Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold, Democrat presidential aspirant, is calling for President Bush’s censure over the NSA terrorism surveillance program.

The KosKids are eating it up.

The White House responds this morning:

The White House on Monday dismissed as politically motivated a Democratic senator’s attempt to censure President George W. Bush for ordering domestic eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without a warrant.

Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that he intends to push for a resolution in the U.S. Congress that would censure the president for what he considers an unlawful wiretapping program authorized by the White House after the September 11 attacks.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Feingold’s move “has more to do with 2008 politics than anything else.”

Feingold is considered a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.

Bush has come under criticism from Democrats and many of his own Republicans for letting the National Security Agency eavesdrop, without court-ordered warrants, on telephone calls and e-mails to and from overseas contacts with suspected al Qaeda ties.

A congressional censure would be an official rebuke of the president. The move seemed unlikely to go far in the Republican-controlled Congress.

“I think it does raise the question, how do you fight and win the war on terrorism?” McClellan said. “And if Democrats want to argue that we shouldn’t be listening to al Qaeda communications, it’s their right and we welcome the debate. We are a nation at war.”

That about sums it up.

Neal Boortz: “At the end of the day, this will go nowhere. But that won’t stop the Democrats from trying. And if they’re able to take back the House or the Senate this fall and the subpoena power that goes with it, the White House had better look out.”

Bob Owens responds to Wisconsin’s shame.

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Related:

Watch a good debate on the NSA leaks and the MSM with John Hinderaker of Power Line and Michael Isikoff of Newsweek here.

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