Throw The Rascals Out

by hilzoy

If we want our political news to involve something more heartening than debates about just how much torture we will allow this administration to practice, how many rights we're prepared to strip from people who have never been charged with any crime, or whether to wreck our country's finances and our international credibility forever or only for the foreseeable future, we have to do whatever we can to ensure that Democrats take control of at least one house of Congress in the upcoming elections. We can't afford not to do whatever we can to bring this about. To this end, I'm going to write a series of posts on candidates who deserve support. I'm concentrating on federal offices, not (e.g.) governorships, and on candidates who are not shoo-ins. And the first one is Joe Sestak, who's running for Congress in Pennsylvania.

Joe Sestak spent 31 years in the Navy, eventually retiring at the rank of Vice Admiral. He "commanded the U.S. naval battle group in the Persian Gulf during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2003." While in the Navy, he found time to earn "a master’s degree in Public Administration and a Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from Harvard University". I like his views on the issues a lot -- not just his excellent position paper on defense, but his views on economic and health policy.

Moreover, while I don't support voting for people just because they have served in the military, which would be stupid, I do think that, other things equal, the Democrats could use as many Congresspeople as possible who have serious national security experience. A lot of our current problems, in my view, are simply due to the fact that many Democrats feel that they have to prove themselves on these issues, whether because of past votes (e.g., against the first Gulf War) whose memory they wish to erase, or to show that they really aren't wimps, or some such thing. We badly need people who have real expertise in these fields, and who have absolutely no need to prove themselves on national security. For this reason, I think that when we find a candidate for Congress who is a smart and decent person who we'd be lucky to have even if he were a retired ping-pong champion runs for Congress, and he happens to be, in addition, a retired Vice Admiral, we should go out of our way to support him.

Besides all that, though, there's his opponent: the completely bizarre Curt Weldon. I wrote about him here; Laura Rozen has just written a piece on him for the American Prospect. In addition to the usual litany of ludicrous Weldon moments -- Able Danger, trying to arrange for himself to discover WMD in Iraq with his very own shovel, pinning medals on Gaddafi, freelance diplomacy to North Korea -- she finds this delightful tidbit:

"Meanwhile, Weldon has publicly praised Uzbekistan’s corrupt and brutal leader Islam Karimov, whose security services have been charged in State Department human-rights reports with systematic torture of dissidents and pro-democracy activists. “He has made himself into a champion of [Karimov] and become a tool in some of Karimov’s vendettas against his adversaries,” says Scott Horton, an international lawyer and adjunct professor at Columbia University Law School.

A few years ago, a Central Asia hand observed Weldon introducing a young woman to Russian energy company officials at a Eurasia-oriented petroleum economics event in Washington, D.C. “The amazing thing was that Weldon was working the room and he had this young woman with him, and it was like, ‘I really want to introduce you to somebody who would do a great job to help you with government affairs,’ and it was his daughter, Karen,” the observer said. “A lot of people at the Uzbek embassy told me Weldon had very aggressively peddled his services to the embassy done in joint relationship with his daughter.” Weldon denied aiding his daughter to a newspaper in his district in 2004."

Recall: Karimov is the guy who boils dissidents alive (last link has horrible pictures). A great guy to "champion".

If you'd rather have a smart, thoughtful retired Vice Admiral in Congress than a champion of torturers whom even some of his colleagues describe as "slightly unhinged", you can contribute to Joe Sestak's campaign here.

Comments

[Miles]

I had the good fortune to hear Sestak speak along with Clarke, Tony Lake, and Rand Beers at my college, Swarthmore, this past week. He was quite impressive.

Now I face the dilemma: Vote in the Lieberman/Lamont race, or vote in this district of PA. Both matter, and I have no idea which way to go. *Sighs*

[Ugh]

Early and often Miles, early and often.

[Gary Farber]

Might I 'umbly suggest you consider doing a post on Ed Perlmutter for the Colorado 7th, amongst the others you'll get to?

"We badly need people who have real expertise in these fields, and who have absolutely no need to prove themselves on national security."

One reason to get James Webb in the Senate, aside from just getting the idiotic George Allen out.

[dbomp]

Vote in the congressional race, Miles. It'll carry more weight. Besides, then you also get to vote in the Santorum/Casey race.

[IntricateHelix]

Miles: Sestak and the PA 7th district needs your democratic vote. The 7th is pretty notorious for being heavily republican although this has supposedly been changing in recent years. Regardless, Sestak in congress would be a fantastic addition for the democrats.

dbomp: "Besides, then you also get to vote in the Santorum/Casey race." Ditto.

[John Thullen]

Sestak sounds good.

Compared to Weldon, I'd follow Mike the Mover off a cliff.

Democrats have some good candidates around the country. I'll be voting a straight Democratic ticket, something I've done since 1992. When the Republican Party is thoroughly shamed, out of power, and a few in jail, then they can come to me with someone new who might actually have good governance in mind.

[Slartibartfast]

We can't afford not to do whatever we can to bring this about.

Coming from you, hilzoy, I didn't even feel the need to acquire personal body armor.

[russell]

"Throw the rascals out"

Now you're talking.

Thanks -

[ScottM]

Done; something tells me this series is going to be expensive. Thanks for taking the time to write it up.

[gwangung]

Regardless, Sestak in congress would be a fantastic addition for the democrats.

I think dropping the last three words would be sufficient.

And we need more of those candidates.

[Richard Bottoms]

Same B.S. that "they are all the same."

That's crap. Republicans are led by a president who want to torture. The Democrats are against it.

Republicans rush to "save Teri Schiavo". Democrats are against such horrors.

Repulbicans sent inept politcal dimwits to rebuild Iraq, botched securing Afghanistan, and are destroying the military.

Throw the Republicans out.