so much louder than words

Inspired by President John F. Kennedy's 1961 challenge to "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," Jeremiah Wright gave up his student deferment, left college and joined the United States Marine Corps and became part of the 2nd Marine Division with the rank of private first class.

In 1963, after two years of service, Wright then transferred to the United States Navy and entered the Corpsman School at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, where he graduated as valedictorian.

Having excelled in corpsman school, Wright was then trained as a cardiopulmonary technician at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland where he graduated as salutatorian.

Wright was assigned as part of the medical team charged with care of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Before leaving the position in 1967, the White House awarded Wright three letters of commendation.

- adapted from wikipedia, inspired by Daniel Schorr

So Very Progressive!

It's been publicized elsewhere in the NoVA blogosphere that Leslie Byrne has been endorsed by the great folks over at openleft. I want to highlight here, however, a Q&A between openleft and Leslie that demonstrates so well how progressive she is.

1) How would you have voted on the war funding bill that the Democrats passed in May?

I would have voted against the war funding bill. I have been on record since January,2003 as being against the war and the occupation of Iraq when a dozen former members of Congress and I sent a letter to President Bush not to embark on this foolhardy war.

2) What is your position on the Protect America Act that went through Congress in August, the bill that extended the President's eavesdropping power?

I would have voted against it. Warrantless wiretapping, cutting courts out of the process and giving the power to the administration, under any fair reading of the Constitution should be illegal.

3) What is your position on retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies?

I'm against immunity. The telecommunications companies who complied (not all did) have some of the highest priced legal talent available. They should have asked for a court ruling before handing over their customers records. I was very pleased that the US House found their voice on this issue.

Byrne Steps Up on Ending the War!

Leslie Byrne joined a growing number of House candidates endorsing a way out of Iraq.

http://responsibleplan.com/

Gerry Connolly, you specifically cited the war as a reason you entered the race. Will you do the right thing and follow Byrne's lead? Or, because you wouldn't want to give credit to your opponent for her conscience, courage, and intelligence, will you prove that you place politics over principle?

tick, tick, tick.....

I'm for Leslie Byrne.

I've been leaning toward supporting Leslie Byrne in the race for the Democratic nomination for VA-11 ever since she announced last year. I was hoping Gerry Connolly would make my decision easier by not running. He didn't. I tried in vain to discover a reason to prefer Connolly. Last weekend, Leslie was endorsed by the Act Blue folks and participated in a liveblog at Firedoglake with Jane Hamsher and Howie Klein. With the fervent local backing of my two favorite local bloggers, Ben Tribbett and Lowell Feld, and now with the backing of two prominent progressive national bloggers, I proudly joined the Byrne Brigade at Leslie's campaign website. In addition to blogging here and commenting elsewhere, I'll be actively volunteering, and I hope to enlist all three of my kids. So, look out VA-11 residents. Even if you manage to miss my web words, you'll likely hear my voice and see me at your doors. I encourage everyone who isn't already pro-Leslie to check her out. I also encourage everyone who is already pro-Leslie to join the Byrne Brigade. And, if you have a website of your own, you can add a snazzy Byrne Brigade logo like I just did.

Gerry's in today?

The WaPo reports today that Connolly will announce he's running for the Dem nomination for VA-11.

Unlike the Dem Presidential race, Byrne and Connolly, the clear frontrunners in terms of name recognition and funding, don't pose a choice between experience and change. Byrne and Connolly both cite experience.

Leaving aside whether this leaves room for Denneny [or Alexander?] to emerge as a serious contender, the WaPo article still leaves me thinking that the only difference between Connolly and Byrne is that he's not lost an election, while she lost her first re-election bid to Davis in '94 and the Lt. Gov's race in '05, though the Post points out that she received 55% from the 11th District in that race.

Perhaps more differences will emerge between now and the June primary.

I was hoping Connolly would stay out.

Now, I can only hope that the race is clean and fair and leaves whoever wins in a good position to win the general.

The GOP race consists of Fimian and Hunt with Fimian able to self-fund and according to the WaPo having Davis's support.

Bye Tom. Gerry, money isn't everything.

Today, Tom Davis officially announced his retirement at the end of his term this year.

Gerry Connolly is still officially in the exploratory phase of his campaign for VA-11.

The Washington Post recently reported that Connolly has raised a sum of money that I think is more than Leslie Byrne has raised, even though Byrne's campaign started just after election day last year, while Connolly's exploratory bid started this year.

I'm going to take a wild guess that the other two announced Dem candidates, Denneny and Alexander, are far behind Connolly and Byrne in fundraising.

I'm going to take another wild guess that none of those mentioned as GOP candidates, Fimian, Connaughton, etc., will be able to outraise either Byrne or Connolly, particularly during the general election period.

As I've opined before, the only even arguable advantage Connolly has over Byrne is that he's never lost a race to Davis.

Without Davis on the ballot, I feel more strongly than ever that for the good of the Dem Party and, more importantly, for the good of the District, Connolly should opt not to run for VA-11.

Even if Byrne and Connolly were to wage a completely fair and honest primary battle, I see no reason for Connolly to make Byrne spend the money and distract her from the goal of putting the seat in the Dem column.

Being Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors ain't chopped liver, and a big majority of Fairfax County voters very recently expressed their trust that Connolly can and should perform that job.

The waiting is the hardest part.

Gerry Connolly has formed an exploratory committee. Most assume he'll run, but until he makes it legal, I'll not so assume.

Tom Davis says he'll let us know by the end of January.

It'll be a while until a Democratic Presidential nominee is known.

And, now I just found out I have to wait until May 13 for Rick Perlstein's Nixonland.

I'm quite sure of all four pending events, Nixonland will be the one most worth waiting for.

If you don't believe me, check out the prequel on Goldwater.