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Sunday, October 10, 2004
Jeff-Jack
I went to the West Virginia Democratic Party's yearly big-wig fundraiser yesterday. It's called the Jefferson Jackson dinner, and I got to wear a suit. Things where I wear a suit are good things, more often than not.
Senator Rockefeller and Senator Byrd were tied up in D.C. for the annual end-of-session screw fest, where the majority party (whichever it may be) attempts to screw the minority party out of all the good committee assignments. I wouldn't be surprised if Jay Rockefeller was spending quite a bit of time filibustering. His video greeting had that "talking just to be talking" monotone perfected by Strom Thurmond for his 24 hour, 18 minute filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
My first glimpse the legendary Robert C. Byrd was in a similar taped message. Byrd is of mythic proportion in West Virginia. The longest-serving Senator, he is revered by Democratic party and partisans. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he keeps The Mountain State in the front of the line for pork spending. These projects are one of the only reasons this state hasn't gone completely under as coal mining and manufacturing collapse.
I am naturally suspicious of politicians regarded as institutions. After all, I grew up in the home state of Orrin Hatch. Sure enough, a search at The Wikipedia reveals a couple of blots on Byrds record that no one here really wants to discuss: he was briefly a member of the Klan and had a cameo role in the crapfest that was Gods & Generals.
He's hardly Zell Miller. Byrd's Dixiecrat origins are rooted more in The New Deal than Jim Crow. His pork projects for West Virginia are mostly medical and educational, and desperately needed in a state with as many problems as this one. Certainly John Maynard Keynes would approve. Not having to worry about re-election, Byrd doesn't hesitate to confront Bush's blunders. His latest book is Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency. His film & television credits, other than Gods & Generals, are mostly anti-Bush documentaries.
Conclusions about the institution? None: halfway through his video, I noticed Madeleine Albright was sitting at the next table and stopped paying attention.
Secretary Albright is very short and had to stand on a box to give her speech:
The speech was incredible. I loved it, and will hopefully find a copy somewhere to post. Also, I was at the very front table, less than twenty feet from the most powerful woman in the history of U.S. Government. (Until Sandra Day O'Connor becomes Chief Justice, anyway.)
Also got a picture with Governor Bob Wise. From the video tribute to him (the video projectors got quite a workout) his greatest accomplishment as governor seems to be standing in a flooded field while news cameras look on. Nice guy, looked a bit like one of my uncles. (The 'stach is probably the only thing between him and national office.)
Senator Rockefeller and Senator Byrd were tied up in D.C. for the annual end-of-session screw fest, where the majority party (whichever it may be) attempts to screw the minority party out of all the good committee assignments. I wouldn't be surprised if Jay Rockefeller was spending quite a bit of time filibustering. His video greeting had that "talking just to be talking" monotone perfected by Strom Thurmond for his 24 hour, 18 minute filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
My first glimpse the legendary Robert C. Byrd was in a similar taped message. Byrd is of mythic proportion in West Virginia. The longest-serving Senator, he is revered by Democratic party and partisans. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he keeps The Mountain State in the front of the line for pork spending. These projects are one of the only reasons this state hasn't gone completely under as coal mining and manufacturing collapse.
I am naturally suspicious of politicians regarded as institutions. After all, I grew up in the home state of Orrin Hatch. Sure enough, a search at The Wikipedia reveals a couple of blots on Byrds record that no one here really wants to discuss: he was briefly a member of the Klan and had a cameo role in the crapfest that was Gods & Generals.
He's hardly Zell Miller. Byrd's Dixiecrat origins are rooted more in The New Deal than Jim Crow. His pork projects for West Virginia are mostly medical and educational, and desperately needed in a state with as many problems as this one. Certainly John Maynard Keynes would approve. Not having to worry about re-election, Byrd doesn't hesitate to confront Bush's blunders. His latest book is Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency. His film & television credits, other than Gods & Generals, are mostly anti-Bush documentaries.
Conclusions about the institution? None: halfway through his video, I noticed Madeleine Albright was sitting at the next table and stopped paying attention.
Secretary Albright is very short and had to stand on a box to give her speech:
The speech was incredible. I loved it, and will hopefully find a copy somewhere to post. Also, I was at the very front table, less than twenty feet from the most powerful woman in the history of U.S. Government. (Until Sandra Day O'Connor becomes Chief Justice, anyway.)
Also got a picture with Governor Bob Wise. From the video tribute to him (the video projectors got quite a workout) his greatest accomplishment as governor seems to be standing in a flooded field while news cameras look on. Nice guy, looked a bit like one of my uncles. (The 'stach is probably the only thing between him and national office.)
