Going Forward in the New Year

Hello, everybody. My apologies for not posting more recently, I was out of town and without internet access for a few weeks and then spent the past week starting my new semester of law school. I'm gonna try to catch up with the major recent Feingold developments now; and once again I hope that I'll be able to update this site more regularly in the future.

Alito hearings: I'm sad and embarrassed to say that I probably caught about a total of an hour of the Alito hearings last week, and am not really qualified to comment on Senator Feingold's questioning of him. So if you weren't able to see it, check out Joe Pisciotto's coverage of it over at RussForPresident.com.

State Blogs: The number of Feingold for President state blogs doubled since the last time I updated this site...please check out and welcome New York for Feingold, California for Feingold, Feingold for President-Minnesota, and Pacific Northwest for Feingold (covering Washington and Oregon). Unfortunately, it looks like Ohio for Feingold has disappeared, but I'll keep my link to it in hope that it will return. So, if you live in a state not covered by a Feingold blog...what are you waiting for join the fun! Blog for Russ! It's easy to get started (if, admittedly, more difficult to keep up with on a regular basis).

And in an attempt to not be a total hypocrite, I have pondered either starting a Missouri for Feingold site, or, alternatively, changing this into a Missouri for Feingold site; leaning more towards the former than the latter for reasons that are as much sentimental and egotistical as anything else.

But the truth is I'd love it if a Missouri for Feingold site could be a collaborative thing, perhaps with bloggers for all different parts of the state...I don't know, maybe that's too ambitious, but if there is anyone in Missouri and interested email me . And the thoughts of all my readers are welcome on this (and any other) subject.

Also on the Net: Not a state blog, but a really cool idea is over at Irregular Times where they have started a President 2008 section, which is a wiki site which allows users to write and edit the text of the pages. The have sites for all the possible candidates, including our Senator Feingold, and I urge you to check it out and help it grow.

And if you want to help raise money for RussForPresident.com and own some nifty Russ related domain names for yourself, check out this eBay auction; it closes in four days.

Russ on the Road: No, the Feingold news hasn't been confined to the net and some really important hearings I haven't been able to watch. Senator Feingold headed out to New England, traveling to Vermont, to campaign for the great Bernie Sanders, and then to New Hampshire, a state which the political media pays a lot of attention to for some reason or another...

Senator Feingold gave great speeches at both events...and you can see them yourselves through the magic of the internet: Russ and Bernie is here, and the New Hampshire speech is available at C-SPAN .

Russ at home: I thought this story about one of Senator Feingold's more recent listening sessions was great. Other Feingold fans on the web have commented on the article's discussion of a Feingold for President sign in the crowd. That's good; but this was my favorite part:

And when one - and only one - person got up to say that he had voted
for Bush and wanted Feingold to vote to confirm Alito, to work on ending
legalized abortion and to oppose legalization of marriage between homosexuals,
and unhappy murmurs passed through audience, Feingold told everyone to stay
quiet.
"He has a right to say that," Feingold said. "I'll listen."

Huh, being respectful towards people who hold opposing viewpoints...what a truly revolutionary political idea.

Going Forward in the New Year: I didn't even get to do write about half the things I wanted to in this post; sometimes it seems like I have more ideas then I have time to use them when it comes to this site. I hope that will change; the number and enthusiasm of my fellow Feingold supporters on the web-two years before the election- is one of the most beautiful, amazing things I've seen in my short life. I can't wait to go Forward with Feingold in the new year!

And on that note, I thought I'd repost last year's most popular post, so here it is, for old time's sake and to welcome newcomers:

"Forward With Feingold"

I have many normal, obvious reasons for supporting Senator Feingold for President. There are his progressive positions on the issues, from trade to health care to Iraq. There is his willingness to take principled and independent stands-like his lone Senate vote against the PATRIOT Act. There is his straightforward yet affable personality. And then there are the less obvious, and rather strange, reasons I have for supporting Senator Feingold. Here's one: I love his state's motto.

Wisconsin's motto is very direct. It's just one word; it's not even in Latin. It's "Forward." I think that is a beautiful motto. Short, simple, and relevant. I wish I could make it the personal motto of all the politicians and pundits out there. I wish all the talking heads out there were looking forward-and talking about how to bring this country forward.

But sadly, that isn't what I hear. Instead I hear commentators who are always looking backwards insist that 2008 is, in fact, the exact same year as 1968 and Russ Feingold is Eugene McCarty, destined to split the Democratic Party and doom it to defeat in November. Or I hear that 2008 is actually 2004 and Senator Feingold is Howard Dean-a netroots liberal phenomenon destined to burnout and be defeated by someone more electable-who, in November, turns out to be not that electable after all.

Of course, not all of the commentators are constantly looking backwards-some are looking at the present, with incredibly myopic eyes. They can't see beyond the latest piece of conventional wisdom. "Senators can't win the presidency", they repeat, as though it was a natural law. "We must nominate a Southerner!" they insist, as though it was in the Constitution. "And it doesn't matter anyway, because Hillary will get the nomination!" they state with such absolute certainty that they must have traveled into the future and seen it come true.

Why is it that as America stands at the beginning of a new century, we can only think about the past or the present? Why do our political commentators insist on using flawed historical analogies or regurgitating stale, simplistic conventional wisdom? Why limit ourselves to looking backwards or looking at where we are right now? Why not follow the advice of Senator Feingold's state's motto and look forward?

And that is why I support Senator Feingold: because I'm looking forward towards a better future and because I'm willing to work to move America forward. And because I know that Senator Feingold will provide the leadership so that we can go forward.

We can go forward to an America where no one has to live in poverty.

We can go forward to an America where we all have health insurance and all our children can attend quality public schools.

We can go forward to an America that is both secure from terrorism and strong in its commitment to civil liberties.

We can go forward to an America where the government always works for the public interest, not for the special interests.

I firmly believe that working together we, the people of the United States of America, can move our country and the world forward towards new horizons of opportunity, justice and peace.

Let's go forward together! Let's go forward with Feingold!