james g. keegan jr. wrote:

March 17, 2006
Editorial
Time for Facts, Not Resolutions

We understand the frustration that led Senator Russell Feingold to
introduce a measure that would censure President Bush for authorizing
warrantless spying on Americans. It's galling to watch from the
outside as the Republicans and most Democrats refuse time and again
to hold Mr. Bush accountable for the lawlessness and incompetence of
his administration. Actually sitting among that cowardly crew must be
maddening.

Still, the censure proposal is a bad idea. Members of Congress don't
need to take extraordinary measures like that now. They need to
fulfill their sworn duty to investigate the executive branch's
misdeeds and failings. Talk about censure will only distract the
public from the failure of their elected representatives to earn
their paychecks.

We'd be applauding Mr. Feingold if he'd proposed creating a
bipartisan panel to determine whether the domestic spying operation
that Mr. Bush has acknowledged violates the 1978 surveillance law, as
it certainly seems to do. The Senate should also force the disclosure
of any other spying Mr. Bush is conducting outside the law. (Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales has strongly hinted that is happening.)

The Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees should do this, but
we can't expect a real effort from Senator Pat Roberts, the
Intelligence Committee chairman, or Senator Arlen Specter, chairman
of the Judiciary Committee. They're too busy trying to give legal
cover to the president's trampling on the law and the Constitution.

When the Republicans try to block an investigation, as they surely
will, Senator Harry Reid, the minority leader, should not be afraid
to highlight that fact by shutting down the Senate's public business,
as he did last year. This time, though, Mr. Reid needs to follow up.
The first time Mr. Reid forced the Senate into a closed session, Mr.
Roberts said he would keep his promise about an investigation into
the hyping of intelligence on Iraq. But Mr. Roberts continues to sit
on that report.

The nation needs to know a great deal more about the domestic spying.
How many people's calls and e-mail were tapped? How were they chosen?
Was Mr. Bush planning to do this until the war on terror ended ‹ that
is, forever? The public should be asking why members of Congress are
afraid to make those important and legitimate queries.

With so much still unknown about the domestic spying, the censure
resolution merely allows the Republicans to change the subject to
fairy tales about Democratic leaders' trying to impeach Mr. Bush.
They are also painting criticism of Mr. Bush as unpatriotic. That's
tedious nonsense, but watching Mr. Feingold's Democratic colleagues
run for cover shows how effective it is.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/17/opinion/17fri1.html?ex=1300251600&en
=e644370779199506&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

I disagree with the main point of the editorial. Censure does not
preclude investigation or subsequent impeachment. Feingold is correct
in substance and timing, and it is high time that Congress steps up and
reasserts its oversight of the Executive Branch.

Alas, however; the writer is correct about the Democrats running for
cover. This is a splendid opportunity for Democrats to define
themselves in the public's eyes as the party that defends the
Constitution and the rule of law. There is no downside to supporting
Feingold's resolution. What are they afraid of?