U.S. Senator and former Navy Secretary Jim Webb’s response to the State
of the Union drew unusually high marks, even on Fox News.
** BUSH’S STATE. So, the State of the Union. I’m somewhat talked out on the topic. There is, of course, a long form on this. And there is a short form. Here is the short form. It won’t mean much.
President George W. Bush has descended to Nixon resignation levels of job approval. His Iraq policy, what has come to be the centerpiece of his presidency, has collapsed and overwhelming numbers of voters disapprove of his latest attempt to rejigger it. It is even more unpopular in California than it is in the nation as a whole, and that, believe me, is saying something.
I think people have largely tuned Bush out. And with the race to succeed him as president accelerating early, and Democrats in the majority in both the Senate and the House, there is plenty to occupy the space in the popular consciousness that the president ordinarily occupies.
It was good to see that he’s at last discovered the perils of relying on oil, an energy source dominated by interests largely inimical to the United States, and that he’s calling for big cuts in gasoline consumption. He aims to accomplish this through increasing the fuel efficiency of motor vehicles and developing new alternative fuels, largely renewable in nature, here in America.
These moves will also help deal with another threat he mentioned in his State of the Union address, “global climate change.” As Bush uttered these remarks, it was at least mildly amusing to note the persimmon look on the face of the man who has presided over much, if not most, of the energy and national security policy in the Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney.
Most of Bush’s State of the Union agenda, however, will be stillborn. And while it is good to see Bush at last acceding to the obvious — make America more secure by making it less dependent on a volatile, highly complex region of the world — it is sad to see the state to which he has descended. He’s an intelligent, able man. There’s no reason to think he doesn’t want to do good. And yet here he is, his presidency a ruin, ably skewered by Jim Webb‘s self-penned speech which took up a fraction of the time.
As for Webb, he is getting high marks, even on Fox News, where Fred Barnes and Mort Kondracke praised his remarks, while not unreasonably wondering about his scenario for an Iraq withdrawal. As anticipated here for months, a vice presidential prospect is born. The Democrats running the Congress now, Nevada’s Harry Reid and California’s Nancy Pelosi, knew what they were doing when they picked him.
** THOSE FAR RIGHT-WING CHARGES AGAINST OBAMA. No, I haven’t ignored those silly right-wing charges against Senator Barack Obama. You know, the ones from the Moonie-owned Insight Magazine, uncritically parroted by our friends at Fox News, and repeated around the somewhat witless right-wing blogosphere that Barack Hussein Obama was secretly raised a Muslim by his father (who he actually barely knew), educated in an anti-Western madrassa in Indonesia, and, by implication, though this seems a level of wit somewhat beyond the accusers, is the 21st century equivalent of the Manchurian Candidate.
Well, here is the deal. It’s all nonsense. CNN sent someone to his school and found it was nothing like what was so garishly layed out by Insight, the badly named outlet, and Fox News, which, though conservative, has the wit to know better. There is going to be a lot of this crap. I won’t deal with all of the errant nonsense that will be emanating from the multitude of “media sources” now online. Who has the time for endless nonsense? Here is a rule of thumb, though. If it seems especially garish, it’s almost certainly nonsense until shown to be otherwise.
** DAVOS DOWN. California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom are participating in this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Nunez, who authored California’s landmark climate change bill last year with LA Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, is addressing the forum on climate change and renewable energy issues. Newsom is there to talk about environmental and urban challenges. Davos is perhaps the most famous international forum going these days. NWN, regretably, will be unable to offer video footage of Nunez or Newsom in Switzerland because I decided against loaning my video camera to Nunez advisor Steve Maviglio. I had a friend lose her cell phone, which I ended up replacing, returning from a trip to Europe. That’s not going to happen again.
One New West friend described Davos as “the Playboy Mansion of economic summits.” By which he means you can meet the most amazing people there in fairly casual settings. But apparently not in a grotto.
Other notable Californians are not attending this year, however. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was invited to give a keynote address, but his physician has put the kibosh on too much air travel, due to his need to recover from his pre-Christmas skiing mishap and subsequent leg surgery. And Warren Beatty, a Davos regular, is busy this year with undisclosed whatnot.
** DIFI FOR EARLY PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY. California’s senior Senator, Dianne Feinstein, has endorsed the early California Presidential primary on February 5th. Meanwhile, New Hampshire officials continue to whine about Nevada going second after Iowa, and threaten to jump their primary ahead of the January 19th Nevada Presidential caucuses. Nothwithstanding the fact that their own state law doesn’t really allow it, since Nevada is a caucus state, not a primary state.
** FROM THE GIULIANI FILE. Here is that infamous purloined Rudy Giuliani for President campaign strategy document.
** SCHWARZENEGGER WEBCASTS AT 1:30 PM AND 2:15 PM. Top officials of the Schwarzenegger Administration will hold a press conference, webcast live at 1:30 PM today, on President Bush’s energy proposals. Participants include Linda Adams, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, Dan Skopec, undersecretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, David Crane, senior advisor to the Governor, and Dr. Robert Sawyer, chairman of the California Air Resources Board.
** CONAN THE GREEN. AGAIN. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has won another of those environmental leader awards. This one, for his role in fighting the greenhouse effect and climate change, is from the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, an annual environmental conference in New Delhi, India. Dr. Alan Lloyd, Schwarzenegger’s former secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency and before that the longtime head of the California Air Resources Board, received the award on the governor’s behalf. The governor isn’t jetsetting around as much right now with his leg injury.
I remember back in 2002 telling people that I thought the action movie superstar was something of an environmentalist. They thought I was kidding.
** KERRY ON. Well, actually, no. I was on the air and several alerts came in on my e-mail that 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry will not run again for president next year, but instead will seek another term in the Senate from Massachusetts. He probably would not have won anyway, but his goose was undoubtedly cooked — as we’ve discussed here on NWN — last November when he made his infamous joke about poor students getting “stuck in Iraq.” Naturally, it happened in the hyperpartisan environs of a Phil Angelides for Governor rally in LA …
** Monitor computer memory prices on a daily basis. Prices are stable.
** Track global and national energy prices in near real time via Bloomberg. Crude oil prices are around $54 per barrel. Traders are reportedly uncertain if OPEC will try to cut production again to prop up the price. It may be, however, that Saudi Arabia wants a lower price, to put further pressure on Iran, whose production costs are higher and whose economy is in increasing disarray.
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It’s new, as I’ve said a few times now, in that Bush has previously resisted new fuel efficiency standards.
Turnout for a 2nd primary will be extremely low anyway without a statewide office to fill. A House member, an Assembly member, and maybe a State Senator, with 2 or 3 supervisors per county is all that will be up for election except for props. As for a term limit deal, if one is on the ballot with the presidential primary the result can’t be certified until 30 days after the election—March 6 which is one day before filing closes for the the June 3 Primary.
Sounds like someone is already working on an Election Day “minus” calendar.
Ya know, and I thought that things would be mellow for several months after last year’s elections …
Then I suddenly have to ramp up on national security policy with Bush’s Iraq policy in sudden and utter collapse, etc., etc.
Thanks for Rudy’s memo.
I hope he didn’t pay much for that, ’cause it sucks.
Also, I’m sure there are copies all over, but I would just like to point out that there are a lot of cell phone numbers included in this and other personal information of innocent folks caught-up in this melodrama.
Bill Simon is probably getting calls to catch his refrigerator right now…
Portent of things to come?
In the Rudy memo, Alex Spanos’ company is listed as “LA Raiders.”
Mr. Bradley:I am chuckling at the thought of Jim Webb and Bill Clinton being thrown in close proximity. There are some stories there.
Really! all the better he is there for Hillary….I could teach Hillary how to flounce…flouncing away at the right moment can be very important!! ! Of here is Terry whatever is name is talking about her! and he is talking about California…
(“having Jim Webb there would for me be a counter-balance to having Pres Clinton underfoot again…she can just say” I busy honey”…I need to meet with Jim!”)
If CA does end-up with a primary in Feb, Rudy’s guys might want to figure out how to spell “San Francisco.”
Oh, my, my, my, as Mr. Beatty would say.
Unfortunately, Steve Balmer’s cell phone is NOT included among the many others.
Good thing for him, ’cause my computer crashed twice today.
Oh, I think there’s a Fed Ex exec on there. I’m sure he will be glad to hear about the botched delivery I didn’t get in 1996…
Bill, you mentioned the other day that California will try to prohibit future dirty coal power generating plants and prohibit the importation of dirty coal power. Unfortunately, the mandate will only apply to the investor owned utilities, so the LADWP will be exempt..and thus continue to be the dirtiest utility West of the Mississippi.
As for the Presidential race….Its now early September-the early bloom is off Barack-Hillary is contorting herself around the Iraq war and her previous votes and statements-Edward’s lurch to the left looks like its coming up short. From the praries and the mountain tops comes a primal yell…WE WANT GORE WE WANT GORE…
Passing strange–maybe nostalgia for a better time, or because the current crop of Presidential aspirants don’t inspire, but you do hear folks mention a return for Gore. But I don’t think Gore has given any signs of being interested in another run.
Yeah, but can Al Gore flounce?
Giuliani is for real? Don’t think so.
What, no grottos in Davos? lol
Here’s your c-span highlights!!!
“C-SPAN Highlights
Tonight: [times EST]
* Senate Foreign Relations Cmte. Markup on Iraq Resolution (8pm)
* Sen. Kerry (D-MA) on Iraq, Iran, & the 2008 Presidential Race (11:50pm) ”
Now if you heard Tucker Carlson making fun of Kerry’s speech don’t listen to him ..it was a great speech!
He had on Bill Press and Mike Murphy and Press said Hagel was the Reep he most feared getting in and Murphy said that Hagel is running !!!!!(he also said Rudy is running) Oh I hope he is right!!!
Mr. Bradley! can you check this news out about Chuck Hagel? Please! Please! Please! If this is true it makes my life very complicated! I really like and respect Hagel!
Having once worked under Bill Press in one of my stints as senior advisor to the Democratic Party, I’m sure that’s true.
However, I am not so sure about Mike Murphy’s intel.
I only want a candidate who will be firm against the Muslim killers.
Sadly, Steve Ballmer’s (Bill Gates longterm friend) phone number does not seem to be in the Giuliani document.
Intereestingly enough, many have thought him a Democrat.
Whoops!
Mr. Webb is a winner, a rare, once in a lifetime talent with credentials the national Democrats ignore to their, and our, peril.
Let the trick knee Republicans and fake hawks of the cheap talk radio/blogosphere try to deal with his Navy Cross and gravitas. It will be no contest.
Bradley: I am not so sure about Mike Murphy’s intel.
His intel was dubious two years ago. Last year, Arnold confirmed it.
Isn’t he still on McCain’s payroll?
To my knowledge, no.
>Bill Brasky :
Bradley: I am not so sure about Mike Murphy’s intel.
His intel was dubious two years ago. Last year, Arnold confirmed it.
Isn’t he still on McCain’s payroll?
No more Schwarzenegger, no more McCain, no more Romney. I guess its TV deals from now on for Murphy.
It’s frustrating to get someone fired from their job only to see them on tv everyday.
I guess Phil’s people should be so lucky.
I don’t watch all those cable shows that much. It’s too much background noise in the office.
I don’t think I’ve seen Murph since the California GOP convention last August when I asked Arnold’s press secretary Julie Soderlund at a banquet with Mitt Romney if she’d seen Murphy around and she said he was sitting right in front of us.
Ooops.
* Senate Foreign Relations Cmte. Markup on Iraq Resolution (8pm)
I am watching the above right now with Biden and Hagel! …I hope he runs …but i don’t what anyone but this Don Sipple or Matt Dowd and NWN “Lucas” to advise him …well, I would let Adam schmidt and Arnold’s Susie too …but they are kinda tied up right now! Toodles!
“…he was sitting right in front of us.”
I just narrowly avoided a spit take on that one.
Barbara, “Adam Schmidt?’ You mean an amalgam between Arnold’s gubernatorial communications director Adam Mendelsohn and his campaign manager Steve Schmidt?
Hey, they are both, ah, non-hirsute.
Sounds more than a bit like Adam Selene.
Who can identify that literary reference.
It is more than a bit conservative.
Oh, god, Mike Murphy. lol
Does Murphy work for anyone now? He was good with Straight Talk McCain in 2000.
Don;t know who if anyone Murphy is working with. He was associated with Romney last August.
I meant Steve…I just poured myself a Trader Joe Bavarian Hefeweizen Beer and it’s hard to keep all these guys straight…anyway Hagel is speaking on c-span …he is something else!!!…he just said he wants all the Senators on the line with this resolution he said sure it’s tough ….but if you don’t want a tough job go sell shoes!!! He said ther eis no plan no strategy it’s aping pong game this is what we our doing with 22,000 American lives!!!
kerry is speaking on the committee now…(after a small tangle bteween Dodd and Biden on their respective resolutions) he asks everyone to pay special attention to Webb and Hagel as they come from a “special place” on this…then he revisits 1971 speaking out against Viet Nam War and just said “Senator Webb who is here today did not approve of what I did” This is the real thing…real American drama ..as they discuss these various resolutions…actually kerry (who is supporting Biden Hagel Levin) is ending with an interesting proposal…as to what to propose and how to deal with administration …
Senator Webb who is sitting in the committee looking very thoughful wearing glasses listening to Senator Boxer quote his speech last night…Senator Feingold just stated he is introducing legislation next week that will set timelines for bringing back troops “utilizing the power ofthe purse”…Boxer thanked Hagel for his position from the “bottom of her heart”….this where the neocon driven Bush-Cheny admin has finally taken me somewhere I though was not possible …nodding at everything Senator Boxer said.
selene? is it Heinlein?…
Here goes Obama!…(btw some wa post reporter today said that Hillary’s campaign is freezing his campaign to a standstill on fundraising..I don’t think that is very nice!)
Here come Webb next!!!!!!!
Webb just said “don’t use analogies with Viet Nam”…”we are losing support of people” by doing this …
that was a bit of a did at Kerry for invoking his name which he clearly did not appreciate as …he just complimented Hagel for coming out and saying the troops were against how we are conducting this war…he is of course voting for the resolution wwhile non-binding he says it sends a message to administration and send a messahe to public where Congress stands…which he thinks is important as they know individuals not body of Congress…he wants Dodd amendment studied more and separated from Biden Hagel Levy and will vote against it…
woops should read “dig” at Kerry…
in any event the Biden Hagel levy resolution against the surge passed.
Biden was adamant this is not a resolution vote about the “numbers” of troops the President requested …. this is a vote against the “MISSION”…
Yes, Adam Selene is a Robert Heinlein reference.
Which novel?
Sounds like a fascinating dynamic there between Jim Webb and John Kerry.
Heinlein and Azimov …science fiction but very political stuff if my memory serves me correctly ..I was forced to read them by an old boyfriend from Israel..
It was a very interesting dynamic…in general, Kerry appears to be a bit tone deaf …insensitive… as to how he sounds …
Well I am very curious about your Davos report…where are they staying in Davos? or a nearby village? .. if they are Davos? are they in the Platz section of town? or Dorf? all the parties are in Platz…I hope they understand that party crashing is the key to making this whole trip worthwhile…and everyone does it …it is totally acceptable…are they staying till Saturday? …where is Maviglio? …he could at least come and report on Merkel’s speech!
On Webb/Kerry
It appeared very personal as both used each other’s name ….
webb started his remarks by saying something like “since my name came up in Senator Kerry’s remarks” …then he launched into his contention that the analogy with Viet Nam was a mistake an dunhelpful….
Barbara, “the grotto” refers to the quip about the Playboy Mansion, not a place to stay in Davos.
Adam Selene is a character in the Heinlein class, “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress,” about a libertarian revolution.
Bonus points if you know who Adam Selene is.
I glad! I was afraid you were inferring that they had gone cheap and weren’t staying on the right side of Town, and instead were in a Cave! Heck, they will miss all the parties and networking if they did that!
RE:The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
I know who he was… he was my boyfriend’s favorite character…like him, he was also worked for a Prime Minister he dies in the book
In one sense, he dies, in another sense, he doesn’t.
True…and yet another parallel with my boyfriend…who also died …in one sense…and in another sense ….he doesn’t…
Wikipedia says Mike was revived eventually: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycroft_Holmes_(computer)
Great book! one of Heinlein’s better later works.
Dana, Thank You…and I mean that…I have not read the book since 1983…I just graduated from university…was living abroad and deeply in love…all was good…. but I never understood until reading this link you provided exactly why this book was so important and loved by someone so special to me…but now I understand…as so many things are clearer now than ever before …so again, thank you…
“Mycroft most often goes under the name “Mike”,…and appears in public as “Adam Selene”, the reclusive leader of the revolutionary movement. Adam Selene is eventually “killed” in the Battle in the Corridors when it becomes inconvenient for Mike to continue to pose as Adam Selene. He also goes under many other names and personalities, pretending to be his own secretary and several of the main characters, among others.”
I’d nominate Moon as Heinlein’s very best novel, and his most persuasive case for his Libertarian outlook. (I would disagree, though, that it could be characterized as conservative, at least relative to modern conservatism — I’m having fun imagining the conniptions that conservative representatives in DC or Sacramento would have over the idea of legalizing multi-partner marriages. *g*)