All Things Profane and Sacred

Well, I see the Bush government is now defending torture and domestic spying. Does anyone want to start a pool on what horrorshow they will defend next? I want to put a dollar on forced sterilization and a dollar on medical experimentation without consent.

Although I usually don't do political posts, I want to drop a few words about my main man, Senator Russ Feingold. In 1998, I had the honor of voting for the man. Although it was an off year election, there was a raring battle between Russ and this evil lying man whose campaign focused on "partial birth abortions." The polling place I went to was packed-the line of people started just inside the door. In Wisconsin you can register to vote at the polls, so I got into the line to register to vote. After waiting about 45 minutes to an hour in line, I got to the front, filled out my voter registration and got into another long line to vote. As I inched my way to the front, the kindly old ladies running the show came out for an annoucement. The station had just run out of ballots. If we wanted to wait, more were being air lifted in. So I sat some more. I really believed in Senator Feingold, and I wanted to be able to say proudly when he accomplished things in the name of Wisconsinites, "I voted for him. Russ Feingold is my representative."

So even though I am out here in the barbarous west, and Russ is no longer really my representative, I can't help but feel that his accomplishments are partially (to a very small extent, I realize) my own accomplishments. Here is the text of Senator Feingold's remarks in response to the President's radio address:

"Yesterday morning, Republican and Democratic Senators blocked a flawed bill that extended parts of the Patriot Act that are set to expire without fixing the fundamental problems with the law. Nobody wants these parts of the Patriot Act to expire -- we want to fix them before making them permanent, by including important protections for the rights and freedoms of innocent American citizens.

With a few modest but critical improvements, like making sure that when the government seeks library records it has to show that those records have some connection to a suspected terrorist or spy, we can give the government the powers it needs while also protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. The President can sign a bill into law tomorrow to reauthorize the Patriot Act if he will agree to the bill that the Senate unanimously passed in July or he could extend the law for a short period so negotiations can continue.

The President's shocking admission that he authorized the National Security Agency to spy on American citizens, without going to a court and in violation of the Constitution and laws passed by Congress, further demonstrates the urgent need for these protections. The President believes that he has the power to override the laws that Congress has passed. This is not how our democratic system of government works. The President does not get to pick and choose which laws he wants to follow. He is a president, not a king.

On behalf of all Americans who believe in our constitutional system of government, I call on this Administration to stop this program immediately and to fully cooperate with congressional inquiries and investigations. We have had enough of an Administration that puts itself above the law and the Constitution."

I voted for him. Russ Feingold is my representative.