500 to 35

“After the State of the Union, ABC’s political director, Mark Halperin, speculated that, if a secret ballot were held in Congress to end the Bush presidency, it would pass “by a margin of, oh, 500 to 35.” In a week of shopping that hypothetical on the Hill, I found not a single person ready to dispute it.”

-John Heilemann, New York Magazine

They're All Good

In recent posts I’ve expressed interest in seeing Senator Chuck Hagel make a run for the White House. I think it is valuable to have many people in the field all expressing their views. It is encouraging to have a Republican politician so vociferously standing up to the current war-mongering White House.

Personally, I am far from making up my mind about the next election. Many of the candidates, including nearly every Democrat I've heard mentioned as a possibility, look like great replacements for the current madman holding the office.

I don’t vote for elected officials based on their stance on various issues. If I used such a litmus test I would most likely never vote since I rarely agree with the majority of the positions held by any given candidate. But I do vote for the person and look closely at the character and integrity of the politician which is why I’ve been adamantly opposed to W. since 1999 when I first really learned much about him.

I suppose the field of potential candidates looks good to me precisely because of the stark contrast to Bush. Everything can be relative and W. has set the bar amazingly low. I remember seeing the field of candidates from each of the past few elections and being woefully unimpressed. This time around -with many of the same people back in the race- they nearly all look good.

Except, of course, that sycophantic Bush Administration lap dog, John McCain.

Shoe Salesmen

Last week in a session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Chuck Hagel implored his fellow senators to vote for his resolution asking Bush to reconsider sending 22 thousand more U.S. troops “into that grinder.”

He asked these powerful members of the Senate to step up and show some courage. “If you want a safe job go sell shoes.” The final vote was 12 in favor and 9 against his resolution.

The nine Republicans, I guess, wouldn’t mind selling shoes.

Gluttons For Punishment

The latest Newsweek poll has Bush at his lowest numbers ever, with 64% disapproving of his job as president. 58% of those asked said they wished the Bush years were over, which shows that 6% of Americans are clearly gluttons for punishment.

March On Washington

The protest march in Washington this week was an impressive event, despite mediocre reporting in the press.

As my family and a couple friends made signs and joined the tens of thousands on the mall in Washington, two things stood out to us: The amazing diversity of the crowd, and the overwhelming sentiment that Bush’s policies were not just failed but actually criminal.

Signs called for Bush to be investigated, impeached, jailed, or all three. And these weren’t signs held by some radical anarchists. Overwhelmingly the crowd consisted of parents, grandparents, and children. Families marched together. College students and business people marched together. Government employees and Iraq War veterans marched together.

The sentiment was echoed by Sean Penn, one of many speakers, who asked rhetorically- after a long list of Bush Adminstration offenses: “Is impeachment still off the table?”

At one point we left the march to take in a view of the spectacle from the steps of the Capitol, where other protests were being conducted, including a mob of several dozen attempting to gain entry to the building shouting “this is the people’s house.” Armed Capitol police officers and barricades reminded them it wasn’t really.

In another protest, three women (triplets) stood solemnly on pedestals reminding onlookers of the sacrifices women have made in this war. There were also protesters dressed up as war prisoners, recalling the abusive detention at Guantanemo Bay and elsewhere.

From the Capitol steps we could see the marchers with signs still slowly leaving the mall heading north while the lead group in the march, including some congressmen and some actors, were returning to the mall from the south. Organizers said this was the first time ever that a protest march completely encircled the Capitol.

Never Too Late

Virginia’s Senator John Warner, now age 80, is expressing regret over the war. The Vietnam War. Warner said this in a recent interview:“…Month after month. Another 10 or 15 thousand. They thought they could win it. We kept surging…It didn’t work. I regret not being more outspoken in those days.”

Warner, along with Senator Hagel, is one of the few Republicans willing to stand up to Bush and the escalation of the war in Iraq. Bush, quite obviously doesn’t learn from history. Has never and, by all indications, will never. Warner, on the other hand clearly does: “Well, you don’t forget something like that. No. You don’t forget those things.”

Warm-up For Jesus

The documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” about Al Gore’s one-man crusade against global warming got a frosty reception from some Seattle parents recently. The film was to be shown to a seventh-grade class in a Seattle suburb, when protests arose over the “propaganda” film. One parent voiced his anger and was successful in stopping the viewing.

It turns out this parent’s complaint was not that the film argued that global warming existed but instead he had a problem with the premise that pollution was the cause. His belief is that the warming of the planet has nothing to do with the burning of fossil fuels, etc. but is actually being caused by God as a prelude to the return of Jesus to the planet and a Day of Judgment as predicted in the Bible.

Apparently, the planet is being warmed to make it a little cozier for Jesus.

Positively Negative

Apparently, the only thing harder than getting a smile out of Dick Cheney is getting him to answer questions. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviewed the Vice President the other night and got nowhere. Cheney was contrary at nearly every turn. Here is a sampling of Cheney’s responses to Blitzer’s inquiries:

“I don't want to be that precise… It's just not true… I've heard that charge. It's simply not true, Wolf… You can argue about that all you want. That's history… No, there is not. Wolf, that's not going to happen…There is not… I just think you're wrong, Wolf... is just dead wrong…Wolf, I simply don't accept the premise of your question… I just think it's hogwash… It won't stop us… No, you're not asking questions… No, I don't… I'm not going to discuss it… I haven't discussed it with anybody in the press yet, and I'm not going to discuss it with you today… Wolf, you've got my answer… You've got my answer… I'm not going to speculate… Well, I just disagree with him… I just fundamentally disagree… I think you're out of line… I just fundamentally disagree with you… And I think, frankly, you're out of line with that question.”

The interview wasn’t all negative, however.

When asked his thoughts on the Iraq War he said he believed things there were going well. (What part of the war he’s talking about nobody-not even the president-seems to know). “The bottom line is that we've had enormous successes and we will continue to have enormous successes,” Cheney said.

When asked about what it was like sitting next to Nancy Pelosi at the State of The Union he responded: “I prefer Dennis Hastert, obviously.” (Well, the two have been quite a pair, visually, flanking Bush during the past several SOTUs.—think: Shrek and Jabba the Hut.)

1%

With Senator Chuck Hagel now polling at 1% among possible Republican presidential candidates, I’m thinking it might be time to jump on the bandwagon.

Actually, in this blog and elsewhere I’ve been an admirer and supporter of Sen. Hagel’s for a while. Over the last few years Hagel has emerged as the true maverick on the Republican side taking over that role from former maverick John McCain. (For the record, I supported and voted for McCain against W. in 2000.) McCain has since become something of a boot-licking toady for the Bush administration, tying his political dingy to the sinking Bush barge.

Here, nearly two years out from the presidential election, are a few reasons why Hagel would be the best choice for the country:

Balance of Power: The Democrats look poised to hang onto Congress and there is something to be said for the White House and The Congress being held by opposing political parties. The recent stretch of six years of control of both by one party should be evidence enough of why we should seek some balance.

Opposition to the Iraq War: A long-time opponent of the war and vociferous critic of the Bush Administration, Hagel has held the position the majority of Americans are finally coming to embrace.

Military credentials: Chuck Hagel served in the infantry in Vietnam, and has been involved with veterans issues and organizations ever since. Americans like their leaders to have military experience, which is why it is amazing that John Kerry could have lost to George Bush. The voters seem to give Republicans, fair or not, an automatic advantage in the “supports the military” category. Hagel, unlike some of the Democratic contenders, is above reproach on this subject.

Possibility of a Two-party Ticket: In a recent interview, Hagel joked (or was he joking?) about the possibility of a two party ticket. Imagine the appeal of say, a Hagel-Obama ticket. Hagel is obviously willing to eschew partisan politics in favor of what’s right. Senator Obama, for his part, has built a popular following with the centrist theme of rising above polarizing politics (recall his “One America” speech at the 2004 convention).

Maverick: Politicians that don’t just go along to get along are rare on the national level. It takes political courage to speak your mind when it is contrary to the line your party is towing. These days you have two such mavericks to choose from: Chuck Hagel or Joe Liebermann. Enough said.

Relative Youth: Hagel is about the age McCain was when he ran in 2000. McCain looks tired and weary these days and Hagel brings both a mental and physical vigor the office of president requires.

SOTU

Resuming this blog after a twelve-month hiatus I feel obliged to jump in with a few thoughts on the State Of The Union speech last night.

I’ve heard and read some comments regarding Bush’s “confident demeanor” and “steadfast resolve”, but I only saw a defeated leader who is counting the days until he can sail off into the sunset, leaving the mess in his wake for the next administration to clean-up.

There has been positive response to Bush’s “gracious” comments regarding the first-ever woman Speaker of House, Nancy Pelosi. But the truth is it would have been a glaring mistake not to acknowledge her, especially considering the more-than-obvious change from the usual visual on the TV of a trio of white male heads alternately bobbing, nodding and sneering. The press would have had a field day with the guy had he neglected to acknowledge the historic change in leadership.

True to his character, though, Bush did manage a quick dig at the new majority party calling them the “Democrat” Party, rather than the preferred “Democratic” Party- an inside sort of snub but clearly intentional and all the more revealing of Bush’s sore-loser persona.

The highlight of the evening was the response to the SOTU, by Virginia Senator Jim Webb. Concise, and powerful, Webb’s self-penned speech, went a long way in undermining the twin myths held by the Republicans: expertise on economic issues, and strength on military issues. Recent history has proven the Republicans are far from expert in these two areas, and increasingly it is the Dems that the voters are turning to.

The over-all subdued atmosphere among Republicans might have been best illustrated by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, looking particularly haggard and symbolically dressed in black. MSNBC host Chris Matthews said bluntly about Rice: “She looks like a mummy”.