Monday, March 13th, 2006...7:08 pm
Grijalva Supports Feingold Resolution
I was going to try to figure out a comment or elaboration on this, but why? Just let the man speak for himself:
I support Senator Russ Feingold’s resolution to censure the President of the United States.
Today’s resolution reflects the mood of the American people who are demanding accountability from the President. This situation demands that the Democratic leadership speak strongly and clearly to protect the constitutional rights of the American people.
This censure is not solely about wiretapping, it is the culmination of many negative impacts this Administration has had on our nation. Over the last five years, the American people’s mistrust in our government has increased due to the failures in this Administration.
President Bush has failed to be a leader in many areas. He lied about Iraq, was negligent before and after Hurricane Katrina, has hurt our seniors with a flawed Medicare drug benefit, and violated our privacy with illegal wiretapping. It is time that the President be held accountable and respond to the American people.
12 Comments
March 13th, 2006 at 8:07 pm
And where is Ed Pastor? Missing in action as usual?
March 14th, 2006 at 6:43 am
I greatly respect this censure motion and those who have joined it. I followed the wiretapping debate with great interest and debated it with colleagues around the country. The action to spy on Americans was clearly illegal. There were adequate, quick, and legitimate checks by a “secret court” (can you believe that we have a secret court in America?) to provide a check to be sure that the wiretaps would go too far–a simple and very easy to obtain warrant–to prevent illegal spying on Americans.
The warrant was quick and easily granted and what it did was to keep the administration from spying on Americans without probable cause and from going further (spying on political opponents). The President chose to by-pass this process illegally and his supporters are blocking any investigation of who was spyed on. All we have is their WORD. The reaction by the White House and supporters screams that the wiretaps went further than just spying on Al Qaeda.
I am so grateful for Senator Feingold and those Reps. like Grijalva. What bothers me is that so few others are willing to stand up on what is an obvious shattering of our law and seperation of powers. To Republicans, how far does the administration have to go before doing what is right trumps your partisanship? To Democrats, how can you stand by and let this happen?
March 14th, 2006 at 8:32 am
“President Bush has failed to be a leader in many areas.”
And the same can be said about the Democrats, who settle for meaningless symbolic gestures instead of offering real change.
March 14th, 2006 at 8:52 am
Yeah…I went back after my post above to look at what the Washington Post said about this story. Check it out:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/13/AR2006031301094.html
It has a paragraph or two showing that the Democratic leadership and some consultants see this in a very timid and wary fashion.
Maybe I am just out of the mainstream, but how can investigating the spying on Americans be out of the mainstream? I think the party has really not made a case for why this is wrong and what might be lurking behind the shadows.
I think the real problem though is that some were briefed…and those some were Reid and Pelosi and the ranking Demos on the intell. committees.
March 14th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
All the more reason to get rid of Reid and Pelosi. Their incompetence is disgusting.
March 18th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
The lack of positive, proactive, stateperson-like, inspirational, creative, strong leadership in the Democratic national party is almost discouraging.
However, the Republican leadership is even worse. I feel sorry for the Republican grassroots. Frist is no statesman-definite lick your finger and stick it up to the wind kind of guy.
March 18th, 2006 at 11:21 pm
Your sympathy is touching. But please don’t feel sorry for us (the Republican grassroots.) We are quite happy because in the end we have our family and our faith. If a candidate wins or looses this year or next the things we care about will still be there.
March 20th, 2006 at 5:13 am
Phx kid…
I do love what you said and it was so very American. Having your family, your faith, and your beliefs is what being American is all about. But we also must throw in tolerance. What made me leave the Republican party was that missing element of tolerance and the need by some in the Republican party to impose their standards of faith and family on the rest of society…by law.
Your attitude expressed above is so very refreshing…I wish more in your party felt the same way.
March 20th, 2006 at 9:22 am
tolerance? I hope your didn’t join the Democratic Party after leaving the Republicans.
The modern Democratic Party has been pretty willful in its intolerance of the right of individual citizens to peaceably and lawfully own and use firearms.
You say, oh that’s different because that issue is a secular policy difference and not a religious value. I disagree. I think many Democrats have a personal dislike of firearms that is unrelated to empirical science and I do not appreciate their intolerance to a tradition that goes back to before the founding of this country.
March 21st, 2006 at 7:43 am
There are some DEMs who dislike guns. Then there are other who just don’t like citizens having machine guns. I would question whether DEMs elected in RED states oppose the right of individual citizens to peaceably and lawfully own and use firearms [which I also support].
March 21st, 2006 at 8:37 pm
You are correct, not all Dems are anti gun but the party has come to be identified with gun control. John Kerry was a real looser for the Democrats on this issue. I know Kyl is well liked among the firearms community in Arizona. That is just one of several voting blocks that will not be looking around for a new Senator.
And just what is wrong with machine guns? In the wrong hands a semi-automatic is also extremely deadly as is a bolt action. There is nothing inherently evil about a machine gun; just some people do not like them. And that is intolerance.
March 21st, 2006 at 11:34 pm
There is nothing inherently wrong with machine guns. I’m just conveying my observations. Usually people associate machine guns with war and drug dealers–not marksmanship, hunting or self-defense.