Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), forever known as the “Feingold” in the “McCain-Feingold” legislation limiting our 1st Amendment rights, recently called for a censure of the President. Essentially, Sen. Feingold wishes to rebuke President Bush for his domestic survellance of citizens of the United States who are communicating with known terrorists. From ABC News,

In an exclusive interview on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold called on the Senate to publicly admonish President Bush for approving domestic wiretaps on American citizens without first seeking a legally required court order.

“This conduct is right in the strike zone of the concept of high crimes and misdemeanors,” said Feingold, D-Wis., a three-term senator and potential presidential contender.

He said Bush had, “openly and almost thumbing his nose at the American people,” continued the NSA domestic wiretap program.

Bush has long asserted that the so-called ‘warrantless wiretaps’ are an essential tool in the war on terror.

But in a copy of the censure resolution obtained by ABC News, Feingold asserts the president, “repeatedly misled the public prior to the public disclosure of the National Security Agency surveillance program by indicating his administration was relying on court orders to wiretap suspected terrorists inside the United States.”

Feingold cites three instances over a yearlong period in which Bush outlined the necessity of a court order or a judge’s permission prior to a domestic wiretap of a U.S. citizen.

What your humble pundit finds absurd about this proposition is the fact that Democrats and liberals such as Sen. Feingold want to straddle this issue with one of their feet on each side of the proverbial fence. It is utterly asinine for these individuals scream like banshees when their support for the war is called into question, yet at the same time they want to defang and confiscate most of the weapons we can use to fight this global war on terror.

As Michelle Malkin notes, the White House is responding,

“I think it does raise the question, how do you fight and win the war on terrorism?” McClellan said. “And if Democrats want to argue that we shouldn’t be listening to al Qaeda communications, it’s their right and we welcome the debate. We are a nation at war.”

As it has been noted many, many times, President Bush allows his adversaries to define his issues and his agenda. For the most part, Gulf War II and the many aspects of the War on Terror are no exception. It is of no surprise that shenanigans such as this are being bantered about, it is but a product of the President being reactive domestically. If the President were to use the same ’strategery’ of preemption here in the United States as he has invoked in fighting the animals of al Qaeda, then President Bush would not be faced with as much transparent barbs from political hacks.

The Moderate Voice, as always, provides a thorough round-up.
StoptheACLU weighs in with more.
The Strata-Sphere - “Grandstanding in the Silly Season”
The Real Ugly American,

Feingold huffed and puffed for some time but never actually mentioned any case law or precedent to back his position. Do you think he avoided that because he knows he is full of crap? If you haven’t read the transcript of the debate between civil rights attorney Glenn Greenwald and constitutional law professor Robert Turner then do it now. You will see a convincing argument that GWB did not violate the constitution.

Pineapple Juice - “Feingold: Censor Censure the President”
Don Surber,

The problem is were there “wiretaps of Americans”?

A wiretap is defined as either a bug put in someone’s room to eavesdrop on conversations or a device used to monitor communications.

So far, no one has complained that electronic bugs are are being placed anywhere.

And as for the second definition, if one is monitoring the communications of Osama bin Laden and Joe Blow calls him, that is not the same as monitoring Joe Blow.

Thus Feingold’s claim is false. There is no wiretapping of Americans. In fact, what Bush has authorized does not even trigger post-operation warrants under FISA.

Decision ‘08,

Before anyone else gets too excited, this is not the first introduction of a censure bill (the ethically challenged John Conyers has tried this stunt, too). It’s worth pointing out again, though, to those Republicans and conservatives who might be contemplating staying home in November, what a non-stop orgy of this kind of stuff we would see under a Democratic-led Congress…

Blogs for Bush,

Sister Toldjah says the Dems may be overplaying their hand.
Suitably Flip,

Honestly, Senator Feingold, you’ve proven yourself enough of a left wing kook that we don’t strictly need you going off the deep end like this, in order to ensure no one takes you seriously.