[NYTr] Senator Feingold calls for censure against Bush

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

Los Angeles Times - Jul 23, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-feingold23jul23,1,3259912.story?track=crosspromo&coll=la-news-politics-national&ctrack=1&cset=true


Senator calls for censure against Bush

Feingold says the measures aim at 'misconduct' of the war and 'attack' 
on laws, but top Senate leaders predict the effort will fail.

By Richard A. Serrano

WASHINGTON  One of the Senate's most liberal members said Sunday that 
he would "shortly" propose two censure resolutions against President 
Bush and his administration for the war in Iraq, even as the top 
Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate promptly predicted that 
the effort would fail.

Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.), who last year tried unsuccessfully
to censure Bush over the administration's warrantless wiretap program,
said he would introduce the resolutions "in a few days."

According to a statement from Feingold's office, one resolution will be 
aimed specifically at Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for 
"misconduct related to the war in Iraq" such as "overstating" Saddam 
Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction, "failing to plan 
for the civil conflict and humanitarian problems," and "justifying our 
military involvement in Iraq by repeatedly distorting the situation on 
the ground there."

The second censure resolution will "focus on the administration's
attack on the rule of law" with respect to the warrantless wiretap
program; policies on torture and on the detainees at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba; and the dismissal of several U.S. attorneys last year. Atty. Gen.
Alberto R. Gonzales will be among those cited in the second resolution,
Feingold said Sunday.

"This administration has assaulted the Constitution," Feingold told 
NBC's "Meet the Press." "We need to have on the historical record some 
kind of indication that what has happened here is  disastrous."

He called Cheney "one of the worst actors in American history" and 
added: "There may be others. On the rule-of-law issue, on the attack on 
the Constitution, the current attorney general has had one of the worst 
records of not being honest  of being intentionally misleading."

Feingold acknowledged that there would be no legal consequence to Bush 
and his administration if the resolutions were to pass, but he 
nonetheless said that "the buck stops with the president. That is the 
No. 1."

A White House spokesman, Trey Bohn, responded to Feingold's comments by 
saying the Democratic-led Congress should be concentrating less on 
politically driven issues and more on such topics as U.S. troop
funding, healthcare and tax relief.

"We realize that Sen. Feingold does not care much for the president's 
policies," Bohn said. "Perhaps after calls for censure and more 
investigations, Congress may turn to such things."

Even the leader of Feingold's party in the Senate, Majority Leader
Harry Reid of Nevada, predicted that the proposals would not pass. He
said Republicans would not allow such a vote and, in any case, "we have
so many other things to do."

"The president already has the mark of the American people that he's
the worst president we've ever had," Reid said on CBS' "Face the
Nation." "I don't think we need a censure resolution in the Senate to
prove that."

On the GOP side, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky 
dismissed Feingold's proposal as "right in league with the all-night 
session the other night, which the American people are looking at with 
disbelief." In a marathon session last week, Senate Democrats came up 
short on a resolution to force Bush to commit to a U.S. troop
withdrawal from Iraq.

"I think it's safe to say Russ Feingold is not a fan of George Bush," 
McConnell said on CNN's "Late Edition." "I think that's the best way to 
sum that up."

Of Democrats' leadership since taking control of Congress in January, 
McConnell said: "This Congress now has a 14% approval rating. We think 
it's the lowest in the history of polling.

"All they do is have Iraq votes and investigations."

Coming to Feingold's defense on CNN was the No. 2 Democrat in the 
Senate, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois. "This administration has gone
far beyond the exercise of political power," he said. "They have abused
the Constitution in some respects. And I think it's appropriate for us
to take the censure resolution up.

"It is short of impeachment, but it's an important debate."