Mr. Webb also took several digs at what he called theorists in the administration and among its allies who know combat only in the abstract. Mr. Allen, like the majority of the current Congress, did not serve in the military.
In recent days, the Allen campaign, acknowledging a newly competitive race, has gone on the attack. A Mason-Dixon poll conducted this month found Mr. Allen’s lead, once in the double-digits, had shrunk, with 46 percent for Mr. Allen, 42 percent for Mr. Webb, and a margin of error of 4 percentage points." Washpost
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"Allen is probably going to win. Money. Money. Money. This is all about money." That is what the politicians believe and they may be correct. Allen has money coming out his ears. The national party is intent upon keeping that seat and the right wing of the party wants Allen, who, it is whispered, will fill GWB’s chair without making any problems at all.
Webb? Dour. Unsmiling. Serious. Haunted. Short. Not a showman. Not strikingly handsome. Not enough money.
Is Virginia still inhabited by eccentric, independent and tough minded people? Or is the Old Dominion now just another administrative province of the marketing state. Churchill called this the "Great Republic." Perhaps it is better that he should not see what we have become.
This is the Navy Cross. It is the country’s second highest medal for courage. Webb has one, earned as a company officer.
This is the Silver Star, the country’s third highest medal for courage. Webb has one of these as well.
By the way, I think Webb ought to "lay off" about the cowboy boots. A lot of Southerners wear cowboy boots and often in the very areas where he needs votes.
Pat Lang
Pat, this is a Republic, as long as we can keep it. Allen is one of those Chickenhawks who is proud to fight until the last of his neighbors children are dead. He sure isn’t going to go himself or send his children, if they were of age, either. Damned disgrace, but too many Americans think sacrifice is having a yellow ribbon on the ass end of their car and salute to the fallen soldier – the ones they read about on page B-19 in their paper, if they see a notice at all.
Pat, I wouldn’t totally write off Webb just yet. Webb has to stay on message about the war. Allen pretty much admitted he has no independence from Bush when it comes to the war, which John Warner has no hesitance to display. The big prize is still Northern Virginia, and if Loudoun, Fairfax, and Prince William counties can go Democratic like they did for Tim Kaine, then Webb has a good chance to tap into the shifting demographics.
“Perhaps it is better that he should not see what we have become.” PL
You’ve got that right.
Webb had a couple of opportunities to put Allen away on MTP and didn’t do it. He also flubbled his answer on women in combat, the question he had ample time to prepare for. Sigh. Political inexperience is working against him. The good news is he’s within striking distance of Sen. Macaca. The key will be GOTV in Northern Virginia. For anyone who lives there, contact the Webb campaign and see what you can do to get Northern Virginians to the polls on Nov. 7.
If the DSCC would put some money into this race, they could pick up this seat. WAKE UP SEN. SCHUMER.
http://www.webbforsenate.com
“Not strikingly handsome” PL
He’s a damn sight better looking than George Felix.
Allan is a complete boob, perfect fit for what the Repubs are looking in a president these days.
Webb wrote a novel, Something to Die For, which is a great takedown of the Washington chickenhawk mentality and military careerism. He really hates those people, and there is a nice counterpoint between them and the ethical, professional Marines who have to carry out their lunatic orders (in a fictional skirmish in Eritrea).
However angry Webb is (it’s justified, of course), he did a good job yesterday not being “hot” on TV and handling the questions about his positions on women in the military.
Still, I hope he is doing some good work on “soccer moms” who may feel the genial doofus Allen is “safer.” Maybe Webb can point out that Allen is part of the insane crowd which may end up demanding their children in a draft after they set the world on fire.
http://www.webbforsenate.com
Fine and so sad…
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/09/what_weve_lost.html
Col. Lang: The popularity of people like Allen as compared to Webb is endemic in our society. We routinely promote glad-handers over people with knowledge or talent. Have you cast an eye down Pennyslvania Avenue, recently. We have lots of Mozarts in America; they have just ceded the field to the Salieris.
Pl,
I debated whether to send you this to read or not. I passed. Figured you have enough on your plate just making a living and doing the blog. But when I saw your last line in this post I decided to send this to you.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/41635/
Col. Lang, I’ve lurked around here a long time. Let me just say I’m a Virginian who is a few months shy of the mid century mark. People tell me I’m a flaming librul. I’ve been listening for 30 years that people like me hate the soldiers. Of course some do, but for most – I’d guess 85-90% – well that was and is so much hooey. It’s almost too trite to say it this way, but what I truly hate is the inefficiency of waste.
I’ll give money to Webb’s campaign, and I’ll vote for him, because he won’t support the waste of lives to score debating points or win an election. The man knows how to define the objective. I’m going to hope that our fellow citizens can note the difference between a marketing campaign and integrity. If he does win, I’ll likely end up chewing the carpet over some positions he will take. But I can live with that in regards to a person worthy of respect.
I saw that Meet the Press – I’m from Virginia – and Allen made me want to puke. His only claim to fame is that his father was the coach of the Redskins in the 1970s or something.
Simple minded, soundbite quoting moron — on message and stupid as a brick.
Webb: self made, facile, intelligent, sincere and clearly what we need on Iraq — someone not afraid, as are both Democrats and Republicans, to even raise an eyebrow at the Halliburton-Israel nexus.
Someone who very clearly understands how the DOD, the intelligence agencies and our diplomats abroad have been abused by the cabal losing this war and running our Middle East policies into the dirt.
If a man like Webb can’t be elected in wartime — and if he is defeated by an ignorant mediocrity like Allen — we are well and truly screwed
Virginia is saddled with Senator Warner. My state is saddled with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Wanna trade?
The recent Republican attitude to combat and combat vets is a great contrast to what it was for decades after the Civil War, when a non-combat vet couldn’t compete against the bloodied veterans of the field. Now the extreme entrepreneurial paradigm of maximizing profits amd minimizing risks and costs to one’s self is considered much more admirable. The combat volunteer can be ridiculed with impunity, and the combat avoider, like George W Bush and all three of his brothers, lauded as a hero.
The Roman Senate honored the farmer and military hero Cincinattus even as they seized the small farmers’ land to combine into latifundia (estates worked by slaves).
The Roman navy and then the army became units of foreign mercenaries. You know the end of the story.
I’d been hearing about the Jim Webb candidacy and wondered if this was the same James Webb who was the decorated Marine and former SecNav. I’m glad to hear that this is the same man, and hope that Virginia is fortunate enough to gain him as their new senator.
FWIW, Mother Jones blog has an informative entry about Mr. Webb, in which they quote the full editorial he wrote in the Washington Post during the 2002 prelude to the war against Iraq. He warned about and against it from the perspective of history past, as well as from the dire perspective of what will become the US looking back at its history in the time. He includes the perspective of China’s involvement, and I believe implies that China is brilliantly outmanuevering the US due to the shortsightedness of the vendetta against Saddam Hussein.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2006/09/jim_webbs_2002.html
The great thing is the George Felix has been knocked out of the 2008 prez reace.
As somebody observed
1. another George; and,
2. a son of a famous father
Best Wishes
We need another Eisenhower in this country…very badly. Dick and Don and George aren’t fit to lick the turds off Ike’s boots.
It saddened me to read your column especially the quote by Churchill. What has happened to our country? Those so eager to send someone else’s son or daughter off to die are elected as our leaders, while the true warriors who fought for our freedom are vilified. Shame on the American voter. I live in CA and I sent Webb’s campaign fund money. Maybe it has become true that only money counts in American politics.
When I first came to Washington, back in the early ’80s, Webb was one of the Reaganauts — as conservative a culture warrior as you could have found anywhere. A brother-in-arms of Ollie North’s (although we hadn’t heard of him yet). An activist AGAINST the Vietnam War Memorial (or, as Webb and his associates called it, the “wall of shame”)
Webb’s political philosophy — his entire world view — seemed based on the post-Vietnam rage of those who believed the U.S. military had been stabbed in the back by the liberals and the protesters and the Democratic Party.
He was, in other words, the living definition of what I would have called an arch reactionary. At that point, it wasn’t too hard to imagine Webb leading a Friekorps unit in Weimar Germany.
If someone had told me back then that Jim Webb would end up now running for the Senate as a Democrat, I would have told them they were completely nuts.
I don’t know if Webb can win (like Col. Lang, I tend to doubt it) but just the fact that he’s where he is today — lined up next to Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi — tells me something big has happened. It may not be big enough, yet, to break the death grip of the neo-conservatives and the pseudo-conservatives and the corporate conservatives (who pay for it all), but it points to a possible political realignment — an alliance between what used to be called the New Left and the Old Right in opposition to plutocracy at home and imperial adventurism abroad.
Or, maybe I’m just dreaming. But if the republic is to be saved, men like Jim Webb are going to have to be part of the movement that does the saving. I wish him good luck — which isn’t something I thought I would do.
Dear Col.,
I agree with you on the cowboy boots.
If a nation’s true intent is self-defense, it will honor its defenders. If its true intent is economic expansion by any means necessary, then it will honor the ability to get one’s hands on the spoils of war without paying any of its costs.
Have you seen the body armor ad in VA? ( Allen voted against it )I saw it and it’s powerful. Apparently it will be reworked against Santorum, who also voted against it.
http://securingamerica.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSIquseoawk
From votevets.org
I like the Thai system. The politicians get out of control and the military stages a “Do Over”.
I e-mailed a friend to ask about the situation in Bangkok and if he was ok. His reply was “Nothing serious, we’re all get use to on this kind of situation.” Unfortunately I don’t think it would work outside of Thailand. A respected king and Thai optimism are hard to find elsewhere.
Colonel: Cd we open a conversation on the effort to build a new Office of Special Plans for Iraq?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6108983&ft=1&f=1003
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Special_Plans
I wonder does Mr. Webb appreciate what an excellent interview he did yesterday when he spoke one on one with Chris Matthews. He accomplished what few are able to do: re-phrase Matthews initial mud slinging, tangental questions then speak with clarity and knowledge about the most important issues of our time. Good Luck, Mr.Webb, and just remember we’ve seen mirrors and gloss for many years and very little honour and reality, which shines through you during this televised interview.
Great TV ad by Jim Webb.