A fellow kossack has a dailry on the rec list announcing to the community that Senator Russ Feingold will be holding hearings about the President's detention policy in his Judiciary Subcommittee.
As many of you know, I am a strong supporter of the President's approach to our policies. However, I am in full support of Senator Feingold on his decision to hold hearings.
More below.
I think this is excellent news. What we need with respect to the debate about our detention and prosecution policies is a clearing of the air. All sides need to have their views heard. The Administration, the ACLU, even the troglodyte Neocons, need to have their views aired out before the public in a clear and open way. There ARE important constitutional and common sense questions to be answered.
For those of you who support the President as I do, there is plenty of very good reasons why you should WELCOME these hearings:
- President Obama is a man who welcomes honest debate without personal insults or questioning of motives. We will get exactly that in a Senate Hearing.
- Senator Feingold has a definite point of view, but I don't think anyone would ever say he is unfair or has an axe to grind. He's one of our guys and we should be happy he will be in charge.
- Senator Feingold is up next year. He could face a strong challenger in Congressman Paul Ryan. From a purely political perspective, we have every reason to expect Senator Feingold to do justice by President Obama and vice versa.
- The hearings will allow allow us to make our case and make it in a setting befitting its importance.
Now, here are the members of Senator Feingold's Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution:
Russ Feingold, Chairman, Wisconsin
Dianne Feinstein, California
Dick Durbin, Illinois
Ben Cardin, Maryland
Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island
Ted Kaufman, Delaware
Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania
Tom Coburn, Ranking Member, Oklahoma
Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
John Cornyn, Texas
This looks like a broad and lawyerly crowd, and even some not so lawyerly like medical doctor Coborn, who is a close personal friend of the president. From troglodytes like Cornyn to the truly civilized like Whitehouse, from personal friends of the President like Durbin to not so friendly like Lindsey Graham. This is a committee small enough but deep enough to ensure a vigorous debate. I'm sure the witness list will be interesting as Feingold and Coburn work it up.
The best way to ensure we have a strong framework for how to deal with these matters going forward is to have a debate that is substantive, open, intelligent, and allows an airing of views without personal insult or questioning of motives. That is the only way we will get some clear resolution and a workable solution that will both withstand legal scrutiny and protect this nation.
I feel very confident we will get exactly that with Senator Feingold in charge of these hearings.