Feingold calls for Bush censure
Monday,
June 05, 2006 - Bangor Daily News << Back
AUGUSTA - Citing
recurring violations of law by President Bush over the last several years,
Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold told delegates attending the Maine Democratic
State Convention on Saturday that the chief executive's domestic and foreign
policies warrant a congressional investigation and probable censure.
Feingold, a potential Democratic presidential candidate himself in 2008, said
he was unsure whether it was "appropriate" for the country to
"actually go through the impeachment of a president." He was certain,
however, that Bush's actions were exactly what the framers of the U.S.
Constitution had in mind when they included high crimes and misdemeanors as
impeachable offenses to remove the president, vice president and all civil
officers of the United
States.
"I know this, I'm not going to stand by and leave the pages of history
blank and have it said that Russ Feingold lay down, didn't do a darn thing when
the president of the United States directed an attack on the foundation of our
laws and our nations," Feingold said. "If we do not stand at this
time and do as I requested - censure the president of the United States -
he will succeed in pushing us away anytime the president gets caught involving
abuses of power."
Maine Democrats said they were fed up with the president's Patriot Act and
anti-terrorist policies, which they say have resulted in widespread domestic
spying, the erosion of American freedoms, and the endangerment of Americans at
home and abroad. The delegates then adopted a resolution calling for the
impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The demand was
not included in the party's platform because convention participants deemed
such a goal impractical.
The two-day state convention attracted a crowd of more than 1,000 delegates and
guests who, in addition to crafting the party's platform, had the chance to
hear campaign speeches from candidates for governor, the Legislature, the U.S.
Senate and the state's two congressional districts.
Although there were several significant floor demonstrations for Maine political candidates, Feingold's keynote address
electrified many of the Democrats who identified with the speaker's unrelenting
opposition to the war in Iraq
and desire to safeguard the personal freedoms of all Americans. Urging
Democrats to "stand up" for the moral principles of their beliefs,
Feingold said there was nothing shameful about assuming the role of loyal
opposition against the Republican majority.
"Run for president," one woman hollered out from the floor.
After his speech, Feingold consented to an exclusive interview with the Bangor
Daily News and identified allegations that American troops may have
intentionally killed unarmed civilians in Iraq
as a potential major setback for the United States that could rival the
abuse of inmates at Abu Ghraib prison. The incident in question occurred in the
Haditha region of the country where nearly two dozen innocent Iraqis were
killed.
"I'm not going to prejudge this case, because it's terribly wrong for our
troops, but we have to face the fact that it's possible that this did
happen," Feingold said. "If it did happen, there has to be
accountability - not only for those involved, but for the higher-ups in
government who were in charge."
As damaging as the allegations of murdering innocent civilians are to American
interests around the world, Feingold said, Bush's reaction to the reports - and
his delay in announcing them to the American people - was having a chilling
effect on the democratic process here at home.
"The president finally admitted the other day that Abu Ghraib and some of
the things he has said has had a very negative impact on America,"
Feingold said. "These allegations, whether true or not, are having the
same effect. It's a terrible thing for America to know that this
allegation was made in November and that Congress is now just finding out about
it and the president apparently knew in March. This is something that needs to
come out immediately. Assuming it is not even accurate, it makes people look
more guilty than they really are when people hide stuff. But it's a tendency in
this administration: Hide, deny and distort."
Whacking the Bush administration was a common thread that wound throughout the
state convention Saturday, particularly between the party's two candidates
competing to challenge incumbent GOP Sen. Olympia J. Snowe. Jean Hay Bright of
Dixmont and Eric Mehnert of Orono, homed in on the president's policies as key
reasons they should be nominated to replace Maine's senior senator.
Promising to help Democrats "take our country back," Hay Bright said
it was time to ensure the domestic tranquility with a healthy environment,
harmonious communities and a Department of Peace.
"No more regime changes, no more pre-emptive strikes - bring our troops
home now," she said as the audience roared its approval. "Stop them
from being targets for the snipers and the roadside bombs. But also, get them
out of the way, so they won't be there if Iran
decides to call George Bush's bluff and send its huge army across the border
into Iraq,
headed right into the Green Zone."
Mehnert told the crowd that the "gravest injustice" of the Bush
administration was its dismantling of its social contract with America. Just
as Mainers extend help to one another in times of need as part of an unwritten
social contract, Mehnert said government needed to recognize its
responsibilities to Mainers.
"This [Bush] administration has violated the social contract by allowing
corporations to ship American jobs overseas to places that do not have the same
industrial, environmental or human rights standards that we have," he
said. "We understand that it's a global economy; we understand that we
have to compete. But what we ask for is a fair and level playing field. We ask
for fair trade - not free trade."
As Gov. John E. Baldacci seeks his second term in office, his supporters
produced the largest floor campaign of the convention with more than 200
volunteers crowding the Augusta Civic Center with signs and chants of "Go,
John, go." The governor responded to his critics, in a light-hearted Don
Adams "Get Smart"-themed speech that prefaced the administration's
accomplishments with a "Would you believe?" inquiry.
"Would you believe more people are working than ever before in Maine's history? Believe
it," Baldacci said.
Adding that the same was true in the areas of new migration into the state,
reducing the number of uninsured, land conservation and sound financial
strategies, the governor challenged Republicans to face the realities of his
administration's accomplishments.
"The doom-and-gloom Republicans don't want you to believe it,"
Baldacci told Democrats. "If you listen to them, Maine is failing and faltering. This is the
same party of delay, do little and do nothing."
The governor's little-known primary opponent, Chris Miller of Gray also
addressed the delegates, but never once suggested why they should endorse his
candidacy over Baldacci's. Instead, the Web site administrator's message
focused on the environment and the evaporating natural resources upon which
Mainers rely.
"Cheap oil - the world is never going to produce more oil than it is right
now," Miller said. "That doesn't mean we're going to run out of it
anytime soon, but it means every year we will have less and less. That is not a
technological problem - that is a political problem. [I'm advocating]
relocalization. Relocalization is a process by which communities take back
control of their environment, of their businesses, of their resources, of their
laws. That's the political solution."
About half of Miller's 40 minutes of allotted convention time was dedicated to
a theater presentation featuring an arcane message delivered by
living-off-the-land Mainers of the future who were about to be bought out by
former President Bush and a cybernetic Dick Cheney. While the actors recited
their lines, a large-screen video portrayed a variety of images including
cartoons of a cat and mouse and a black-and-white still shot of an owl and a
rabbit.
If it was supposed to be high comedy, it was clearly lost on the majority of
the conventioneers and barely elicited a snicker.
"I think it's called deconstructive political satire," said David
Bragdon, a longtime Democratic insider.
"I think he should have called [Maine
humorist] Gary Crocker and stuck him up there for 40 minutes," remarked
state Rep. Janet Mills, D-Farmington. "Then Miller might have gotten more
votes."
The party platform that was approved before the convention ended included about
three dozen planks, which called for a national single-payer health insurance
system and support for the state's Dirigo universal health program. Another
plank supported a woman's right to reproductive choices.
Delegates rejected a plank calling for a state Department of Peace, after
opponents said they weren't sure what it would do and questioned how the state
would afford it.
Delegates strengthened a human rights plank and passed one that opposes Social
Security offsets.