Letter to Sen. Webb and Sen. Warner re: Afghanistan and a reply

Dear Senator Webb and Senator Warner:

How long, o Lord, how long?

Day after day after day! We read and hear about more deaths and maimings of our troops in Afghanistan. Why are we there? Why are we expending our resources in a nation far away? Oh, so we are to continue our waste for another year so President Obama can then say before the 2012 election that he is bringing the troops home?

Senator Webb, Senator Warner, how are we exiting Iraq when 50,000 troops will remain?

President Obama is rapidly losing progressive support which he will not have in numbers for 2012 like he had in 2008. Contrary to Sen. Carl Levin's statement that there is "solid support" among Democrats to continue this waste! These deaths! For naught! Levin is dead wrong.

Sincerely,
Patricia

Senator Warner replies:

Saturday, July 17, 2010, 12:07 PM

Dear Friend,

Thank you for taking the time to share your views and experiences with me.

If you need assistance resolving a specific problem with a federal agency, please contact my office at 703-442-0670 or toll free at 1-877-676-2759. Otherwise, please be assured that we are reading and responding to your comments and opinions as fast as we can.

As the 111th Congress moves forward, please continue to be in touch with your views.

Sincerely,
MARK R. WARNER
United States Senator

Tickets Here! Tickets There! A Ticket Thicket Everywhere from Cong. James Moran

He gave them away “from the trunk of his car” Saturday night after the Fairfax County Inaugural Ball, one recipient told me at the Netroots Ball in Arlington.

”I guess it just takes personal contact,” he gleamed. He is not a constituent of Cong. Jim Moran. I am.

I did not get one of Moran’s tickets.

I requested Inaugural tickets from Moran and from Sen. James Webb following the procedure outlined by the Joint Congressional Inaugural Committee. My requests were denied in almost replica e-mail letters I received from each. (See earlier post.)

Please understand: I campaigned for Jim Moran; I knocked on doors on fall weekends for Jim Moran; I telephoned for Jim Moran. For the Democratic ticket I cooked for the campaign, I used my car for the campaign. I gave up my time in-between jobs to work on the campaign. I went to weekly meetings for the campaign.

For Barack Obama I canvassed in three states. I traveled. I donated. I spent my own money on expenses.

I got a Inaugural ticket all right, but not from the campaign for which I worked so strenuously, so tirelessly, so energetically.

I got a ticket from a lobbyist.

Congressman Moran forgot about me. I won’t forget about him.

Congressional parties galore on Capitol Hill

Congressman James Moran (D-VA) floated in and out (10 min.) of Cong. Gerry Connolly’s (D-VA)reception Tuesday night in Longworth, like so many others who flitted and floated from one party to another.

So many politicians! So many progressive parties and not enough time to hit them all.

It was SRO at Cong. Connolly’s event even after he took off to the Capitol to cast a vote on his first day in office.

Sen. James Webb (D-VA) put in an appearance at Connolly’s for at least 30 minutes and was mobbed.

When new congressman Connolly returned to his reception it took about 20 minutes for him to enter the party room since happy well-wishers including Dewita Soeharjono stopped him, greeted him, clasped his hands, and wanted to chat. Cong. Connolly obliged them all sporting a permanent grin throughout the evening as big as a Cheshire cat’s.

One woman inquired: “Are you giving away kisses?”

With his brother, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran who gave us his delegate seat in the Virginia General Assembly to run for governor, Cong. Moran also showed up at new Congressman Tom Perriello's (D-VA) (where the food lasted longer than at Connolly’s) along with new Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA). Cong. Moran looked sad and dispirited at both parties, perhaps because they are "old hat" to him.

Meanwhile, Sen. Warner enthusiastically welcomed talking with constituents and posed for pictures.

Looking about 10 years younger than his 34 years, Cong. Perriello with the right gear, could be mistaken for an intern. (Note to Cong. Perriello: This is a compliment.) Many members of his family attended the celebration.

Attire at the soirees included huge smiles worn by all. It was a happy mood and a handful queried agreed on seating Senate nominee Roland Burris. "Why not?" was the constant refrain.

Rejected by Sen. Webb and Cong. Moran

Interesting, isn’t it, that almost identical letters from Sen. James Webb (D-VA) and Congressman James Moran (D-VA) arrive on the same day, rejecting my request for Inauguration tickets?

Who put the wording of the letters together? Better still, who gets the tickets? Sadly, my 24-year-old son serving in the Army, a young skeptic, said to me: “Mom, their cronies get the tickets.”

Will the offices release the names of the ticket holders? If not, why not? Why doesn’t the MSM write about that? Huh? Huh? Write about seats the MSM gets? Are you kidding?

Here is most of the wording:

Thank you for contacting Senator Webb's office regarding Inauguration tickets. As you may know, the Senator's office has received more than 35,000 total ticket requests and has been allotted only a few hundred tickets. (Who gets them?) Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to accommodate your request for tickets to the Inaugural Swearing-In Ceremony on the West Lawn of the United States Capitol. However, please note that the remaining sections of the National Mall will be open to members of the public who were unable to obtain the limited tickets available. (Now isn't that sweet? On the Mall with 4 million others!)

We wanted to give you this status update well in advance of Inauguration Day so that you can plan accordingly. (Oh yeah? What am I supposed to do? Set up camp on the mall for three weeks? You think the Park Service and Secret Service will okay my plans?) Please also be aware that in addition to the public viewing area on the National Mall, there are a number of events during the week, including the Inaugural Parade, that do not require tickets. (Oh boy! I'll get to see the parade upfront and right on the Avenue! I wish.)

Due to the extraordinarily high interest in the Swearing-In Ceremony, Senator Webb has sent a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, requesting additional tickets to account for Virginia's proximity to Washington D.C. Should Senator Webb receive additional tickets from the Inaugural Committee or any other source and be able to accommodate your request, we will be sure to let you know. (You mean I have another chance? I am waiting in the wings, Senator Webb. Thank you!)

The Swearing-In Ceremony is the only Inaugural event to which our office has received tickets. Please see the links below for updated information on other Inaugural events that may interest you.

Senator Webb and Congressman Moran: Who got your tickets? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Joy in the World: Mark Warner's Election Night Party

There’s a party going on!

If I closed my eyes I was sure I was at a University of Tennessee football game (back when the school had a team) for the screams and cheers were just as loud and deafening. How happy not to be in Tennessee!

At the McLean Hilton, anywhere from several hundred (the Washington Post) to about 1,000 (my count) to 3,000 to 4,000 (an exuberant reporter who shed his “media” badge to jump in and clap and shriek with the rest of us) attended Mark's party to watch, scream, and cheer (most of) the projections which flashed across huge television screens, one to the left of us (CNN), one to the right of us (MSNBC).

Meanwhile: the media sat glumly behind us on its platform.

Shouts of joy drowned the ballroom when MSNBC projected a state for Obama, then, moments later ear-splitting screams when CNN called the same state for Obama (and vice-versa). Boos erupted when Tennessee was called for McCain, and later, when Sarah Palin's face was screened during John McCain's concession speech.

Off and on the stage: the “senior” senator from Virginia, James Webb; the governor, Tim Kaine; the winner and host of the magnificent buffet, Mark Warner; newly-elected congressman, Gerry Connolly.

Moments after Warner, Webb, and Kaine paraded on the dais for the first time for Senator-Elect Warner's victory speech, here they came again with their families for Gov. Kaine's announcement of a special telephone call just received.

The floor moved, the walls quivered, the lights twinkled and his pearly whites glistened when Tim Kaine exclaimed: AP was calling Virginia for Barack Obama!

The jubilant mass raised fists, shouted, cried, danced, and Gov. Kaine said Virginia’s electoral votes had delivered the presidency to Obama, but it was not Virginia.

An Arab American woman came up to me and sorrowfully asked where I, an Anglo-Saxon, had gotten my "Arab Americans for Obama" sticker which I wore proudly on my dress. I peeled it off and gave it to her who later wore it plastered to her cheek.

I passed Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust who smiled broadly: "It's a great day to be an American." He paused: "It's a great day to be a Democrat!"

To my pal in Blacksburg worried on Monday about the outcome, I said: "Don't you worry, Ann! We 'Communists' in the Great State of Northern Virginia will deliver for Barack Obama!" And we did...with sincere and everlasting joy.




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