*** Official Democratic Rebuttal to the SOTU Speech Thread *** Go WEBB!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

now the good stuff starts!

:bounce:

[notadmblnd]

1. Will nancy be speaking?

nt

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. Jim Webb will be giving the rebuttal

:)

[shadowknows69]

2. will it be on cspan?

n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. yep. and CSPAN is taking calls after....

:popcorn:

[shadowknows69]

5. not that i can ever get through but i'll try

n/t

[CrazyOrangeCat]

6. !

:beer:

[Aviation Pro]

7. My prediction: this will be the last State of the Union given....

...by George W. Bush.

[acmejack]

9. I pray to every Deity known to man (& a few I made up) that you are correct!

Please...

[DixieBlue]

15. That would be the most wonderful thing, ever.

[Wisconsin Larry]

CNN will be carrying Webb as well. In a hotel and can't get CSPAN :(

[Sydnie]

8. Only on C-Span?

Why isn't MSNBC going to cover it? DAMN!

[Yukari Yakumo]

11. NBC will carry it. nt

uguu

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. CBS just said they would cover it

after 5 million commercials....

[onecent]

It's on MSNBC. It's on everywhere right now.

[LSK]

10. CSPAN said in 4 minutes THEY WILL HAVE IT

[ToolTex]

12. PBS Is going to carry Webb.

[WA98296]

14. Gee, do you think he'll mention Katrina?

[trashcanistanista]

17. Absolutely, he is a democrat.

[trashcanistanista]

31. What did I tell you? Ha! go Jim.

[trashcanistanista]

45. Greedy Corp CEOs! YES!

Wages and salaries of workers at an all time low, yes, the economy does actually suck!

[AnnieBW]

23. Here we go

Webb on now.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

30. just did...

less than 1 minute in. :)

[Aviation Pro]

16. Self delete

....

[ProudToBeLiberal]

18. do the major networks usually carry the rebuttal? nt

[trashcanistanista]

25. NBC and CBS do. Can't watch ABC

[Viva_La_Revolution]

19. On NOW!

10 seconds...

[LSK]

20. Webb on now - CSPAN

[Greeby]

21. Webb onscreen on CNN

Here we go :popcorn:

[halobeam]

26. YAY !!!!

[Yukari Yakumo]

22. Whoa, self-written speech? Here we go... {nt}

uguu

[DireStrike]

66. Can you confirm that it's self-written? Where does that info come from?

It sounds like Webb, it was my first thought when reading it that it came from him.

[DireStrike]

83. delete

.

[w8liftinglady]

24. webb's on

[AnnieBW]

28. New Orleans, yes!

First thing he said!

[RB TexLa]

94. As we Louisianians laughed uncontrollably

[Gold Metal Flake]

27. CSPAN said he is 60.

Wears it well.

[Fleshdancer]

34. nooo, really? WOW

may I look that good when I'm 60

[Aviation Pro]

29. Now there's a leader and statesman....

...gets right to the point.

[LynneSin]

38. and the guy knows how to give a speech

Go Jim - glad to have you on our team

[derby378]

32. Jim Webb actually mentioned "New Orleans"

I don't think El Diablo mentioned it even once.

He has truly forgotten the victims of Katrina.

[Reverend_Smitty]

33. Starting out with energy policy

[roamer65]

35. Yeah. He mentions New Orleans!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

36. Ooooh! New Orleans mentioned!

Now talking about alternative energy.

Economic health


Foreign policy

will be discussed next.

[LSK]

37. its on all the networks and drudge did have his speech

[The Witch]

39. New Orleans *SMACK* :D

[Greeby]

40. Oo, he's going into a verbal version of the WSJ Op-Ed

:woohoo:

[blonndee]

41. FOX has it captioned "Democrats' Response."

What a bunch of assholes.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

121. bastards!

doesn't surprise me a bit. :(

[Viva_La_Revolution]

42. read along! text here...

Good evening.

I’m Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, where this year we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown – an event that marked the first step in the long journey that has made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth.

It would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President’s message, nor would it be useful. Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and healthcare for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.

Further, this is the seventh time the President has mentioned energy independence in his state of the union message, but for the first time this exchange is taking place in a Congress led by the Democratic Party. We are looking for affirmative solutions that will strengthen our nation by freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil, and spurring a wave of entrepreneurial growth in the form of alternate energy programs. We look forward to working with the President and his party to bring about these changes.

There are two areas where our respective parties have largely stood in contradiction, and I want to take a few minutes to address them tonight. The first relates to how we see the health of our economy – how we measure it, and how we ensure that its benefits are properly shared among all Americans. The second regards our foreign policy – how we might bring the war in Iraq to a proper conclusion that will also allow us to continue to fight the war against international terrorism, and to address other strategic concerns that our country faces around the world.

When one looks at the health of our economy, it’s almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The stock market is at an all-time high, and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared. When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did; today, it’s nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.

Wages and salaries for our workers are at all-time lows as a percentage of national wealth, even though the productivity of American workers is the highest in the world. Medical costs have skyrocketed. College tuition rates are off the charts. Our manufacturing base is being dismantled and sent overseas. Good American jobs are being sent along with them.

In short, the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future, is losing its place at the table. Our workers know this, through painful experience. Our white-collar professionals are beginning to understand it, as their jobs start disappearing also. And they expect, rightly, that in this age of globalization, their government has a duty to insist that their concerns be dealt with fairly in the international marketplace.

In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy – that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.

And under the leadership of the new Democratic Congress, we are on our way to doing so. The House just passed a minimum wage increase, the first in ten years, and the Senate will soon follow. We've introduced a broad legislative package designed to regain the trust of the American people. We’ve established a tone of cooperation and consensus that extends beyond party lines. We’re working to get the right things done, for the right people and for the right reasons.

With respect to foreign policy, this country has patiently endured a mismanaged war for nearly four years. Many, including myself, warned even before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most violent and turbulent corner of the world.

I want to share with all of you a picture that I have carried with me for more than 50 years. This is my father, when he was a young Air Force captain, flying cargo planes during the Berlin Airlift. He sent us the picture from Germany, as we waited for him, back here at home. When I was a small boy, I used to take the picture to bed with me every night, because for more than three years my father was deployed, unable to live with us full-time, serving overseas or in bases where there was no family housing. I still keep it, to remind me of the sacrifices that my mother and others had to make, over and over again, as my father gladly served our country. I was proud to follow in his footsteps, serving as a Marine in Vietnam. My brother did as well, serving as a Marine helicopter pilot. My son has joined the tradition, now serving as an infantry Marine in Iraq.

Like so many other Americans, today and throughout our history, we serve and have served, not for political reasons, but because we love our country. On the political issues – those matters of war and peace, and in some cases of life and death – we trusted the judgment of our national leaders. We hoped that they would be right, that they would measure with accuracy the value of our lives against the enormity of the national interest that might call upon us to go into harm’s way.

We owed them our loyalty, as Americans, and we gave it. But they owed us – sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for our welfare, a guarantee that the threat to our country was equal to the price we might be called upon to pay in defending it.

The President took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War, the chief of staff of the army, two former commanding generals of the Central Command, whose jurisdiction includes Iraq, the director of operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and many, many others with great integrity and long experience in national security affairs. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable – and predicted – disarray that has followed.

The war’s costs to our nation have been staggering. Financially. The damage to our reputation around the world. The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism. And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped forward to serve.

The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction. Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq’s cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.

On both of these vital issues, our economy and our national security, it falls upon those of us in elected office to take action.

Regarding the economic imbalance in our country, I am reminded of the situation President Theodore Roosevelt faced in the early days of the 20th century. America was then, as now, drifting apart along class lines. The so-called robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth. The dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt.

Roosevelt spoke strongly against these divisions. He told his fellow Republicans that they must set themselves “as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other.” And he did something about it.

As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. “When comes the end?” asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.

These Presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this President to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.

Thank you for listening. And God bless America.

[ToolTex]

116. Knocked completely out of the ballpark. A spade is still a spade in Jim Webb's world.

[w8liftinglady]

43. webb is doing great so far-the economy

[derby378]

44. CEOs are making 400 times what peons make...

Exxon/Mobil golden parachute, anyone?

[trashcanistanista]

54. His speech is good.

Pushing what the house did. Mismanaged war for 4 years!

[Bluerthanblue]

46. YAY NOLA- right in the first paragraph- ! It's about time there

was some semblence of the difference between * and the Democratic party-
I was begining to think this nation had had brain transplants:silly:

[fishwax]

47. I like Webb

:bounce::woohoo::bounce:

[salin]

48. I am incredibly impressed

[shadowknows69]

Me too

Webb has wowed me since I heard of him. Man I hate NY Senators.

[Porcupine]

49. Go!!! F#$K the CEOs!!!!! nt

.

[milkyway]

50. Here's a great VP candidate (and future Prez).

[HEAVYHEART]

51. Woohooo!!!

Go Webb!!!:bounce:

[oasis]

52. MSNBC:Democratic response. They get it.

[roamer65]

53. I love this guy!!

[roamer65]

Hey Virginia! Aren't you glad you dumped Waaallen?

[WinkyDink]

55. Now THIS is a leader! THIS is a plan for helping America! This is an INTELLIGENT MAN.

[Bill McBlueState]

62. there's a lot of room for smarts in that forehead!

lol

[Kurovski]

56. Old-time Dem stuff! Populist. Worker, middle class concerns. health.

Nice.

[derby378]

Pro-gun, too, IIRC

So sad for Macaca's buddies in the NRA...

[w8liftinglady]

57. we have patiently endured a mismanaged war for 4 years

[Tatiana]

58. Webb is very poised, but he seems angry. n/t

[Aviation Pro]

59. Forget the Hillary/Obama debate....

...we're looking at a later day Teddy Roosevelt.

[FrenchieCat]

60. kickass Democrats is what we need....and that is what Sen. Webb represents!

Take note!

[Reverend_Smitty]

61. He's kicking ass...color me impressed

[CrazyOrangeCat]

63. he's good!

:patriot:

[trashcanistanista]

77. We are a nation held hostage

He is slamming Bush so bad!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

112. and now we're being treated to the blithering fool, McCain.

a little difference between Vietnam vets.

[Aviation Pro]

64. Unlike Bush, Senator Webb acknowledges and loves....

....his father.

[Bluerthanblue]

65. patiently endured a misguided war- and speaking as a

person who knows what serving is-
what "THE PRICE" is- and could be-

Go WEB!!!

[LSK]

67. showing a picture of his father, brilliant!!!!

[WinkyDink]

68. "...as a Marine in VietNam." GO GET THE COWARD, Jimmy my boy-o!

[Debau2005]

69. I think I am in love!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

70. Economic benefits not equally shared

it takes the average worker a year to make what the CEO makes in one day, even though our productivity is the highest in the world--outsourcing--middle class is losing its place at the table. Government has a duty to address this. Measure health of society at its base--how its going on Main Street, not Wall Street. Talking about minimum wage. Get the right things done for the right people for the right reasons.


Mismanaged war--unnecessary--we're vulnerable because of Iraq war--showing his father's photo--how he took the photo to bed because his dad was deployed for 3 years. Telling about his military family--serving because they love their country. Trusted judgement of national leaders--they owe the soldiers sound judgement, clear thinking, etc. ZAP!!!!!

[shadowknows69]

72. They owed us

God damned right Go Webb

[fishwax]

71. the president took us into this war recklessly

:woohoo::applause::grr::applause::grr:

[shadowknows69]

75. Ohhh taking it to him

n/t

[Tatiana]

73. He's nailing this.

They owed us sound judgement...

[LSK]

74. saying the mess in Iraq was PREDICTED and IGNORED

HOME RUN!!!!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

yes!

[Kurovski]

76. Now establishing his cred on military matters.

He served, family served.

Implication being: The chickenhawks are lousy when it comes to military matters. "disarray follows".

[DixieBlue]

78. webb's rocking my world.

[Aviation Pro]

79. No grandstanding here.....

...straight to the point.

[WinkyDink]

80. This is what an engaged mind sounds like.

Can't wait for KO's assessment!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

81. His self written speech is so much better than Bush's prepared remarks.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

89. mentioned teddy roosevelt and Eisenhower ending the Korean War

[The Witch]

82. I've said it before, I'll say it again. THAT'S MY SENATOR!!!!

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[CrazyOrangeCat]

you are so lucky!!!!!!

this dude rocks!

[BlackVelvet04]

117. Mine, too! n/t

[Bill McBlueState]

84. channeling TR!

This is great.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

85. K&R for a fourth rec

[Reverend_Smitty]

86. invoking Roosevelt and robber barrons...nice touch!

[shadowknows69]

91. wow, wow, wow

This speech is awesome.

[Aviation Pro]

87. I am prescient....lol

Teddy Roosevelt.

[Greeby]

88. "When comes the end?" Kickass Ike quote

:bounce:

[AnnieBW]

90. Historian Smackdown!

Webb is a true historian.

[shadowknows69]

We will be showing him the way?

wow

[porphyrian]

92. Spank! Spank! Spank...! - n/t

[Porcupine]

93. "robber barons," "bloody stalemate" he's kicking ass!!!

.

[HEAVYHEART]

95. Damn

Awesome fucking speech.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

96. He does it

or we'll show him the way--POW!!!!!!!!

[WinkyDink]

97. "And if not, we'll show him the way." LOLOLOLOL!!! Or the door!!

[notadmblnd]

98. If he doesn't... We will show him the way

love that line.

[Debau2005]

99. "If he does not, we will be showing him the way."

Stunning, just stunning!

[readermostly]

100. Excellent speech. Night and day from what we heard from W. He's

going to be a great senator. Wish he was my senator. I've got McCain and Kyl.

[michaz]

101. FANTASTIC!!!

[erinlough]

102. I like him.....alot! n/t

[Aviation Pro]

103. He said it....

...God Bless our country and our noble leaders. (Not Bush).

[Sydnie]

104. I'm loving me some Webb tonight

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

[MoonRiver]

105. WONDERFUL!!

Thank you Senator Webb for, so eloquently, speaking TRUTH to power! :patriot:

[milkyway]

106. How the fuck did Webb not beat Allen by 40 points?

[Ignacio Upton]

109. Because Virginia is still conservative-leaning

Although the victories of Warner, Kaine and Webb are showing that it's becoming purple.

[roamer65]

110. The voting machines.

[Aviation Pro]

107. Self delete

....

[MrSlayer]

108. Wow did he ever end strong.

He crushed the Chimp and his cronies and the creeping fascism in one fell swoop. Great job.

[mvd]

111. I loved it - A+!

He started out with a great rebuttal to those who say the economy is strong, and his part about Iraq was just what will lead people to recognize that the Democrats, not Bush, have the troops and America's wll being in mind. And great ending - "we will show him the way."

[Tin Man]

113. AWESOME! Great theme, great delivery - and he wrote it himself !!!

Very impressive... Webb is for real.

[billyoc]

114. I would be cowering in fear

if that guy was my enemy. Man, he's tough.

[Misskittycat]

Wonderful speech. Great blend of principles, history, and personal anecdote.

That speech was so different from most political speeches we've been hearing. Good thing that he trashed the prepared speech the Dem insiders had given him.

[Kajsa]

115. Fantastic speech- Webb is great-

This is the first time I've heard him and I'm
very impressed with his knowledge, sincerity
and great delivery.

He cares and it shows.

He's a winner!!

:thumbsup:

[quiet.american]

118. "We will show him the way." 'Nuff said! n/t

[Straight Shooter]

119. bush just loves three-word and four-word slogans. Well, Webb just gave him one ...

SHOW HIM THE WAY!

[C_U_L8R]

120. Show em the door Jim !!

What a great kick in the ass

[democrank]

122. Watching Webb after listening to Junior Bush

was like comparing the performance of a tube of new Gorilla Glue to a small piece of worn out scotch tape.

[GenDem]

123. Great comparison!