Censure and the Times

Rothschild, Matthew

Editor's Note Matthew Rothschild Censure and the Times On March 17, The New York Times ran one of its most ridiculous editorials in recent memory. Entitled "Time for Facts, Not Resolutions," it...

...The censure proposal is a bad idea," said the Times...
...I'm all for getting to the bottom of Bush's malfeasance, but how much investigation do you need when the President himself has acknowledged that he's been bypassing the FISA court and spying on Americans without a warrant...
...And remember, twenty-nine Democratic Senators are on record supporting censure of the President: Bill Clinton, that is...
...It's at the Throckmorton Theatre, starting at 8:00 p.m...
...But the Times, for its own peculiar reasons, found fault with Feingold...
...Feingold, whose speech denouncing Bush's NSA lawlessness we ran last month, at least stepped up to the plate, which the other craven Democrats didn't do, except Senators Tom Harkin and Barbara Boxer, who endorsed his idea...
...And I certainly don't believe that Democrats should shy away from it because they're afraid the Republicans will criticize them...
...Members of Congress don't need to take extraordinary measures like that now...
...The editorial bemoaned how "effective" this rightwing strategy was...
...They don't...
...Will Durst will be on stage with me, and Andrea Lewis, one of our contributing writers, will be the emcee...
...For understandable reasons, Feingold has chosen the easier route of censure...
...Talk about censure will only distract the public from the failure of their elected representatives to earn their paychecks," the Times said...
...In its first paragraph, the Times acknowledged the "lawlessness" of the Bush Administration...
...But instead of censure, it urged investigation into Bush's "misdeeds and failings...
...And if you've got friends there, please spread the word...
...Bush...
...As Lewis Lapham says in Ruth Conniff's wonderful interview with the former Harpers editor this month, "It is this kind of pussyfooting on the part of the Democratic Party that has led us into this morass...
...But our elected officials would certainly be earning their paychecks by upholding the Constitution and calling the President to account...
...I've been talking up impeachment in unlikely places...
...And to Feingolds credit, he has said that Bush's flouting of the FISA act is "right in the strike zone of what the Founding Fathers thought about when they talked about high crimes and misdemeanors...
...So if you're going to be in the San Francisco area that evening, I'd love to see you...
...Next, I'll be in Mill Valley, California, on May 5 for another impeachment townhall event...
...And I've been to Bradenton, Florida, the home district of Katherine Harris...
...Let's show The New York Times this is no fairy tale...
...Sixty-five people came out on a Thursday evening to the funky Fogartyville Caf...
...Entitled "Time for Facts, Not Resolutions," it scolded Senator Russ Fein-gold for having the temerity to call for censuring Bush...
...to hear me give my rap...
...But the Times says the Republicans and the rightwing are using Feingold's effort to make Bush's critics appear unpatriotic and "to change the subject to fairy tales about Democratic leaders trying to impeach Mr...
...I'd prefer the constitutional remedy of impeachment...
...If Clinton warranted censure for lying about a private affair, surely Bush's crimes against the Constitution warrant at least the same...
...In the last month or so, I've been to Omaha, Nebraska, one of the reddest of the red states, and ninety-five people packed into the room that Bruce Johansen had kindly reserved...
...I don't believe impeachment is a fairy tale...

Vol. 70 • May 2006 • No. 5


 
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