The Man
He's exactly the person Democrats had hoped John Kerry would have been back in 2004. He is a strong voice in opposition to the President and his administration. He has the history and experience to back up his view. He has just enough personal family involvement in the situation in Iraq that he becomes endearing to every mother and father whose child is or may one day be asked to go to war. And, most importantly, he is confident enough in his own convictions to stand tall against the cowboy president that Democrats have cowered from since 2001.
Yes, Senator Jim Webb of Virginia is that man.
It is no wonder that the Democrats chose him to respond to George W. Bush last night. Just looking at the tale of the tape between the two men and you quickly realize Bush is not anywhere near Webb's caliber.
Yes, Senator Jim Webb of Virginia is that man.
It is no wonder that the Democrats chose him to respond to George W. Bush last night. Just looking at the tale of the tape between the two men and you quickly realize Bush is not anywhere near Webb's caliber.
- While both of their fathers fought bravely in World War II, only Webb went to Vietnam as a Marine where he earned the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts. Bush got a pass and went to the Texas Air National Guard.
- Bush went to Yale University as a legacy, a son of an alum. Webb graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis.
- Webb wrote his first book while attending Georgetown University Law School. At around the same time Bush was having stubstance abuse issues, having once been arrested for DUI and had his driver's license suspended, before getting an MBA from Harvard.
- Webb served as Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan. Bush made money in oil and briefly owned the Texas Rangers (and subsequently traded Sammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox).
- As a father, Webb's son is serving honorably as a Marine in Iraq. Bush's daughters have had run-ins with the law for alcohol-related charges, and have been frequently photographed for tabloids.
As expected, Senator Webb gave a coherent and assertive response to George W. Bush's State of the Union address. For a transcript, please read here.
Senator Webb is the real thing.
posted by E-Luv at 12:21 PM
10 Comments:
My only major concern with Webb, was his snub of the president, just after he won election. I understand he does not Bush, and neither do I, but this is not a good way to start off your Senate career.
Regardless of your personal feelings, being in politics requires often taking the higher road, and showing restraint and being diplomatic, all things that Webb failed out of the gate.
I did not see the rebuttal, since I chose not to watch the state of the union out of fear of vomiting, but I take your word that Webb did a good job
Jeff,
Please read exactly what happened in the incident. Webb did, in fact, avoid the photo op line. I'm not entirely certain that is positive or negative.
As for the conversation, I believe that "How's your boy?" is a bit personal coming from someone who has sent your son to Iraq. Webb tried to deflect the insult by stating he wants them (the soldiers and Marines) to come home. Bush then simply did what he's been doing since he came into office. He tried to bully Webb.
Incidentally, Webb's response, that it was between him and his son, was what he had answered to the media during his campaign as well.
I find Senator Webb's actions thus far to be refreshing. He cuts through the phony B.S. that is Washington and goes right to what matters. When have we seen someone in his capacity truly do that?
read exactly? Were you there?
I agree cutting through Washington BS is important, but unfortunately, politics also makes strange bedfellows, and you never know where or whose bed you are going to need to share or when.
It is just basic diplomacy or worse gangster mentality. Keep your friends closer, but your enemies closer.
In order to be effective in politics you need to be able to get along and maybe Webb is going to be the exception to the rule, and I hope he can be, but too often this behaviour gets a person shut off from the power base.
There is no doubt it is a delicate balance between being the rebel and still able to effectively get stuff done, and so far Webb is toeing that line very well indeed
I wasn't there. Touche.
However, Senator Webb would not be the first to conduct politics in this fashion. The person I think of most often who did exactly this was Theodore Roosevelt.
Now, I am not comparing Senator Webb to one of our nation's greatest presidents. I am merely acknowledging that there are several similarities between the two, not the least of which is the manner in which they each handle politics.
There is a reason the Democrats asked him to respond. He is the one Democrat who can actually call Bush out on anything. He is a real "tough guy", not the image that Bush had managed to convey.
I bet Bush loses a great deal of sleep over the junior Senator from Virginia over the next couple of years.
I can only hope you are correct about Bush losing sleep over the next few years, since he does not seemed to have lost any over sending a few thousand American soldiers and tens or hundreds of thousand Iraqi's to their deathbeds.
Webb is a loser of the first order, just like all the rest of that crowd on the Left up there.
His use of phony comparisons of today's top earners vs. the middle class is simply an empty attempt to engender class envy.
What CEO's make is simply irrelevent to what employees earn. It has no effect on their salaries. You Democrats seem to think that the Constitution somewhere states that life is supposed to be fair. Find it! I defy you to.
The Constitution guarantees us equal opportunity, not equal outcome. There is no one on the top of the heap keeping any single individual in America from becoming wealthy if they so choose. The only limitations on that are self-imposed...except for the userious income tax system that you Dems seem to be so enamoured of.
"Medical costs have skyrocketed..."
Because of the socialized medicing policies put in place by Democrats in the 60's and 70's, not because of anything President Bush has or has not done. HMO's came into being under Clinton not under Bush.
"College tuition rates are off the charts"
Because professors are over paid and under worked. Also because of the billions in taxpayer dollars which have been funneled into our universities to do pointless research which could be better and more cheaply done in the private sector.
I guess that "tone of cooperation" means except for the railroading job they did during the "first 100 hours" and except for the vote to allow territorial observers the privillege to vote when the House sits "in the body of a whole."
AS for the "not a precipitous withdrawal..." bit, a retreat is a retreat no matter if you call it an advance to the rear. Our Islamic terrorist enemies will still see it as a sign of our continued weakness.
Webb is nothing but another Democrat wind bag who offers nothing but complaints with no solutions.
If he impressed you, your easily impressed...and fooled, like all of you Libs.
Dear Will,
Thank you for your response to my blog. You have touched on so many points that I love to address. You have done in one letter what would take me years to prove.
Here is what I mean:
There are at least three spelling errors in your response. Thank you for proving that our education system is troubled at best.
You twice called me a Democrat. Thank you for proving that those who disagree with the "Left" are prone to generalize. I never was, am not now, nor ever will be a Democrat. I am an Independent.
You said, "a retreat is a retreat". Thank you for that clarification. And for proving once again the inability to adapt by members of the more "conservative" side of the spectrum.
You called Senator Webb a Democratic wind bag. I wonder, did you say that in the 1980's when he was Secretary of the Navy for Ronald Reagan?
Will, I cannot thank you enough for helping me in my cause.
Wow personal attack from a Lefty...what a surprise. Spelling mistakes? Is that really the best answer you have? Actually there were five. Do you truly think I don't know that medicine is not spelled medicing? If typos are all you have to argue your side, you lose.
You are an "independent" because you lack the courage to call yourself what you truly are.
The fact that retreat is retreat mystifies a "great thinker" such as you? All you have to do is read the words of Osama bin Laden.
"America had entered with 30,000 soldiers in addition to thousands of soldiers from different countries in the world. ... As I said, our boys were shocked by the low morale of the American soldier and they realized that the American soldier was just a paper tiger. He was unable to endure the strikes that were dealt to his army, so he fled...After a few blows, it forgot all about those titles and rushed out of Somalia in shame and disgrace, dragging the bodies of its soldiers...I was in Sudan when this happened. I was very happy to learn of that great defeat that America suffered, so was every Muslim."
Is that clear enough for you? I guess the finer nuances of "adapting" were lost on bin Laden.
Your typical Liberal ruse of deflection and ad hominem attack don't hold water with me. You failed to respond to a single thing I said...again typical of a Liberal.
You just got your butt kicked but you won't ever be able to accept it, because your Liberal ego can't deal with reality.
"Wow, a personal attack from a Lefty". I'm just responding in kind, my friend.
Until you know the person you are attacking, it is best to keep the discussion less pointed. If and when you are able to actually discuss topics, I will gladly "sit at the table", as they say.
But if all you offer is rhetoric and generalization based not on actual viewpoints but on strategies to attempt to demean me, I don't see the need to debate.
Simply put, until you offer an intelligent opinion worth debating I cannot see this conversation continuing.
E-
I have to hand it to you. I was attempting to discuss this same subject with this same gentleman, and came to the same conclusions, and chose not to further engage him in debate. I wish I had been as elequent (sp?) in my explanation in choosing to disengage from the conversation.
Jeff
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