WAKING FROM OUR COLLECTIVE STATE OF DELUSION-- PAUL KRUGMAN, RUSS FEINGOLD & MAXINE WATERS LEAD THE WAY

Yesterday, Russ Feingold did a diary for DAILY KOS called "Pre-1776 Mentality". It probably won't get MSM coverage, nor have Congresswoman Maxine Water's pre-SOTU plainspoken comments about why Congress should be getting more serious about impeaching Bush. "His message tonight will not deal honestly with the mistakes that he's made. And I believe that the latest revelations about him and his spying on American citizens-- no matter how he tries to frame it-- are impeachable offenses. I believe that this president is not only spying on American citizens in the way that he's describing it, but to indicate in any shape form or fashion that he's been authorized by Congress to do it on the vote that was taken after 9-11 is plain dishonest. And further to try to imply that he's supported by the Constitution of the United States is even more dishonest. And so, I think that this issue that he's been caught red-handed on is really typical of who he is, how he handles this presidency, and what his leadership is all about: spying and lying. And I think it is important for us to understand that all of the other issues that we're going to talk about today - and particularly the war in Iraq - will continue to exemplify how he has lied and misled the American public."

Senator Feingold, currently the consistent Democratic presidential front-runner in netroots polls, is barely more tolerant of the Bush Regime's rampant criminality after he heard him deliver the SOTU message. "I've seen some strange things in my life, but I cannot describe the feeling I had, sitting on the House floor during Tuesday's State of the Union speech, listening to the President assert that his executive power is, basically, absolute, and watching several members of Congress stand up and cheer him on.  It was surreal and disrespectful to our system of government and to the oath that as elected officials we have all sworn to uphold. Cheering? Clapping? Applause?  All for violating the law?

"The President and his administration continue their spin and media blitz in attempts to defend the fact that they broke, and continue to break, the law.  Their weak and shifting justifications for doing so continue.  The latest from the President seems to be that basically the FISA law, passed in 1978,
is out of date. His decision that he can apparently disregard "old law" fits the pattern with the President and his administration.  He's decided to disregard a statute (FISA) and the Constitution (the 4th Amendment) by continuing to wiretap Americans' phone calls and emails without the required warrant, while at the same time claiming powers of the presidency that do not exist. (Perhaps he feels the Constitution is too "old," as well.)  This administration reacts to any questions about spying on American citizens by saying that those of us who stand up for our rights and freedoms are somehow living in a 'pre-September 11th, 2001 world.'

" In fact, the President is living in a pre-1776 world.

"Our Founders lived in dangerous times, and they risked everything for freedom. Patrick Henry said, "Give me liberty or give me death." The President's pre-1776 mentality is hurting America and fracturing the foundation on which our country has stood for 230 years. The President can't just bypass two branches of government, and obey only those laws he wants to obey. Deciding unilaterally which of our freedoms still apply in the fight against terrorism is unacceptable and needs to be stopped immediately.
   
"Many of you saw this week's story in the Washington Post on the exchange Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and I had during his confirmation hearing in January of last year. Mr. Gonzales misled me and the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath about whether the President could spy on Americans without a warrant. (Many of you blogged about it when the story first broke and I thank you for getting the word out.) That exchange is extremely telling about the depths to which this administration will go to grab power. I look forward to a little more honesty from the Attorney General when he testifies about the spying program before the Judiciary Committee on Monday.
 
"I don't have to tell you how important this issue is. It gets to the core of what we as a country are all about. We all agree that we must defeat the terrorists who threaten the safety and security of our families and loved ones. Why does this President feel we must sacrifice our freedoms to fight terrorism? This is a gut check moment for members of Congress. Do we sacrifice our liberty? Do we bow to those who try to use security issues for political gain? Do we stand and applaud when the President places himself above the law? Or, do we say enough?
 
"Stop the power grab, stop the politics, stop breaking the law.

"It's time to stand up - not to cheer, but to fight back." 

Feingold has come a long way. Unfortunately, he has a couple dozen Democratic colleagues in the Senate who are yet to get off the dime. How come Feingold gets it while Ben Nelson (D-NE)-- but one particularly egregious example-- doesn't have a clue? Can Feingold convince the American people to open their eyes and see what Bush really is, if so many Democratic senators are still so firmly and stubbornly in the dark?

Yesterday I had a water leak emergency. The plumbing company insured that it got worse ad worse as the day went on until, finally, at around 8PM there were torrents of water gushing through a broken pipe. The young plumber they had sent by then-- replacing 2 previous incompetents-- got the problem under control professionally. Eventually we got to talking and since he had been in a punk rock band and said he loves Green Day and the Dead Kennedys, I explained what I do with my time. He asked me what a fascist is. I gave him a little history lesson starting with the French Revolution and going through WWII and making sure he understood why and how today's GOP is part of that ghastly tradition. As he was leaving to drive back to his home in Orange County, he said "You guys in L.A. sure get more into politics than people down where I live." Well, I guess so-- and more than where Ben Nelson lives too.

But maybe if the folks in Orange County and Nebraska read more Paul Krugman and watched less mind-numbing TV, they'd be less likely to be living in a state of delusion. There, I think I've solved all our problems-- get everybody to read Paul Krugman. Of course, first you have to get everybody to read. Anyway in yesterday's "State of Delusion" column-- so widely unread in the O.C. and Nebraska-- Krugman looks back on Bush's more blatant SOTU lies. "So President Bush's plan to reduce imports of Middle East oil turns out to be no more substantial than his plan-- floated two years ago, then flushed down the memory hole-- to send humans to Mars.

"But what did you expect? After five years in power, the Bush administration is still-- perhaps more than ever-- run by Mayberry Machiavellis, who don't take the business of governing seriously.

"Here's the story on oil: In the State of the Union address, Mr. Bush suggested that 'cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol' and other technologies would allow us 'to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East.'

"But the next day, officials explained that he didn't really mean what he said. 'This was purely an example,' said Samuel Bodman, the energy secretary. And the administration has actually been scaling back the very research that Mr. Bush hyped on Tuesday night: the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is about to lay off staff because of cuts to its budget.

"'A veteran researcher,' reports The New York Times, 'said the staff had been told that the cuts would be concentrated among researchers in wind and biomass, which includes ethanol.'

"Why announce impressive sounding goals when you have no plan to achieve them? The best guess is that the energy 'plan' was hastily thrown together to give Mr. Bush something positive to say."

Just like everything else-- other than a concentrated program of self-enrichment for already far too wealthy Republican supporters-- that this Regime has been, usually so tragically, involed with. And with 53% of Americans now open to impeachment (which is the identical percentage of Americans who the latest Gallup Poll says feel Bush deliberately misled the country about the claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction), this news is bound to reach Orange County and even Mr. Nelson's constituents... sometime.