Live chat with U.S. Sen. Carl Levin about Afghanistan

[sehender1]

Today at 4 p.m., Sen. Carl Levin will chat with Free Press readers about Afghanistan at FreepOpinion.com, the digital home of the Free Press editorial board.

Levin is the dean of the Senate armed services committee and, since January of 2009, its chair. He's a key player in the debate about troop escalation in the Afghan war.

In his Wednesday statement about President Barack Obama's plan to add 30,000 more soldiers to the conflict, Levin said:

"I believe the principal mission of U.S. troop increases in Afghanistan should be to accelerate the transition to Afghan forces taking the lead for providing Afghanistan’s security. This is an important part of the approach outlined by the President. Where I have questions is whether the rapid deployment of a large number of U.S. combat forces, without an adequate number of Afghan security forces for our troops to partner with, serves that mission."

Come talk with Levin at 4 p.m., at this address:
http://www.freep.com/article/2009120...en.-Carl-Levin

[Mikeg]

The "dean" of the Senate armed services committee deigns to "chat" with his "subjects", but only on the topic of Afghanistan. Yet Carl Levin will gladly chat on any subject with the likes of Bob Schieffer, David Gregory or George Stephanopoulos.

The "dean" can tell you exactly how many more Afghans he wants to have employed over there. But does he even stop to think that maybe those who can chat with him at 4 PM in the afternoon probably don't have a job or are underemployed and maybe don't share the same priorities as he does?

[lilpup]

The "dean" of the Senate armed services committee deigns to "chat" with his "subjects", but only on the topic of Afghanistan. Yet Carl Levin will gladly chat on any subject with the likes of Bob Schieffer, David Gregory or George Stephanopoulos.

The "dean" can tell you exactly how many more Afghans he wants to have employed over there. But does he even stop to think that maybe those who can chat with him at 4 PM in the afternoon probably don't have a job or are underemployed and maybe don't share the same priorities as he does?

That's the committee he's on. Cheeks-Kilpatrick sits on a committee that's more relevant to your concerns - go chase her down.

[Mikeg]

That's the committee he's on. Cheeks-Kilpatrick sits on a committee that's more relevant to your concerns - go chase her down.

Representative Cheeks-Kilpatrick is a member of the House of Representatives and I don't live in her district. Senator Levin on the other hand, is supposed to represent all of us who live in this once-great state, in addition to any committee assignments he might have.

And don't tell me to go chase down Senator Stabenow, she's made it clear that because of her new assignment on the Senate Energy Committee, her top priority is the "climate crisis". This dangerously incompetent dolt doesn't need any facts or "settled science" because she knows that "Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I'm flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the price in more hurricanes and tornadoes."

Unfortunately, Michigan's US Senators appear to be too narrowly focused on their committee assignments and not their constituents.

[sehender1]

Mikeg:

Sen. Levin is chatting with readers at my request. I asked him to come speak with readers about Afghanistan because 1) it's in the news a little bit right now... and 2) he's a pretty key player on this stuff.

4 p.m. today was the time he had available to do this.. I had originally proposed noon, but he couldn't do it. I smell no conspiracy there; he's a pretty busy guy...

It's cool that you'd rather discuss something else with him. I'd encourage you to contact his office in Washington, or Detroit, to set that up.. I know Sen. Levin to be conversant and engaged on a great many topics..

He's doing what he's doing today with us because of MY request, not his own limitations or unwillingness to do something else..

Just so we're straight on that..


Stephen Henderson
Editorial Page Editor
Detroit Free Press

[Mikeg]

Thanks for the clarification, Stephen. That certainly puts it in a different light.

My frustration is with all the pols we send to Washington. Once they get there, they become seduced with the spoils of Congressional seniority and life within the Beltway. Besides the relentless focus on fundraising, there's the maneuverings to get a better office location, better committee assignments, more contacts, better party invitations, and above all else, more favorable publicity. None of these have anything directly to do with serving the needs of the people they represent, that's what they pay their staff to do and that's who responds to my contrarian missives to the Senator.

In November of 1974, my district's US Representative was running for a second term against an upstart challenger who was 20 years his junior. I was among the majority of voters that day who voted for the challenger.

A year or so later, my wife and I were in Washington DC doing the tourist thing. We stopped into our Representative's office to obtain some gallery passes. The receptionist said she would get them for us and we should take a seat. A couple of minutes later she came back with them and said the Representative was with a visitor but that he was almost through and he would like to meet us if we could just wait a few more minutes. We agreed and I spent the next few minutes mentally indexing some of the issues that were most important to me. A few minutes turned into about 45, but we were eventually ushered in to see him and were introduced by his staffer. He stood up, shook our hands and welcomed us into his office. He immediately launched into a monologue about the visitor he had just received, a fellow who was actively trying to bring pressure on the government of the USSR to release more of the "refuseniks". Since this was a hot story in the national press at the time, our Rep was very excited and it was obvious that he wanted to impress us with the fact that he was going to have some kind of yet-to-be-defined involvement with this issue. When he finished his comments, he thanked us for coming and we were ushered from his office. Not once did he ask us for our opinions, what concerns we might have, where we lived, what we did for a living, whether we had a family, etc. When we got out in the corridor, we just looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

My neighbors re-elected this guy three more times, but without my help. In retrospect, I wish he had stayed in DC, but he had ambitions equal to his ego and he later became the 45th Governor of Michigan, again without my help.

[ccbatson]

I was at a live chat a few years ago over iraq and the surge when he proclaimed that the surge would not work and there was no military solution for Iraq...so much for his credibility.

[Big Dog]

We are still there. Was there a solution, or is it still in the works?

[ccbatson]

We have a minor and diminishing presence [[so too for Germany, Japan, etc).

[Big Dog]

I guess we are following the plans of the major fallen empires.
Babylonian
Persian
Greek
Roman
British
Spreading too thin, trying to nation build and sinking, like the titanic.What a good plan.

[ccbatson]

Are there any governing systems that don't eventually fall?