He better run

I could blab on and on about why Sen. Russ Feingold should run for President in 2008. Here's reason #212, from the Washington Post: Feingold says Attorney General Gonzales Misled Senators in Hearings. Turns out Sen. Feingold had the foresight to ask Gonzales, during his confirmation hearings in 2005, "where the president's authority ends and whether Gonzales believed the president could, for example, act in contravention of existing criminal laws and spy on U.S. citizens without a warrant."

Gonzales' response is classic: "Gonzales said that it was impossible to answer such a hypothetical question but that it was 'not the policy or the agenda of this president' to authorize actions that conflict with existing law." Uh...say what? Then why is Bush parading around the country, trying to justify authorizing actions that conflict with existing law, i.e. his secret surveillance program?

I know some people are pissed at Sen. Feingold for voting to confirm Chief Justice John Roberts. They might be right, they might be wrong. I'm more interested in Feingold's willingness to take seriously the concerns of privacy advocates, and allow them to influence his questioning during hearings. What a coup for him to have uncovered Bush's secret and illegal wire-tapping program, without even knowing he uncovered it.