Feingold: Mad Enough to go Independent?

Russ Feingold is livid.

He wants to assure defeat in the Iraq and he wants it bad.

Washington -- Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold blasted fellow Democrats Tuesday for backing down too soon in a standoff with President Bush over the Iraq war, saying lawmakers were seeking "political comfort" instead of standing "strong."

Feingold offered his criticisms in an interview, a statement and a posting on the Daily Kos, a popular liberal blog, where he wrote: "This situation is a collapse for Democrats . . . we are just folding our cards."

Daily Kos -- That blog is definitely Feingold's comfort zone.

It's where he finds kindred spirits. It's the home of some of the most fringe Leftist rabid Bush haters on the planet.

No wonder they embrace Feingold.

...Feingold lavished praise on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week for scheduling a vote on Feingold's own proposal to cut off funding for combat troops after next March.

That measure got 29 votes, more than initially expected but far short of the 60 needed to advance.

"I give (party leaders) high marks, generally speaking, up to this point," Feingold said.

Yes, Feingold's spirits were buoyed by the dream of securing victory for our enemies -- insurgents, al Qaeda terrorists, their Iranian allies, among others.

He put on a happy face after last week's vote on the surrender bill came up short.

It's funny that only a week ago Feingold and the lib media were reporting seismic shifts in opinion on the war in Iraq, with more Dems going on the record in support of Feingold's surrender strategy.

No wonder he's disappointed now. He sensed progress among his cohorts. He believed he was winning them over, only to be abandoned. He believes that Dems withdrew prematurely from his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Well, it is his surrender plan so I suppose he can cry if he wants to.

But Feingold harshly condemned the new agreement to fund the next phase of the war without any timelines for troop withdrawals, saying in a statement that "it allows the president to continue what may be the greatest foreign policy blunder in our nation's history. There has been a lot of tough talk from members of Congress about wanting to end this war, but it looks like the desire for political comfort won out over real action."

Feingold is echoing the radical Bush haters' patron saint, Jimmy Carter.

"[T]he greatest foreign policy blunder in our nation's history."

Yup, sounds like the disgraced, embarrassment of an ex-president Jimmy. (He's so bad that he actually makes Bill Clinton look like a statesman.)

Just who is seeking political comfort here?

When things don't go Feingold's way, he scurries back to the comfort of the validation he receives from the leftest loons on the Left.

In the interview, Feingold said, "I totally understand we needed to provide this funding."

But he said leaders should have allowed additional votes and amendments to the war spending bill, forcing senators to go on record supporting or opposing further efforts to shorten the course of the war.

"The way you get votes is by having votes. If you don't have votes, then people don't feel any pressure," Feingold said. "By caving in advance, you don't make progress."

As I said last week, Feingold's loss is America's gain.

In the blog posting, Feingold wrote, "First Americans had to put up with a Republican Congress that did nothing, and now we are faced with a Democratic Congress that is giving the president exactly what he wants - continuing his failed policy and leaving our troops stuck in the middle of a civil war. Some strategy."

I wonder if Feingold feels used by Harry Reid.

Does he feel like Reid and others led him on only to dump him at the last minute?

The poor guy was chewed up and then spit out by his fellow Dems.

He's angry. He feels betrayed.

When I hear Feingold diss the Dems like this, I have to believe that visions of running for president as an independent fill his head.

I think that Feingold is smart enough to realize that such a move could ensure a Republican being elected president in 2008, as he would certainly splinter the anti-war Dems.

So the question becomes: What's driving him?

If it's self-aggrandizement, then I could picture him being tempted to accept recruitment efforts by the Left's extremists to run as an independent in 2008.

If it's his long term future in the Senate and his position as a player on the national liberal scene, he can't afford to burn any bridges and become a pariah among his Dem colleagues.

What makes Feingold tick?

That's the question.

I don't know, but Feingold should be comforted by remembering that he'll always have Paris, I mean, Daily Kos.
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Read Feingold's statement.

He's not a happy camper. At least that's what he says.

Is he unhappy enough to go completely maverick on the Dems?

Not yet.

I don't think Feingold feels secure enough to go out too far on that limb, unless Sharon Stone is perched out there.