a response here should also take the time to write a polite but strong note to you senators.

The groundswell of distaste and distrust can work wonders if every one pitches in.

I have emailed Feingold at russell_feingold@feingold.senate.gov and told him I think he is great. I have emailed my Pennsylvania Senators and told them I will actively work to have them voted out of office. I do not feel "represented" by any of those people in DC and though I am not from Wisconsin, I wish I was.
Maybe Feingold would run as an independent?

EVERY DEMOCRAT THAT IS NOT BEHIND RUSS FEINGOLD MUST BE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. IT'S OBVIOUS THEY FIND IT PROFITABLE TO IGNORE THEIR OWN CONSTITUENTS.

checkers, that's wonderful news. We have Boxer - just watch - our efforts WILL pay off. We have Conyers in the house examining impeachment. He's been working on an agenda for 6 months. The momentum will build. We have to remember that these people are just people, not supermen or women. Help them. Support them. Give them courage to put everything on the line. Help them find a message. They are vulnerable and the monsters in this administration are just that, ruthless monsters with no conscience or morals. Who wants to fight a monster? Hang in there folks.

.......and I forot Mertha.