The heroism of Russ Feingold

Posted by Don Hazen at 8:26 PM on March 13, 2006.

Russ Feingold is an American hero. But other members of the Democratic Party leadership aren't stepping up to the plate... Matt Stoller has all the details, and I'm just going to re-post his blog here.

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Today, Russ Feingold Is the Leader of the Democratic Party

Russ Feingold made me proud today. Standing up for the integrity of the American system is what leadership means, and that's what we as Democrats are. At least for today, Russ Feingold is the leader of the Democratic Party. And just for today, want to see who isn't a leader of the party? A hint, the name rhymes with Bella Lugosi.

In contrast to Feingold's bold and powerful statement, Nancy Pelosi's caution last week cost us. Long story short, Rep. Louise Slaughter released a report on the cost of Republican corruption. Leader Pelosi helped her with press and stuck it up on the leader's web page. She then got spooked by Republicans whining about ethics charges and had it taken down. Pelosi, by selling out Louise Slaughter, has created a perverse incentive system that penalizes Democrats who speak out. And then there's also this kind of bullshit that the sad, weak, pathetic little cowards called the GOP put out and institutional media habitually swallows. From Roll Call:

A House Rules Committee report charging GOP Members with corruption has been removed from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) leadership Web site, leading Republicans last week to label the move as an admission by Democrats that the report was used improperly to raise campaign cash.

The report, prepared by Democratic Rules Committee staffers for ranking member Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), was compiled, say Republicans, to raise money and score political points on the campaign trail -- both for the Congresswoman and candidates supported by Democratic campaign committees.

The office of Rules Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) declined to comment. But Republicans familiar with the matter -- beyond disputing the report's findings and its legitimacy as an official government inquiry -- said Slaughter's actions violated federal law and leave her open to a House ethics investigation.

"Everyone on Capitol Hill except Louise Slaughter seems to realize that you can't run campaigns out of your federal office," one House Republican aide said. "The report is bogus. U.S. taxpayers paid for this campaign fundraising stunt for Democrats, and it appears they know it, because they took it down."

Rep. Slaughter is defending herself on the blogs. But that's not enough, because this type of stubbornly bad leadership matters when it's in insidery publications like Roll Call. It scares staffers and members. It empowers middle manager Office Space-like toads within the party. It helps empower the middle-management sneering staffers who work for Jay Rockefeller, who then empower the Bush administration's illegal wiretapping. Today, Nancy Pelosi is not any kind of Democrat I recognize. Democrats are strong and fight to defend the constitution. We fight for privacy, against corruption, and to help those who can't help themselves. We don't sell out those trying to do the right thing so that Republican weenies won't be mean to us. When the Republicans come out with the racist and cowardly FancyFord.com, the Democratic Party hits back with VeryFancyFrist.com. Now that's the Democratic Party.

So today, Feingold is the leader of the Democratic Party. Today, Reddhedd is a great Democrat. And I don't know what party Nancy Pelosi is in, but for today at least it's not mine.

Don Hazen is the executive editor of AlterNet.