One's political stock price sure does fluctuate: Kerry & Webb

[beachmom]

Remember when Webb was being raved about especially his Democratic response after the SOTU address? Remember that great Iran legislation he put together to require congressional authorization before war with Iran, and all the "I love Jim Webb", "Webb for president" comments one could read? Remember during the same time period that horrid Leibovich NYT article about John Kerry and invented "tears" the MSM created? Remember some of the mean spirited comments one read all over the lib blogosphere when he announced he wasn't running for prez?

Well, now it's just about April, and everything has turned on its head.

KERRY'S Iraq Plan just got amended to the supplemental bill and PASSED with 50 votes. JK & THK's book just reached to #8 and #1 on non-fiction on Amazon.com. Kerry is getting lots of good press on his work for veterans and small business. The Kerrys are in general getting good press about the book. John Kerry was awesome on The Daily Show, and there were many raves about his appearance on the dkos thread yesterday.

What I would want is for BOTH Kerry and Webb to be doing well; however, two bad things have happened to Webb, one of them really bizarre. First, his Iran amendment was not allowed onto the supplemental bill -- this was actually predictable because it was also stripped from the House bill. Still, this was front and center his big issue, prominently displayed on his website, and he lost out on it. So that was a setback for him.

Secondly, this unfortunate incident happened:

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=121903&ran=43641

(Webb aid) Thompson was arrested Monday morning as he passed a briefcase containing a pistol and two ammunition magazines through an X-ray machine at the Russell Senate Office Building. According to a U.S. Capitol Police affidavit released Tuesday, he told officers that the gun and magazines belong to Webb.

"The defendant further stated that he inadvertently left the gun that he was safekeeping from... the previous days" in the briefcase, the affidavit added.

A D.C. law, under challenge in the courts but still being enforced, makes it a felony to possess a handgun in the city unless the bearer has a permit.

Webb has said - and repeated Tuesday - that he has a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Virginia.

Webb, who carefully chose his words as he spoke with journalists at the Capitol shortly before Thompson's hearing, said he "did not give the weapon to Phillip Thompson."

Webb and his wife were in New Orleans, her family's home, when Thompson was arrested, and the senator suggested that "this inadvertent situation" may have developed because "three cars were being moved about because of my trip."

...

He has never carried a gun into the Capitol or its offices himself, Webb said, but "I'm not going to comment in any level in terms of how I provide for my own security."

Um, weird doesn't even begin to describe the above series of events. I have no clue about Senator security, but really -- most Americans wouldn't know who he was if they saw him walking down the street. On the bright side, I suppose gun owners will (maybe) be more endeared to Webb, thereby guaranteeing his re-election in Virginia (??? A stretch ???).

To be fair, Webb is doing some good things on veterans' issues, but damn, leave the guns at home.

[Mass]

1. The Webb story is really very weird. What would he do in DC with not only a pistol, but

two full magazines? It is probably an honest mistake, but it is still very, very weird.

The Iran measure was not allowed because it was a deal breaker with the House, I imagine. It will probably already be difficult to reconcile the two bills (firm deadline vs goal, March 08 vs Sept 08), in a manner that will be at the same time satisfactory to the left in the House and the center (Nelson(s), Landrieu, or even Clinton) in the Senate.

As for Kerry, let's enjoy it as long as it lasts. I really wished the Senate had a little more open recognition for him, but it is probably too much to ask, and John O'Neill is back attacking Kerry, after Fox withdrawal (BTW, kudos to Dodd, the only Senator to side openly with Kerry before Fox withdrew. I wished the media did not ignore him so much, because, at this point, he is the only one except Kucinich that has done things that inspired me).

[karynnj]

2. That Webb story is weird and I hate how he handled it

It is NOT ok that anyone would try to take that kind of weapon plus additional ammo into the capital. I hate that even one Democrat defended it. What would we say if it were a staffer for one of our "favorites", like Sessions, Coburn or Inhofe? Should we trust that there is no possiblity of an over stressed or pyscotic staffer going after a precieved enemy? There is NO excuse and the guy should have been fired.

It was a nice week for Senator Kerry and he really deserved it. I absolutely love their book. Although it comes out of stories they were told in 2004 as much as anything, I think this book would have made the difference in 2004. It really does show who they are and you gradually see how they really both are such kind, caring people - and incredibly smart.

My favorite little story so far - that Teresa and her cousin as kids found a beetle that looked like none they saw before - so they took it to a Natural History museum near Teresa's grandmother's house. It turned out that the beetle was unknown, so it was named after the two kids. This is the same intellectual curiosity that we have come to expect from John Kerry!

[cadmium]

3. This sure has been an interesting week.

Webb thing was really weird and hopefully he has saner people around him to prevent this from happening again.

Love Dodd coming right out and saying no. It shows that the Bushies on some level are realizing that they have to pick and choose their battles. A good sign. Barak Obama was also a stand up guy on the Fox nomination.

[Inuca]

6. Remotely related question

Does anybody have some more info on the Hagel/Webb amendment (bill?) that Hagel spoke about last week? Seemed kind of similar to what Murta was proposing in the House, from the little info I have.

[mloutre]

4. It is not weird.

Carrying a legally-licensed firearm with a legitimate concealed-carry permit is not weird, particularly for a career military person with a high level of training in the use of firearms. Carrying two spare magazines with a legitimately concealed pistol is also not weird -- there is very little that one can do with an unloaded firearm, so if you're going to have one at all then it makes sense to have it appropriately equipped.

I don't think it is at all odd or out of character for Jim Webb to have a concealed-carry permit and for him to carry a loaded handgun on his person with two spare magazines. I don't think there's any question of his being completely trained and trustworthy to use it wisely, well, and only in situations where deadly force is completely justified. And don't kid yourself, such situations arise even in much less crime-ridden places than the streets of DC.

Webb's military background makes him comfortable with carrying a defensive firearm. His public profile makes him a more likely target for assault than most if not all of us here are. I have absolutely no problem with Webb having a concealed-carry permit and with his carrying a legally licensed firearm with him in places where that is legally permitted.

It is not legally permitted for him to carry a firearm onto a commercial aircraft, which is why he did not do so this time. His assistant was an idiot for failing to remember that he had a loaded firearm in the leftover baggage that he was carrying back to Webb's office for him, but that's another issue entirely.

(And yes, there is a requisite qualifier to be stated here: unlike most DUers, I am not speaking hypothetically on this subject. Although I no longer have a legitimate need for a concealed-carry permit myself, hence did not trouble to acquire another one after I left Atlanta and changed lines of work, I am personally and intimately familiar with both the rights and the responsibilities -- *especially* the responsibilities -- inherent in legally carrying a concealed firearm on a daily basis.)

[ray of light]

5. I agree with Otter's statements.

Webb is more than qualified to handle a concealed weapon's permit and if carrying a weapon allows him to be safe or protect his family, then it's really his right.

I feel sorry for the aide caught in the middle though.

[cadmium]

7. I disagree. It seems clueless to me

I have a little Swiss Army knife on my keychain and I would remove it before going into a Senate building.