Jim Webb: “Talk of the Senate From Day 1″ (+ Open Thread)
By NoQuarter on December 30, 2007 at 9:02 PM in Bill Richardson, Current Affairs, Jim Webb, Obama
What’s on your minds? Pakistan? Snow? Football? Booze? What are you doing the next couple days? (I just turned down Anderson Cooper’s invitation to spend the night with him tomorrow.)
I “DVR” Morning Joe — heck, it’s on from 3am to 6am my time — and am listening to Friday’s show as I surf the net. Just listened to a long interview with a shivering Bill Richardson in Iowa. He was SOLID on Pakistan, although his call for Musharraf to step down drew fire from Chris Dodd Friday, and might be too risky, although he correctly points out that @70% of Pakistanis want him gone. Special transcontinental message to Pakistanis, I KNOW the feelin’! Richardson said we have power and leverage ($$$) in Pakistan, and need to use it. We can be an “honest broker” in Pakistan (but what about “street cred”? — just kidding, sort of). He said we need a special envoy to get involved and calm things down. While surfing, I ran across this terrific profile of Sen. Jim Webb’s first year — and his “redneck caucus” — at Politico.com:
In the NBA, Sen. Jim Webb would have been a can’t-miss, No. 1 draft pick.
A decorated Vietnam veteran and a former secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan, the freshman Virginia Democrat, who opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, was seen early on as the leader of a new vanguard of populist, anti-war Democrats.
Given plum posts on the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees and tapped to give the response to President Bush’s State of the Union address just 19 days after he was sworn in, Webb quickly lived up to expectations, emerging this year as a leading Democratic voice in the Iraq war debate.
“He is a unique and weird combination of street-brawler and professor,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), one of Webb’s closest friends.“Intellectually, he is probably as smart, or smarter, than most folks around here,” she said.
“But he’s got an instinct. He knows when to go for the kill.” …
Read all. It’s a great story. Here’s perhaps my favorite line:
“I can safely say that I am the only person ever elected to state office in Virginia with a union card, two Purple Hearts and three tattoos,” he said in an interview.
Actually, for a change, I read some stuff from the Seattle Times today. What caught my attention there was the letters section, and a farewell op/ed by “editor-at large” Mike Fancher: http://tinyurl.com/ytao4p
He made a list of what he belives are necessary standards for journalists to uphold to maintain a free press:
I wrote him back, thanking him for his years of service at the Times, and lauded his good op-ed here. Then I wanted to make sure he understood where I thought the Times itself had fallen down on some of these items. I wrote:
I hope he got it. And shares it with his editors.
So for me an independent free press is a critical issue, that goes far beyond the “canary in the coal mine”. You can look around the world and actually gauge how free a country is by how free its press is, and it’s a dead-on one-to-one correspondence every time.
It really bothers me that people who pride themselves on being prominent Americans are actively trying to shut down the independence and freedom of the press.
Look at this from the letters to the editor:
But here’s my pick for letter-of-the-week from a guy in Snohomish:
We need to get him a gas card for pulling gaurd duty this holiday.
There is an interesting comment from a LT. Nixon:
To him and his band of brothers and sisters…
Check out this article
Stop Meddling in Pakistan by Jacob Hornberger
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2007-12-28.asp
Gee, I was completely with that author until he said “No matter what the Bush administration does to intervene further into Pakistani affairs, the result will only be worse, especially for Americans, than the situation that currently exists.”
Sigh!
Seahawks against the Redskins next Saturday. Will there be sides taken at No Quarter?
Seriously, I’m hearing from family in Iowa that Richardson is going to get their votes. They’ve heard him speak a couple times. Which is a lot different than reading and listening to big media repeat their ’safe’ opinions. Regardless of opinions expressed on certain Sunday morning shows, Richardson isn’t a radical on Pakistan. While I would be happy with ANY Dem candidate winning the nomination, Richardson looks good.
Like football, politics has only temporary winners. Let’s hope the instant replays are as decisive and accurate as 2008 exit polls.
Let’s hope the instant replays are as decisive and accurate as 2008 exit polls.
Yea and none of this taking a knee, with a minute left in the game. 5 to 1 …1 in 5. No onside kicks…
Remeber this? I believe this was written before Allen conceded…
ELECTION 2006
Class Struggle
American workers have a chance to be heard.
BY JIM WEBB
Wednesday, November 15, 2006 12:01 a.m.
The most important–and unfortunately the least debated–issue in politics today is our society’s steady drift toward a class-based system, the likes of which we have not seen since the 19th century. America’s top tier has grown infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years. It is not unfair to say that they are literally living in a different country. Few among them send their children to public schools; fewer still send their loved ones to fight our wars. They own most of our stocks, making the stock market an unreliable indicator of the economic health of working people. The top 1% now takes in an astounding 16% of national income, up from 8% in 1980. The tax codes protect them, just as they protect corporate America, through a vast system of loopholes.
Incestuous corporate boards regularly approve compensation packages for chief executives and others that are out of logic’s range. As this newspaper has reported, the average CEO of a sizeable corporation makes more than $10 million a year, while the minimum wage for workers amounts to about $10,000 a year, and has not been raised in nearly a decade. When I graduated from college in the 1960s, the average CEO made 20 times what the average worker made. Today, that CEO makes 400 times as much.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009246
>>> “America’s top tier has grown infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years… Today, that CEO makes 400 times as much.”
Hey, is this a great country, or what?
Or does it depend more upon if one is a Trickle-downOR or a Trickled-down uponEE?
Meanwhile, what has Britney done now? Does Paris have a new shtup-buddy? And how about Fergie’s new crib?
Funny Fred.
Paris was seen kissing K-Fed. Ms. Lohan may yet still channel Al Gore. And for us duffers, Mo Dowd had an exorcism and - shades of Dick Morris.
Sting is…well I’ll just post the link.
This is too much information.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=505211&in_page_id=1773
Apparently I’m responsible for the crickets. I should have given an ‘ewwwwwww’ alert.
I apologize for the above link.
I stand before you - humbled, barefoot in the snow and in sackcloth and ashes.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrr
Here is a General Election issue…
Supreme Court to weigh in on voter ID laws
The cases are Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, 07-21, and Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita, 07-25.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2007-12-30-voterID_N.htm?csp=34
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/12/news/nation/111107142517.txt
heh, I would love to watch the repubicans attack Obama for lack of experience after the right wing debacle of the last seven years. As much as it would be a hoot to get to watch Bill as first gentleman it’s not worth the same old same old for another four years.
All the illegal immigrant lovers should vote for Rudy. His law firm is the one tying up the loose ends to get a ten lane hwy. from Mexico to Canada, engineered so that the people have no say. We are going to have illegals coming over the border at 80 MPH.
Happy New Year.
Did you “Heyduke”?
http://ad.yadro.ru/show/74/banner/1469.gif>http://www.the-porno.net/bn/baner5.gif
rul!!!!ezzz
Hi All,
I have been reading the forum threads for some time now but never bothered to register myself until today. Hope to bring some good stuff to these forums.
Thanks,
_________________
Stock Market Timing