Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

The revolution will be supervised.

I really should read my own blog.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

It’s a doggy dog world.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

The willow is too close to the house.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / Webb’s In

Reader Interactions

63Comments

  1. 1.

    Roger Moore

    Confederate flag loving Democrats who don’t want to do anything about climate change just got a candidate

    Add Webb and his wife, and they’ll have enough for a bridge game.

  2. 2.

    raven

    Speaking of poorly formatted blog posts, I just posted this from a blog about Tom Petty and the Confederate Flag.

    But the Petty concert I’ll always remember most vividly was
    in 1989, once again in Charlotte.
    In April of that year Petty had released his first solo LP, the Jeff
    Lynne-produced Full Moon Fever, so he
    was spotlighting a good chunk of that record even though with the exception of
    guitarist Mike Campbell the members of the Heartbreakers only had cameos on FMF. The band was also doing a lot of
    the Southern Accents album, from
    1985, and much of the same stage design (plantation mansion columns, assorted
    antebellum/southern touches, etc.) from the Southern
    Accents tour was still being used. It was during the “Southern Accents” song
    itself that something totally out of the blue happened.

    A certain yahoo element had already been making its presence
    in the crowd known, emitting whoops and raising beer cups whenever Petty would
    make a regional reference. It was starting to feel like a NASCAR rally in the
    arena. Now, as the band eased into the song’s signature piano intro, somebody
    tossed a folded-up object onto the stage. Petty walked over, picked it up, and
    started unfolding it: a rebel flag, symbol of the Confederacy – and of a whole
    lot more. He froze, uncertain as to what he should do. Well, wave it proudly at all your fellow Southerners, you could
    almost hear the collective thought ripple through the air. Instead, while the
    band continued vamping on the intro, Petty walked back to the mic, still
    holding the flag, and slowly began to speak, talking about how on the Southern Accents tour a few years ago
    they’d included a Confederate flag as part of the stage set, but since then
    he’d been thinking about it and decided that it had been a mistake because he
    understood maybe it wasn’t just a rebel image to some folks. As a low rumble of
    boos and a few catcalls came out of the crowd, Petty carefully wadded the flag up
    and concluded, “So we don’t do” – nodding at the flag – “this anymore.” Chucking it back into the audience, he started to
    sing, softly, gradually building in volume:

    “There’s a southern accent,
    where I come from

    The young’uns call it
    country, the Yankees call it dumb

    I got my own way of
    talkin’ but everything is done

    With a southern accent
    where I come from…”

    Driving home from the concert that night I still could feel
    the combined chill and thrill I’d gotten earlier. A lesser performer wouldn’t
    have been able to pull off a simultaneous refutation and affirmation, and in
    the unexpected duality of sentiment and expectations of the moment, Petty and
    his Heartbreakers had gone on to perform the song with a visceral resolve imbued
    equally with grace and grit I hadn’t detected at previous concerts.

    Turning on the radio, I heard the local classic rock deejay
    talking about the incident in disparaging terms and inviting listeners to call
    in and “let Tom Petty know just what we think about him.” In that moment, I
    felt the anger and defiance of my younger self return, and I wanted to punch
    the dashboard.

    http://blurtonline.com/feature/that-southern-accent-tom-petty-the-heartbreakers-2/

  5. 5.

    the Conster

    OT, but Serta Mattresses just dumped Trump. Was there such a thing as a Trump mattress? Maybe for his hotels? I’m sure they were yoooge, very beautiful, very elegant.

  6. 6.

    smintheus

    Second sentence into his announcement, he starts complaining about how unfair the primary process will be. Hoo boy.

  7. 7.

    JPL

    My wish, is that this is the last post on Webb. As a Senator, he voted with the democrats and that’s all I care about. Now that he is no longer, in office, I hope he doesn’t enjoy his life as a bigot.

  8. 8.

    srv

    Webb is unarguably the only Democrat who can work with Republicans.

    It’s funny when liberal hippie punchers choose nihilism and berate a fellow anti-war democrat for being impure.

  10. 10.

    gbear

    Webb is unarguably the only Democrat who can work with Republicans.

    You say that like it’s a good thing.

  11. 11.

    Betty Cracker

    @the Conster: Yoooodge, very classy and perhaps stuffed with hair reclaimed from shower drains. (It’s my theory that Trump keeps marrying long-haired blondes because he fashions their shower-drain leavings into a homemade toupee.)

  13. 13.

    Gin & Tonic

    @the Conster: Posted this last night, not sure people believed me. There’s a line of men’s cologne called “SUCCESS by Donald Trump.” Really. I wonder if we will live long enough to see the logical next line.

  15. 15.

    Suzanne

    I cannot say I feel inspired. Well, I love me some Bernie, but at this point, I am Ready for Hillary.

  17. 17.

    trollhattan

    Time for another bout of eleventy-dimensional chess, from the master. Per Chait:

    Two days ago, report Edward-Isaac Dovere and Sarah Wheaton, President Obama organized a conference call for former advisers. The president informed them that securing the administration’s legacy requires electing a successor (i.e., Hillary Clinton) who will cement rather than roll back his accomplishments. “Much in the same way that the Reagan Revolution required Bush Senior” to cement the legacy of a truly transformative president, Obama reportedly said, “we’ve got to make sure that we’re laying the foundation … less for our benefit and more to create the political climate going into the next election so the agenda that we’ve set continues.” Meanwhile, today Obama is heading to Madison, Wisconsin, to unveil his administration’s new rule to make overtime available to 5 million new Americans earning up to $50,000 a year. “The contrast between our approach on economic issues and the governor’s is emblematic of the contrast between the president and the Republican Party at large,” an aide tells Dovere.

    It is possible that these two stories have nothing to do with each other. But it’s also possible they have everything to do with each other.

    Taking his overtime initiative to Wisconsin is bloody brilliant.

  18. 18.

    Mike in NC

    Webb is much too thin-skinned for politics, so he’ll probably drop out before anybody knows he’s even running.

  19. 19.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Im gonna go ahead and say August shall not pass, as Ian McKellan might say, without a story about how odd it is for a presidential candidate to take a two week (or more) vacation (I’m gonna guess Montana) while running for President, September will bring stories of low fund-raising, October no scheduled campaign events, November ‘background’ stories about his frustration with Democrats afraid of disagreement and different points of view, December colder weather and the Peanuts Christmas special, and January a withdrawal speech, maybe just a statement, that will register a 3 out of 10 on the scale of “Fuck me? Well, fuck you, you losers!” bitterness, where Joe Lieberman is a ten and John McCain is 11,674. Next August a just-before-prime-time speaking spot on day 2 of the Convention, which will be noted for its grudging endorsement of Hillary Clinton. (ETA:) which Chuck Todd will agree with Mika and Joe could signal trouble for HRC with real Americans I mean white male voters.

  21. 21.

    Betty Cracker

    @trollhattan: I remember during the Clinton vs. Obama primary when Obama told a newspaper editor he wanted to be a transformative president in the mold of Reagan. Of course, the PUMAs all lost their shit — Obama wants to be the new Reagan!

    But of course he meant that he wanted to push the country in a new direction like Reagan did — not the same direction. And if the Democrats can hang onto the White House in 2016, make some progress in Congress, etc., damn if Obama won’t be well on his way to being as consequential in a good direction as Reagan was in the opposite way.

  23. 23.

    Belafon

    @trollhattan: About the only think I would argue with Chait about is that unless Obama says it explicitly, I doubt he cares whether it’s Clinton or Sanders, as long as it’s one of them.

  24. 24.

    the Conster

    @efgoldman:

    Can’t imagine bringing anything to do with Trump… into my home! where my children sleep! [[in a Michael Corleone shout]]

    I don’t think I could sleep on something named Trump. Fucking creepy in every way.

  25. 25.

    Belafon

    The Democrats have a Socialist, two Democrats, a Dixicrat, and a Republican. We don’t even need the other primary.

  26. 26.

    MomSense

    On TWIB the other day Elon called the Republican candidates batman villains which is a perfect description. I think Webb would fit right in with that group.

  27. 27.

    the Conster

    @Betty Cracker:

    I remember that PUMA purity shit show when Obama said that. I knew exactly what he meant, but OMG those professional emo self cutters complaining about that made me want to track each one down personally and back my car over them.

  28. 28.

    catclub

    @trollhattan:

    Taking his overtime initiative to Wisconsin is bloody brilliant.

    Obama had his sights on Romney throughout the primaries. This is something that Walker should point out.

    @Belafon:

    I doubt he cares whether it’s Clinton or Sanders, as long as it’s one of them.

    And they win. If there is doubt on that, he would favor the one who is more likely to win.

  31. 31.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @the Conster: I remember that PUMA purity shit show when Obama said that. I knew exactly what he meant,

    The evidence for it came more than a decade earlier (was it the ’95 SOTU?) when Bubba got up and said, “The era. Of Big Government. Is over!”

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    @Betty Cracker:

    And if the Democrats can hang onto the White House in 2016, make some progress in Congress, etc., damn if Obama won’t be well on his way to being as consequential in a good direction as Reagan was in the opposite way.

    Good point. If HW loses then the Reagan revolution screeches to an immediate halt instead of lurching on another four years. Since we’ve no right to presume either house in congress flips in ’16, keeping the WH is not negotiable.

    BTW, when Reagan comes up in conversation it’s usually some sepia-tinted fond recollection and my standard retort is, “You mean the criminal organization known as the Reagan administration?” I’m very popular.

  36. 36.

    Gravenstone

    @trollhattan:

    Taking his overtime initiative to Wisconsin is bloody brilliant.

    Indeed, because Snotty Walker has made his political bones by fucking over workers (particularly unionized) here. That’s a definite shot across the bow, as it were.

  37. 37.

    TG Chicago

    @Hunter Gathers:

    Webb 2016 – He worked for Reagan that one time.

    Webb even has a picture of himself shaking hands with Reagan on the site’s biography page. Yeesh.

    Does this put Webb in the lead to be the VP on Hillary’s ticket?

  38. 38.

    boatboy_srq

    @srv: Given how b#tsh!t-crazy the GOTea has become, this may not necessarily be an asset.

  40. 40.

    cahuenga

    Too bad he’s on the fence about pardoning Manson. That’s a real deal killer.

  42. 42.

    jl

    I thought Webb said last week, after his latest Dukes of Hazard level statements on ‘white culture’ that he was not planning on running.

    Well, I guess Chaffee won’t have to worry about being last in the Dem primary anymore.

  44. 44.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @FlipYrWhig: I think that was true in ’08, when he wasn’t so bothered by Hillary being part of a royal family, but I guess running mates have gotten past worst, voodoo economics springs to mind.

    I can’t imagine Webb as Veep. Somebody with his ego wouldn’t want it, and I think even the brain trust that vetted Sarah Palin would see him as a loose cannon.

  46. 46.

    Redshift

    @jl: Nah, everybody else said he wasn’t running after that.

    I skimmed thorough his post. Webb actually isn’t all bad, especially on domestic policy. He doesn’t really have much in common with Republicans (unless you go back to Eisenhower), and his positions on economic fairness, criminal justice, infrastructure, etc. are fine to excellent.

    On foreign policy, he could fit in on Fox News (though as a Fox News Democrat, not wingnut screecher.) He declares that he wouldn’t sign any agreement with Iran that would let them get nuclear weapons, implying without saying that Obama’s proposal would, a belief that’s popular among wingnuts even though it’s completely false.

    And there’s his obsession with the noble Scots-Irish, and his resulting willful blindness to racism.

    So yeah, he’d be dreadful as a Democratic candidate or as president. But not quite as dreadful as people are making him out to be.

  47. 47.

    jl

    @Redshift: I think Webb would be dreadful at winning general elections in current political climate, so that is my main concern. On many issues he is pretty good, but on some critical ones he is mess in terms of either policy or electability, or both.

  48. 48.

    Kerry Reid

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I also don’t see what he’d add to the ticket. If we learned nothing else from the Obama elections, it should be that losing the white working-class Southern male vote really isn’t a deal breaker. After his tone-deaf BS on the rebel flag, Webb would be likely to LOSE HRC as many votes as she’d gain. I suspect she will do better with white working-class women than Obama did no matter who her running mate is. So she may as well pick Julian Castro or someone else who breaks the mold.

    And yeah, I think Webb has a terrible temperament for VP. That is one of the things I admired about Biden right out of the box in 2008 — he knew he had more years and foreign policy experience than Obama, and that was why he was on the ticket, but he didn’t condescend. He’s been pretty great over all and I think those are going to be tough shoes to fill. Webb just oozes with resentment. In the noble tradition of his petty-minded Albion’s Seed Borderer forebears.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    Maybe Webb is interested in a cabinet position?

    I appreciated his defeating George Felix (Macaca) Allen for Senate. And then Webb stood down after one term, and we got Tim Kaine, who again defeated George Allen.

    So Virginia’s been pretty good for Democratic senators lately. But I will pass on Webb as a presidential candidate.

  51. 51.

    WaterGirl

    @Elizabelle: I hope Webb doesn’t even get a cabinet position. He’s wrong on so many things, and I am singularly unimpressed by his attitudes toward women. I don’t think he’s even worth seriously discussing as a candidate.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    Of all the non-laughable choices, I’d like to see Joe Biden as president and O’Malley as his VP.

  54. 54.

    Rich (In Name Only) in Reno

    And somewhere in the bowels of the DNC, the brain in a beaker that blessed us with Joe Lieberman as the VP candidate in 2000 just came back to life and beamed out “Say, here’s an idea…”.

  55. 55.

    TG Chicago

    @Kerry Reid: I agree that Webb doesn’t help HRC’s ticket. I just fear that she and her crack team of political consultants will think otherwise.

  56. 56.

    SiubhanDuinne

    a poorly formatted blog post

    Ugly, boring format, impossible to read. At the very least, he needs to define his paragraphs better, either by indentation or (preferably) by double line breaks.

    All the photos are on the right-hand side of the page, causing the whole thing to list to starboard (perhaps it’s a subliminal semiotic shoutout to conservatives, although I don’t think he’s that subtle).

    Maybe there are some people who have the patience to wade through that mess. I ain’t among them.

  60. 60.

    Jeffro

    @FlipYrWhig: O’Malley doesn’t add anything to a HRC ticket. Veep picks really aren’t the dial-movers that most folks (myself included) think that they are, but O’Malley doesn’t even give the dial a twinge. Hillary will pick another accomplished woman or an accomplished Hispanic elected official (like Julian Castro)

  61. 61.

    Splitting Image

    @raven:

    “So we don’t do” – nodding at the flag – “this anymore.”

    A crowning moment of awesome for Tom Petty. He is one of the good ones.

  62. 62.

    Kerry Reid

    @TG Chicago: I don’t know why they would. Webb doesn’t seem all that comfortable with women, period, and I don’t think Hillary, who prizes loyalty sometimes to a fault, would have someone she doesn’t trust in that slot.

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