 |
| Joe Sestak |
Admiral Joe has a plan for America.
It includes being its president. He is one of the Democratic candidates.
I thought I was paying close attention and I didn't know who he was. He held a town hall in a brew pub in Iowa. I didn't know who he was until he was introduced and came to the microphone.
Twenty people attended.
He is a liberal who won election twice as a Democrat in a GOP-leaning district in Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of the Naval Academy and he has a Ph.D. from Harvard.
He outlined a suite of liberal positions, and I would place him as a traditional liberal Democrat.
He outlined a suite of liberal positions, and I would place him as a traditional liberal Democrat.
He wants universal health care by restoring and extending the Affordable Care Act, which, he said is the process for getting to that universal care.
He wants paid family leave, paid medical leave, and federal support for child care.
He wants increased broadband in rural areas.
I wants to invest in American infrastructure.
He wants universal early childhood education.
He wants tax free savings accounts for first time home buyers.
He says he want to "expand green industries."
He says our democratic processes are corrupted by corporate influence.
None of these positions will startle anyone or differentiate him.
He walks the talk of a candidate who wants to reduce special interest influence of our government. He ran and lost a race for US Senate. As a former congressman and retired 3-star Admiral he was a "twofer" as a potential lobbyist, and he was offered a 7-figure job, which he declined. He took a job teaching at a historically black college and at Carnegie Mellon at a fraction that income.
He said America does need one wall: a wall between Congress and K Street, and he cited the figure that 485 Congressman in the past few years left Congress to be a lobbyist, which he said helps explain why congress doesn't really represent the people. It is Plan B for Members of Congress. Plan A is taking lobbyist money to get re-elected. Either way, the special interests have control.
He knows national defense and foreign policy thoroughly, and most of his Iowa Town Hall addressed stories and lessons from his time in the military. He described the damage that Trump is doing to the patchwork of alliances, trade agreements, and institutional and soft influence that is the basis for American influence in the world. He says Trump's "America first" policies are a disaster. A rules-based international system has given a framework for America to bring together other countries to bring pressure short of war, and Trump is dismantling it.
He said some alarming things. Among them is the vulnerability of America to cyber warfare. We are building aircraft carriers instead of dealing with cyber security, he said. Our elections are vulnerable, our electrical grid is vulnerable.
The Chinese can listen to our phone conversations right now, and they can turn off your phones if they choose to, he warned.
The Chinese can listen to our phone conversations right now, and they can turn off your phones if they choose to, he warned.
He said the Chinese have been smart and strategic. They get foreign military bases by loaning money to poor countries for giant infrastructure projects. They get over-built, they cannot pay back the loan, they default on the loan, and the loan is forgiven in exchange for an overseas military base for China. They have taken the lead in solar technology and communication technology, he said. They created 5-G, and it will revolutionize the internet and they will control that.
 |
| Selfie with Sestak |
He is a pleasant, intelligent man, but I cannot for the life of me understand why he is doing this. It is not for the media attention. There were no TV cameras, no photographers, and no visible media people other than myself.
6 comments:
Yesterday Seth Moulton, today Joe Sestack. Both highly qualified veterans with credible political experience. There must be about 2,000 very tip-top patriotic achievers like them with government experience and say 5,000 more in elite private sectors venues. Big resumes and ambition backed by strong moral character and military service.
But no one gives a crap about these candidacies. Wby? Because they are obvious losers as contestants, like so many top college sports stars who could not get past the minor leagues. They are not credible candidates, their families grieve for them in mortgaging their homes for a fistful of hoop dreams. This is the fairytale of "anyone can be president", the pathos of kids who did everything right but can't get recognized in a Denny's. They would swoon or sweat if Trump made eye contact with them. That's the litmus test-- can you even scape up enough money and political capital to warrant just a glance from a Trump or an Obama, a Maddow or an Oprah? Nope. But maybe you can rise above the noise in a little bar somewhere in Iowa as your wife asks "what in the hell is he doing?"
And then there is Meet the Press who gave Beto 2.0 an inordinate amount of time on yesterday's broadcast.
Why all the attention to Beto? And what has he actually accomplished besides a few trick moves on his skateboard?
Thad’s comment got me thinking about the music industry. There are thousands of very talented creative singer songwriters in this country - more than a few right here in Southern Oregon. But they have virtually no chance of making it big - getting a record contract, a spot on Late Night, or even an unpaid gig at a local winery! But they keep at it - writing songs, practicing their scales, spending their rent money on a new instrument, spending hours driving a hundred miles for a lousy gig in a crappy bar where the drunks throw beer and only pay attention when they play a Willie Nelson cover. But they do it because they love it, it makes them feel alive. Its not some sick manifestation of unrequited narcissism, it’s what makes them special.
So God bless Seth Moulton and Tulsi Gabbard and Joe Sestak and all the rest of the 20 some odd long shot candidates.
I see Beto as the possible VP selection. Could tip the balance in Texas.
I supported Admiral Sestak in his Senate run a few years back. He was torpedoed by the DNC and DSCC,as far as I could tell, because of his Liberal positions, and refusing to kowtow to the so called Leadership of the D Party.
And Beto needs to park his ego and skateboard, and take a serious run at Jon Cornyn. None of the Clown Car 2.0 seem willing to acknowledge that if the Senate remains in McConnels scaly grip, it won't matter who is in the White House.
Just once, I would like to see a Talking Head like the pusillanimous Chuck Todd ask a Candidate how he proposes to get anything accomplished if the Senate remains held in a Republican death grip.
I think “swoon or sweat” is ... umm, a bit of an exaggeration for a general. They learn not to do that.
Post a Comment