I've been hoarding links…

…for an epic post on the censure debate, but Ezra sums up my general sentiment pretty well...

As it is, a censure...is not a serious act. It's a scolding, not a time out; a warning, not an ejection. And since Democrats don't control either house of Congress, it's not even going to pass. So you have a non-actionable punishment with no prospects for manifestation. I don't really see any serious way to evaluate it, then, save for the politics. And unless you think the message that'll rally Americans in 2006 is that the Democrats will officially recognize a slip of paper rebuking George W. Bush, it's not clear why Feingold would find this so urgent that he couldn't risk spoiling the secret by speaking to his caucus.

It's pretty hard not to see this as a grandstand play, with the political calculations focused on 2008 rather than 2006. It's hard to see how putting your colleagues on the spot without warning can be seen as a particularly helpful this year.

If it was a serious proposal, it deserved a serious introduction following a serious debate in caucus. Feingold didn't need permission, but his colleagues deserved more regard than he was willing to offer, given that he's asking for the Party's highest accolade, the Presidential nomination.

I somewhat understand the round of enthusiasm for a Feingold nomination in some corners of the 'pissed off' camp. Hey, I'm pissed off, too. But the clumsy way Feingold handled the introduction and his subsequent turn as a Fox News Democrat don't seem to be the stuff of which endorsements ought to be made.