Feingold Has a Hissy Fit

The title "junior senator" from Wisconsin suits Russ Feingold.

He acted like a spoiled child, storming out of a meeting.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Senate committee approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage Thursday, after a shouting match that ended when one Democrat strode out and the Republican chairman bid him "good riddance."

"I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the Constitution than am I," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., shouted after Sen. Russ Feingold declared his opposition to the amendment, his affinity for the Constitution and his intention to leave the meeting.

"If you want to leave, good riddance," Specter finished.

"I've enjoyed your lecture, too, Mr. Chairman," replied Feingold, D-Wis., who is considering a run for president in 2008. "See ya."

It's one thing to get angry during a meeting, but stomping out of the room takes juvenile senatorial behavior to a new low.

Feingold is really losing it.

Maybe he's been spending too much time on Lefty websites.

What did he do after he fled? Go online and look for solace in a radical Left chatroom?

How weird to get up and leave a meeting like that! The guy is such an embarrassment to the people of Wisconsin.

I can't imagine "Nobody's Senator" behaving so childishly. Then again, it's really not fair to compare the two. Mild-mannered Herb Kohl sleeps through most meetings, right?

Among Feingold's objections was Specter's decision to hold the vote in the President's Room, where access by the general public is restricted, instead of in the panel's usual home in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Specter later said he would have been willing to hold the session in the usual room had he thought doing so would change votes.

Now I understand. Feingold wanted the public to witness his grandstanding.

No wonder he didn't bother to hang around.

Feingold, of course, issued a statement, "Objecting to the Judiciary Committee's Handling of the Constitutional Amendment on Marriage."

"Today’s markup of the constitutional amendment concerning marriage, in a small room off the Senate floor with only a handful of people other than Senators and their staffs present, was an affront to the Constitution. I objected to its consideration in such an inappropriate setting and refused to help make a quorum. I am deeply disappointed that the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee went forward with the markup over my objection. Unfortunately, the Majority Leader has set a politically motivated schedule for floor consideration of this measure that the Chairman felt compelled to follow, even though he says he opposes the amendment.

Constitutional amendments deserve the most careful and deliberate consideration of any matter that comes before the Senate. In addition to hearings and a subcommittee markup, such a measure should be considered by the Judiciary Committee in the light of day, open to the press and the public, with cameras present so that the whole country can see what is done. Open and deliberate debate on such an important matter cannot take place in a setting such as the one chosen by the Chairman of the Committee today.

The Constitution of the United States is an historic guarantee of individual freedom. It has served as a beacon of hope, an example to people around the world who yearn to be free and to live their lives without government interference in their most basic human decisions. I took an oath when I joined this body to support and defend the Constitution. I will continue to fight this mean-spirited, divisive, poorly drafted, and misguided amendment when it comes to the Senate floor."

Feingold is certainly getting awfully huffy over the venue.

He really feels strongly about having cameras present.

Could it be that Feingold was mad because he spent a lot of time applying makeup to look his best for his close-ups, all for naught?

Could be.

In any event, Feingold really needs to get a grip.

Meeting in a smaller room wasn't "an affront to the Constitution."

Don't you think that's being just a tad overdramatic?

While Feingold is lapping up the love and admiration from the extremists on the Left, he's hurting himself among the more moderate and balanced and sane Americans.

He has to take it down a notch. These antics could come back to haunt him.

I think Russ should release another statement, one saying that he has no recollection of the incident and that he's taking Ambien, or something to that effect.