More on the Election

From AEI:

[The Virginia Senate race] may be one of the most hilariously ironic races in the country. National Democrats are slamming the incumbent Republican senator George Allen for his fondness for Confederate memorabilia. Yet their candidate Webb genuinely is what Allen merely pretends to be: His great-great-grandfather rode with Nathan Bedford Forrest's murderous cavalry; Webb, who has often spoken eloquently in praise of the southern soldiery, named his own son after Robert E. Lee. Talk about your red-state appeal!

It's a good article overall, concluding:

[Democrats] will find themselves again and again confronted by the hard reality that over the long run the only way to seem tough on defence is to be tough on defence.

As well as:

...America's friends and foes abroad will be startled to discover that [the election] was a sharp move toward the Democratic party--without any move at all to the political or ideological left.

Technorati Tags: Senate, Virginia, 2006 Elections

The Real Election Results

Rush Limbaugh had this to say about yesterdays elections:

...it wasn't conservatism that lost. Conservatism won when it ran as a Democrat. It won in a number of places. Republicanism lost. RINO Republicans, country club blue-blood Republicans, this nonpartisan Republican identity, that's what went down in flames.

Democrats, in the process, lost all hope of having an identity.

Forbes adds:

[The Democrat leadership] will also have to contend with the influx of a large number of conservative Democrats, many of whom are pro-life, anti-tax and staunchly opposed to illegal immigrants. Recruited to win in red districts, they are likely to clash with the decided liberal party leadership.

Gridlock and a conservative majority might be the best thing that could happen to Congress.

And from Time:

...the vote increases the onus on Democrats to go beyond merely criticizing the President and show voters they have a constructive agenda of their own.

Good luck with that.

Technorati Tags: Congress, Democrats, Republicans, 2006 Elections

Webb of Deception

From the Washington Times:

In this age of political cynicism, it is unremarkable that a politician would change his position on an issue, or even take conflicting positions. But Jim Webb's transformation from the nominally conservative Republican who served as the Reagan administration's secretary of the Navy to a left-wing Democratic Senate candidate rivals St. Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus. Divine intervention, of course, is one possibility. A more likely explanation, however, is that the public persona Mr. Webb presents is actually a fabrication, as carefully crafted as any character in the novels he has penned.

The shift is truly remarkable. He once refused to shake John Kerry's hand, and in a 2004 USA Today editorial wrote that his 1971 Senate testimony had "defamed a generation of honorable men." Now he trumpets Mr. Kerry's endorsement. He once called the Clinton Administration among "the most corrupt" in modern history in one of many attacks aimed at the former president. Now he has Bill Clinton host a fundraiser. Mr. Webb served in one of the most conservative administrations in American history. Today, he has embraced the entire agenda of the Democratic Party's far-left wing.

In fairness, Mr. Webb has remained extremely consistent on some issues. One example is his disdain for women in military service...

The evidence of that disdain is too lengthy to quote. Read it all here, including Webb's opposition to a memorial (a mere statue) to the 10,000 women who served in Vietnam.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Virginia, 2006 Elections

Metro Puts Train Times Online

The Washington Post reports:

Tired of rushing to the Metro station only to see your train pulling away and the platform sign saying the next one is in 12 minutes? Good news.

Riders will now be able to find out when trains are arriving at stations before hoofing it to the platform. A new Metro technology provides real-time information on computers and Web-enabled wireless devices, such as BlackBerries and cellphones.

Read it all here.

It won't be of much use at rush hour(s) or if you're anywhere but just outside the station, but there could be situations when it helps. It would also be nice if they would just post the arrival times outside the fare gates, but that might provoke stampedes as well.

Technorati Tags: DC Metro, Transportation

Moran: Terrorists Can't Read

The Washington Post reports on efforts to secure federal buildings. La République populaire d'Alexandrie's own Jim Moran had this to say:

The terrorists don't know who's in what office building, and even if they knew, they couldn't locate them because of all those acronyms.

Ummm. Ok.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Virginia

Webb: Reading My Writing is a "'Line That Should Never Be Crossed"

The Washington Post reports:

Virginia U.S. Senate candidate James Webb yesterday delivered his strongest criticism of incumbent Sen. George Allen of the fall campaign, vigorously defending himself against Allen's charges that he wrote sex-laced passages in his fiction novels.

He called on voters to reject what he called the "smear tactics" of Allen and his campaign, who released excerpts Thursday from Webb's novels to the Drudge Report Web site and said the writings were lurid and inappropriate for a man seeking to serve in the Senate.

...

"When George Allen and his campaign take some small excerpts from my novels and not only criticizes them but uses them to question my ethics, my profession, my character, that is a line that should never be crossed," Webb said at Edgar Allen Poe Middle School in Annandale.

Webb is really really whiny for a candidate who tries to portray himself as a tough guy. He sounds more like he belongs in middle school than politics. (And he hasn't explained the relationship between child molestation and combat yet either.)

Senator Allen explains it best:

Allen, speaking to reporters near Richmond yesterday after winning the endorsement of the National Rifle Association's political action committee, said Webb's career as an author of fictional works was part of his record.

"My record as a United States senator is an open book. My opponent has a record as well," Allen told reporters. "He, in his advertisements, points out that he's an author, that he's a writer of books. That's part of his record. These passages in his books are part of his open record. I'll let the people of Virginia be the judge as to whose record they are more comfortable with."

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Senate, Virginia, 2006 Elections

How Senatorial

An actual press release from the Webb campaign:

George Allen: You Have Not Earned the Right to Question Jim Webb’s Recollections of War – So Just Shut Up

Apparently that was in reference to those of us who question the use of explicit scenes of child molestation in Jimmy Webb's books.

It is disturbing that Webb can't seem to tell the difference between combat and child molestation (or even fruit molestation).

Then again, Webb's attitude wouldn't stand out alongside John Kerry.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Senate, Virginia, 2006 Elections