Senator Jim Webb’s Response To W’s State Of The Union Address (excerpts below)
… Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and healthcare for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.
… In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy – that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.
… The war’s costs to our nation have been staggering. Financially. The damage to our reputation around the world. The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism. And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped forward to serve.
… The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction. Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy …
And much more that made me put my head on the keyboard and moan that Senator Webb, a man whose family has served and continues to serve in this nation’s military, wasn’t the one to deliver the State of the Union address.
My hope is that Webb’s fellow Democrats heed these words, too. Especially Nancy Pelosi, whose unabashed brown-nosing at the address yesterday was embarassing. Jeff Cohen in The Huffington Post:
Webb’s speech was not just a rebuttal to Bush. It was also a pointed response to the tepid pablum that comes out of the mouths of mainstream media-anointed Democratic presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. TV viewers could easily see the contrast between Webb’s words and those of Clinton and Obama, since the two candidates were featured one after another on TV network after network soon after Bush and Webb. Yet they said so little.
Also, thank you, sweet providence, for this gift: Kerry Bows Out Of 2008 Race
What’s entertaining is watching devoted members of either party bemoan the lack of leadership, accountability and answers.
As long as you look to Bush or Pelosi for solutions and leadership, you are part of the problem.