Jeffrey Feldman is correct that Senator Feingold has reframed the issue well. The Senator's Resolution to Censure the president has generated 1,709 news items since Sunday (!!!) according to Yahoo News Search. That can only be good news, since now the issue is crafted as spying on Americans without a court order. Wonders never cease, do they.
In Richard Pombo's hometown -- Tracy, California -- in a heavily red congressional district, the local paper's editorial page is captioned "Censure Call Is Bush League." I expected to read a diatribe, but I was surprised that the writer stated that Senator Feingold is essentially a man of principle. [More on the flip]
"Feingold is no wacko, although he is aloof. Perhaps because of this independence, he seems to catch the wave of public opinion most of the time before everyone else."
And then beyond my wildest dreams came this revelation:
"We do protest Bush's warrantless spying on Americans' phone calls and e-mails. The president is relying on bad legal advice from his Department of Justice on the powers of the presidency vs. the checks and balances of Congress and the courts. We even support some of Feingold's assertions, such as that the president and his administration haven't given a complete and convincing explanation of their secret actions.
"However, whether the National Security Agency can vacuum up electronic conversations of Americans without approval of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act judge is a legal debate for the Supreme Court, not a partisan Congress."
I encourage you to go to the editorial and read it in its entirety.
http://www.tracypress.com/...
And do check out Yahoo News Search by typing in "censure" and reading some of the opinions out there for yourself. The tide has, indeed, turned against the president and the Rubber Stamp Republican congress.
http://news.search.yahoo.com/