You Tell 'Em, Russ

While most Democratic senators seem willing to let the White House redefine the Iraq debate from "supporting the war" to "supporting the troops", Russ Feingold was on MSNBC last night saying this: "[M]y concern on the Democratic side is, we're being too timid. We've got to take on this war directly."

Feingold said the public wants

"legislation that says that here's a time frame during which this war needs to end, let's say six months from the enactment of the bill, and that the Congress is going to cut off the funding for the war.

"If we, as Democrats, don't start talking like that, and respond to what the public really thinks, then we're only going to have ourselves to blame for the Republican ability to sort of finesse this and massage it. . . .

"[T]his idea that somehow we're going to take away something from the troops that are there already, that's just not true. Our proposal is that the troops will be out of there. That's the safest thing for the troops is to not be there.

"And that's what our proposal would do. It wouldn't take away their equipment. That's just one of the red herrings or phony arguments that the Republicans use, and usually effectively scare the Democrats into not standing up for what is right, and that is to end this mistaken war and get back to fighting the real issue, which is those that attacked us on 9/11."

He's dead on. Now the rest of the Democrats have to grow ... fill in your own metaphor here, from "a spine" to "a pair" ... and stand up to the White House. Take back the debate. You know what's at stake here: don't let Cheney and Bush set the agenda.

hat tip to Dan Froomkin