Letters to the Editor
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Give Sen. Webb the "Joseph Welch" award
Sen. Webb's pointed and heart-felt response to Bush's SOTU address reminds me of another historical incident -- the response made by attorney Joseph Welch to Sen. Joe McCarthy's irresponsible attacks on Fred Fisher, a junior attorney in Welch's firm.
Totally different circumstances, of course, but Welch's memorable line ("Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?") would have been entirely appropriate last night, had Webb decided to include it.
Webb's vow regarding Bush's promise to find a new way to success in Iraq ("If he does not, we will be showing him the way.") merits inclusion with Welch's slap-down of McCarthy.
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Where was Jesus?
Bush's speech was suprisingly light on all the god talk, and unless I missed it (my eyes were beginning to glaze over) two perenial stars of his State of the Union speeches were no-shows: abortion and protection of marriage. Did I simply miss them, or did Bush leave them off the guest list? It seems like the Republicans weren't the only ones who took a beating in the November elections. The Radical Christian star doesn't seem to be shining as brightly as it once did. It seems like we very little of them these days. Good riddence.
Overall I was struck by the pandering phoniness. Global warming, the environmet, alternative fuels? Did we see both of his hands while he addressed those issus, or did he have one hand behing his back with his fingers crossed?
He'll leave office and wander off into history as an unqualified disaster and failure of epic proportions. Watching him tap dance last night trying to make himself seem relevant, I couldn't even work up an ounce of pity for him.
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Holy shit, now he's gonna free US !!!!!!
Time to bolt kids, get outta town ASAP. Bush is coming to crap democracy and freedom all over us now. Holy Shit Ich Bin Ein Iraqi now.
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Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.
It doesn't matter how good some of what Bush said sounds. He shouldn't have any credibility when it comes to matching actions with words. He'll talk about working together one day and be back to business as usual the next.
Democrats need to be very cynical when it comes to expectations they have of the current administration. If the President talks about bipartisanship it's because he means to blame the Democrats if nothing gets accomplished. Republicans will talk compromise and fairness when they're working for the opposite. They'll talk about working together while they plan to stab the Democrats in the back the first chance they get.
No one should forget the dishonesty and bad faith of this administration's past efforts.
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Webb's response
was ass-kickin' scary-good. Scary-good like things we clear thinkers have hoped to see and hear from the Dems and have not. Scary-good like the sense that Congressional GOP lemmings have begun to come to their senses albeit for fear of their political lives. Scary-good like knowing Rove is seething today as he pegs darts at pictures of a guy who, unlike him, Bush, and the V.P. of Other Priorities, had actually talked the talk and walked the walk. Webb-Obama in 08! Well, maybe Secretary of Defense would do for now.
Show us the way lest we forget the path.
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Hillary Clinton
I watched the post-speech nonsense on ABC. Clinton gave an excellent interview in which she displayed a good sense of the actual situation. Charlie Gibson wasn't very prepared for an honest assessment of the war and what we need to do. I've not been terribly impressed with Clinton, but she did an excellent job supporting what Webb said, and adding a clear understanding of diplomacy to it.
The best line was when Gibson asked her why Democrats were criticizing the speech before Bush gave it, and how come Democrats don't seem to believe that Bush genuinely wants to work with the Democrats in Congress. Clinton's response: "Well, we are an evidence-based party."
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Kudos to Jim Webb
My girlfriend and I watched Jim Webb's riveting Democratic Response to the SOTU speech last night, and both of us were greatly impressed with the Senator's plainspoken but powerful message. Forget Hillary and Obama; somebody put this guy on a presidential ticket.
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well ...
so long as you forgot that he used to say that the terrorists would win if the Democrats took control of Congress.
But they have. Have you forgotten already the Al Jazeera item when bin Laden's right-hand-man, Zawahiri, said that the Democrats' election meant that the war was lost? And all the Al Qaeda In Iraq guys saying pretty much the same thing? Or President Moonbat of Iran rejoicing at the Democrats' victory?
They know that the Dems' "tough talk" is just that: talk. They know that the U.S. is now hamstrung by political cowards who want nothing more than to cut and run.
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Webb knows how to end a fight.
In a boxing match, two fighters may know how to punch and block and bob & weave, but the one who wins knows how to actually end the fight. Jim Webb, ex-boxer, is a man who knows how to end a fight. After figuratively punching back at Bush and softening him up, Webb wound up and delivered a beautiful knockout blow: "We will be showing him the way." It was a rhetorical strike worthy of the great Ali himself. Who didn't smile with admiration at that finale?
The dry drunk is now punch drunk and watching the little birdies tweet in a circle above his head. Thank you, Jim Webb!
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Finally
On April 9, 1865, riders were dispatched to all commands in US Grant's Union army to announce the end of hostilities in the Civil War. "The war is over," they cried to everyone they met on the roads around Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. One soldier replied to a rider, "So you're the son of a bitch we've been looking for these 4 years."
Last night Jim Webb was the Democrat we've been looking for these six years. He looked America in the eye and said, nicely but firmly, that Shrub is an incompetent boob who needs to be led by the hand to making the right choices. It is a sign of how accustomed we are to politicians dodging questions and soft-pedaling issues that when one of them actually speaks concisely and firmly with a take-no-crap attitude it jolts us out of our stupor.
"If he does [take the right action], we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way."
I wanted to stand up and cheer.
S.R. Sidarth, whom George Allen derided as "macaca" during the 2006 campaign, has done more for his country than he could have ever imagined.