A rare sighting--a Democrat in office with a spine, and his name is Russ Feingold.

Over at Think Progress, there is a post that that shows one of the major problems with the Democratic Party.

Sen. Feingold said the following to Fox News’ Trish Turner:

I’m amazed at Democrats, cowering with this president’s numbers so low. The administration just has to raise the specter of the war and the Democrats run and hide. … Too many Democrats are going to do the same thing they did in 2000 and 2004. In the face of this, they’ll say we’d better just focus on domestic issues. … [Democrats shouldn’t] cower to the argument, that whatever you do, if you question the administration, you’re helping the terrorists.

(emphasis in Think Progress post). Amen, Russ. Who were the Democratic candidates in 2004 who spoke out against the war? Clark, Dean, Kucinich, and Sharpton. Sharpton was treated like a novelty act and his views were disregarded because he realistically was never a contender. Kucinich was portrayed as a benevolent kook, and the criticisms of Dean and Clark were never embraced by the party. As I wrote in A few post-election thoughts and Democrats are not blameless on this issue, Feingold is right.

I feel compelled to remind everyone that Feingold was the only Senator who voted against both the Iraq War Resolution and the USA PATRIOT Act.

If you really want to be entertained, read the comments to the Think Progress post. There are plenty of Democrats who are tired of the cowering done by the Dems in Congress, and the party damn well better start paying attention.

The Democratic Congressional caucus is pretty much gutless, but there are a few exceptions. Feingold is one, and on the House side, I would include Murtha and Kucinich. I might add to this list, but in the meantime, if anyone thinks of some more exceptions, make a comment.