Great conclusion.

Also great point on *Incompetence: Republican neo-cons refused to see that their policies caused destruction and desperation; they consistently misunderstood, were convinced ruthless, violent suppression would end disruptions.

Webb spoke out about opening the "pandoras box" in Iraq in 1990 - it's on the main page of www.jameswebb.com 

This administration needs to be GONE and we need to beat Allen!!!

That is bullshit lady. If what you write is true the insurgents would umber in the millions. Think about what you write next time.

Sorry, TotalDem, but it isn't necessary to blow yourself up to be disaffected and an insurgent. The facts are exactly as presented. Of course, once the looting and the counter push by Coalition forces got underway, others entered the fray--- what a perfect, classic opportunity for Al Qaeda, Iran, dictator wannabes, religious fanatics. Destroy the country, then try to impose economic "reforms" in a month or two that the World Bank and IMF tried to do in Argentina (and Russia) over a period of many months, even years. Talk about shock therapy... a really rough wooing, if you will. Check out the long version of this on DailyKos.

Yes, Rebecca, the invasion itself was a damfool strategic mistake of olympic proportions. It has vreated more "terrorists" then Osama could have hoped for, destroyed our moral standing in the world, weakened us miserably vis a vis China and Iran, given Russia an opening, and so on. I don't even think it provided the profits and oil intended for the multinations. In other words, one more terrible failure of the Bush Administration. The Iraqis themselves maymanage to pull some good out of it, but at what a price, and for how long? Despite their fractured society, the Iraqis are a sophisticated and tough people. Here's a toast to them, despite the vicious attackson us and them by the insurgents.

Don't forget the biggest mistake of all -the invasion. I don't understand why there is so much fretting over what we did wrong after we entered Iraq. It was a no win situation  from the start.

"This is the third time I’ve seen Webb speak, and every time I have been amazed at how poor a public speaker he is. He doesn’t understand basic rules of public speaking, such as projecting his voice, or where to stand on a platform. "

Well, if Webb can't speak in public, let's ask for him to drop out of the campaign. We know that a poor public speaker cannot be elected in this country...

As for NCLB, I'm a teacher and there are things that still mystify me about the language of the bill. How can we expect a person who is not in education to know it a couple of months into the campaign?

The stock answer to tell people that it is bad law is sure to make people feel pleased that the politician is on their side. But Miller didn't have a nuanced answer either. Yay...no more NCLB, then what? No more accountability? What about funding? What about the mandatory Annual Yearly Progress? What do we do about 100% passage rates in all subjects and categories in 2013-2014? Can Virginia opt out of NCLB and find some way of funding our school system without federal assistance?

Did Miller have an answer to all of these questions? If the answer is no, then he doesn't have all of the basic answers either. Soundbites can only take you so far and from what I'm hearing it's all Miller can produce.

I suspect you're right, JC. In the confusion, neither response was heard well, which may have been Miller's intention (both his mumbling on Iraq and Webb's incomplete answer on Ollie--- I thought Webb should have pointed out his opposition to Ollie's candidacy, but that got lost somehow).

I hope Webb studies the NCLB Act since education is a big concern of voters. Miller has the stock bumper sticker answers which please the teachers' union, but I got the impression that, take him beyond the slogans and he is without a clue. Therefore, if Webb does his usual thoughtful job on NCLB he will be able to debate Miller in depth, and show him up. Webb needs to get his support for public schools out there--- it flows naturally from his doctrine of Fairness.

James Webb, Harris Miller, Al Weed and Bern Ewert will be atting and speaking at the 5th Congressional dinner in Forest, Virginia Friday night the 31st of March.Social hour begins at 6:00 PM. Dinner at 7 if you want to hear these two again.
 

"Ollie" lady sounds like a Miller plant.  And the person who shoued down the veteran also comes off as a rehearsed stunt.

I just love the spin you gave for his NCLB. His answer could be summed up as "I don't know anything about that." If this were some obscure bill, that would be acceptable. How can I candidate for US Senate NOT have a position on NCLB? It's one of the three most important bills of the last five years. He seeme to barely know what the bill did.

Why do you assume that anyone who has the gall to question the God-like James Webb about his past support of Republicans, or any issue for that matter, is either a plant, or paid Miller staff.

This is the third time I've seen Webb speak, and every time I have been amazed at how poor a public speaker he is. He doesn't understand basic rules of public speaking, such as projecting his voice, or where to stand on a platform.

Webb just needs to say he supported Chuck Robb against Oliver North in 94 and that he has no love for unethical people especially in government.

Mr. Webb - it's called the jugular.  I feel stupid telling this to you.

I feel bad for the Iraq Veteran.  That's uncalled for and shows how little Miller cares about Veterans.

If Webb went to FCDC, Miller should do the blog debate.

I've heard Webb blow away a crowd more than once, so maybe he is more careful when every single word is analyzed.  The man can move a crowd!!

Dan,

NCLB is "not that bad a policy"?  Do you really know the complexity of the act in order to blithely dismiss it as not that bad?  Have you ever talked with education leaders about how it is diverting billions in public money to private, for-profit testing and tutoring companies?  Do you understand how AYP is measured and schools are rated under the system based on student sub-groups? 

Listening to the expertise of teacher's unions is not "partisan".  It is consulting with the  professionals who are best able to judge the efficacy of the program.

Lowell, Webb really needs to be briefed on this issue by educators and education policy experts so he can comment on it.  As admirable as it is to admit that you don't know something, NCLB is a major hot-button issue that Webb should be able to have a clear position on.  If you need help finding people who can brief him, let me know.

Teddy & Dan - thanks for putting this together.  Nice summary of the event.

I have concern about the Ollie North paragraph.  The fact that Webb supported Allen previously and has supported or worked for a number of Republicans means questions about this will continue to surface for as long as Webb is campaigning.

And those questions will need realistic and strong answers.  The "it's in a book" works for avid readers and followers, but that won't cut it for the vast majority of voters.  So that woman, whether a Miller plant or not, has a point. 

Webb needs to speak clearly about his Republican past and answer in a way Democrats feel comfortable with in order to win the primary.  He needs to address the issue directly, not through references to books.  He needs to realize that most voters aren't aware of his complex history and Democrats will be confused by his multiple stances.

Do he and his campaign team know all this?  I'm sure they do.  But the fact that you mention he appeared surprised by the Ollie question makes it appear that he isn't fully prepared to deal with this issue. 

That worries me.

Doesn't the Webb campaign know how to do research on the internet? Here's how:

Type NCLB into Google. Read the articles. There are a wealth of articles on this. Then type "NCLB lawsuits" and read the articles. That's about all you need to do. This is pretty simple. It's amazing to me that the people working for Webb aren't doing this.

Gosh and golly, he ought to be able to quote the number of states that have lawsuits pending on this. Virginia is one of them. This is not rocket science. Webb folks, get on the ball!

This is for the Webb staff. This is the NEA site which lists all the bills which relate to NCLB in all the states which are challenging the legislation. This is a great place to start.

Hearing that Webb is still saying he needs to study this is getting old. I suggest his staff study it and write up a summary so he can start sounding like he knows what's going on. Here's the link:

http://www.nea.org/lawsuit/stateres.html

"Has anyone every been subjected to a room full of teachers discussing NCLB? Now that’s a show. I wanted to shoot myself."

VC, you have no idea what I hear every day in school and at class...Let's just say your one day being subjected to a conversation is not as bad as having it happen almost 5 days a week.

I wasn't there but have heard Webb in person before -- I realize he's new to running for office and he's getting hit with a lot all at once.  He has to make the March 31st fundraising deadline to remain credible so he's spending a lot of time on that.  But that said, he has got to get up to speed on issues other than his 4 foundation points.  Once he's given those, the questions will come fast and furious about his past statements and actions to which active Dems want answers -- his USA Today op-ed in 2004 against Kerry that led to the Swift Boaters' attacks, his activities while in the Reagan Administration, Allen vs. Robb, ....  Telling someone to read his book is not an answer, even to someone like me and I'm supporting him.

He needs some good solid policy wonks on staff or volunteering to build a broad-ranging briefing book, then he needs to start doing his homework.

Let's face it -- in Northern Virginia, you have a lot of people who make a living in politics and even more who live and breath the news.  A candidate who keeps saying he doesn't know may be giving an honest answer but it's going to get very old very fast in this area.

So, Webb-sters, who's up for some one-pagers on topics about which you feel passionate.  You heard me, ONE page - with bullet points!  That's politics folks, like it or not, sound bites matter.

I volunteer for one on Darfur and one on third world debt relief.  I'll write 'em and send in to Webb campaign.  Anyone else ready to step up to the plate?  You don't have to know Webb's position already; advocate for what you believe.  Keep it tight, name your source work, and really help keep the Webb camp up to speed!

Edrie:  Great idea.  If you want, you can send these to me and I'll forward them along to Webb if they're good.  My e-mail is lowell@raisingkaine.com

Thanks.

Lowell

Dan,

If you believe in standards and have some familiarity in education policy and live in Virginia, you should know that Virginia implemented a standards-based statewide policy in the early 1990's, long before NCLB.  The issue that NCLB is not fully funded is certainly a valid criticism of its implementation by the Bush administration, but it only scratches the surface of the problems with NCLB. 

I agree with you that a sound byte saying something like "NCLB leaves all children behind" is simplistic.  However, the basic "carrot/stick" system in NCLB is HIGHLY flawed.  The measurement of AYP by student sub-groups is highly flawed.  The "stick" of funneling hundreds of millions of public education dollars from public schools to private for-profit corporations is highly flawed. 

Fundamentally, I would submit to you that the professionals who are best able to measure the effectiveness of NCLB are those who are implementing it on the front lines.  And all the college coursework in the world, even a semester of student teaching, doesn't provide a person with the experience and expertise to be able to measure the cumulative, long-term effect of unsound policy on student learning.

Has anyone every been subjected to a room full of teachers discussing NCLB? Now that's a show. I wanted to shoot myself.

Obviously, Webb needs to get up to speed on that one...but it's not one of the top 10 issues this year

Almost every so-called "issue" currently on talk shows or being discussed on the floor of the legislature is in fact a symptom of one or another CIT, which is why they are so difficult to resolve, and why in talking about them we create more heat than light. An issue when viewed from a level removed from the immediate knot of disagreement, and seen as another part of the over-arching CIT,  may be more solvable.

The Right Wing Republicans have been engaged in intricate, long-ranged planning for over 20 years for taking over our institutions and engineering ways to control public opinion. This is well documented all the way from the secret National Council on Policy, to PNAC, to The Fellowship.

All anyone has to do is look at a list of those who are or have been members of The National Council on Policy to get a sense of what they are up to.

If you get an alphabetical listing the first two names are:

Ambramoff - We know who he is.
Ahmanson - Financed the voting machines.

Other members are Ollie North and Jerry Falwell. Get my drift?

Sorry, that's Abramoff. I'm still learning how to spell.

What ever happened to the social contract? Big businesses are in cahoots, and the workers are atomized, forced to be at war with each other. The Republican Party, when given the opportunity, always dances to the tunes and interests of mega corporations, and not of small business... much less of the lowly worker bee average citizen, so we have no one advocating for us.

I wanted to correct myself and say that the National Policy Council should really be The Council on National Policy.

The roots of this group are bizarre indeed. Ultimately it has brought together the religious right (and some other really weird religious types) and some of the power elite. Both groups seem to be using each other to further their goals.

The religious right want to establish a Theocracy and the power elite want to establish a wealthy  oligarchy to control the country. Between the two we would end up with a wealthy Theocratic oligarchy. Not a very appealing idea. Actually, it gives me the shivers.

I recommend to everyone that you type in "Council on National Policy" into Google or another search engine and read as much as you can about this group.

I agree with you fully Teddy. This idea that Republicans are business friendly is not totally true. They are actually monopoly/oligarch friendly. They want to establish a class of a few powerful people who own and control everything.

I believe in a wholistic approach. I think business should have a social contract and that businesses and workers should have a symbiotic relationship. Once the workers can no longer buy the products they make money stops circulating and just accumlates at the top where it festers in the pockets of the power hungry control freaks. Sorry, I got a little carried away with that last statement.