So, How About That Jim Webb? Great Op-Ed

[leftyladyfrommo]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15990689/site/newsweek/

I just read Eleanor Clift's new opinion piece on what happened between Webb and Bush. A real tough guy vs. a phony tough guy. Great stuff. (Course now he will get swiftboated - but I have a feeling he can handle that kind of stuff just fine.) You know, I think I could snub Bush with no problem. I just plain don't like the guy. I can't imagine even wanting to spend a few seconds with the guy.

Kind of reminds me of Colman's routine done right in front of Bush.

Good for them.

[BOSSHOG]

1. I want those swift boats fired up

and taking aim at Webb and General Clark. Their boats will sink after running aground. bush is a garbage human being. No sense of humor, no ethos, no logos, just a blob of cells. People like him and limbaugh have to depend on each other so they can say they have friends.

[leftyladyfrommo]

2. I've never been able to figure him out at all.

He just seems to be this strutting little something or other - but I never get the feeling that he has any depth at all. Its just all this totally un engaged, uncaring cardboard cutout of a person.

[Auntie Bush]

18. That's because his brain is made with dried up paper Mache

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

7. Hey Bosshog, Chimpy is IMO is the most useless piece of

protoplasm on the planet, bar none...

And after reading Eleanor's article and seeing what Poppy said about Paul Wellstone, Poppy's running a real close second of that opinion.

Apple meet tree....

[leftyladyfrommo]

8. You know, Poppy wasn't all that popular when he was President.

I think he has gained stature in the ensuing years.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

10. Oh yes, I'm well aware of how Poppy's stature has gained

in some people's minds over the intervening years. Not in my mind though, I despised Poppy especially after the S&L scandal and Iran-Contra.

AFAIC, the entire Bush family is a "pox" on my beloved country.

[307 MMS]

17. Comments

Did any of you folks read some of the comments about that article!? One comment refered to DU. But some of the nut-job comments....whew!?!!

[Demit]

3. 'Given the contrast between their respective offspring, Webb showed restraint'

Thank you, Eleanor Clift!! That was my imagined perfect zinger response to Bush: "He's in Iraq, Mr. President. And how are your girls?"

I am SO glad Clift took the time to put this incident (and George Will's dishonest response) into its proper perspective.

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. Yea. She did good, didn't she?

I couldn't beleive George Will's response to this.

I kind of wish that Jim Webb would have just turned around and told Bush to get fucked. That would have made great news.

[SaveElmer]

4. Great column...one minor quibble...

As Jim Webb has said repeatedly, he did not get into the race only based on opposition to the Iraq war...he also campaigned extensively on the issues of Economic fairness...an issue on which he has always felt uncomfortable being a Republican...

One minor criticism of an otherwise very good column!

[YDogg]

6. Wow. Just wow. I wish more in the press were this direct.

[oasis]

9. Eleanor's tops in my book. k&r

Btw, did you mean to write "Colbert's routine"?

[CrispyQ]

11. Fantastic column!

k&r

snip...

It’s justice long overdue for a president who has so abused the symbols of war to get his comeuppance from a battlefield hero who personifies real toughness as opposed to fake toughness. Bush struts around with this bullying frat-boy attitude, and he gets away with it because nobody stands up to him. Bush could have left Webb’s initial response stand, but no, he had to jab back—“That’s not what I asked you.” Webb is not one to be bullied. He knows what real toughness is, and it’s not lording it over people who are weaker than you, and if you’re president, everybody by definition is weaker.

[pacalo]

12. Excellent, well-written article.

A quirky individualist who wants no part of the phony collegiality of Washington, Webb was rightly insulted when Bush pressed him in that bullying way—“That’s not what I asked you”—trying to force the conversation back to Webb’s son. Webb could have asked how the Bush girls are doing, partying their way across Argentina. He could have told Bush he was worried about his son; the vehicle next to him was blown up recently, killing three Marines. Given the contrast between their respective offspring, Webb showed restraint.

[DesertRat]

13. Do you mean Colbert's routine? n/t

If not, fill me in on Colman.

[leftyladyfrommo]

25. Nah, I meant Colbert. n/t

[Straight Shooter]

14. Bring on the swiftboat liars. Let them try. Here's some history on Webb:

"The Navy Cross is presented to James H. Webb, Jr., First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as a Platoon Commander with Company D, First Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam.

On 10 July 1969, while participating in a company-sized search and destroy operation deep in hostile territory, First Lieutenant Webb's platoon discovered a well-camouflaged bunker complex which appeared to be unoccupied. Deploying his men into defensive positions, First Lieutenant Webb was advancing to the first bunker when three enemy soldiers armed with hand grenades jumped out. Reacting instantly, he grabbed the closest man and, brandishing his .45 caliber pistol at the others, apprehended all three of the soldiers. Accompanied by one of his men, he then approached the second bunker and called for the enemy to surrender. When the hostile soldiers failed to answer him and threw a grenade which detonated dangerously close to him, First Lieutenant Webb detonated a claymore mine in the bunker aperture, accounting for two enemy casualties and disclosing the entrance to a tunnel.

Despite the smoke and debris from the explosion and the possibility of enemy soldiers hiding in the tunnel, he then conducted a thorough search which yielded several items of equipment and numerous documents containing valuable intelligence data. Continuing the assault, he approached a third bunker and was preparing to fire into it when the enemy threw another grenade. Observing the grenade land dangerously close to his companion, First Lieutenant Webb simultaneously fired his weapon at the enemy, pushed the Marine away from the grenade, and shielded him from the explosion with his own body.

Although sustaining painful fragmentation wounds from the explosion, he managed to throw a grenade into the aperture and completely destroy the remaining bunker. By his courage, aggressive leadership, and selfless devotion to duty, First Lieutenant Webb upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Webb

Kerry's heroism in Vietnam is just as commendable, but there's no way the Swiftboat Punks or the Purple Band-Aid Brigade would dare to smear Webb. You can bet he's ready for any assault on his character.

[mcg]

22. A freeper troll here recently tried to swiftboat Webb,

by disrespecting the United States Naval Academy.

That's desperate.

[FredStembottom]

15. Maybe it's finally over?

Bush deserves an endless series of snubs and impoliteness. He is just a little evil twit and maybe the Captive Media are done propping him up?

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

16. K & R, for her comparison of Wellstone and Webb. What a great article.

:kick: MKJ

[Eurobabe]

19. Exactly what I wrote to that PRIG George Will

"OMIGOD!!! A new Senator who doesn't do the goose-step with the Inside the Beltway crowd. How REFRESHING."

George didn't email me back.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

23. NIce!

:applause: MKJ

[Diane R]

20. Why do Eleanor Clift's columns only run on the web?

George Will's columns run in the magazine (and the WP), hers are only on the web. Or am I mistaken?

[KAT119]

21. Eleanor Clift has always spoken clearly-Truth to Power-for decades now.

She has been a regular on the Friday night "McLaughlan Group" and as the only woman on the panel, is often shouted down by the male blowhards present.

She is confronted by spin-meister bullies daily, and keeps on telling the truth.

Thank you, Eleanor for your bravery and light....

[leftyladyfrommo]

26. I think she holds her end up pretty well.

Especially considering the men she is up against.

[Duppers]

24. No Exit posted about Webb's encounter with bush too: "There's more to the Story"

His post:
>>
Webb-Bush: There's More to the Story
Background on Webb-Bush

A lot of people think Jim Webb may have overreacted to the President Bush when he asked about his son Jimmy at a recent White House function.

I've gotten a tip on the background to this confrontation, and it appears that Webb may have under reacted.

As President Bush is well aware, a couple of weeks before this dinner the tank riding next to Jimmy's in Iraq was under fire and three marines died.

My sources are telling me that the way President Bush approached Webb with his tone, it appeared he was asking the question of how Jimmy was doing in a mocking manner, while he was certainly aware of the tragedy that had hit his unit a few weeks earlier.

(snip)

http://notlarrysabato.typepad.com/doh/2006/11/nls_exclu...

This story is also discussed at:

http://www.firedoglake.com /

Is this true? Let's consider a little of what we know of Bush's reaction to other parents of servicemembers: several months ago, an article appeared in a military newspaper, concerning Bush's meeting with the mother of a soldier who'd been killed. I think parents of fallen servicemembers automatically get to meet with Our Leader for a few minutes. This mother was tearfully telling "Mr. President" what a wonderful person her son had been, and she ended by saying "He would've had a wonderful life." Whereupon Bush said to her, "How do you know he would've had a wonderful life?"

Heartwarming, wasn't it?

Considering this earlier account, it seems to me that the story of Bush asking Webb in a mocking tone "How's your son?" would be right in character. I believe the above account of the Webb-Bush conversation.
>>





So, the real story is getting around! To me, Webb's a hero. I fought hard to get him elected here in Virginia, calling around the state to voters on my own nickle.

I'd like to see his name on the next presidential ticket, right under Al Gore's!! Yeah, that's THE ticket!