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| Tangled Webb: Cognitive dissonance in Virginia. |
| 2006-10-28 |
| by Andrew Ferguson, The Weekly Standard One of the best political articles you'll ever read; here's a taste: [Pat Langley] is a Democratic party activist in [Arlington, VA,] this most liberal of suburbs in this most conservative of states. She'd invited friends, fellow activists, and neighbors over for punch and coffee and finger food. She wanted them to watch a campaign video and listen to a conference call over a speaker phone, and then give as much money as they could to her favorite candidate, James Webb. That's the same James Webb--the staunch defender of the right to bear arms who's warned his countrymen about collectivist taming by the Left, its war on salt-of-the-earth "Joe Sixpack" through such programs as affirmative action, also known (to Webb, among others) as "state-sponsored racism." The same Jim Webb whose war novels bristle with contempt for the professional liberals, mollycoddlers, and antimilitary cultural Marxists who constitute society's decadent elite and who have made their home in the Democratic party ever since their treacherous betrayal of our fighting men in Vietnam. Something's not right with this picture, obviously, but then so many pictures seem out of whack this election year, and nowhere more so than in Virginia. Here George Allen--former governor, favorite of the conservative movement, and one-term Republican senator of no particular distinction--is being challenged by the most sophisticated right-wing reactionary to run on a Democratic ticket since Grover Cleveland. It turned out that not many people at Mrs. Langley's knew much about Webb. As committed activists, they were just happy he's a Democrat who's been running even in the polls with Allen and has a fair chance at an upset. And they know he's a Vietnam veteran whose two Purple Hearts, Silver Star, and Navy Cross testify to unimpeachable heroism. Other things they think they know about him, however, aren't quite so. "He's a war hero, but you know he's refusing to let the campaign reference his war experience," one of Mrs. Langley's neighbors told me. "He refuses to exploit it. That tells you something right there about the kind of man he is." The neighbor didn't flinch when Mrs. Langley played the campaign video, which offered a parade of old combat pictures of Webb and a series of testimonials from his war buddies. . . . |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #1 sorry to keep quoting LGF - but I just finished reading in there. Those of you who may be inclined to think Webb may not be such a bad choice cause Allen's campaign was so mean and nasty about his poetic literary skills might want to consider this: Dems have the Miracle Cure "Go ahead. Pull the other leg. Webb: Democrats will provide Iraq remedy. It’s to laugh. Read the whole article to find out what this magical “remedy” is, and you’ll discover ... nothing. This is as specific as Webb gets: “It pains me as an American that our casualties are again escalating while this president and his followers are still incapable of bringing forward an intelligent, commonsense approach to ending our involvement there.” How is this not a cut-and-run policy? (It’s actually a non-policy, with a strong odor of cut-and-run.) Notice also that the Iraqi mujahideen have stated quite clearly that they are stepping up attacks and media efforts, specifically to evoke this kind of response from US politicians. The term “useful idiot” seems applicable here." |
| Posted by: Clkethel OHlkdj 2006-10-28 16:16 |