So, Bush delivered his State of the Union Address tonight. Just miserable. He waited nearly 40 minutes to mention Iraq, although he sometimes claims we're a nation at war, like WWII all over again. His domestic agenda was long and full of nothing. Like he wanted "comprehensive [blank] reform" repeatedly. Great. And what does that mean? Very little applause, and none for his weird health care tax code ideas.
By contrast, Jim Webb was stunningly frank. He had two distinct messages: (1) there is a class division growing in this country with excessive corporate profits and a squeeze on the middle class (he used the term"class division"); (2) and the war in Iraq was recklessly entered into against the advice of all sorts of smart people, mismanaged, and a disaster that needs a new direction "to get troops OFF the streets of Baghdad." It was clear he is very pissed that his son is over there. And it really resonated.
Two things noteworthy. First, Hillary could not have given that speech. She voted for the stupid war. Second, Webb said "it's almost like we live in two different countries." So, it's to be an Edwards-Webb ticket, is it?
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Webb Kicks Ass
Posted by The Law Talking Guy at 9:29 PM
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Webb gave a good, solid speech. (You can see the nine-minute video here.) His remarks on Iraq were clear and complete. Although I could have done without the photograph of his father, I was very impressed. Asking him to give the Democrats' rebuttal was a brilliant choice.
I like the last line of his speech, which sounded almost like a confident threat/promise. "If he does [referring to finding an exit strategy for Iraq], we will join him. If he doesn't, we will show him the way." Burn. Love it.
I also wonder what nearly made him bust up laughing toward the end. He was emotionless until the last 45 seconds.
// posted by USwest
Did you notice that Webb called for "not one step back from our war on international terrorism." Note how that differs from "war on terror." Terrorism by insurgents within their own countries (e.g., Iraq, Basques) is not part of the war against international terrorism.
He smiled at when he said Theodore Roosevelt. I think the teleprompter may not have used the word "Theodore," and he put it in to distinguish from FDR. Or he thought it was neat for a Democrat to hark back to TR, not FDR. Or, he was reflecting on how often McCain claimed to like TR, but would never champion TR's real progressive agendas. He thought that mentioning Teddy Roosevelt was cute and clever. I agree.
Quoting TR on the one hand while railing AGAINST international adventurism is a bit of a balancing act.
// posted by LTG
I noticed that too... there was a moment where he suddenly seemed like he was about to laugh. (Or possibly also to cough, I guess--I don't know--sometimes suppressing those looks the same to me.) I don't know...glad someone else saw it though!
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