Koolaid Party in Virginia yesterday

[Virginia Dare]

The WAPO ran a puff piece this morning about the enthusiastic welcome that George Allen got yesterday at the annual shad planking in Southside Virginia.

Key quote from a supporter: "I've been watching you on the talk shows," she said. "You know everything about everything. You make me so proud." :puke:

Look closely at the picture, Allen supporters appear to be wearing a sticker designed after the Confederate Battle Flag. This is disturbing in itself, however there is an African-American gentleman near the front, sporting the sticker! Images like this make me want to crawl in a dark hole, assume the fetal position and suck my thumb:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041902774.html

[LibertyLover]

1. Better make that hole

a large cave, because after seeing that photo I'm guessing that a lot of people are going to want to join you. That sticker is beyond distressing.

[Gman]

2. Probably an Uncle Tom descendent

[Catchawave]

3. Here's a reassuring paragraph:

"Predictions emanating from the planking have not always been right. At last year's event, much of the crowd saw Republican Jerry W. Kilgore, the former attorney general, as a shoo-in for governor against then-Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D). At the time, Kilgore was well ahead of Kaine in the polls."

We have two strong Dem candidates who will be facing off in the June primary:

http://www.webbforsenate.com/

http://www.miller2006.org/


:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:


Go Team Go!!!

[ShortnFiery]

4. Guess all those computer automated "whisper campaigns" still

on my answering machine were all for not? :woohoo:

[Virginia Dare]

5. I predict this will be one of the dirtiest campaigns in VA history...

Allen has GOT to win his Senate seat if he has a prayer of running for President. Hopefully he'll have to run through a bunch of money. He's obviously the golden child of the right-wing at the moment.

[Blue_Tires]

8. my thoughts exactly

[NCarolinawoman]

7. Do you have a feel for who could best beat Allen?

I was invited to Webb's "shad-bake" because I gave a donation to him.

I have to admit I have heard of clam-bakes before, but I had never heard of a SHAD-BAKE! LOL.

[Virginia Dare]

9. My bet is on Webb...

in the article that I cited, an Allen supporter listened to Webb, and seemed to be impressed by him. This is Virginia, so Democrats have to take what they can get.

[Catchawave]

16. I think Webb can beat Allen too.

Or at the very least "bloody him up". Here's some comments from the very RWer Sabato's website: http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/2006/senate/?state=VA

Suddenly, this one has turned interesting. It is not so much that Republican Senator George Allen is not still favored for reelection. Rather, he has two ardent, energetic Democratic foes who will face off against each other in a June 13 Democratic primary: wealth business man Harris Miller and former Reagan Navy Secretary Jim Webb. Miller seems to be the choice of a good portion of the Democratic Party establishment, while Webb is viewed as a high-risk/high-reward opponent for Allen. It is far from clear which one will actually win the nomination.

What is clear is that Allen is continuing to campaign across the country for the presidency in 2008, and to run simultaneously for reelection in Virginia. This is beginning to attract substantial criticism, as it is becoming obvious that Allen hopes he will not serve out his second Senate term. Virginia has been moving away from the Republicans for several years, for a combination of demographic and political reasons, and the state is no longer as conservative as Allen. It will be fascinating to watch whether Webb or Miller can begin to "draw some blood" and force Allen to stay in the Old Dominion and spend his money on the reelection race instead of the presidential contest. Allen is engaged in a high-wire act with two separate wires, and anyone--even an accomplished athlete--can tumble to the ground in these circumstances.

[sofa king]

6. Virginia has a long tradition of shad bakes.

So Senator Allen was visiting a shad bake, eh? Virginia has a pretty important shad bake in its history. I feel a history lesson coming on.

Allow me to quote Douglas Southall Freeman about a particular shad bake which went down on April Fools day, 141 years ago:

Besides the overconfidence of Fitz Lee and Pickett, and their lack of understanding of the dread immediacy of the crisis, it is probable that a third consideration, a most human one, led them to assume that "general precaution" sufficed. Tom Rosser had spent a day on the Nottoway River immediately before moving on March 30-31 to Five Forks. The shad had been running in the stream. With a borrowed seine, the young General had caught many of the fine fish. Some of these he had placed in his headquarters ambulance and had brought to Five Forks. As soon as he got permission to move his Division North of Hatcher's Run, he arranged that the fish be cleaned and split and placed on sticks in front of brisk fires of dry wood.

...(Gen. Rosser} invited Pickett to the shad bake. Hungry and probably half wet, Pickett gratefully accepted and promised to join his host.... Fitz Lee with equal satisfaction accepted. Neither man lost any time in preparing to keep the appointment. -- D.S. Freeman, Lee's Lieutenants, Vol. III, pp. 665-666

Other Confederate officers gravitated to the leisurely shad bake and enjoyed themselves, leaving nobody in charge of the Confederate lines.

Unbeknownst to them, an entire corps of Union troops descended on the Confederate positions, and with nobody in charge, the Confederates were quickly dislodged.

The shad bake directly contributed to the loss of the Battle of Five Forks, which meant the loss of the last railroad supply line to Richmond, which forced the evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg, which forced the Confederate government to flee and be captured, and which led to the surrender of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House eight days later, which led to the end of the Civil War, which has given seven generations of ignorant-ass rednecks--now better known as Virginia Republicans--something to be upset about. A heritage of hate, if you will.

So I hope you enjoyed your shad bake, Virginia Republicans, and don't forget to pay those car taxes that then-Governor Allen promised to repeal. This friendly message brought to you by a Virginia Democrat who doesn't drink the Kool-Aid, and doesn't eat the mercury-laden fish, either.

[Virginia Dare]

10. Thanks for the interesting bit of history sofa king!

In my opinion Mark Warner did a phenomenal job bringing this state back up from the ashes that Allen and his old pal Gilmore left us in.



:toast:

[sofa king]

12. Oops, I guess Gilmore was the car tax guy, wasn't he?

Can I get a partial mark for pointing out that Allen tried to take credit for it?

As penance, I will compound the offense infinitely. The moral of my story above is, "heritage, not hake."

Yes, I know, there is a special circle of Hell reserved just for people who make up bad puns. My ticket is already booked.

[Virginia Dare]

14. All white male Republicans look alike...

it's easy to see how you got them confused.

:yourock:

[donsu]

11. many shad today are hermaphrodite or have other sexually

anomalies due to pollution, toxins, hormones, in river water. and of course mercury.

[ieoeja]

13. Looks more like...

Go here: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=1902

Click on the picture. And tell me that patch doesn't look a LOT like the patch on these gentlemen's breasts.

[Virginia Dare]

15. OMG, you're right!

jeezus, but he's a scary man. Remember, he's the new golden boy of the Republican right wing.