Elections are on the agenda

international | politics / elections | opinion/analysis Wednesday March 15, 2006 19:29 by MichaelY - iawm

Signs of a changing wind

As the Israeli Army attacks, the streets are burning in Milan, French Universities are occupied, Paris reminisces of '68 and the US Senate will discuss impeaching Bush. Is Spring on the way?

The progressive underworld is abuzz in the US with support for Sen. Russ Feingold's introduction in the Senate of a resolution to censure Bush over his admitted role in illegally ordering the warrantless NSA monitoring of the phones, e-mails, and faxes of Americans, in violation of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. FISA was passed precisely to prevent abuses of power like this; it is easily and rapidly invoked, and Bush has never given a rational explanation as to why he chose to refuse to honour it.

Feingold's action is explicitly directed not just at Senate Republicans, who voted last week in committee not only to refuse to investigate the scandal but instead to try to legitimize it, but also at Senate Democrats, who on this as on so many other issues regarding Bush have failed to stand up and be counted. The resolution is designed to force their hand

Feingold wants to be elected President in 2008, and to that end he is not only attracting publicity and gaining free media and name recognition, but he is doing something that John Kerry and Al Gore did not bother to do before their presidential runs: showing that he can lead, that he will take risky and potentially unpopular actions in service of something he believes is right.

Polls by Zogby -- the only major polling firm that has bothered to ask the question -- have consistently shown that more than half of Americans believe that if Bush broke the law (which he clearly did) he should be impeached. That's a far higher percentage than ever supported the impeachment of Bill Clinton, and rivals the numbers that wanted to impeach Richard Nixon.

For endless reasons, there is tremendous popular anger and frustration with George Bush. Remarkably, it's taken over five years for any Senate Democrat to try to tap into it. Now, one has -- a 2008 presidential aspirant, no less. The question now falls to other Senate Democrats: which side are you on? And so far, predictably, miserably, no other Democratic senator has announced support for Feingold's measure. Most of them have run like scared rabbits. As usual. Which is exactly why, unless there is a magical transference of Feingoldian backbone to his congressional colleagues, and soon, Democrats are not about to win back either house in 2006. Voters will choose incompetent, corrupt leaders over incompetent, corrupt followers every day of the week.

For three months, every legal expert outside the Bush orbit has been repeating the same phrase: "The President broke the law." Finally, someone in the Senate is acting like the phrase means something. The American people, by and large, are with him. Pity that, so far, the rest of his so-called "opposition" party isn't. Perhaps they can be convinced.

In another cormer of the world, the Israeli Army bulldozed earlier this week its way into a Palestinian administered prison, killed guards, destroyed the building and arrested prisoners. The Israeli Left and Peace Movement denounced this act of naked aggression as 'electioneering' .....will not repeat here all the arguments about this development in another thread Just to draw a link - a thin red line that connects the US and its major ally in the Middle East : Israel.

Elections are also on the agenda in Italy - Berlusconi is on the retreat and the streets of Milan are burning. And 50 plus French Universities are occupied by students and workers. Are these signs of a changing wind? And we'll be marching against the war on Saturday 18th - 2 pm Parnell Square. Our sails are pumped up too.

With thanks to G.Parrish - solidarity my friend