Rep. Moran’s tireless advocacy for animals is one of the things I really like about him. Thank you to Jim Moran for his work to protect animals from barbarous practices like gas chambers for shelter pets. By the way, while we’re on the subject, I strongly urge everyone to adopt a shelter pet and to never EVER buy from a breeder!!!
Moran Introduces Resolution Opposing Gas Chamber for Shelter Pets
Washington, DC – Congressman Jim Moran, Northern Virginia Democrat and co-chair of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, today reintroduced a resolution, H. Res. 208, opposing the use of gas chambers to euthanize shelter animals. Introduced during National Pet Week, the resolution is supported by over 400 national, state, and local animal protection and rescue organizations.
“Using gas chambers to kill shelter animals is unnecessarily cruel, causing these animals to suffer in the last moments of their life. This resolution would bring more attention to this unacceptable practice,” said Rep. Moran. “With the continued advocacy of compassionate citizens, I hope we can stamp out this inhumane practice.”
The resolution calls upon states to require, when euthanasia is deemed a necessary course of action, the use of established injectable euthanasia agents. Each year, 6-8 million animals are placed into the care of our nation’s local animal shelters. Unfortunately, nearly half of these animals are euthanized because adoptive homes are not able to be found for them.
Gas chambers also threaten the safety of shelter workers, causing the death of at least one human and severely injuring several others in recent years. By comparison, the use of euthanasia by injection causes animals to lose consciousness and brain function before their vital organs shut down, decreasing suffering and resulting in rapid clinical death.
“Death by gas is unnecessarily prolonged, terrifying and painful and it is unconscionable that this tactic is still being used in this country,” said Debbie Marson, local animal protection advocate and volunteer for Homeward Trails Animal Rescue. “Lethal injection is more humane, more cost effective and only takes seconds. Euthanasia, after all, means ‘good death.’ Death by gas chamber does not meet this definition.”
Laws determining euthanasia procedures for shelter animals are determined on a state-by-state basis, with several states responding to public concerns by outlawing gas chambers in recent years. Following the enactment of legislation in 2008, Virginia is currently one of 20 states that prohibit the use of gas chambers.
To view a fact sheet on H. Res. 208, please visit.
For a list of supporting organizations, please visit
Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, May 10. Also check out the video of Terry McAuliffe speaking yesterday at a rally in Arlington.)
*Can Warner save the economy? Easier said than done (Actually, what the economy really needs for long-term recovery is smart investments in our nation’s human and physical capital, not austerity. We also need rules – and a tax code – that favor the working and middle classes, not the wealthy and big corporations.)
*Northern Virginia Democrats See Turnout As Key to 2013 Governor’s Race (“‘The biggest challenge is to let people know how important this election is,’ Del. Bob Brink, D-Arlington, told Patch. ‘All those people who came out last year, we have to make sure they come out this year. Because there’s a lot at stake.'”)
*Cosgrove wins GOP state Senate nomination (I’m glad to see this, as it means a Virginia Republican can vote to raise taxes and still win reelection. Is there hope for the Virginia GOP after all? I wouldn’t necessarily go that far, but still, this is relatively good news. Also, any day that the lunatic fringe Ron and Rand Paul see the candidate they endorsed get their butt kicked, that’s got to be good!)
Bob Goodlatte, the 6th District Republican who promised to serve five terms in the House of Representatives and then retire from office, won’t get a free ride in 2014 as he tries for his twelfth term (so much for promises from Goodlatte). Bruce Elder, a member of city council in Staunton since 2006, has announced that he is running for Congress next year in the 6th. Elder marks the first time that a person who has successfully run for political office and lives in the Shenandoah Valley, where the majority of voters in the district live, is challenging Goodlatte.
Elder is the owner of a classic car retail business in Staunton, Elder Antique Auto. Several of us in the 6th had lunch with Elder several months ago as he explored whether to make the run or not. What was most encouraging to me was that Elder recognized the necessity of having a pool of donors ready to support his candidacy and the need for him to have an experienced campaign manager.
Interviewed by the Staunton News Leader, Elder outlined the issues he intends to run on – bipartisan civility, education and transportation infrastructure, including strengthening rail to relieve truck pressure on Interstate 81. Elder predictably invoked the names of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine as examples of Democrats who have successfully worked across the aisle in their political careers.
“I’m proud of being a Democrat, but I think we have to start thinking about ourselves as Americans and as Virginians, put some of this partisan bickering aside and do the work of the people,” Elder said.
Elder recognizes the difficulty of winning in the most consistently Republican district in the state. However, my enthusiasm for his candidacy was reinforced when I googled ‘Bob Goodlatte” and the first thing on the list was an ad leading to Elder’s website. How refreshing to see a candidate in my congressional district who understands the role of new technology in a winning campaign. Things are looking up for Democrats in the 6th.
Thanks to Aneesh Chopra for this photo of the scene a few minutes ago at the George Mason University Law School, where Mark Warner and Terry McAuliffe held a standing-room-only rally in front of around 250 people. I’ll have a lot more – video, photos, thoughts on the event – later, but for now I’ll just say I thought it was an excellent event, with strong speeches by both Warner and McAuliffe on how to move Virginia forward. It was also good seeing (and talking to) Senator Mark Herring, Aneesh Chopra, DPVA Chair Charniele Herring, Arlington Sheriff Beth Arthur, Delegates Alfonso Lopez, Bob Brink, Rob Krupicka, David Bulova, and Mark Keam, etc. Note that two of the biggest applause lines for Terry’s speech came at his mentions of: 1) his commitment to expanding Medicaid in Virginia; 2) his support for women’s reproductive freedom; and 3) his pledge to reform the testing requirements currently imposed on Virginia schools. One subject I would have liked to have heard a LOT more talk about was energy; in 2009, Terry talked a great deal about clean, renewable energy, but this time around he’s been a lot quieter on that subject, even as the urgency of moving ahead on that front has only increased over the past four years!
With all due respect to my friend Professor Larry Sabato, 200-proof politics responds this way: professor, you are dead wrong about the 2013 election. So are those who say that Cuccinelli is a sure winner if he can make the election a referendum on McAuliffe.
First of all, I am probably the only Democrat who ever had anything to really do with winning a governor’s race AND who actually has worked with Attorney General Cuccinelli in several important pieces of legislation (which we got passed this year with huge bipartisan support). I am currently working with him on his effort to improve the current situation as regards restoration of rights for individuals who have worked hard to show they want to be fully, productive members of their community.
So I don’t come at this analysis from the standpoint of the national guys who could care less about the state, or rank party partisans who don’t care about any of the facts. 200-proof politics has had enough success on historic things – others may take the credit but the history books are clear – not to worry about having to proof this or that to any person or group or whatever. We can just tell it like it is.
Bottom line: Neither candidate has a “sure-win” strategy unlike, say, Kaine and Warner, or Robb and Baliles. Tim wins, like Baliles, if they sell their candidacy as a “second term” for a popular Democratic incumbent. It always works. Warner and Robb, by and large, couldn’t lose; they had big leads all the way. They just had to be smart about taxes and other key issues.
Doug Wilder needed to run the perfect campaign and then get lucky twice. In a way, that made it easy, since there weren’t a lot of options to choose from; we simply had to make a virtue out of a necessity. Wilder got his miracle. George Allen had a path to victory, but so did Mary Sue Terry: she made the wrong turn on the road to the Governor’s Mansion. Jim Gilmore and Don Beyer each had a path to victory: Gilmore chose his, Beyer did not.
In 2009, Creigh Deeds had NO CHANCE to win. His campaign could have been better. But it never had a chance to win unless McDonnell made a series of big mistakes.
Now comes 2013. BOTH TERRY AND KEN have paths to victory. Historically, the Attorney General’s path is easier. But he has no “sure winning path” to victory. There is a strategy for Terry to win. Whether he and his team choose correctly is a separate question. But all this doom and gloom is just so much “smack” talk from Sabato and the others.
Clearly, Terry and Ken are not the usual candidates for Governor of Virginia in modern times. Cuccinelli is at least one standard deviation (to the right) from the ideologically normative. Terry is the first person to try and win for Governor whose political image has basically been created by efforts outside of Virginia.
In other states, these situations are not unusual: but in Virginia, are modern two party politics is of recent vintage. Thus there aren’t a lot of “data points” in the technical sense.
Cuccinelli has two big advantages: His performance as AG gets reasonably positive reviews, and there is a sitting apparently popular GOP Governor who has political reasons to want Cuccinelli to win even if they aren’t the best of buds. Those are historically big assets in a GUV race. But the number of truly swing independent voters in a VA governor’s race is down from, say, when Warner or Wilder were running.
Bottom line: McAuliffe can win. Dr. Sabato and the others are wrong in saying that Cuccinelli has a sure path to victory. That is not true. However, the McAuliffe campaign will need to bring its A-game to the contest. The Cuccinelli campaign has been a little rocky so far. But he has some top talent helping him too. So he probably will not make a fatal mistake.
So the big worry for Democrats isn’t whether they can win. Rather, it is whether they are willing to do what is necessary to win. This remains to be seen. So far, I have not seen it.
God, I wish Mark Warner were up for re-election this year. When the time comes, primary the man. Somebody, please. Come to think of it, though, as we learned in Virginia previously, North Carolina this past year, and in South Carolina this week, voters can be as stupid as hell, voting against their interests over and over. Early polls show Virginia voters may be poised to redefine stupid ever more downward. How else can one explain that some voters actually think Kookinelli preferable in the VA governor’s race or that Mark Warner is actually on their side? There is simply no Democrat more in the pocket of austerity emperor Peter Peterson. You recall, this buddy of the Koch brothers and 20th/21st Century co-conspirators against the American people for decades, is also co-architect of a plutocracy organized to enrich the 1% (and squash the rest like bugs). And it is time everyone understand what that means.
The discredited austerity emperors have been shown to have no clothes. The economic data since the 1980s show trickle down voodoo “economics” does not work. (So now the House GOP is considering legislation to end the collection of economic data so we cannot know the truth.) Similarly, the “research” supporting austerity does not exist. The infamous (Peterson-linked) Harvard duo just made the shit up and dropped data inconvenient to their preordained results. Ooops. But Mark Warner persists. (More commentary and the text of his remarks follows.)
In over 150 colleges and universities, including several Virginia public universities, the Kochs’ monies are donated to extract Koch influence into econ department hires. They still hope they can perpetuate the con. All across this country, the Koch-Peterson crowd is trying to rewrite economics into their own twisted, contorted image. If science doesn’t back you up, invent it. Peterson founded his own press, the Fiscal Times, conveniently sounding like the Financial Times in order to confuse readers into thinking it is a legitimate news source. Now his buddies the Kochs are trying to buy up some of the nation’s most prestigious newspapers. And Mark Warner is their biggest acolyte in the Senate. It is Virginia’s shame.
Amid that backdrop, Warner’s grandstand (see video above or text below) is particularly pathetic. He includes the false suggestions that:
*The main thing anyone talks to him about is the deficit and the debt (yeh, sure, everyone wants to bring on austerity and kill jobs).
*Austerity,he falsely suggests, will cure what ails America (when the evidence both research-wise and in practice all over Europe) clearly shows it will not).
*The real data from the failed Harvard “research,” actually shows austerity does not work (the opposite of what the original authors claimed.
*If only everyone would listen to the boy “genius” the world would be saved. Gag. Only Mark Warner wants to solve problems. No-siree. No one else.
*In order to be on the right path you have to be in the pocket of Peter Peterson and his crowd of whack-jobs.
Wow! What we need is JOBS, not austerity. Americans need living wage jobs that will support a family. We need an end to more expensive privatized formerly public education. We need affordable health care and we need security in our senior years. We need protection against a rigged economy, rigged banks, a rigged tax system and a rigged system of laws and governance that puts the 99% of this country squarely last and the rich like Mark Warner and Peterson first.
The Peterson whack jobs have pored over a billion dollars into the political system misinforming Americans, indoctrinating them, and trying to tip everything more in favor of the 1% than it already is. You see, for Warner and pals, enough is never enough. They have lied to Americans over and over by force feeding them the mythology that if only everyone will just give more tax cuts to the rich all will be A-OK. If only the 99% would just think like Mark all would be well. Warner pretends he is on the middle ground by appearing to support some limited tax increases (tax expenditures, he calls them). Do not be deceived. The man is colluding with Republicans to get a Republican financial agenda. He always was.
BTW, with a real recovery both the deficit and the debt would be drastically reduced. The deficit is dropping already. When the deficit goes down we borrow less and will be able to pay down the debt. A robust recovery is what we need. And such a recovery will enable us to both eliminate much of the deficit and begin paying down the debt. The president already enacted too much deficit reduction before the recovery was complete. Any more deficit reduction too soon and we will go hurtling back into recession. But never mind. Furthermore, Peter Peterson – and Mark Warner -won’t be happy until you all hand over your health care, Social Security, Medicare, education grants and federal loans, FHA loans, in short anything middle class folks depend upon and the poor depend upon even more. You paid for your retirement as you work and you should surrender it to no one.
The only budget crisis we have is austerity freaks (err hawks) holding everyone else hostage. The solution is not more people like Mark Warner but for Harry to grow a pair, to set the rules, and to stop the tyranny by the 40%. No, Mark, we do not need you spinning more bull, puffing yourself up ad nauseum, and conning Virginians and Americans.
For the record, here’s what he said in text form:
“Mr. President, I rise to make a few remarks — and to make a motion.
Mr. President, everyone in this body knows that the issue I believe is most holding back our economic recovery and most holding back our ability to sort through so many issues our nation faces, is the issue of our debt and deficit.
Nearly $17 trillion in debt – a debt that goes up over $4 billion every night when we go to sleep. This problem is structural in nature; time alone will not solve this issue.
For the last four years, my time in the Senate, there’s been no issue on which I’ve spent more time, spent more effort trying to reach out. I understand that many of my colleagues actually avoid me in the hallways now because they fear they’re going to get a ‘Mark Warner harangue’ on the debt and deficit.
I also know that the only way we’re going to get this issue resolved is if both sides are willing to meet each other in the middle. This is a problem that cannot be solved by continuing to cut back on discretionary spending. It will require, yes, more revenues, and it will require entitlement reform. Those are issues where unfortunately, in many ways, our parties have not found agreement.
We all have agreed as well, at least, that while we don’t have to solve this problem overnight, we do need at least $4 trillion in debt reduction over the next ten years.
The good thing is, while we have lurched from budget crisis to budget crisis, we have gotten over half the way there on our goal. The good news as well is this year, both the Senate and the House adopted budget resolutions.
As I said on the floor in March, I believe the Senate budget was a solid first chapter toward producing a balanced fiscal plan for our country.
My vote for the Senate budget – it was not a budget that I would agree with every component part – but was a vote for the process… for regular order. For regular order that so many of my distinguished colleagues who’ve served here for much longer say was the glue that holds this institution together.
It’s now been 46 days since the Senate passed its budget. And unfortunately there are certain colleagues on the other side of the aisle who seem to block our ability to go to conference.
In a few minutes I will ask my colleagues agree to authorize the chair to name a conference to a Budget Conference. Unfortunately, I expect that request to be objected to. I find that extremely disappointing.
I can only speak at this point for folks from Virginia, but no single other issue is as overriding. I hear it as I travel across Virginia, and I would imagine most of my colleagues as they travel across their states – is that at the end of the day Americans, Virginians want us to work together and get this issue solved.
We’ve seen over the last two and a half years, as we’ve lurched from manufactured budget crisis to budget crisis, the negative effects this has had on the stock market, on job creation, and our overall economic recovery.
Well, we have a chance to put this behind us. We need to find the kind of common ground between the House budget proposal and the Senate budget proposal that so many have called upon us to work on.
Again, I’m going to make this motion in a moment, I just want to make one last point. I appreciate some of the calls that we have had from our colleagues on the Republican side over the last couple of years for the Senate to pass a budget. I believe we needed to pass that budget.
Well, 46 days ago after 100 amendments that took until 5 o’clock in the morning, we passed such a document.
I think it is time now that we allow the Senate to announce its conferees to meet with the House to get a budget resolved for the United States of America, so we’ve got a framework to make sure that we get this issue of debt and deficit behind us, that we allow the economy to recover in the way that it needs.”
Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, May 9. Also, check out Jon Stewart as he rips Faux “News” over its Benghazi coverage – “Denizens Of Bullsh*t Mountain Have Cried Wolf Before.”)
*Whistleblower’s yarn fails to tie Benghazi lapses to politics (“But despite Issa’s incautious promise that the hearing’s revelations would be ‘damaging’ to Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hicks didn’t lay a glove on the former secretary of state Wednesday.”)
*Show voters the numbers on tax plans (“Ken Cuccinelli and Terry McAuliffe must provide more specifics on how tax cuts would affect government services.”)
*Democratic candidates square off at forum (“Roland Winston with the Alliance of Progressive Values, one of the organizers of Wednesday’s forum, said that he had reached out to the Republican candidates as well and invited them to participate. Only two responded – lieutenant governor candidates Jeannemarie Devolites Davis and Susan B. Stimpson – and said they were not able to attend, Winston said.”)
*How Terry McAuliffe and the Dems Lost Virginia (Note to Larry Sabato, who says “The only two Democrats with any state potential are in the U.S. Senate”: ever hear of Jim Webb or Tom Perriello?)
*Euille Criticizes Cuccinelli’s Tax Plan (“Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille says Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli’s tax plan would have negative impacts on local government.”)
*McAuliffe talks coal at Bristol campaign event (Sorry, but we need to be moving towards CLEAN energy and away from coal as rapidly as possible, that is if we want an habitable planet to live on. I know, minor details!)
This afternoon, on the Coy Barefoot Show, Bill Bolling talked about not going to the Republican Party of Virginia convention, and once again criticized “these closed conventions” as “effectively disenfranchis[ing] hundreds of thousands of Virginia Republicans from participating in the process of nominating candidates.” In addition, Bolling made it clear yet again that he’s “unable to lend my public support to the presumptive Republican nominee for governor.”
Bolling also criticized Ken Cuccinelli’s – as well as Terry McAuliffe’s – tax cut proposals. According to Bolling, it’s “always good politics” to promise tax cuts, but in Cuccinelli’s case, his proposal would “blow about a $1.4 billion hole in the state budget by cutting the state income tax and corporate income tax.” Bolling continued, “nobody ever talks about how they’re going to make that money up…what are you going to do to keep localities whole, or to keep the state whole, are you just going to expect people to further cut funding for education and transportation and health care?” Good question!
On the Star Scientific and Governor’s mansion “chef” scandals, Bolling called it a “mess.” He asked why Cuccinelli didn’t report the gifts he received, and wondered whether Virginians would accept his “answer” that he “just forgot.” Secondly, Bolling says the “bigger question is whether or not [Cuccinelli’s] office had a conflict of interest in becoming involved in the tax dispute between Star Scientific and the Commonwealth, given the fact the AG owns stock in the company and was receiving these types of personal gifts from the president of the company.” In the end, this has “served up an issue for the Democrats to use against Mr. Cuccinelli in the campaign that they would otherwise have not had.” Yes, it most certainly has!
Meanwhile, speaking of Ken Cuccinelli, if you can stand listening to him (which I can barely do), click here for Coy Barefoot’s interview with him this afternoon. Among other things, Cuccinelli said Bill Bolling’s decision not to attend the Republican convention wasn’t “noteworthy.” Uh huh. Cooch also went out of his way to praise Bolling’s efforts on “job creation,” obviously trying to court Bolling, now that he needs him. Gotta love politics, huh?
In other news, Coy Barefoot asked Cuccinelli why he thought he had jurisdiction in the Governor’s Mansion chef/embezzlement case, and why it wasn’t the Commonwealth’s Attorney in Richmond’s responsibility? Cuccinelli said it was a good question, but never really answered it, just talked around it.
Cuccinelli once again said he didn’t report the Johnnie Williams’ gifts because, well, “I forgot.” Uh huh, riiiight. Barefoot then asked Cuccinelli if the Governor’s Mansion chef could use the same defense – maybe he just “forgot” to tell anybody about a couple of cold cut platters, since it’s common to take leftovers home. Cuccinelli tried to say it was totally different, because the chef was essentially taking state money, and that what Cuccinelli did was simply not report a private gift. Yep, that’s our “straight arrow” Attorney General. Heh.
Great job by Rep. Connolly, who’s been relentlessly pounding Republicans for their disgraceful witch hunt and political grandstanding on Benghazi. For instance, on his Twitter feed, Rep. Connolly says the Benghazi hearing is “[Rep.] Issa at his worst. Falsehood upon falsehood. Blatant exploitation of a tragedy for partisan purpose.” Rep. Connolly adds, “60 mins into OGR #Benghazi hearing. No new facts or revelations Nothing to support outrageous GOP charges” and “Greg Hicks tells moving account of his experience but nothing about suppression or conspiracies.” So true.
Also, check out Rep. Connolly’s statement, on the “flip,” in which he points out that “[t]oday’s hearing is the fifth time House Republicans have convened a congressional committee to ‘examine’ the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi.” Connolly also notes, correctly, that the Republicans’ (disgraceful, outrageous) behavior in this case is in stark contrast to “the reaction to past attacks on our people and soil.” For example, Rep. Connolly specifically refers to “the sorrowful events of October 1983, when a truck filled with 2,500 pounds of TNT slammed into the United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. servicemembers.” At that time, as Rep. Connolly correctly points out, “I recall President Reagan and his Cabinet responding to substantive questions about the security of our foreign service personnel rather than to partisan attacks that should stop at the water’s edge.” Sadly, today’s Republicans have morphed into the John Birch Society, not the serious, respectable (and respectful) party it used to be.
Today’s hearing is the fifth time House Republicans have convened a congressional committee to “examine” the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi; if one includes all the briefings on this issue, it is the ninth such meeting on the House side alone. The latest development is the publication of a partisan Interim Progress Report by five House Republican Chairmen. The systematic exclusion of the minority membership in the report is unprecedented. Ranking Member Cummings expressed discontent in a letter to Speaker Boehner at the “decision to abandon regular order and exclude Democratic Members from the process.”[1]
The report attempts to fault then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Benghazi terrorist attack because a State Department cable to Tripoli regarding additional security included Secretary Clinton’s signature. Glenn Kessler, author of the Fact Checker blog on The Washington Post, called the signature allegation a whopper and awarded it “Four Pinocchios.” The Fact Checker went on to say that one House Chairman’s claim that “Clinton’s ‘signature’ means she personally approved” the cable is “absurd,” as every single cable from the State Department includes the Secretary’s signature, regardless of content or gravity.[2]
The reaction to the Benghazi attack differs from the reaction to past attacks on our people and soil. For example, I recall the sorrowful events of October 1983, when a truck filled with 2,500 pounds of TNT slammed into the United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. servicemembers. I was a staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time and had just visited the barracks in Beirut, and I recall President Reagan and his Cabinet responding to substantive questions about the security of our foreign service personnel rather than to partisan attacks that should stop at the water’s edge.
Two of today’s witnesses are appearing before the panel for the first time. Mr. Mark Thompson is the Deputy Coordinator for Operations, Bureau of Counterterrorism and Mr. Gregory Hicks is the former Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) of Embassy Tripoli. Mr. Thompson refused, through his lawyer, to speak with Members of the minority but Mr. Hicks met with minority staff. According to the interview that staff conducted, Mr. Hicks agreed with the Accountability Review Board (ARB) finding that security was inadequate in Benghazi; he also emphasized the need for training for personnel deployed to high threat posts.[3] Mr. Hicks went on to say that the “tone of voice” of State Department Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills indicated she was not happy after one Republican Congressman’s visit. In Mr. Hicks’ own words:
I just felt from the way the conversation, the sort of tone of-again, tone of voice, the questions that were asked by Cheryl Mills that the way I had-the way the visit had gone, fallen out, had transpired, was not a happy development from her perspective. No direct criticism beyond that.[4]
Regarding Mr. Hicks’ conversation with Beth Jones, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Mr. Hicks referred to Ms. Jones’ “tone of voice” in characterizing her response to the immediate aftermath of the Benghazi attack.[5] I hope we can hear more detail about Mr. Hicks’ interpretation of others’ reactions to the aftermath of the attacks.
The ARB report clearly states, “Responsibility for the tragic loss of life, injuries, and damage to U.S. facilities and property rests solely and completely with the terrorists who perpetrated the attacks.”[6] The report also paints a clearer picture of the context of post-Revolution Libya and the enemy that our people are facing in the region-a “growing, diffuse range of terrorist and hostile actors” who “[pose] an additional challenge to American security officers, diplomats, development professionals and decision-makers seeking to mitigate risk and remain active in high threat environments without resorting to an unacceptable total fortress and stay-at-home approach to U.S. diplomacy.”[7] Such an enemy would be challenging to face under normal circumstances, and a post-Revolution environment exacerbates the situation. In Libya, the day-to-day situation was characterized by the “security vacuum left by Qaddafi’s departure”[8] and a “general backdrop of political violence, assassinations…., lawlessness, and an overarching absence of central government authority in eastern Libya.”[9]
With the benefit of hindsight, the ARB report pinpoints management and system failures that resulted in inadequate security on the ground in Benghazi, but it also details growing challenges State has faced “to obtain the resources necessary to carry out its work.”[10] Based on this finding, it is clear the availability of resources was, and continues to be, a major issue for our missions abroad, but you wouldn’t know that based on the Republican rhetoric surrounding this subject.
Ambassador Pickering and Admiral Mullen were brutally honest about the sacrifice that our personnel knowingly face when serving overseas in hostile environments:
“No diplomatic presence is without risk… And the total elimination of risk is a non-starter for U.S. diplomacy, given the need for the U.S. government to be present in places where stability and security are often most profoundly lacking and host government support is sometimes minimal to non-existent.”[11]
Let’s not lose sight of the fact that America’s foreign aid and diplomatic posts are not just nice things to do. They are important and sometimes dangerous jobs and critical components of our national security policy. These public servants put themselves on the line every single day to advance America’s economic and humanitarian interests across the globe, and we must ensure they have the tools and security necessary to achieve this mission.
Rep. Moran’s tireless advocacy for animals is one of the things I really like about him. Thank you to Jim Moran for his work to protect animals from barbarous practices like gas chambers for shelter pets. By the way, while we’re on the subject, I strongly urge everyone to adopt a shelter pet and to never EVER buy from a breeder!!!
Bob Goodlatte, the 6th District Republican who promised to serve five terms in the House of Representatives and then retire from office, won’t get a free ride in 2014 as he tries for his twelfth term (so much for promises from Goodlatte). Bruce Elder, a member of city council in Staunton since 2006, has announced that he is running for Congress next year in the 6th. Elder marks the first time that a person who has successfully run for political office and lives in the Shenandoah Valley, where the majority of voters in the district live, is challenging Goodlatte.
