Feingold 10

To answer a commenter: Russ Feingold is acting like an actual Democrat by refusing to go along, refusing to accept the status quo regarding the Wall Street looters. This is not that tired trope of the perfect being the enemy of the good. this is exactly what a true Democrat would be doing. This bill continues to reward the oligarchy as it exists in America. It does little for the "little guy/gal". President Obama promised a bottom-up recovery, but his actions don't match his words, they match Bu$hCo's words.  From a campaign speech given in North Carolina. Sorry, I lost the link in trying to edit this post, damn computers, but I love them.

I have a different vision for the future. Instead of spending twelve billion dollars a month to rebuild Iraq, I think it's time we invested in our roads and schools and bridges and started to rebuild America. Instead of handing out giveaways to corporations that don't need them and didn't ask for them, it's time we started giving a hand-up to families who are trying pay their medical bills and send their children to college. We can't afford four more years of skewed priorities that give us nothing but record debt – we need change that works for the American people. And that is the choice in this election.
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The principle is simple – if the government can bail out investment banks on Wall Street, we can extend a hand to folks who are struggling on Main Street.

My emphases.

& here is a great point made by Naomi Klien about the campaign.

To understand the meaning of the U.S. election results, it is worth looking back to the moment when everything changed for the Obama campaign. It was, without question, the moment when the economic crisis hit Wall Street.

Up to that point, things weren’t looking all that good for Barack Obama. The Democratic National Convention barely delivered a bump, while the appointment of Sarah Palin seemed to have shifted the momentum decisively over to John McCain.

Then, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed, followed by insurance giant AIG, then Lehman Brothers. It was in this moment of economic vertigo that Obama found a new language. With tremendous clarity, he turned his campaign into a referendum into the deregulation and trickle down policies that have dominated mainstream economic discourse since Ronald Reagan. He said his opponent represented more of the same while he stood for a new direction, one that would rebuild the economy from the ground up, rather than the top down. Obama stayed on this message for the rest of the campaign and, as we just saw, it worked.

My emphases.

Feingold does not follow in the steps of McCarthy for christ's sake, that is a low, mean blow. & hopefully Russ will be remembered for principled stands that do not include a golden fleece. I certainly understand the frustration that true Democrats are feeling right now, but Russ Feingold should not be the cause for that frustration. A person needs to remember that Herb Kohl is the other senator from Wisco, he's also a Democrat. What does he stand for except his own money? There is a politician that someone, me maybe, needs to light a fire under his ass, although I did try it a few years ago when I wanted his help in getting Century Tel to provide DSL service to my rural home. He didn't even respond with a letter praising me & then himself. I now have the slowest possible DSL speed, so I guess the free market solved my problem.

Finally, we all need to take a deep breath, let it out slowly, stop halfway through & donate to Russ' reelection campaign or if not cash, volunteer part of your private property to put up a sign or two.