Censure & Accountability: Time Will Do The Talking
and America won't wait on politics and indecision

Needless to say I, and so many American's around the country were very disappointed in the Democrats lack of courage and deaf ear to so many in this country who were hoping they would at least try to hold Bush accountable for this latest (known) power grab.

They left Russ and Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont to fend for themselves. (Senator Kohl, also of Wisconsin, was there so briefly I don't remember seeing him). Though the Republican's had them outnumbered, their arguements for Bush's wiretapping without oversight being legal were lame. They were basically saying 'how can you not trust the president? Of course he would conduct himself honorably'. Pfffffftttttt.
Come on. You know you had the same reaction.
The other arguement? You can't do this to a president in wartime. All I have to say is Clinton and Bosnia.

Sometimes a few less people in a room improves the acoustics. And Senator Feingold's voice rang clear as a bell in a belfry. Both Senators did a fine job laying out what is, as it turns out, very simple case to make.
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Here are some great links of Russ making that case. For anyone curious what Russ is all about, these are must see:

"This Week" with George Stephanopolous (1/2 way down the page)
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/03/12.html#a7493
Real Time with Bill Maher:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/02/18.html
The Daily Show with John Stewart:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/03/22.html

Democrats on the Judiciary Committee that stood up for accountablility:

Russell Feingold (D-WI)
202-224-5323

Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
202-224-4242

Herb Kohl (D-WI)
202-224-5653

Democrats who didn't seem to find the hearing important enough to show up:

Joe Biden (D-DE)
202-224-5042

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
202-224-3841

Richard Durbin (D-IL)
202-224-2152

Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
202-224-4543

Charles Schumer (D-NY)
202-224-6542

One of the witnesses present at the hearing was John Dean. Yes, THAT John Dean, former Nixon legal counsel and Watergate witness. Interestingly, Dean has written a book about Bush's misdeads titled, "Worse Than Watergate" and has been writing columns for a legal blog called FindLaw. His current article, which is about the call for censure and whether Bush's arguements for warrantless wiretapping carry any water can be found here:
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20060324.html

and a nice concise biography about Dean here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dean