2009.07.03
Editorial: Perriello stands tall
Perriello stands tall
Climate change vote was a matter of national security, not politics.
U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, DAlbemarle County, who has already been the target of hostile campaign ads after his surprise victory over Virgil Goode last year, is bracing for more. The National Republican Congressional Committee is preparing to target House Democrats in swing districts who voted for the Waxman-Markey climate change legislation -- and Perriello fits the bill.
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standing tall = voting for a bill you haven't read...suhweet!!
standing tall would have been voting for a bill after debate and having read it. Right now in Va we have dems like Periello, Warner, Webb who I think at their core are good, smart folks. The problem lies when your leadership are idiots like Reid and Pelosi- and I'm sorry to idiots everywhere. Warner would never have signed a bill like the stimulus plan as governor of Va. but he has to go along to get along. The result is we may as well have Conyers and Kerry representing us.
Comment by BUD — July 3, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
Standing tall = voting for the progress and change your country asked for and being willing to take the heat that is already being applied for that vote. Perriello has a precarious seat and yet still evidences the courage and character we were smart enough to see in him. Do you actually recall Virgil Goode voting AGAINST the Republican leadership (no towering pillars of virtue and character there either!) back in his day? You are trying to shoot a messenger for doing his job.
If you are under the impression that ALL pols read every word in every bill before the vote is taken, you simply do not understand how our government works or you hope that those reading your words do not know any better. Perhaps if "The Patriot Act" had not been the choking pill that it was, the ugly precedent you so dislike would not have been set. But there it is. That is, as I mentioned before, the crux of the problem. How do you un-ring a bell? How do you stop Obama/Biden from exercising the same self-serving prerogatives granted to Bush/Cheney?
I know it is a bitter pill that people we don't like get elected. More bitter that those we do not support are in leadership positions. Having survived, Dick Armey, Bob Barr, Trent Lott, Tom Delay, Tancredo, Goode, et al, I predict you will survive the ubiquitous Pelosi and Reid until there constituents send them packing as well.
Comment by Sandi Saunders — July 3, 2009 @ 1:31 pm
Standing tall? Hardly. Right vote wrong reason. Periello reportedly was one the fence even last Thursday in order to see which side would prevail on the bill so he could be on the winning side. He wasn't about to pay a price for backing a losing bill. It was the correct vote, but hardly a courageous one. He knows he's a freshman who has to walk the chalk.
Comment by The Professor — July 3, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
Better a candidate in office that didn't read a bill than a bigot in office who hasn't read the constitution.
Comment by scott — July 3, 2009 @ 3:34 pm
Sandi..so the country asked for 1) an $800,000,000,000 stimulus bill that isn't? 2)gov takeover of major segments of the auto industry?3) the creation of 20+ czar like positions to bypass cabinet appointees? 4) the creation of a $1.500,000,000,000 annual deficit? I just don't recall that happening or better yet dems campaigning with those promises
Interesting that you tolerate congress voting for bills when they are unfamiliar with the contents... just what was the hurry? And when were ARMEY DELAY TANCREDO and GOODE heads of the house and senate? I said Warner et al were good smart folks and my beef is with the leaders Pelosi and Reid. Given congress's low 20's approval rating, looks like people are smarter than you think.
Comment by BUD — July 3, 2009 @ 3:39 pm
Oh and Sandi..speaking of the Patriot Act, your mancrush prez Obama voted for its reauthorization.
Comment by BUD — July 3, 2009 @ 3:43 pm
Gee BUD, I don't know, did the country ask for two wars, constitutional ignorance and disrespect, secrecy and corruption from the Bush/Cheney administration? The country asked for a President with the courage to clean out the "bad" only fools expected that not to stink or be painless. That so many of the guilty are leading the rants against him only confirms the wisdom of our choice at this point.
I do not advocate that anyone vote without information, I just note that it is not simply an Obama phenomenon. FYI, Tom Delay was the House Minority Leader known as "the hammer". Trent Lott, was a leader in the House AND in the Senate, Armey was a House leader as well. Tancredo wanted to run for President, only Goode was simply a soldier.
Like many voters, I do tend to support those I vote for, "mancrush" not withstanding!
Comment by Sandi Saunders — July 3, 2009 @ 4:14 pm
"Gee BUD, I don't know, did the country ask for two wars, constitutional ignorance and disrespect, secrecy and corruption from the Bush/Cheney administration?"
Maybe not, Sandi, but the Obama administration is doing a darn good job of following in their footsteps...despite promising "change".
Comment by Patrick — July 3, 2009 @ 4:26 pm
..."Gee BUD, I don't know, did the country ask for two wars..."
my gosh how many times does it have to be said
IT WAS VOTED ON
Comment by pammala — July 3, 2009 @ 7:42 pm
Sure you understand that just because the vote was there, doesn't mean its the will of the people.
Due to our somewhat faulty political system, it would have been career suicide for any democrats to not vote for attacking a country (no matter which one it was) after 9/11. They would have been skewered in the media, and by the public which was too blinded by its outrage to make intelligent decisions about who was responsible and who to attack. This carried all the way through the Bush administration by the society of fear they created. Always we're under the threat of terrorists. Anyone who buys into this and alters their lifestyle for it has lost their freedom, as they are beholden to a silent invisible enemy.
The simple truth is, id say a very small minority actually would have asked for two wars. Those that profit off the military-industrial complex, particularly those who make money like Blackwater and Haliburton for providing services to war-torn countries.
Voting for something doesn't mean it's right. People voted for and still vote for steroid users in baseball, and that surely isn't right.
Comment by scott — July 4, 2009 @ 1:30 am
Georgie went to war because Dickie told him to!
Comment by Blue John — July 4, 2009 @ 9:12 am