Marathon Pundit

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Sen. Jim Webb: Sick jerk

It appears that General Wesley "Burnside" Clark (see below post) has unintentionally taken himself out of consideration to be Barack Obama's vice presidential pick.

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) is a considered a top contender for that spot on the ticket. Yesterday Webb, a decorated Vietnam veteran, put himself into the fray. The Hill's Briefing Room Blog has more:

Webb, a Barack Obama supporter, was on MSNBC's "Countdown" to talk about his G.I. Bill to increase education benefits for returning veterans which is now law. Webb criticized both McCain and President Bush for not supporting the bill. Then, unprompted, Webb weighed in on the debate over retired Gen. Wesley Clark's remark that "riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down" isn't "a qualification to be president."

"I think what we really need to work on over the next four, five months, and it goes back to the speech that Sen. Obama gave [Monday] and this little fight that I've been watching and that is, we need to make sure that we take politics out of service," Webb said. "People don't serve their country for political issues."

He continued: "And John McCain's my long-time friend, if that is one area that I would ask him to calm down on, it`s that, don't be standing up and uttering your political views and implying that all the people in the military support them because they don't, any more than when the Democrats have political issues during the Vietnam War. Let's get the politics out of the military, take care of our military people, or have our political arguments in other areas."

Webb's Senate office must have gotten a lot of fiery e-mails, because this afternoon his office issued a statement about the senator's MSNBC appearance:

"Senator Webb has never, and would never, demean the service of anyone who has stepped forward to serve our country. To the contrary, he was calling on those on all sides of the debate to refrain from implying that their political views are representative of the military writ large," wrote Webb's press secretary, Kimberly Hunter.

Real Clear Politics adds this thoughtful paragraph:

Although McCain has never claimed to speak for all the military, he has certainly made his Vietnam experience a major part of his campaign. However, Webb's comment about getting "politics out of the military" is disingenuous coming from him. After all, it was Webb who campaigned throughout Virginia with the boots of his soldier son as a symbol of his opposition to the war.

Now if Webb does get the Obama veep slot, he'll have to answer for this bizarre passage from his 2001 novel Lost Soldiers:

A shirtless man walked toward them along a mud pathway. His muscles were young and hard, but his face was devastated with wrinkles. His eyes were so red that they appeared to be burned by fire. A naked boy ran happily toward him from a little plot of dirt. The man grabbed his young son in his arms, turned him upside down, and put the boy's penis in his mouth.

Sickening.

Stop The ACLU has some more of Webb's prose that shouldn't be brought up at the dinner table--unless you're dining at a strip club or a brothel.

Technorati tags:

politics

news

Wesley Clark won't shut up

The bizarre thing about onetime Clintonista and current Barack Obama surrogate Wesley Clark is not how such a loon got to be a general, but that some congressman was deranged enough to appoint him to West Point. Then again, Ambrose Burnside travelled the same career path--he got involved in politics too. Burnside may have been a better general, though. AP has the latest on Wesley the Whacko:

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark rejected suggestions he apologize Tuesday for saying John McCain's medal-winning military service does not qualify him for the White House. Elaborating, Clark said a president must have judgment, not merely courage and character.

Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential hopeful, said Clark's comments had been inartful. But McCain's campaign judged them worse, and worked to stoke the controversy.

One ally of the Republican presidential contender accused Obama of "winking and nodding" when he should be condemning Clark and his comments. "This is now about Obama, not Wesley Clark," added Orson Swindle on a conference call with reporters organized by the Republican presidential candidate's campaign.

For more on Clark's bad judgement, click on the link below.

Related post:

Wesley the whacko

Technorati tags:

My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Vicksburg Battlefield, Part Four, The USS Cairo

The first industrialized war was the American Civil War. Yes, there were conflicts after the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, but railroads and the telegraph didn't figure into the fighting or strategy. Nor did ironclad warships, forerunners of today's naval vessels.

Gettysburg may be the most-visited of America's Civil War battlefields, but they don't have a recovered ironclad on display. Vicksburg does, the USS Cairo.

Part of the Union strategy to defeat the Southern states was to seize control of the Mississippi River, which would not only split the Confederacy in two, but give the Northerners a reliable supply route in what was then called the West.

It took two years, but Federal forces, led by Major General Ulysses S. Grant, accomplished this goal when Confederate forces at Vicksburg, Mississippi surrendered on July 4, 1863 after a 47 day siege. (Five days later, upon hearing of the fall of the river bluff town, Port Hudson, Louisiana defenders surrendered.)

As I explained in an earlier post, a brilliant overland campaign by General Grant in the spring of 1863 led to the surrounding of Vicksburg. On the river ironclads shelled Confederate positions--and the town. One of those ships that participated in the campaign was the USS Cairo (pronounced KAY-roh), part of the City class of ironclads. At the suggestion of Admiral Andrew Hull Foote, the ironclads patrolling the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers were named for towns on those waterways: Pittsburgh, Louisville, Cincinnati, Carondelet (now part of St. Louis), St. Louis, Mound City (Illinois), and of course, Cairo, another Illinois city.

Each ship of this type, sometimes referred to as the Cairo class, was built either in Mound City or Carondelet. Like the Confederate ironclad the Merrimack, the ships were wooden but covered with metal plates. The best known Union ironclad, the USS Monitor, was made completely of iron.

The USS Cairo took part several battles along the Ohio and upper Mississippi Rivers, as well as the first Battle of Nashville.

By late 1862, Southern resistance was concentrated along Vicksburg, and Admiral Foote's ironclads were working to close the ring around the city. But on December 12 of that year, while steaming up the Yazoo River near that body of water's meeting with the Mississippi, the Cairo hit an underwater mine--then called a torpedo--and sank 12 minutes later. There were no casualties.

In the late 1950s searchers began looking for the Cairo wreck, and by 1964, much of the ship, along with many artifacts, was salvaged. In 1977, the remains of the USS Cairo were put on display inside Vicksburg National Battlefield Park, an adjacent museum holds the artifacts.

Near the exhibit is not only the US Navy Memorial, but the Vicksburg National Military Cemetery, which overlooks the Yazoo River Diversionary Canal, where the Mississippi rolled past until changing its course in 1876.

Next: One last look at Vicksburg

Vicksburg-related posts:

Previous My Mississippi Manifest Destiny posts:

Revolt at the polls against the Cook County corruption tax called by Democratic reformer

As I noted in my prior post, Chicagoans are now paying the highest tax of any big city residents. It's likely that it's the highest in the nation, and even if it isn't, it doesn't matter. Paying 10.25 percent is simply too much, especially when we don't get much in return. Pictured on the right is the late John Stroger and convicted felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko. Two years ago, Stroger eked out a win against reformer Forrest Claypool in the Democratic primary for the Cook County Board presidency. In this land of coincidences--Chicago and Cook County--Rezko's wife Rita, the onetime owner of the "Rezko lot" next to Barack Obama's South Side mansion, pictured on the right, received a plum county job.

Rita makes $38,000 a year for a part-time job with County Employee Appeals Board. She's eligible for health insurance, and her responsibilities involve attending roughly one meeting a month, something Ms. Rezko wasn't doing much during the run-up to her husband's first corruption trial.

Plenty of county residents work five or six days a week so they can bring home $38,000. They're the ones who will get hurt the most by the new tax.

My guess is that there are hundreds of Rita Rezkos working for Cook County. It's the worst government money can buy.

A week before the 2006 Democratic Primary, Stroger suffered a massive stroke--he was never seen in public again. He passed away earlier this year. Back room deals put the inept Todd "Toddler" Stroger on the general election, and with a lot of help from politician like Barack Obama, the younger Stroger defeated Republican Tony Peraica that fall.

Claypool voted against the "corruption tax," and in this e-mail announcement, he all but announces that he'll be a candidate against Todd Stroger in the 2010 Democratic primary.

Today, thanks to President Todd Stroger and his allies, Chicago has the highest sales tax (10.25%) of any city in the United States. Business owners will face sales taxes that are at least two percentage points higher than their neighboring competitors. County shoppers will have greater incentive to shop outside the county, destroying local jobs.

The $426 million dollar tax increase comes as families struggle with $4 gasoline and escalating food costs. Unemployment in the metro area continues to rise.

Despite this backdrop, the first instinct of Cook County politicians is to raise taxes, rather than seriously attack the legendary bloat, waste and incompetence of local government. At the county's hospitals and clinics, bureaucrats failed to bill $250 million in annual reimbursable costs from Medicaid and insurance companies. Taxpayers simply made up the difference.

The Democratic Machine has ensured that voters here will never enjoy the rights enjoyed by citizens in other states, such as recall of elected officials and petition and referendum. Our only recourse is to encourage a revolt at the polls on February 2, 2010, a ridiculously early and bitterly cold date chosen by party officials to discourage turnout by those not affiliated with the system.

February 2, 2010. Tell everyone you know: Mark your calendars. And dress warmly.

And once again, I have to ask, what does Obama have to say about the corruption tax? He enthusiastically (see below post) endorsed "The Toddler" two autumns ago. Speak out. And not through a spokesman, please.

UPDATE 12:00 PM: Morton Grove businessman Andy McKenna, who is the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, offers his anaylsis:

"It's pretty clear that Barack Obama's friends like Todd Stroger are giving a glimpse into what life will be like under an Obama presidency," said McKenna. "I have to believe if Senator Obama felt differently he would have spoken against this tax increase."

"How can we expect Barack Obama to bring change to Washington if he cannot bring change to Illinois?"

Related post:

Rita Rezko's contribution to America's worst government, Cook County

Technorati tags:

T-Day in Obama's hometown: Highest sales tax of any big city in America

It's a dark day in Chicago history--because of the hubris of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, Chicagoans beginning today will pay the highest sales tax of any big city in the nation. To use James Thurber's words, it's true, you could look it up.

Chicago's sales tax jumps Tuesday to 10.25 percent, due in large part to Cook County's 1 percent tax increase. It's one of the highest tax rates in the country, even higher than New York and Los Angeles.

But you don't have to go too far to find lower taxes. They're just 7 percent in Lake and Will counties, and 7.25 percent in DuPage County.

I live close to Lake County, and do you know where I'm going to buy a big ticket item such as a laptop computer?

Residents of Chicago's Cook County suburbs, where I live, will pay a little bit less, anywhere from 9.75 percent to 10 percent.

Shameful.

Cook County government is led by a hack named Todd Stroger, who succeeded his hack father, the late John Stroger, after the Chicago Democrat withdrew his name from the 2006 general election ballot. The elder Stroger suffered a debilitating stroke earlier that year.

Voters in Cook didn't like the stench of son replacing father, and Tony Peraica came close to doing something no Republican had accomplished in forty years--win the presidency of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.

But a last minute push by Democratic heavies, including Barack Obama, was enough to put "the Toddler" over the top.

For maybe the fifth time or so, I refer to Eric Zorn's 2006 Chicago Tribune column about Stroger:

Obama's staff released a profoundly disheartening letter to voters this week in which Obama, joined by Sen. Dick Durbin, endorsed Cook County Board presidential candidate Todd Stroger.

The letter, which puffs lots of hot air into the saggy balloon of Stroger's legislative resume, refers to him as "a good progressive Democrat" who will "lead us into a new era of Cook County government."

Todd Stroger was a "strong voice" in Springfield, the letter says. He has "worked assiduously" for the poor as an alderman. Yet, of course, the record reveals that Stroger is an unimaginative legislative drone whose reform credentials are wholly imaginary--an unlikely trailblazer to a new era.

So true. Unless you call slapping a regressive tax increase to support a governmental body the Chicago Tribune calls "a fetid swamp" trailblazing.

Although Cook County certainly has some hard working and dedicated employees, the sad truth is that county government serves as a patronage army for the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization, known elsewhere as "The Machine."

More from Zorn:

And Obama has come too far as an inspiring new breed of politician on the national scene to muck around in local politics, endorsing machine hack candidates and substituting party for principle. Or so you'd imagine.