let's hear it for russ feingold

telling da liebs what we should ALL be telling da liebs (we have a constitution. it's as simple as that)

Some senators still care about liberties

PETER URBAN purban@ctpost.com

Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold earns my "Brett Favre Medal of Courage" award.
With time running out before the Senate's August recess, Feingold kept his eye on the ball — refusing to give Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman a pass for his continued coddling of the Bush administration.
At issue was a Senate bill expanding (for at least the next six months) the ability of the Bush administration to listen in on foreign conversations as part of its war on terror.
The measure, which was signed into law on Sunday, allows the attorney general and the director of national intelligence to "authorize the acquisition of foreign intelligence information" without the approval of the special court established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Civil libertarians claim the bill goes too far because virtually any conversation on foreign soil could be tapped. (That could include telephone interviews between, say, this reporter and Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4, when he is in Iraq, or those helpful hotline folks working in Bangladesh.)
Most Democrats in Congress also questioned giving broader powers to the Bush administration, given its track record. As they see it, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has not been very forthright about the entire eavesdropping program.............