I'm very happy to see our two U.S. Senators vote "yea" on funding the military and repealing the discriminatory, counter-productive, obsolete, idiotic "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy. Unfortunately, in the U.S. Senate, majority does NOT rule, nor do 57 Senators voting "yea." Instead, it takes 60 "yea" votes to invoke "cloture" on a "filibuster" to...oh forget it!
Anyway, the bottom line is that the monstrosity known as "Don't Ask Don't Tell" lives to see another day, thanks to yet another FAIL by the Senate, mostly by Senate Republicans (and one "Democrat," Joe Manchin of West Virginia). I'm hoping that this story is correct, that a separate repeal of DADT "will be cosponsored by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), and they said it will have bipartisan support." Just get rid of this damn thing already!
UPDATE: Video from the Senate floor on the "flip."
Adjusting to reality is what Webb promotes most in the interview, saying that he voted to proceed on the defense authorization bill that includes a proposal to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prevents gay service members from serving openly in the military.
"DOD will tell you that the percentage of people in the United States military who are gay and lesbian is about the same right now as it is in society at large, and no one is calling for those people to be discharged from the military.
"The military has accepted the fact that...there are now and have been in the past gay and lesbian service people. The question is how you deal with this..."
Without committing to how he will vote on final passage, Webb confirms that he will again vote for the defense authorization bill to proceed.
I heard this earlier today from Webb's staff confidentially, and was very pleased. Now, it's public information, so I can share it. Thank you to Jim Webb for helping to end this unjust policy! (now, if only Republican Senators would stop being the last homophobic holdouts in the country on this subject...)
Ignore the article itself, which is typical claptrap posing as "analysis" by the right-wingnut (although they disingenuously claim not to be) Real Clear Politics website. The author himself, David Paul Kuhn, has been called "a noted analyst of and sometimes advocate for the political views of white men." Believe it or not, Kuhn actually wrote a column for Politico in May 2008, postulating a John McCain "blowout" win over Barack Obama, "by a margin exceeding President Bush's Electoral College victory in 2004." Uh huh.
Anyway, putting all that aside, Jim Webb actually has some interesting points to make in this article, although the title ("Why Reagan Dems Still Matter") is a bit jarring. First off, I strongly agree with Webb that the Democratic Party needs to get back to its "Jacksonian democracy" roots (side note: the author of this piece mistakenly wrote "Jeffersonian democracy" in his first draft, then fixed it), a party that "very clearly represents the interests of working people." In my view, and it seems that Webb and I are on the same page here, the Democratic Party has gotten away from this and become a party that too often appears more concerned with serving corporate interests and the upper middle class. Isn't that what we have a Republican Party for?
Second, I strongly agree with Webb that the Democratic Party has become too "transactional" and has "evolved too strongly into interest groups rather than representing working people, including small business people." This is one of the main reasons I consider myself more a "Teddy Roosevelt Progressive" than a "liberal" in today's sense, because I believe more in an overarching set of rules that advance everyone's "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness", that keeps the environment healthy for everyone, that - as David Sirota puts it - "focus[es] on using government power to make large institutions play by a set of rules." That's exactly what Teddy Roosevelt did, reining in the corporate "trusts," making conservation a central concern of the federal government, and stressing equality of opportunity - as opposed to outcome - for all citizens of this country. Having said that, I also agree with liberals on the need to have minimal standards (for workplace safety and conditions, food/water/air quality, etc.) and to fully fund the "safety net" - Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. - in order to ensure at least a minimum level of "outcome" in addition to setting the rules for overall equality of opportunity. I'm not sure where Jim Webb comes down here exactly, but my read is that he's a hybrid of a number of things -- a Teddy Roosevelt-style progressive, a Jacksonian economic populist, strong on defense but NOT a "neoconservative," a social libertarian in the sense of government not coming in our front doors "unless there's an overriding reason to do so." Much of this is what attracted me to Webb in the first place, and continues to do so to this day, although Webb's severe shortcomings on the conservation/environmental protection portion of Teddy Roosevelt's philosophy frustrate me to no end.
Good stuff, now let's keep investing in Metro, high-speed rail, streetcars, and other things that make sense from a "smart growth"/high-density-development point of view. Other than that...meh, not so much.
Last night at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria, Jim Webb and Jim Moran spoke to around 200 Democrats - including many from the amazing, grassroots, pro-Webb, "ragtag army" of 2006 - at a fundraiser for the Democratic Party of Virginia. There were many members of the "ragtag army" (now "Webb Brigades") in attendance, including (largely) unsung heroes like Mary Detweiler, Wasim Entabi, Sue Langley, Chris Ambrose, Laura Sonnenmark, Karen and Dan Duncan, Florence Upson, Kenton Ngo, Frank Anderson, Tania Hossain, Todd Smyth, Rose Chu, Antonia Scatton, Ken Kukovich, and several others. Also in attendance were Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple. Sen. Chap Petersen, Sen. Dave Marsden, Del. Mark Keam, Del. Bob Brink, Del. Charniele Herring, former Del. Brian Moran, Cathy "Smitty" Connolly, DPVA chair/master of ceremonies Dave Mills, super-Democrat Pixie Bell, former Alexandria Democratic Committee chair Sue Kellom, current Alexandria Democratic Committee chair Clark Mercer, etc.
To understand Jim Webb's shocking flip on the coal industry, you have to understand where he began. Here's what he wrote in his book, Born Fighting, just six years ago:
The ever hungry industrialists had discovered that West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia sat atop one huge vein of coal. And so the rape began. The people from the outside showed up with complicated contracts that the small-scale cattle raisers and tobacco farmers could not fully understand, asking for "rights" to mineral deposits they could not see, and soon they were treated to a sundering of their own earth as the mining companies ripped apart their way of life, so that after a time the only option was to go down into the hole and bring the Man his coal, or starve. The Man got his coal, and the profits it brought when he shipped it out. They got their wages, black lung, and the desecration of their land.
Now Jim Webb is standing before those very same industrialists & pledging to do their bidding. This video from a recent Virginia Chamber of Commerce event shows Webb promising to fight any effort to rein in coal's destructive, polluting, poverty-sustaining excesses. Webb's pandering to corporate polluters stands in contrast to Sen. Mark Warner's appearance at the same event making the case for energy reform.
Who else is Webb fighting for these days? The ultra-rich, pledging to protect them from having to do their fair share to reduce America's deficit.
Speculation so far has centered on whether Jim Webb wants a 2nd term in the Senate. But I'm hearing more & more Virginia Democrats question whether we should want six more years of Jim Webb.
In this video, Jim Webb talks about what he sees as "the need to reinvigorate U.S. relations with ASEAN countries and other allies in the region to maintain balance and stability" vis-a-vis China. According to Webb, the "second-tier countries" in the Asia-Pacific region see "any failure by the United States to take firm action when the Chinese manifest aggressive behavior is viewed in this region as a sign of a permeating weakness in the United States." In Webb's view, we need to "stay with our friends" and let China know that "the wrong type of behavior is not going to be rewarded with a weak form of behavior by the United States."
In my view, that's fine as far as it goes; there's nothing wrong with strengthening relations with our allies in the region, and there's nothing wrong with being strong in our response to outright aggressive behavior by China. However, I believe that Webb largely misses the larger point, of what Anne Applebaum correctly describes as "China's quiet power grab". For more on that, see after the "fold."
I can't embed the video of this interview, but check it out at Vivian Paige's blog. In addition to his response on the viciously homophobic (and generally insane) Westboro Baptist Church's 1st Amendment rights (or lack thereof), Webb also discusses the Defense Secretary's decision to shut down JFCOM.
On the first issue, I have mixed feelings, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that this group's hate speech, despite being utterly despicable, is probably protected under the 1st Amendment. In fact, the only legitimate reason I can think of why it should not be protected stems from the Schenk case, if "the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." If that's the case with the Westboro Baptist Church, that it makes people so angry that it incites them to violence, then how would the 1st Amendment protect all kinds of speech that we disagree with, find intolerable, feel enraged about, etc? As much as I despise the Westboro Baptist Church and wish I never had to hear from them again, I can't think of a justification for denying them their 1st Amendment constitutional rights.
On the second issue, I think it's totally appropriate for the Virginia delegation to ask tough questions of Secretary Gates about his decision. In the end, though, it's his decision, and I don't believe the Virginia delegation can do a great deal about it in the end.
P.S. Excellent job by Vivian on this interview, and also on the one with Glenn Nye. Like Webb, Nye argues that the 1st Amendment doesn't cover the Westboro Baptist Church's disruption of military funerals, and that JFCOM shouldn't have been shut down. Your thoughts?
P.P.S. If the Westboro Baptist Church's hate speech isn't protected, then I'm not sure how flag burning, Koran burning, bible burning, etc. would be protected either.
Thank you to Senators Webb and Warner for voting the right way - "aye" on the Defense Appropriations bill - a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, Mitch McConnell and Company continue to be the "party of no" who want everything to fail. Between talking down the U.S. economy, voting against funding our troops in "harms way," supporting continued bigotry in the military, blocking the Obama tax cut for the middle class in order to give millionaires and billionaires a huge gift, preventing young people from getting an education and serving in our military, opposing clean energy and climate action, etc. the question is why anyone in their right mind would vote for them. Even if you're not happy with the Democrats, even if you're really pissed off, staying home on election day is not a serious option. The alternative is to turn the government over to McConnell, Can'tor, BONEr and their ilk. No thank you.
P.S. Great comment by emptywheel on Twitter: "Remember when Senators holding up Defense bill were branded as anti-American and unpatriotic?"
The Senate is planning to vote Tuesday on whether to end debate on a $725.7 billion annual defense policy bill, a measure that includes a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" law, which bans gays from serving openly in the armed forces.
The vote is expected to be close but is almost certain to pass if Democrats can break a Republican-led filibuster...
[...]
...Attention is focused on a handful of moderate senators, including Susan Collins (R-Maine), George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) and James Webb (D-Va.).
Look, this policy was a bad idea even when it was first put in place, in 1994. At least back then, there was a semi-plausible excuse, that the public wasn't ready to go any further. Well, that's not true today, not in the least bit. To the contrary, a recent CBS/New York Times poll found that 75% of Americans favor "permitting gay men and lesbians to serve in the military," with just 19% opposed to doing so. That's a huge, overwhelming majority of Americans for doing the morally correct, military smart, and progressive thing on this one. If you're one of those 75%,call Sen. Webb's office (202-224-4024 or 1-866-507-1570), tell him you want an end to this policy, and tell him you want it now! Thanks.
The following is from Kathy Selvage of Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, "the only environmental organization in southwest Virginia whose expressed mission it is to take on the ravages of coal." Also from her Facebook page, "In 2006, Kathy received the St. Francis Ecological Award of the Ecological Network of Sowers of Justice, an award for lifetime innovative work promoting the interconnectedness of all life; in 2008, she was named in the Blue Ridge Country Magazine as one of 14 who are shaping our region in Southwest Virginia; and in 2009 she appeared in the long awaited Mari-Lyn Evans and Phylis Gellar documentary 'Coal Country' as a path to bring the devastation of the Appalachian region to the consciousness of every American." In sum, Kathy Selvage knows what she's talking about on the subject of coal, mountaintop removal mining, etc. [Note: bolding added by me for emphasis]
The industry and busloads of miners headed out to DC yesterday and we learned that certain politicians would join them on the public stage today. I called Senator Webb's DC office, got five minutes or less of a staffer's time and used every second, barely stopping for even a deep breath. I was unable to wrestle his name from him, even though I tried. At the end of our conversation, he did ask again for my name and zip code.
As explained to him, I am a coal miner's daughter so we do not hate coal miners. My father was an underground miner who also loved the forests and being there (You see hunting and just "being" in the woods is a part of our culture.)
I explained what it's like to live in a community where mining goes on extremely close to homes and the effect that has on our lives, communities, mountains and streams. Then, as if from Senator Webb's own mouth (it is from his book Born Fighting), these words rolled: They got their wages, black lung, and the desecration of their land. I said that's us. These are the Senator's words and they are accurate, totally accurate. He got it right, then. (Implication: he might not today.)
Contrary to the belief of some, it is not environmentalists or environmental regulation that has taken away the jobs of miners in the Appalachian region but the practice of mountaintop removal through its huge increase of mechanization. If you will track the number of mining jobs over the last decade or more, you will see the number of jobs go down as production goes up. It is the method of extraction that decreases the jobs. (Even though I did not relay this, there is a solution: We should be creating green jobs throughout the region to replace those thousands of jobs already lost to this huge mechanization, jobs that don't destroy our homeland and our lives.)
And contrary to the belief of some (I told him), we understand that you can't shut down coal fired plants all over this nation immediately - we wouldn't have electricity - but that we were looking for a new direction - a start - for green energy.
At the very least, the Senator could have been neutral today and that was my request to the staffer.
I was told this morning of a bumper sticker on a car that said, "Save a miner's job, shoot an environmentalist" and I also relayed this to the staffer along with stressing how important it was that leaders respond to this kind of public display and advocating of violence. It was the only time in our conversation that he responded to anything I had expressed. He said, "Gees" (slightly drawn out).
Needless to say, I'm not happy with this. First off, I'm not happy that Senators Webb and Warner -- both of whom I've spent a lot of time and effort the past few years defending, fighting for, trying to get elected, etc. -- were even speaking at this rally in the first place. Ostensibly, of course, it was defensible as being "pro-coal miner." If that were true, I'd be all for it. But the reality is that this rally was organized by the coal industry groups (astroturf and otherwise), including the West Virginia Coal Association, Citizens for Coal, the Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security (FACES of Coal). These are the same companies, by the way, that have systematically been destroying coal mine jobs by replacing them with capital-intensive (e.g., not labor-intensive) mining and processing techniques like "mountaintop removal." Well, it's also "coal miner removal," but let's not pay any attention to that, I guess.
As an example of how heinous these groups are, we have the West Virginia Coal Association claiming that mountaintop removal mining has "actually helped improve habitat for wildlife in Appalachia." Uh, no.
We also have them saying things like, "Our professional coal miners face daily attacks on the issues of mountaintop mining, on cap-and-trade legislation and the non-consensus 'science' of global warming." The "non-consensus 'science' of global warming?" Try, reams of evidence and "overwhelming consensus of climate scientists." Of course, the coal industry groups have a strong economic interest in denying global warming, but still...ugh.
Then we have the head of Citizens for Coal, Roger Horton, on the Diane Rehm Show, appearing to dismiss charges that people have been threatened for opposing mountaintop removal mining. Wow.
As for "FACES of Coal," that's a fake grassroots ("astroturf") campaign that spreads pro-coal-industry propaganda and bashes the EPA (see here, for instance). Also, see Rachel Maddow for more on "FACES of Coal."
Rep. Tom Perriello took a tough stand to hold polluters accountable & make America more energy independent by voting for the American Clean Energy & Security (ACES) Act.
So while campaigning with Perriello, what does Sen. Jim Webb do? Attack legislation like ACES, which Webb helped kill in the Senate.
If Jim Webb doesn't want to fight to big polluters, that's his business. But can he at least avoid attacking Democrats who do have the guts to take a stand for clean energy? Is that too much to ask?
Sen. Webb issued the following statement a short while ago.
After more than seven years of operations and countless rounds of troop rotations, I am heartened today by the President's confirmation of the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq and his stated intention to withdraw all our troops by the end of 2011. Although our residual force of 50,000 will continue to perform hazardous duties during the year ahead, today's transition is an important milestone.
Yesterday, I got word that Jim Webb's Communications Director, Jessica Smith, is leaving her job after 4 years with "Team Webb" (she started with the Webb campaign in 2006, which is where I first got to know her) to take a Schedule C position with the Department of Justice. There, Jessica writes, she will "focus on civil rights issues, and among other tasks...provide communications support for the 93 U.S. Attorneys across the country." That's great news for the Department of Justice, and I wish Jessica the best of luck in her new position.
By the way, in 2007, Jessica was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill" for her "porcelain skin and brilliant smile," "flame-red hair and whip-smart bearing." That's not a bad combination of traits to team with top-notch professionalism, diligence, loyalty, tact, etc. Again, good luck to Jessica!
P.S. Replacing Jessica will be Will Jenkins, who she describes as "a native Virginian who hails from Hampton Roads." According to Jessica, Jenkins "has been with us for a number of months now, and I know that he and our press office won't miss a beat."
I'm watching live on CSPAN as Elena Kagan is confirmed as the next Supreme Court justice. Both of Virginia's U.S. Senators - Jim Webb and Mark Warner - have voted "aye." While Warner's vote was completely expected, Webb was listed as uncommitted - he reportedly had "2nd Amendment concerns" - leading up to the vote. I'm glad to see that he ended up voting the way he did on this one.
The Executive Director of the Virginia State Conference, King Salim Khalfani, explains why he is angry at the Tea Party movement and at Jim Webb for his op-ed on affirmative action. Among other things, Khalfani says that Webb "lied" on a number of fronts, including the title, the "myth of white privilege." Something tells me, this debate isn't going to end anytime soon.
P.S. For more, see Decision Virginia. Excellent reporting by Ryan Nobles on this one!
Julie Stewart, president and founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) commended the U.S. House of Representatives today for its approval of H.R. 5143, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2010. The vote comes three months after Ms. Stewart joined the bill's sponsors, sentencing reform advocates, and law enforcement officials to announce the bill's introduction.
[...]
If enacted, H.R. 5143 will create a bipartisan, blue-ribbon commission to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the entire criminal justice system and offer concrete recommendations for reform within 18 months. The bill was introduced in the House on April 27 by U.S. Reps Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), Darrel Issa (R-Calif.), Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), and Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-Va.), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.
The bill approved today is the companion to Senator Jim Webb's (Va.) legislation, S. 714, which was introduced in the Senate on March 26, 2009 and approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 21, 2010. The Webb bill, like its House counterpart, has received widespread bipartisan support and has 37 cosponsors in the Senate, including Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.), Ranking Member, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Judiciary Committee member, Sen. Orrin G Hatch (R-Utah).
Clearly, i's time we reform the criminal "justice" system in America. This is a start, albeit a small one, in the U.S. House of Representatives. Good work by Jim Webb in getting it this far.
UPDATE: Video of Webb speaking about this is after the "flip."
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I'm very happy to see our two U.S. Senators 
Ignore the 
It 
Yesterday, I got word that Jim Webb's Communications Director, Jessica Smith, is leaving her job after 4 years with "Team Webb" (she started with the Webb campaign in 2006, which is where I first got to know her) to take a Schedule C position with the Department of Justice. There, Jessica writes, she will "focus on civil rights issues, and among other tasks...provide communications support for the 93 U.S. Attorneys across the country." That's great news for the Department of Justice, and I wish Jessica the best of luck in her new position.
