NTodd To AWOL Dems: Vaffanculo

Jeezum crow, as we say in Vermont:

OK, let me get this straight. Democratic senators get an opportunity to trash President Bush on live TV... and almost nobody shows up? Come on kids. I was hoping for a rockin' sold-out show at today's Senate hearing to censure the president on domestic wiretapping. But I counted at least nine empty chairs around the table. The only Democrats willing to show their faces were Sen. Russ Feingold, who sponsored the censure resolution, and Sen. Patrick Leahy. Over at Daily Kos there's a hilarious thread as bloggers call up Sens. Kennedy, Schumer, Biden and Feinstein to ask, "Where the hell are you?"

After this mighty display of disinterest [uh...'uninterest', actually. ntodd], President Bush shouldn't be too worried. In fact, the only really mean things said were about Richard Nixon. In a bizarre flashback to Watergate, former Nixon aide John Dean showed up to say how domestic spying is worse than anything his former boss did.
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I know that most of politics is theater, but you hope that actors will at least bother showing up.

This is absolutely inexcusable. Even if the missing Senators don't believe in the Censure motion itself, they must do whatever they can to hold Bush accountable and make the GOP-dominated Senate do more than pay lip service to its oversight role. Not showing up, political theater or not, is an unconscionable dereliction of duty.

At least my Senator was there to support Feingold. Pat's not as fiery as Russ, though he does have his moments, and he had this to say today:

Because the Republican-controlled Congress has not conducted real oversight, and because the attempts this Committee has made at oversight have been stonewalled by the Administration, we do not know the extent of the Administration’s domestic spying activities. But we know that the Administration has secretly spied on Americans without attempting to comply with FISA. And we know that the legal justifications it has offered for doing so, which have admittedly “evolved” over time are patently flimsy. I therefore have no hesitation in condemning the President for secretly and systematically violating the law. I have no doubt that such a conclusion will be history’s verdict.

History will evaluate how diligently the Republican-controlled Congress performed the oversight duties envisaged by the Founders. As of this moment, history’s judgment of the diligence and resolve of the Republican-Controlled Congress is unlikely to be kind.

I love how he kept repeating "Republican-controlled Congress". Remind people just who's in charge, who's covering up.

Alas, the Democrats are enabling this Republican-controlled government to get away with it all. As of this moment, history's judgement of the diligence and resolve of their party is unlikely to be any kinder.

My judgement isn't kind at all: to them I say...well, I'll let my favorite fascist, Antonin Scalia deliver the message. He has a unique way with words and gestures...

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