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RedditJim Webb can make the Four Seasons seem like a diner in Owensboro, Kentucky. It's that kind of blue-collar street cred that may be just what it takes to propel the first term Senator from Virginia onto the Democratic ticket as Vice-President.
On Monday night, at a party for his latest book, " A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America," the first term Senator from Virginia filled the dining citadel of elitism with a spirited mix of active duty and retired Marines and New York's media glitterati. After he said a few words, Webb remained at the made-for-the occasion podium--as if he were campaigning--and took questions.
Ronald Reagan's former Secretary of the Navy has refocused the warrior ambition that made him the most highly decorated Vietnam -era Marine from his Naval Academy into a passionate, progressive and patriotic populism. When asked tonight, by the New Yorker's Rick Hertzberg, what he thought of those who opposed the Vietnam war, Webb said "I never had a problem with those who properly opposed the war. I had a problem with the way vets were treated when they got home." He explained that as the young vet and author of "Fields of Fire," the classic novel of the Vietnam War, "I inherited the obligation to articulate the conclusions of those who served." And in that, he suggested, lay the seeds of anger and bitterness toward opponents of a war he had served in...passions which have ebbed and subdued as he has witnessed the disaster of Iraq.
Monday night, as other nights, most notably the January night in 2007 when Webb delivered the most devastating Democratic State of the Union reply in modern memory, the Senator used his bully pulpit to rip into a Republican Administration that has shafted the men and women it sent into an unecessary war by denying them the benefits they deserve and for allowing this country, as he told me, to "calcify along class lines." When I asked what he would do to make the people who lived up and down the street we were on, Park Avenue, contribute to reclaiming a fair and just America, Webb spoke forcefully of ending a system "in which the average corporate CEO now makes nearly 400 times more than what an average worker does. " When "I graduated from college," he told me, "the average CEO made 20 times what the average worker did." As Webb fielded questions, with his young Vietnamese wife close by,--he even repeated questions when they weren't clear ("a technique of military instruction," he joked)-- he denounced the inequities of system which takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.
When asked if he'd consider being a Vice-Presidential candidate on an Obama ticket, Webb's non-reply--" I like being a Senator" -- --suggested to me that he's ready to rumble. And his media blitz these last few days --Meet the Press, Late Show With Letterman, Olbermann and Dobbs tomorrow--second that emotion.
Through all of this, the Senator's wife struck a striking, yet serene, presence. "She keeps those turbulent waters calm," Webb said of her influence on him. He also spoke movingly of her life as part of the promise of America--a woman whose maternal grandparents were killed by the Vietnamese Communists, comes to the US and gets a degree at the University of Michigan and then a law degree at Cornell. I couldn't help but think what a striking pair Webb and his wife would make if they were to join the Democratic ticket.
"We should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today," Webb told a nation last year, as he rebutted and rebuked President Bush. It is that spirit that offers a path forward for progressives not only to win elections but to govern.
We can recapture that spirit today. Yes, we can.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on what’s in the news and what’s not--but should be.
Great writing. Happy we know you want your 72 year old on the throne but he's fallen and can't get up. "Where's MyCane"'s trying hard but he's got a younger warrior's boot on his chest.
Posted by winyahn at 05/20/2008 @ 01:40am
Yes, Richardson!!
Clark is a Clinton Man through and through.
Webb, he must really hate 'merica and the troops.
He may be a good 2nd choice. It would be an awful lot of fun to watch the neo-cons twist and fumble to paint him as un-patriotic, cowardly and ignorant of foreign affairs. That's all they have, attack, attack, lie, dissemble.
Either way, Richardson or Webb, O is going to romp all over Grandpa Jones.
"Hey Grandpa! Whats for dinner?"
Crow.
Posted by crabwalk at 05/20/2008 @ 07:33am
Need a little help on this one, lets see how many former Reagan appointees have turned on the neo-con agenda;
John Dean
Webb
Bruce Fein
Colin Powell
Jack Matlock
Adm Crowe (not for dinner, BTW)
Gen Hoar
Phyllis Oakley
John Kiesling
The Plames
Gregory Thielman
George Harrop, ambassador
Richard Clark
Rand Beers
Now let's hear how Chimpy abandoned the "real" conservative agenda, but how the neo-cons are going to support McCains continuation of ChimpCo's policies, with some McCain style immigration and environmental policies thrown in for good measure.
Posted by crabwalk at 05/20/2008 @ 07:57am
As long as Jim Webb is prepared to poke a stick in the eye of neoconservatism, I don't care where he does it from.
(BTW, thanks for the re-engineered text box.)
Posted by drhammer at 05/20/2008 @ 07:57am
Richardson....Obama needs "help" with Latinos and he has the "experience" thing.
Posted by Mask at 05/20/2008 | ignore this person
Correct!
Webb would have a hard time explaining the Democrats reluctance to end this war through cutting the funding and the disaffected military vote likely represents a small % of the MIC vote that will go to paper hero and admiral's son McCain. Richardson doesn't have this problem.
Obama needs Richardson to appeal to the Hispanic vote absolutely - and he needs Richardson's broad breath of experience as a show of confidence to those who think political experience counts for something.
Obama already has Edward's supporters vote.
Posted by OneVote at 05/20/2008 @ 09:18am
Please not Richardson. Webb as a first term Senator might be problematic, but he was Secretary of the Navy. In this election, all the Republicans have is to attack Barack and Michelle's level of patriotism. With Webb on the ticket, they can't do that too much. They can't own the debate on American strength and military power.
Posted by rasalula at 05/20/2008 @ 09:27am
Posted by rasalula at 05/20/2008
While Richardson may not have Webbs military credentials, he has vastly more experience in the international stage. I am not aware of any holes in Richardson patriotism, although there may be a picture of him without the requisite lapel pin.
Richardson also has more experience running large organizations, not just military bureaucracies. I would also think his depth of knowledge on who should be running departments in the federal government is far broader than Webbs. A key to a succesful Obama presidency is going to be who he surrounds himself with.
but, if O wants to go directly at the uniform loving cryptofascist nationalists with Reagans old Sec of the Navy, I could live with it. The twisting and foaming from the Right will be a beautiful sight to behold. So would watching a Black/Latino ticket run rampant over Whitey-Lobbyist-Flip-flopping McCain/another old white dude.
Either way, Goldman Sachs and the loud tie crowd will win out.
Posted by crabwalk at 05/20/2008 @ 09:40am
With Webb on the ticket, they can't do that too much. They can't own the debate on American strength and military power.
Posted by rasalula at 05/20/2008 | ignore this person
Good point, unless the Repubs question Webb's "current" patriotrism, i.e., questioning the CIC?. Dont' forget the economy, and an electorate that just may consider diplomacy and negotiation a more important foreign policy tool than military might and ultimatums.
Posted by OneVote at 05/20/2008 @ 09:43am
PS. the neo-cons don't own squat when it comes to American Strength and military power. They have squandered it, broken it and spit on the men and women that make up our armed forces. All that holds those kind of votes is fear and jingoeism, AKA, "gettin' out the Base". And "The Qaida of ChimpCo is not happy with Mccain the librool.
Posted by crabwalk at 05/20/2008 @ 09:48am
Yes...but mostly the "Latino thing".
Posted by Mask at 05/20/2008 | ignore this person
Without question. Black/Latino relations would be difficult to exploit with this ticket. Gots to put your money where your mouth is Senor Obama -- comprende?
Posted by OneVote at 05/20/2008 @ 11:22am
Posted by OneVote at 05/20/2008
It's more of a problem to Obama than "lack of foreign policy experience"....which is supposedly what Webb brings to the table.
Plus, Richardson was a governor who cut taxes and an ENERGY Secretary.
Posted by Mask at 05/20/2008 @ 11:25am
Frankshitz-Webb is a combat veteran and war hero which means that your kind has not earned the right to put him down.You have done nothing to prove love of America and,please, get back to us if you ever do because then,and only then,will your words have meaning..
Posted by i'm nobody at 05/20/2008 @ 12:50pm
What? Is there yet another so-called, "conservative" talking about patriotism that never served in the military or a war and can't identify a single member of their immediate family who is under the age of 75 who has? I'd be shocked if it didn't happen every day.
Posted by srjenkins at 05/20/2008 @ 1:09pm
<p>The push for Webb (or Clark or Biden or Nunn or Hagel or...) as VP belies the assumption that Obama needs "shoring up" on foreign policy and national security. </p>
<p>He doesn't. Anyone who suggests otherwise hasn't been paying attention to him for the last 16 months -- and fails to appreciate just how vulnerable McCain is on these issues.</p>
<p>Webb is a fine candidate for Defense, but Obama doesn't need a macho man with a military pedigree to help sell himself to the American people. What is worrying is that the enthusiasm that many Democrats have right now for Webb as Obama's VP seems to have as much, or more, to do with the "macho" as with the "military" -- the idea being that Obama is not enough of a "man's man" to get elected President, without a heavy dose of white, Southern, thick-necked, cigar-chewing testosterone at his side.</p>
<p>Embedded in this idea is a level of unexamined sexism and homophobia that says a lot more about many of those who are pushing Webb than it does about Obama.</p>
<p>Indeed, there is very little, philosophically, that separates this thinking about Obama -- and, for that matter, Webb -- from those West Virginians who said they couldn't vote for Obama, because they thought we really needed an American as President.</p>
<p>And I say this as someone who was raised in Owensboro, Ky., for the first 18 years of his life.</p>
<p>The fact that self-identified "progressive" Democrats are pushing Webb as Obama's VP is a symptom of what a good job Republicans in general and the right-wing punditocracy in particular have done on Democrats.</p>
<p>My recommendation? Kathleen Sebelius --- with Richardson (or perhaps Biden) at State and Webb (or perhaps Hagel) at Defense. </p>
Posted by horizonr at 05/20/2008 @ 1:17pm
John Nichols,
Jim Webb could only hope Obama would choose him, but I serious doubt he will be considered. His military credentials are not enough. He, like Obama, he has yet to complete a full Senate term. He has no background with foreign policy, trade, nor has he authored any legislative policies that have become law. This is part of the criteria voters tend to look at. The overwhelming lack of experience is something the dems cannot gloss over. It will be an issue and voters do take notice.
Also, many here think Bill Richardson would be a good candidate, but his Hispanic background may very well give the appearance that he's pro-immgration, that coupled with a slow economy and the lack of support from his fellow democrates isn't a good choice either. He has good foreign policy experience, but he'll get nailed for the North Korean debacle. Also, his turning against HRC will speak volumns. His loyalty will come into question.
What the dems need is a Veep who can truly appeal to all of their voting bloc and not just a few niche groups. They should look for is someone who has experience with both the Clinton and Bush Administrations. This person should have at least 25 years working in the government sector, whose not too involved with domestic and international lobbies, has served on at least two high ranking committees and knows how to get and build broad support in a bi-partisan manner.
In other words, Obama's veep needs to be a centrist, especially since he leans so far to the left.
Posted by ACook at 05/20/2008 @ 2:05pm
Albuquerque (AP) Vice Presidential hopeful Bill Richardson today announced his plans to undergo gender reorientation surgery in light of recent focus group findings.
Doctors predict "the operation will go without a hitch".
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 3:42:04 PM
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/20/2008 @ 3:35pm
Webb would be great as veep! Senatorial experience pales in the comparative gravitas of the military experience. Bring Richardson on as Secretary of State and announce it before the election.
Posted by janda at 05/20/2008 @ 3:37pm
Webb, as a former Secetary of the Navy, has more experience than any of the candidates for President. I would feel more comfortable if he was a Presidential candidate. I suggested his name for Secretary of Defense yesterday on Arkin's Early Warning blog in the Washington Post, but I like him for Vice President too. The next Administration will crash and burn after one term if it follow a "Free Trade" economic policy. He might have a shot in four years and not eight years for President.
Posted by P. J. Casey at 05/20/2008 @ 4:53pm
The whole VP issue is way more complex than just the issue of military/foreign affairs. How does that issue balance off against the issue of gender? How does it balance off against the issue of administrative experience? I don't know, but you can not discount someone like Governor Sibelius of Kansas, who can represent other very important issues and constituencies - like women and moderate Republicans (who now make up a large portion of the Kansas Democratic Party). I am beginning to hear Obama speak very forcefully and confidently about foreign affairs and military matters. I have a feeling he is going to be able to carry his own against McCain in that area. This should be fun (finally something fun) to watch.
Posted by libraridan at 05/20/2008 @ 6:47pm
Posted by libraridan at 05/20/2008
50-50 on somebody like Sibelius.
50 yes, because she'd win back over some of the Hillary folks and brighten spirits of the pro-Obama feminists like Katha Pollitt, here at TN, who were a LITTLE bit excited about HRC winning (back last year) and "making history".
50 no, because it would be a "double historic" team (1st black, 2nd woman) and may be a bit too much of a risk, even in a great year for Democrats.
Posted by Mask at 05/20/2008 @ 7:25pm
"And considering all three, as much as I love the Richardson concept, I think Webb's stronger:"
Posted by winyahn at 05/20/2008
Win, I disagree. Webb is a virtual unknown and unpredictable. And like McCain, he has a nasty temper.
Posted by ACook at 05/20/2008 @ 8:43pm
ACook, the media laps up Hillary's hostility. Your side wins time and again with fear/flag tactics. Sure they'll try and use the one-term to exploit fear. But the Reagan/military cred will be hard for them to undermine. He's our man. Who's yours? Maybe George Stephanopoulos . He sure looked like a McCain loverboy a couple weeks back.
Posted by winyahn at 05/20/2008 @ 9:03pm
"But the Reagan/military cred will be hard for them to undermine."
Posted by winyahn at 05/20/2008
Gimme a break. This guy only served 1 year as Secretary of the Navy, it's not enough to say he has strong military credentials. Not to say the Webb is a slouch, he's not. Also, he's on his 3rd marriage.
Wife No. 1 - Council Member in MD
Wife No. 2 - Health-care lobbyist
Wife No. 3 - Securities/Corporate lawyer
I know he fought very well during Vietnam and was cited for his bravery, however, it's no match for McCain's ultimate sacrifice - POW.
Posted by ACook at 05/20/2008 @ 10:15pm
McCain
Posted by ACook
what a hero, dropping bombs from the sky after his dad got him the gig.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/20/2008 @ 10:36pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/20/2008...
FZ, don't go after McCain on his war record.
First, it means you just negated all the crap the Swift Boaters did to Kerry, by doing the same thing to McCain. You want to be the LEFT-wing version of a lying 527? (pontificus bait, I know)
Second, you don't get to be a combat pilot "because your dad got you the gig"....you maybe get to fly mission over West Texas and take a lot of time off because your dad did...but they don't let you fly a million dollar plane over North Vietnam on nepotism.
Posted by Mask at 05/20/2008 @ 11:03pm
Frosty -- meant get pregnant /slash/ get someone pregnant... For someone who can't vote, you really do make your voice and levity and insights register. Keep it up, and maybe put out some Neocon misdirection signs the day of the election.
ACook, certainly all your posts would lead one to the conclusion that you believe Obama is not the best of the three. I think you're relying on all that same wisdom in making your suggestions for his VP.
Of course, your talking points will be echoed by big media and this will blunt his appeal. They sure eviscerated Kerry.
AND still, back to my main point it's all about Webb's superiority vis a vis WCW / WWC.
Fresh off the press: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Kentucky presidential primary on Tuesday by a decisive margin, buoyed by support from...
HERE WE GO ---
white working-class voters (NYTimes)
Posted by winyahn at 05/20/2008 @ 11:08pm
Posted by Mask
killing civilians does not a hero make.
he got the job because of his dad.
"McCain was then stationed in A-1 Skyraider squadrons[18] on the aircraft carriers USS Intrepid and USS Enterprise,[19] in the Caribbean Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea.[20] HE SURVIVED TWO AIRPLANE CRASHES AND A COLLISION WITH POWER LINES."
i don't care about the politics right now.
dropping bombs on innocent people during a stupid war is criminal.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/20/2008 @ 11:13pm
Posted by winyahn at 05/20/2008
WIN, I don't like any of them and I won't vote for either party come November. Picking any presidential candidate from this Congressional pool is like stepping on a fireant mound. They're gonna sting you everywhere.
Posted by ACook at 05/20/2008 @ 11:23pm
Yeah... And Bill OReilly says he's "independent".
Posted by winyahn at 05/20/2008 @ 11:27pm
Chris Dodd is Ted Kennedy's closest friend in Congress. I believe Obama needs an experienced Wash INSIDER to help navigate the treacherous waters of Capitol Hill. Dodd has formed bonds over the past 33 years which will make him an ideal wingman for the Peacemaker-in-Chief.
Some Senators, including one well-turned- out lady in a pantsuit, might react unfavorably to 2 young outsiders whom they perceive to have jumped the line.
Change + Experience = A team that can actually govern our country
Posted by kathleensanjuan at 05/21/2008 @ 01:01am
This is everything. And everything will be thrown at Obama. Everyday, blunt and subtle. Wright-Swiftboating, whisper stuff times 10000. It's very foolish to discount the risk of a "working class white" defeat and '4 more years', even if it's close. There's lots of Kentucky thinking, West Virginia hesitation, fear - lots and lots and lots of latent discomfort with different - and tens of millions of Pennsylvania scale tippers all across this country. Dodd, Richardson, Clark won't cut it.
Posted by winyahn at 05/21/2008 @ 07:01am
I know he fought very well during Vietnam and was cited for his bravery, however, it's no match for McCain's ultimate sacrifice - POW.
Posted by ACook at 05/20/2008
Being captured doesn't make you any more of a war hero than not being captured. McCain had a cake job in the military and was shot down, Webb on the other hand was in the trenches doing the real fighting.
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 05/21/2008 @ 08:37am
Fresh off the press: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Kentucky presidential primary on Tuesday by a decisive margin, buoyed by support from...
HERE WE GO ---
white working-class voters (NYTimes)
Posted by winyahn at 05/20/2008
I just saw an article where the GOP candidate in Tennessee wants to take anti Obama adds out. They wouldn't want the black vote mobilized like what happened in Mississippi.
I think it's great, the rethugs message of the scary black man being president may scare some of the whites, but more of the black people are voting and the base of the democratic party will still support the democrat even if he's black.
Kind of a reverse of the Nixon era move where they got the hard hat whites to vote republican against the elitist libruls. Maybe the black vote will weigh in big time in this election and force the republican party to find other ways to try to scare people into voting for them.
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 05/21/2008 @ 08:44am
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/20/2008
FROSTY, there were civilian deaths in the bombing raids that Senator GEORGE McGOVERN went on in World War-II.
Nixon on the other hand was a supply officer in the Navy.
SO by YOUR rationale, in 1972...
you'd have to have voted for the "non-criminal" Nixon, huh?
Posted by Mask at 05/21/2008 @ 08:59am
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 05/21/2008
One thing lost in the analysis last night and today, WOLF....
Kentucky?....is NOT a "swing state". Oregon is.
Almost no way Obama (or Hillary) would win KY in the General Election.
It's the reason she brings nothing to the table as Veep. Oregon voters didn't like her...Most KY voters won't, come the Fall anyway.
Posted by Mask at 05/21/2008 @ 09:01am
Three cheers for libraridan--Webb makes a lot of sense as SecDef: we need someone who's clearly opposed the Iraq war to lead the drawdown of forces there, not someone who's going to continue asking for more resources in support of a failed policy.
I suppose the problem with moving Webb--either onto the ticket or into the Pentagon--is the risk associated with giving up a Senate seat at a crucial time. Webb's got a lot of appeal, but I wonder if it makes sense to relocate him at this point.
Posted by GaryChartier at 05/21/2008 @ 09:54am
Jim Webb has a number of reasons not to appeal to liberals.
http://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2008/05/ jim-webb-as-obama-veep-feh.html
(Eliminate the space in the middle of the broken-up URL.)
Posted by SocraticGadfly at 05/21/2008 @ 11:10am
Hey Happy .. no Illinois one-timer in DC could possibly be a good president, right?
Ooops, wait .. this just in, Abe Lincoln served 4 years in the IL state govt, and then one term as a US Rep before becoming President.
Posted by leftofcenter at 05/21/2008 @ 11:24am
It's the reason she brings nothing to the table as Veep. Oregon voters didn't like her...Most KY voters won't, come the Fall anyway.
Posted by Mask at 05/21/2008
Good call Mask. The fact that Obama took Georgia won't have any effect on the general election because it's about 99.9999999999% guaranteed that Georgia will go Republican as the rest of the southeastern states have voted.
And Hillary's argument that the states that backed her won't back Obama is a bunch of crap. The dem states will still back Obama. The big question here is, what kind of support will McBush get from the luke warm Bush states from the last election?
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 05/21/2008 @ 12:11pm
Right, for today's world! In 1861, Abe didn't have to worry about much, did he?
Posted by HAPPY3
nope, just one little war......
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/21/2008 @ 12:48pm
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 05/21/2008
Keep hammering the phrase "George Bush and John McCain" every stop....and "a 3rd Bush term"....
that'll do it.
Posted by Mask at 05/21/2008 @ 1:16pm
Right, for today's world! In 1861, Abe didn't have to worry about much, did he?----Posted by HAPPY3 at 05/21/2008
Right, hardly any threat at all to the union we call the United States of America in 1860....was there?
(The man has slipped his moorings....geez!)
Posted by Mask at 05/21/2008 @ 1:17pm
Yup I agree. Any role in an Obama administration would be great. I think a generational shift is about to happen.
Posted by julien38 at 05/21/2008 @ 1:47pm
FZ, don't go after McCain on his war record.
Posted by Mask at 05/20/2008 | ignore this person | warn it
Is it okay to delve into his time as a POW and his conduct post release regarding obtaining release of his fellow POWs?
I hear tell that his captors were fully aware that he (being an admiral's son) had high hostage value, and that he was treated better than most. Take a look at some of the veterans websites for their opinion of McCain.
McCain's complicity in declaring MIAs and POWs as dead, and his complicity in covering up massive evidence to the contrary is of far more importance than the fact that he got shot down and captured.
Check out McCain's record on Korean POWs. I respectfully disagree that his conduct at all times should be considered heroic, and I assert that he has sold his soul to the MIC at the expense of his fellow POWs.
Just because it doesn't get alot of press coverage -- which it should -- doesn't mean that it isn't an important factor to consider.
Posted by OneVote at 05/21/2008 @ 1:47pm
Second, you don't get to be a combat pilot "because your dad got you the gig"....you maybe get to fly mission over West Texas and take a lot of time off because your dad did...but they don't let you fly a million dollar plane over North Vietnam on nepotism.
Posted by Mask at 05/20/2008 | ignore this person | warn it
You kiddin? Ya think they give a crap about saving a million bucks on a plane when an admiral starts making some phone calls.
Picture all the military hardware being pushed off the decks of aircraft carriers into the drink as we got the hell out.
Posted by OneVote at 05/21/2008 @ 1:58pm
Posted by OneVote at 05/21/2008
OV, you want to really enjoy the term "backfire"?
Go after McCain's war record and EVERYTHING the Swift Boat Vets did to John Kerry....just go vindicated by the Left.
Can't complain ONE MORE SECOND about the SBVFT ads against Kerry, once you try to go after McCain for his war record (and that would everything from how he got his wings to how he was treated in Hanoi).
It will prove "both sides do it" and "everything is fair game"...and as a little green Muppet once said "Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny."
Posted by Mask at 05/21/2008 @ 3:12pm
Posted by Mask at 05/21/2008 | ignore this person | warn it
Well better political minds than me such as Obama and yourself are not going to touch it with a 10 foot pole. The backfire factor that you reference is undboubtedly real. It just pisses me off so much that he gets to masquerade around when there is much documentation and witness that he is contrary to his establishment created image which is apparently sacrosanct. While Obama won't touch it, perhaps some veteran's political action group will. I nearly gag when I hear Obama so deferential to McCain. It is apparent that he and his backers know what there doing -- and I still rejoice and I am amazed that they are on the verge of defeating Clinton.
Posted by OneVote at 05/21/2008 @ 8:20pm
Jim Webb is a liar.
"I never had a problem with those who properly opposed the war"
That is a flat-out lie. If people like van den Heuvel and the so-called journalists at this book-plugging party had done their homework and read the articles on Jim Webb's own website, www.jameswebb.com, they would have been able to confront him on this lie.
Take for example, this 1997 article that he wrote for (ahem) the American Enterprise Institute:
http://www.jameswebb.com/articles/variouspubs/aeiprotestorswant.htm
The title is "Peace? Defeat? What Did The Vietnam War Protestors Want?" The title says it all (just like the title of his earlier article, "Women Can't Fight", which described his attitude toward women in the military). Let's look at a couple of quotes:
"It is difficult to explain to my children that in my teens and early twenties the most frequently heard voices of my peers were trying to destroy the foundations of American society, so that it might be rebuilt according to their own narcissistic notions. In retrospect it's hard even for some of us who went through those times to understand how highly educated people--most of them spawned from the comforts of the upper-middle class--could have seriously advanced the destructive ideas that were in the air during the late '60s and early '70s. "
And this one:
"at a time when a quiet but relentless battle is taking place over how history will remember our country's involvement in Vietnam, those who ridiculed government policy, avoided military service, and actively supported an enemy who turned out to be vicious and corrupt do not want to be remembered as having been so naive and so wrong."
Hmm, yeah, Vietnam protesters were all Communist sympathizers trying to destroy the foundations of our society. But Jim Webb had no problem with them.
Posted by hrryan at 05/22/2008 @ 10:26am