Two Years Ago, A Campaign Started To Die

YouTube was known for video sharing before Jim Webb ran for Senate two years ago but the political power of viral videos was unknown until George Allen's big racist mouth set up his undoing.

VA Sec'y And Sen. Stevens Trashed The Troops Yesterday

Republicans love to claim they support the troops more than anyone else, but their enthusiasm to help our nation's bravest doesn't quite match up. One of the scions of Congressional pork and a senior-level Bushie made note of it yesterday on the best of days, Memorial Day. They tried to make the case that our troops really don't need educational assistance to better their future. See if you buy this:

From VetVoice:

Speaking at the Disabled American Veterans' 19th Annual Department Convention, Senator Stevens told the majority of America's most recent war veterans that they had not yet sacrificed enough to have earned a GI Bill that would cover the full cost of their educations.

Sen. Ted Stevens warned of a "mass exodus" from the military Saturday if the so-called 21st Century GI Bill goes into law without major changes.
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"There are worries that people who are already in for two years will serve one more and leave, and there's really no incentive to stay," Stevens said.

What Stevens is really saying is that today's troops are unpatriotic--that they're only in it for the money and the college. And while Stevens' "mass exodus" theory has been thoroughly discredited by the Congressional Budget Office, the true irony of the situation lies in the fact that Stevens earned his own college degree after World War Two by using the same GI Bill he's aiming to prevent today's veterans from receiving.

In today's military lingo, this makes Senator Stevens a "Blue Falcon" or a "Bravo Foxtrot."

Hypocritical jackass can also apply here.

Yet VA Secretary Peake didn't want to be outdone. The press asked him how he could have ignored the story and tried to hide from the press that thousands of our current crop of veterans have committed suicide in the last five years. Do you think he was regretful? Ashamed of his actions or should I say, mis-actions?

On the topic of PTSD, Peake questioned if the condition is being overdiagnosed, considering the mental health services available to those in the armed forces.

"I worry about labeling all these kids coming back," he said. "Just because someone might need a little counseling when they get back, doesn't mean they need the PTSD label their whole lives."

Now that's a top-notch Administrator. If there's a problem and you don't know what to do about it, just avoid labeling the problem. The message is to go out and buy a giant broom and hope this will all fit under the rug. That is how Sec'y Peake and his higher-ups (i.e. the President) truly feel about our nation's veterans.

When Confronted About Not Voting For G.I. Bill, McCain Goes Nuts

One good thing John McCain did today was reject Pastor Hagee's endorsement. Of course it took three months to do it, but he finally gave in. However, one good thing couldn't go without an equally bad outburst and McCain delivered. See, he was too busy raising money in California today to be bothered about a vote in the Senate. McCain has missed many votes over the last year while campaigning, but legislation that enables veterans to go to college should be something he might be inclined to show up for. When Obama called him out on it, McCain lost it.

From The Atlantic:

"It is typical, but no less offensive that Senator Obama uses the Senate floor to take cheap shots at an opponent and easy advantage of an issue he has less than zero understanding of. Let me say first in response to Senator Obama, running for President is different than serving as President. The office comes with responsibilities so serious that the occupant can't always take the politically easy route without hurting the country he is sworn to defend. Unlike Senator Obama, my admiration, respect and deep gratitude for America's veterans is something more than a convenient campaign pledge. I think I have earned the right to make that claim.

"When I was five years old, a car pulled up in front of our house in New London, Connecticut, and a Navy officer rolled down the window, and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. My father immediately left for the submarine base where he was stationed. I rarely saw him again for four years. My grandfather, who commanded the fast carrier task force under Admiral Halsey, came home from the war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day. I grew up in the Navy; served for twenty-two years as a naval officer; and, like Senator Webb, personally experienced the terrible costs war imposes on the veteran. The friendships I formed in war remain among the closest relationships in my life. The Navy is still the world I know best and love most. In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home to the country they loved so well .

"But I am running for the office of Commander-in-Chief. That is the highest privilege in this country, and it imposes the greatest responsibilities. It would be easier politically for me to have joined Senator Webb in offering his legislation. More importantly, I feel just as he does, that we owe veterans the respect and generosity of a great nation because no matter how generously we show our gratitude it will never compensate them fully for all the sacrifices they have borne on our behalf.

McCain makes the excuse that he came up with a bill to help veterans (he drew it up after Webb's proposal was submitted). However McCain's plan goes nowhere near Webb's bill that actually pays for college and not drops a few metaphorical pennies and nickels in the bucket. McCain says the Obama made a cheap shot, but the true wound is the one McCain inflicted on the troops by not supporting the Webb bill. Then McCain placates the troops by saying some garbage about how showing our gratitude can never compensate them.

Well, we could start somewhere productive, such as enacting Jim Webb's bill but Johnny boy can't be stopped on this rant. McCain finally tries to connect Obama's attacks on him and the difference between the bills with how Obama would conduct his Presidency. I hate to break it to McCain, but the Senate supported Webb's bill with 75 votes with no mention of the cheap substitute McCain came up with so that he wouldn't have to be seen as voting against the troops. Sorry, we see through that political bullshit.

Senate Passes Webb's GI Bill

Congratulations to the Senate for passing Webb's economic and educational package for our nation's troops. More than half of the Republicans voted for it, defying their dear leader (a.k.a. Mr. 28%) due to plenty of little add-ons to the bill. Although the motion to start ending the conflict was voted down, this is considered major progress in that the Senate got something done that wasn't completely regressive in nature.

From Yahoo News:

The vote on the domestic add-ons was a rebuke to Bush, who has promised to veto the measure if it contains the domestic measures. However, the president still has enough GOP support in the House to sustain a veto.

The House still has to act on the bill. Last week, it voted to reject money for continuing the war. It endorsed the help for veterans and the unemployed, but kept its version clean of most other domestic programs.

The huge tally in the Senate was driven by $15.6 billion over two years to extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks and more than $50 billion over the upcoming decade to provide returning Iraq war veterans with sharply increased college aid.

But dozens of add-ons favored by senators in both parties contributed to the unexpectedly sweeping tally that embarrassed the White House.

Embarrassing the White House is always nice. George Bush wanted the war funding bill to be free of excessive waste (such as helping our troops to pay for college) because frankly, all of these soldiers should be going back for their 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th tours in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, right George?. Seriously, how dare they want to better their lives? Now we all expect the President to veto this so he gets his way to claim a spirit of bipartisanship. What happens next is up to Congress and if they have the chutzpah to override his dismissal of our soldiers.

Dear Senators and Members of Congress, this is the time of year we recognize Memorial Day and turning your backs (by a 2/3rds margin) on the President is the right thing to do for the troops in your state/district and for every man or woman that dons the uniform of our military.

McCain Shows How He Really Feels About The Troops

A brave soldier stood up at a McCain event and asked the Senator why he does not support a GI Education Bill for our soldiers serving in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere around the world.



Typically, McCain dodged the question, because he simply does not want to help our soldiers in combat, especially those that did not ditch their wives to marry a rich daughter of a beer baron.

McCain Ignores Webb's Bill To Support The Troops

Senator Jim Webb is a hard man to criticize when it comes to our nation's military. The Republicans love(d) to own the issue of who supports our soldiers more, but they are beginning to lose on the issue, even after years of getting away with doing nothing for our brave soldiers. Jim Webb (D-VA) has a bill in the Senate that will support our troops in terms of educational assistance (aptly named the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act). Now he is calling out Presidential contender John McCain to support him on it.

From The Hill:

“McCain needs to get on the bill,” Webb told reporters after a Christian Science Monitor breakfast meeting on Wednesday. He said legislation mirroring the post-World War II GI bill should not be considered a “political issue.”

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Il.), the Democratic presidential candidates, both have signed on to the bill.

In a major coup for Webb, Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), the former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, signed on as a co-sponsor earlier this month. Warner is a close ally of McCain, who is the ranking member on Armed Services. Warner has often been the committee’s top Republican with McCain
busy on the campaign trail.

Webb’s bill has 51 co-sponsors, including nine Republicans. Webb, a former secretary of the Navy, said he may have to get 60 co-sponsors to ensure Senate passage, but then added that many more Republicans could vote for the bill if McCain endorsed it.

Not surprisingly, The Hill notes George Bush is advocating against it, saying that it will encourage Americans to leave the service while the military is having trouble enlisting people. It is a ridiculous argument, but then again, it is a ridiculous Presidency. With McCain's willful ignorance of the bill, it isn't hard to see what kind of President he'll be, despite his military record. With McCain, it is party before principles.

Oh and before anyone asks what is McCain's response to this....remember that Webb introduced this bill in January of 2007. If a Senator is silent on this for over a year and another Senator has to call you out publicly, that is a powerful response by itself.

Vice President Webb?

Senator Jim Webb is quite green politically speaking, but that might just thrust him into a very important role. His name is one of a few being floated already for the Vice Presidential nomination on the Democratic side. There are plenty of politicians that are looking at that second billing with wanting eyes, but Webb has many advantages that others do not have. Not only that, but party leaders are seeing that and probably gave him this gift as a strong signal to the Senator.

From The Washington Post:

The freshman senator from Virginia delivered the keynote address to the New Hampshire Democratic Party at its annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner a week ago, a role that in recent years has been played by current and former White House candidates John Edwards and John F. Kerry. Two years ago the speech was delivered by Sen. Evan Bayh (Ind.), who is viewed as a potential vice presidential pick next year.

Webb's role in the debate over Iraq and Iran has helped raise his profile far beyond that of the typical Senate newcomer. Webb is the only freshman Democrat to regularly attend Iraq strategy sessions in Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid's office, and his proposal to extend home leaves for U.S. troops came closer to forcing a change in administration war policy than any other Democratic bill.

His upset of Sen. George Allen (R) last year and the prominent part he has taken in the congressional debate over Iraq have led to his being mentioned as a potential ticket-mate for the party's nominee in 2008. But he has made no effort to advance that cause with the leading Democratic contender in recent weeks.

Webb really does not have to move much of a muscle to have his name mentioned for the VP bid. Frankly, his record speaks for him. Except for a few things here and there, he is a strong supporter of what the base wants to see in the party as a whole. As a military man that has not been scarred by politics in Washington that won a state that is increasingly turning from red to blue at least a nice shade of purple, Webb is a hot commodity indeed.

Jim Webb Scares Joe Scarborough Straight On Blackwater

Watch how this "cowboy" does a 180 on his views about Blackwater once Senatory Jim Webb of Virginia comes on his show:

Webb and Graham Get Testy On Press The Meat

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) schools Sen. Graham (R-SC) about the situation in Iraq and how the troops are dealing with endless war.

Lieberman Has Lost It, Lunacy Leads To Hurting Troops

Joe Lieberman has done and said many dumb things...and today is no different for Holy Joe. He helped to kill Senator Webb's amendment requiring that our soldiers are allowed to stay at home for the same amount of time that they are deployed. Our troops are weary from five years of constant battle and they need adequate time to breathe. But Joe doesn't think so, and neither do his friends in the GOP. To Webb's credit, he had a quick response to the lunacy of Lieberman.

From Think Progress:

On the Senate floor this morning, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) said that proposals to withdraw troops and restore the strength of the armed forces are “legislating a defeat” in Iraq.

This afternoon on CNN, responding to Lieberman’s criticisms, Webb reminded the public that he was warning in September 2002 that we were “heading for trouble” if we went to war in Iraq:

I was warning about the consequences of invading and occupying Iraq well before we went in. … I don’t know where Sen. Lieberman gets his opinions about how well we’re doing. […]

You have a government in Iraq that has no power. It has very little power — it cannot compel action and it’s surrounded by armed factions that retain the power. That is not a situation we’re going to resolve without the interaction of all the countries in the region in a positive, proactive diplomatic way. And that’s what I’ve been saying for three years.

And now the bill is dead. Thanks a lot Joe. Just remember come election time who actually supports the troops and their families.

One More Time

From the Democratic response last night:

"As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. "When comes the end?" asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.

These Presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this President to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way."

-- Jim Webb

The Misstatement Of The Union

Well last night was truly spectacular to say the least, but it certainly wasn't because of anything Bush plans on delivering. Personally the best line of the night was in Webb's response, where he said that we will show the President the way if he doesn't comply with the will of the American people. The bar I was at last night was cheering him on loudly at that point. So what if it was in the middle of New York City, where the Democratic Party outnumbers their rivals five to one? The rest of the nation will just have to catch up.

Back to the President's speech. If you didn't see it, you should check out this top ten list by Perrspectives. Dubya talked a lot about issues everyone cares about, like aid to African nations. Though he also got a few swipes in at the left. Two of them stood out for me, first he addressed the 'Democrat majority.' Seriously STFU with that right-wing bullshit. It may be funny for some to emphasize the 'rat' at the end but this isn't pre-school people. The Democratic party crushed the Republican...party in November and we will get the respect we deserve. The second example was where he called on the Congress to support the troops in Iraq.......And the ones he is sending on the way, which has been opposed by the American people, the Democratic party and now eight Republicans with more to come. Again, STFU with that.

Bush also made up a lot of things about energy independence, yet as Webb retorted, the President has said this many times and there has been no action. That is because he is a man of no action, unless it helps his greedy f*ckin friends.

Senator Webb Actually Supports The Troops!

Unlike his predecessor George 'Macaca' Allen, Jim Webb has already done something to help the brave men and women in combat instead of using empty rhetoric of others. As a military man, he understands the needs of those who serve in uniform as opposed to the Republican chickenhawks that don't give a damn.

From Bob Geiger:

Keeping a promise he made on the campaign trail in 2006, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) did more for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan on his first day in the Senate than the man he ousted, George Felix Allen, did in the entire previous Congress.

Going unnoticed in the frenzy of Democrats assuming control of Capitol Hill and George W. Bush seeking to plunge the country deeper into the Iraq quagmire, Webb introduced the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007, legislation that will provide the newest Veterans with educational benefits like those received by men and women who served in the three decades following World War II.

When I was in Virginia at Webb's inaugural party nearly two weeks ago he talked about how he was going to follow up on his campaign promise to the soldiers. I never thought it would be less than two weeks later that it would be put into action. Kudos to you Senator!