UPDATE: The Webb amendment could come up for a vote as early as today. So please call your Senators now. Senate switchboard: 202-224-3121.
A major battle is shaping up in the Senate over Jim Webb's pro-troops amendment. Webb's colleague from Virginia, John Warner, is prepared to screw over the troops -- and Webb. Call your Senators today. Crooks and Liars has a target list with numbers:
John Warner only $500 raised in the first quarter. Senator Mark Warner sounds good:
U.S. Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) reported Thursday that he has raised only $500 in campaign contributions during the first three months of the year, fueling speculation he may not seek a sixth term next year.
If Warner retires, Virginia could again become a key battleground in the fight to control the Senate as Republicans would be forced to hold onto a Senate seat they've had since 1978. Democrats control the Senate 51-49.
Warner, 80, has been coy about his political future in recent interviews, saying he would like to continue to serve but will ultimately do what he thinks is "best for Virginia." Among the candidates likely to be interested in succeeding Warner is Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.). On the Democratic side, national party leaders are talking to former Gov. Mark R. Warner.
In his quarterly report to the Federal Elections Commission, Warner reported raising $500 in January, February and March, which was 60 times more than he spent during the same period, according to the FEC. Warner has $667,272 in the bank.
Wow. Good for Warner. Too bad he's the last of a dying breed of Republicans who aren't preoccupied with who they should next hate. From ABC News:
In an rare rebuke of the nation's top military officer, Secretary of Defense Sen. John Warner, R-Va., says he strongly disagrees with Gen. Peter Pace's views that homosexuality is "immoral."
"I respectfully, but strongly disagree with the chairman's view that homosexuality is immoral," Warner said in a statement released by his office.
Warner was reacting to Pace's unusual defense of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military. Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune that he supports the policy because he believes homosexuality is "immoral" and that the military "should not condone immoral acts."
Too bad Pastor Pace, the head of our military, doesn't even know why the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy was adopted in the first place:
Military experts, however, say morality was never the basis of the policy, which says gays may serve in the military only if they keep their sexual orientations private and don't engage in homosexual activity.
"Morality was never the basis of the policy," said retired Gen. Jack Keane. "It was about unit cohesion."
McCain went on Letterman last night to tell the world that he is running for President. A couple of GOP Senators running for re-election, who purport to oppose escalating the war in Iraq, have already endorsed the leading advocate of escalation. Virginia's John Warner announced his support this week. Maine's Susan Collin went overboard praising McCain when she endorsed him a couple weeks ago:
Collins said McCain's experience on both domestic and foreign policy issues is "unparalleled."
"I can think of no better person to lead our nation than John McCain," Collins said.
Warner and Collins have enabled Bush for the past six years. Both of them chaired key committees that could have held Bush accountable. Neither did.
Now, they're supporting McCain who wants to escalate the Iraq war in ways that far exceed even what Bush is thinking. Warner and Collins can talk about ending the escalation and throw an occasional vote that way. But, through their support for Bush and McCain, Warner and Collins own the Iraq war -- and the escalation. If we get the Warner/Collins choice for President, we get more of the same and a bigger escalation.
