As expected, Jim Webb got his news buzz this week. I don't actually read, watch, or listen to news, but I see echoes of it in the various blogs I browse, which are all a-flutter with posts and comments about Webb.

Ironically, nine out of ten of them are variations on, "Wow, Obama should pick him as running mate." I didn't see all six of Webb's appearances, but in the one I did see he made it clear he wasn't interested in being vice-president. And yet that's what everyone is talking about. I guess political junkies don't know any way of saying "I like what he says" other than "he should be veep".

But Webb can't be complaining. He got his GI bill passed (as an amendment to a bill funding the war) with a Senate majority that looks veto-proof. It seems his message got through to where it counted.

The President is still threatening to veto, but there are so many other programs mixed in with the bill, it's hard to figure out exactly what the White House objects to. I don't think its the GI Bill per se. It seems likely that they'll negotiate out some of the other details and it'll be signed.

Meanwhile, the president is also threatening to veto the latest Farm Bill, and on that question I completely support him (and McCain). Farm bills are almost always bad, and this one is another monstrosity. It's bad enough that we use public funds to subsidize a segment of the population that is not means tested and includes plenty of profitable corporations. Must we in the process also worsen the greenhouse effect, despoil the land and aquifer, and promote obesity while furthering starvation around the world? The free market may not be perfect but it beats the heck out of allocating resources according to political influence.

I still support Obama for president, but if he loses to McCain, one of the consolation prizes will be that President McCain might actually stop some of these odious farm bills.

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