Bump and Update: Raw Story has the full transcript. Analysis: Georgia10 at Daily Kos, Firedoglake and Glenn Greenewald. Sen. Feingold has a fact sheet up on his site detailing the illegalities of the NSA program. Crooks and Liars has the video of Frist's response.

My view: Great move by Feingold. I'm against wasting time and energy on a doomed impeachment mission. The censure motion will continue to heap bad press on Bush and his autocratical presidency. More and more Republicans will fear being aligned with him in 2006. It might even sway some voters.

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This morning, on "This Week with George Stephanopolous", Sen Russ Feingold announced he would introduce a censure resolution against President Bush for his warrantless NSA surveillance program. He said the program is tantamount to high crimes and misdemeanors. Crooks and Liars has the video. From the transcript:

by TChris

Karl Rove's strategy of pandering to religious extremists helped the GOP take control of the White House, Congress, and a number of state legislatures. Now the monster he nurtured may be coming back to devour the party that fed it.

Missouri Republicans are divided in their response to a proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution that would protect stem cell research. Apart from the potential that stem cell research has to improve the lives of people afflicted with injuries and disease, some fruits of the research are sure to be lucrative. That's one reason the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry backs the ballot measure.

The Independent reports:

Donald Rumsfeld has made a killing out of bird flu. The US Defence Secretary has made more than $5m (£2.9m) in capital gains from selling shares in the biotechnology firm that discovered and developed Tamiflu, the drug being bought in massive amounts by Governments to treat a possible human pandemic of the disease.

Rumsfeld used to be on the board of Gilead Sciences, the company that makes the drug.

Bush's former domestic policy advisor, Claude Allen, whom Bush nominated for a seat on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in April, 2003, has been charged with felony shoplifting. Who is Claude Allen? Mr. Allen is no low-level staffer.

Allen was the No. 2 official in the Health and Human Services Department when Bush nominated him in April 2003 to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. Bush nominated Allen to the court again a year later, but he never received a Senate vote.

Bush then made him his domestic policy advisor. From the first link above:

From the newly released AP-Ipsos Poll:

• 80% of all Americans and 70% of Republicans think civil war will break out in Iraq
• 70% say the U.S. is on the wrong track
• Only 37% approve of Bush's overall performance

On issues, Bush's approval rating declined from 39 percent to 36 percent for his handling of domestic affairs and from 47 percent to 43 percent on foreign policy and terrorism. His approval ratings for dealing with the economy and Iraq held steady, but still hovered around 40 percent.

Personally, far fewer Americans consider Bush likable, honest, strong and dependable than they did just after his re-election campaign.

In trying to make sense of the Republican break from Bush over the Dubai Ports deal, I think the Washington Post gets it right: Bush has become such a liability that Republicans are seeking to distance themselves from him for the 2006 elections.

The bipartisan uprising in Congress in the face of a veto threat represented a singular defeat for Bush, who when it came to national security grew accustomed during his first five years in office to leading as he chose and having loyal lawmakers fall in line. Now, with his poll numbers in a political ditch, the port debacle has contributed to a perception of weakness that has liberated Republicans who once would never have dared cross Bush.

Is Rove losing his touch? Is denial the new modus operandi at the White House? The most ridiculous statement yesterday came from Scotty:

Tomorrow, at 10:30 am ET, Sen. Russ Feingold will hold a live text chat.

Senator Russ Feingold brings a "text chat" version of his trademark listening sessions to the World Wide Web on March 10, at 10:30 AM Eastern. The live, online session will be open to anyone with access to the Internet and a desire to ask questions of Senator Feingold live, in an online computer text chat session.

Sen. Feingold is still unhappy about the passage of the Patriot Act renewal legislation. From his statement today (received by e-mail):

Here is Bush's latest executive order , issued yesterday. It's entitled, " Responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security with Respect to Faith-Based and Community Initiatives."

The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) shall establish within the Department of Homeland Security (Department) a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (Center).....The purpose of the Center shall be to coordinate agency efforts to eliminate regulatory, contracting, and other programmatic obstacles to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the provision of social and community services.

The Washington Post has more.

About every six months, the folks at Neuro Politics take out an ad on TalkLeft, asking readers to take a psychological test based mostly on politics. It's that time again, and I really had fun taking this one. I'm always trying to figure out where they are going with their questions, and I never can. Plus, this time, you get an analysis back. I'm not sure what most of mine means, so I hope I'm not embarrassing myself by publishing it, and I'd be curious for others to post their results in the comments. Besides, what else is there to do this Sunday besides wait for the red carpet to open at the Academy Awards? Here goes:

Your responses are consistent with the following attributes: You have a higher propensity for large-group social bonding. You have a stronger tendency to align your beliefs with your respective social groups. Your social behavior is consistent with stronger serotonergic activity and a reduction in submissive behaviors. Your right prefrontal cortex is more involved in your political decision making than your left. Indicators of enhanced right prefrontal and bilateral temporal activity in humor detection. Color preferences may indicate an enhanced dopamine level in your visual cortex. You have a higher tolerance for ambiguity in your thinking styles, and a greater inhibition of your left inferior parietal cortex. Your responses indicated a tendency to classify facial expressions as more threatening, and an elevation in activity in your right amygdala. Overall, your cognitive style is balanced between your left and right hemispheres.

Here's the test, and I bet you will find it intriguing.

Caption anyone? (Via Daily Kos and BBC)

The protests:

by TChris

Susan Wood, a former assistant commissioner of the FDA, explains why conservative opposition to over-the-counter sales of emergency ("Plan B") contraception to adult women is irrational. Her broader point: "our federal health agencies seem increasingly unable to operate independently and ... this lack of independence compromises their mission of promoting public health and welfare."

by TChris

When President Bush's approval rating hit 38 percent, we asked: "How low can he go?" The latest answer, courtesy of CBS News: 34 percent.

Cheney's numbers are so low it's a wonder he isn't pelted with eggs whenever he leaves the White House.

Just 18 percent said they had a favorable view of the vice president, down from 23 percent in January.