Motion to Censure Bush

So, I got the following letter from my good friend, Governor Howard Dean:

RUSS FEINGOLD IS A TRAITOR

Dear <blank>,

That's what Republicans want you to think.

They are so scared of having a legitimate debate about Iraq or national security that they have only one reaction to news of their failures or calls for accountability.

On Monday, Democratic Senator Russ Feingold introduced legislation to censure the President for breaking the law by creating a secret domestic spying program. Agree or disagree with his proposal, as a Senator -- and as an American -- he has the right to speak his mind and express his views without Republican Senators questioning his patriotism.

But that's exactly what happened. This week Republican Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado, in an interview with Fox News radio, said in response to Feingold's action that he has "time and time again [sided] with the terrorists".

Send a message to Senator Allard: shame on him for questioning the patriotism of another Senator. Sign this petition and it will be delivered to Allard:

http://www.democrats.org/stopattackingruss

Agree or disagree with Russ Feingold's censure resolution, it is completely out of bounds to suggest that anyone demanding accountability is siding with terrorists. It is simply un-American to question the patriotism and loyalty of a Senator who wants the Congress to live up to its responsibility.

We've heard this cowardly nonsense from Republican leaders before. They attacked decorated Veteran and Democratic Rep. Jack Murtha for getting real on Iraq. They attacked Democratic Leader Harry Reid for shutting down the Senate to demand answers about manipulated pre-war intelligence.

They have ended the careers of generals who questioned Bush Administration talking points, and they even attack their own when respectable Republicans speak out on the disaster this administration has created in Iraq and its failure to close the gaps in our security here at home.

And time and again, the Republican controlled congress has consistently failed to conduct real oversight of the Administration, choosing instead to protect the Administration.

But polls show that nearly 70% of Americans reject this president and the Republican Congress that has failed to hold him accountable. And together we will hold Republicans accountable at the ballot box this year.

That's why the Democratic Party is putting the infrastructure on the ground now to fight in all 50 states. People everywhere are saying "enough is enough" -- and we will be ready to organize and fight everywhere with your help.

Please contribute whatever you can to make it happen:

http://www.democrats.org/accountability

The sick behavior of desperate Republicans will only stop when we fight back, and 2006 is the time to do it.

Thank you,

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

I also got email from MoveOn.org on this subject requesting I sign their petition to support Senator Feingold in his attempt to get Congress to censure President Bush. I signed their petition (and urge anyone reading this to do the same. You can find the petition here.) However, I think it is time we thought about what it actually means to live in a “free” society. I think what we are forgetting is that there are both responsibilities and duties that go along with the freedom

There is a quote from Thomas Jefferson which should be burned into the minds of every citizen. It should be part of us, much like the Pledge of Allegiance is part of us. The quote is:

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

In the fight against terrorists, we all become patriots. If some of us die as a result of terrorist action, then that is the price they, and we, have to pay to be members of a free society. However, once we begin to give up our freedoms and liberties in the name of security, then we forfeit the right to be either free or patriots. I have no problem with using any and all legal means to combat terrorists. In fact, I have no problem with declaring open season on terrorists meaning all one needs to kill one is a valid hunting license. (Of course, one does have the burden of proof that the person killed was, in fact, a terrorist. Failure to provide that proof in a convincing manner could result in criminal charges. That should keep down the extraneous gun play…as should the judicious issuance of the appropriate hunting licenses.) No, catch a person red-handed with a terrorist device and that should be sufficient reason to terminate said person’s continued existence on this plane. But that brings us back to the manner in which we catch said person red-handed.

If we are to remain a free society, we cannot allow our government to spy on us…any of us. It is unfortunate that some of our citizens might want to cause their country and their fellow citizens harm, but that is the way this world is right now. To protect ourselves against our enemies who are amongst us, we have to use all legal means at our government’s disposal to find them. I have no problem with that. However, we cannot allow the government to cross that line. We cannot allow the government to erode our liberties and we especially cannot allow our President to assume more power than the Constitution allows him. What George Bush has done, both in spying upon U.S. citizens and in his “pre-emptive invasion” of Iraq so vastly exceed his Constitutionally allowed power that it just boggles the mind. If we had a Congress such as we had in 1973, we would be in the middle of  Impeachment proceedings now. It is my hope that, after the coming November elections, we will have such a Congress and we will, in January of next year, begin such proceedings. Until then, it is our duty as citizens and patriots to continue to cry out against the unjust spying and the unjust war in Iraq.