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Minority/Majority

While the Democratic Leadership Council issued a report advising Democrats to behave more like Republicans, Senator Russ Feingold has transcended party lines, forging a large, bipartisan coalition to revise the Patriot Act to better protect Americans' civil liberties.

David Sirota

December 21, 2005

Permanent Minority.

At the very moment that more and more Democrats seem to be finding their voice on Iraq and on core economic issues, the Democratic Leadership Council issued a memo telling Democrats to behave more like Republicans. DLC CEO Al From and DLC pollster Mark Penn claimed, “America remains a moderate to conservative country–particularly on economic and security issues.” They then proceeded to ignore consistent hard data showing exactly the opposite: that Americans support universal healthcare, a higher minimum wage, a re-evaluation of America’s corporate-written trade policy and an exit strategy for US troops in Iraq.

Toward the Majority.

Senator Russell Feingold, once chastised for being the only senator courageous enough to vote against the original Patriot Act, has forged a large bipartisan coalition of senators to demand that the Bush Administration revise the law to better protect Americans’ civil liberties.

David SirotaDavid Sirota is a journalist, nationally syndicated weekly newspaper columnist, and radio host. His weekly column is based at The Denver Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Portland Oregonian, and The Seattle Times and now appears in newspapers with a combined daily circulation of more than 1.6 million readers. He has contributed to The New York Times Magazine and The Nation and hosts an award-winning daily talk show on Denver's Clear Channel affiliate, KKZN-AM760. He is a senior editor at In These Times magazine and a Huffington Post contributor and appears periodically on CNN, The Colbert Report, PBS, and NPR. He received a degree in journalism and political science from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He lives in Denver with his wife, Emily, son Isaac, and his dog, Monty.


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