IF DEMOCRATS CAN'T EVEN GET THE MOST BASIC THINGS RIGHT-- LIKE "TORTURE BAD"-- WHAT GOOD ARE THEY AT ALL?

Dianne Feinstein will never be a Russ FEINGOLD. Don't mix 'em up

Yesterday grassroots Democrats, especially grassroots Democrats in California and New York, were fuming over Chuck Schumer's and Dianne Feinstein's blatant sell-out of core Democratic values and principles in their shameless and coordinated coup against attempts by the Senate Democratic caucus to tell the Bush Regime that America is through with torture and through with the whole unconstitutional concept of an executive branch which operates as though it were above the law. Mukasey may be as nice a fella as Albert Gonzales was and he may be brighter, but, like Gonzales, he believes that the president is above the law. No president is or should be and this particular president-- with his 24%-and-sinking job approval rating-- is one the cowardly Democrats should be reining in-- BIG TIME, and now. If the Democrats were serious about it, they would ignore Bush's hysterical threats and remove Schumer from his source of power as the head of the DSCC.

Fat chance! Because they're not serious. Oh, some are. Some actually still believe in American values and place them before their own personal interests-- something Feinstein has never done in her entire miserable career-- and some Democratic senators still strive for a balance and principled approach to governance over narrow partisan calculation (the lifeblood of a lifelong shameless hack like Schumer). I know-- because I've been cc-ed on so many-- that lots of DWT readers have already communicated their extreme displeasure directly to Schumer and Feinstein for their treachery. Tomorrow we'll be announcing a ratcheting up of that pressure.

Meanwhile, Russ Feingold, announced early this morning that regardless of what Feinstein and Schumer are doing, he's standing up for basic American principles and opposing Mukasey's confirmation.

I will vote against the nomination of Judge Mukasey to be the next Attorney General.  This was a difficult decision, as Judge Mukasey has many impressive qualities. He is intelligent and experienced and appears to understand the need to depoliticize the Department of Justice and restore its credibility and reputation. 

At this point in our history, however, the country also needs an Attorney General who will tell the President that he cannot ignore the laws passed by Congress. Unfortunately, Judge Mukasey was unwilling to reject the extreme and dangerous theories of executive power that this administration has put forward. 

The nation's top law enforcement officer must be able to stand up to a chief executive who thinks he is above the law. The rule of law is too important to our country's history and to its future to compromise on that bedrock principle.

Schumer was very smart in high school and, from what I've read, in college too. What's happened to him? (Feinstein was always a hack and this behavior on her part is just par for the course.) Why is it that a senator from Wisconsin can see this so clearly but that the senior senators from New York and California can't? Or won't? We'll take a shot at making sure they understand it a little better tomorrow.


UPDATE: WHO'S "THE NEXT LIEBERMAN?"

Today's Washington Post pins the tail on DiFi.