Dear Senator Feingold,
Just a word of support for your resolution to censure President Bush to try to force him to become a law-abiding citizen like the rest of us. The only thing I find more outrageous than Bush's audacious disregard for the FISA laws and the Constitutional requirement of "probable cause" (among other crucial democratic principles) is Congress' failure to enforce them. Especially in light of the President's signing letter on the McCain Torture amendment, in which he expressly states his disdain for Congressional authority to pass and enforce laws, I would have thought Congress would get a little testy about Bush negating it's Constitutional responsibilities. So far, out of 535 Congresspeople, you and a handful of others seem to be the only ones seriously disturbed by Bush's malfeasance and to take your responsibility to keep him in check seriously.
And may I suggest that the time for being nice, or respectable, or whatever the standards of proper Congressional behavior might have been, is over. This is a fight for the very soul of democracy, and Republicans long ago abandoned their responsibilities as stewards of democracy, of the public interest, and as a respectful opposition party. Senator Specter's speech regarding your motion for censure shows how unwilling the Republicans are to actually shoulder the burden of protecting our democracy, much less carry on a good faith discussion about it. I think it's time to find another way to engage them. As I see it, the few real Democratic victories in the recent past, such as the strategic monkey-wrenching last fall that forced the Senate to proceed with Phase II of the investigation into the leadup to the invasion of Iraq (though it seems to be stymied again) have involved audacity and risk-taking, something most Democrats seem unwilling to consider.
I'm writing because I am inspired by your audacity and courage in the face of the cynical Republican juggernaut. May you somehow inspire courage in your colleagues to care even more about our democracy than they do about their personal or their political security. Defending the basic tenets of democracy against the president's callous disregard for them may be the most important political battle since the Civil War. I hate to see you alone up there, but God help us if President Bush is allowed to reconfigure our Constitution according to his foolish misunderstanding of it. Please know that I am standing behind you in spirit, if not on the Senate floor,
Sincerely,
Ted Bucklin