Feingold on the mark on WH ‘czars’

Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold hit it out of the park with his opening statement on White House ‘czars’ yesterday. He carefully distinguished between three classes of individuals, and said he was only concerned about one.

And, I think he had just the right amount of chiding for the Obama Administration, and by not naming the president individually, for not cooperating, so far, with his committee.

In response, the White House claims, essentially “move along, nothing here to see.”

I disagree. And, yes, it’s true every White House has done it, but not for the reasons the Obama Administration claims. Rather, it’s to avoid Congressional oversight, the very thing the statement claims is not an issue.

That said, is Feingold worried about re-election in a swing state? Not that much. Remember, and \ it’s not a thing he trumpets out of vanity — this is the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act.

So, if The Plum Line wants to run Washington Post flak for the White House, in its commentary on the Obama statement it links, I’m not surprised. But, that doesn’t mean the flak is true, because it’s not.

At the same time, the WH should be appreciative that Feingold, by his careful tripartite distinction, is working hard to take air out of the Faux News balloon on this issue.

That’s also part of Michael Sherer’s take at Time; it’s worth a read.