Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Is Russ Right for U.S.?

The rumor mill in Washington is grinding away again as we approach another presidential election in just over 2 years. Will Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) make a run for the highest office in the land? Many believe he will. Some, including myself, are beginning to feel as though Senator Feingold may be the best choice to run at the top of the ticket for the Democratic Party. Wisconsin seems to love him (we keep sending him back to D.C.). Washington outsiders love him. Washington insiders…well I really don’t know how they feel about Russ. He’s an independent voice, and has become more forceful in recent months in his criticism of the Administration, especially regarding the wiretapping fiasco.

Russ co-authored the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform bill, which was much needed in this country. More needs to be done, and neither Senators McCain nor Feingold have given up their fights for reforming the mess that is campaign finance. One only has to look to the actions of Tom DeLay and other Republicans (and a few Democrats) with ties to the Jack Abramoff disaster.

Senator Feingold is the only US Senator that voted against the Patriot Act, citing back then the concerns that many are expressing now. He stood up for not sacrificing liberty for safety (because if we do, we end up with neither), and still does, recently “threatening” to filibuster the renewal of the Patriot Act by reading the Bill of Rights on the Senate Floor. I think this would be a “smashing” move to bring better attention to what so many Americans are blind to: the destruction of their liberty in exchange for having a foreign country that has been cozy with fundamentalists to control the security of U.S. Ports on the East Coast of the United States. I can’t believe people aren’t screaming in the streets over that news, but that’s for another post.

The Truth Is Out There is currently beginning a review of Senator Feingold’s actions since he became the junior Senator from Wisconsin. I’ll be posting more here. I think, at this point, he may be an important contender in ’08. Our best future lies ahead, and we, whether progressives, liberal, conservative, or neo-conservative should all be mindful of what we really stand for, and hold those accountable who have not “played by the rules” and not done what we have elected them to do.

Information on Sen. Feingold is welcome. Of course, unfounded slams or outright NeoCon lies will just be highlighted for exposing the continued attack mode of the fearful Administration.

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