Happy Birthday, Senator Feingold!

A new post, less then a month after the last one...what's the special occasion? Well, today is the 53rd birthday of the Next President of the United States Russell Dana Feingold!

And I'm sure there is nothing Senator Feingold wants more for his birthday than for me to update this blog, so here I am. (And if Senator Feingold is reading this, please remember: it's the thought that counts!)

Of course, for those of you who (unlike me) don't have blogs and do have money you could follow the advice of Jerry Troiano over at New Jersey for Feingold and give Senator Feingold the gift of a contribution to the Progressive Patriots Fund.

After all, Senator Feingold spent his birthday trying to talk his colleagues into standing up for civil liberties and rejecting the bad deal on the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act.

You can read his statement here. Here's the conclusion:

In 2001, we were viciously attacked by terrorists who care nothing for American freedoms and American values. And we as a people came together to fight back, and we are prepared to make great sacrifices to defeat those who would destroy us. But what we will not do, what we cannot do, is destroy our own freedoms in the process.

Without freedom, we are not America. If we don’t preserve our liberties, we cannot win this war, no matter how many terrorists we capture or kill.

That is why the several Senators who have said at one time or another during this debate things like, “Civil liberties do not mean much when you are dead” are wrong about America at the most basic level. They do not understand what this country is all about. Theirs is a vision that the founders of this nation, who risked everything for freedom, would categorically reject. And so do the American people.

Americans want to defeat terrorism, and they want the basic character of this country to survive and prosper. They want to empower the government to protect the nation from terrorists, and they want protections against government overreaching and overreacting. They know it might not be easy, but they expect the Congress to figure out how to do it. They don’t want defeatism on either score. They want both security and liberty, and unless we give them both – and we can, if we try – we have failed.

This fight is not over Mr. President. The vote today will not assuage the deep and legitimate concerns that the public has about the Patriot Act. I am convinced that in the end, the government will respond to the people, as it should. We will defeat the terrorists, and we will preserve the freedom and liberty that make this the greatest country on the face of the earth.

Senator Feingold had a bit more company today than in 2001. But not enough: the bill passed 89-10. My appreciation to Senators Akaka, Harkin, Levin, Bingaman, Wyden, Jeffords, Leahy, Murray, and Byrd.

And as someone who grew up in Illinois, I must say I'm very disappointed not to see either Senator Durbin or Senator Obama among those standing with Senator Feingold here.

New State Blogs: But, I guess this PATRIOT Act reauthorization vote, and Senator Feingold's words against it are one more reason why we have to work to put Russ in the White House in 2008! And, fortunately, the number of Feingold blogs continues to grow: a new Ohio for Feingold site is up and so is Mass(achusetts) for Feingold.

Does your state have a Feingold blog? If not, start one! If I can do it, anyone can!

Meetup Roundup: Didn't have a Feingold for President meetup in your town? Well, you can read all about the Iowa City Meetup and the New Brunswick (NJ) Meetup and maybe they'll give you ideas for starting your own. Also, note that Meetup groups have been formed for Denver and East Bay (Oakland, etc) California.

That's all for this time. Hopefully, I'll be able to update again, soon. Until next time, keep going Forward!