More on Backbone, Spine, Etc., or Absence Thereof

Georgia 10 had this to say on Daily Kos about Senator Feingold’s colleagues and their reactions. http://www.dailykos.com/

Slowly, Senators are publicly standing up against the President's blatant lawlessness: Senators Feingold, Harkin, Boxer are confirmed to support censure. Senators Kerry and Menendez are possible supporters as well. As for the rest of the Senate Democrats, I can only imagine what has transpired in the last few days. Meeting in locked rooms in huddled groups, whispering about how to deal with this "situation." The phone lines in D.C. are burning up as they contact their consultants . . . who advise them to delay, delay, distract, distract, and maybe the "situation" will go away. "Distance yourself from the angry bloggers," I bet is a mantra repeated by those consultants. "You don't want to appear extreme," they probably claim. . . . If you've wondered why the Democrats have been so silent, it is because they're consulting--with polls (though not the ones that say 52% support impeachment, or the ones that say 77% don't buy the unitary executive theory); with mealy-mouthed consultants; with other Democrats who are pissed off Feingold sprung this on them; with the D.C. establishment who with chuckles and an obliviousness to the gravity of the situation asks them "how are you going to get out of this one?"

What’s really galling is that so many seem to have just given up on the possibility of actually leading public opinion in the right direction. It’s all about fitting into an environment created by the right-wing, finding the right mushy words that will create the greatest happiness of the greatest number of – consultants, Washington pundits and their ilk. They seem not to have gotten it through their thick (and enlarged) heads that we angry bloggers are the ones most likely to care enough to send them money!