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I began thinking it was a great idea doomed by horrible timing. Within 24 hours Feingold had begun to convince me otherwise. And the more I ponder it, and the more I read, the more I think I may have been wrong on this. I'm not yet fully convinced, but I'm getting there.

Take, for example, this post from Andrew Sullivan. His reader makes a very valid point. It's not today's frame that matters. It's the frame in the fall that is critical. And as the post demonstrates, the odds are good that this move will quite often force Republicans to defend their president throughout the fall. That, of course, is the last thing they want to have to do - even Ken Mehlman has admitted as much.

His point about Bill Kristol is also very important. In fact, it undercuts my primary reason for opposing the move. Back during the Clinton withchunt, Kristol understood that he had to get the impeachment meme out into the media before it could be accepted as a reasonable solution to the "problem" Clinton had created. By getting it out there, getting it covered, and getting it on at least the talk show circuit agenda, it suddenly became both possible and reasonable. Bit by bit, it worked its way into public consciousness, until...

That said, part of my objection remains. Although the move to impeach Clinton was eventually successful (he was impeached by the house but acquitted by the Senate), I don't think it should be anyone's model for action. After all, the public was largely opposed to the trial, and in the end Clinton's overall popularity only increased. Of course Republicans went on to win every election since, so I'm not really sure what conclusions to draw. One thing I am certain about, however, is that I do NOT want to repeat that process. If we're going to censure or even impeach this boy who would be king, it must only be done with the support of the nation for the good of the nation. Although the partisans on the right will most likely never be convinced, the great mass of Americans in the center must be.

Is it possible Feingold's move could actually build support for censure? Yesterday I would have thought not. But today I'm well on my way to changing my mind. Interesting. Very interesting.

UPDATE: And then, Digby sez:

When one party is as unpopular as the president the the Republicans are now, the public is open to hearing things they haven't been willing to hear in a long time. Our polarized electorate suddenly isn't so polarized anymore, even though the gasbags refuse to admit it. For the first time in a long time, some people are willing to give our side a listen. It is vitally important that the Democrats use this opportunity to draw the country back from the hysteria that overtook it after 9/11, an emotional conflagration stoked by an opportunistic administration and a slavering media. That hysteria permitted them to normalize preventive war, torture and kidnapping --- and assert a radical, unconstitutional view of the role of the president in our government, none of which the country signed on to because it was all done in secret. This simply has to stop, and people need to start seeing Democrats stand up and declare "enough is enough." There has never been a greater time or a greater hunger for our political leadershihp to offer a straightforward, principled way back from the feeling that the country is hurtling out of control. The censure motion puts out a marker that the end of this wild ride is almost over.

By god I'm almost there. Or maybe I am there and don't want to admit it yet. I think this is one that I'll need to sleep on first. But right now I don't have a response to Digby. I've got nothing other than the fact that he seems to be right. Yes, maybe, I think I'm in....

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