These are some of the writers, columnists and journalists who've spoken out in Webb's defense in light of the White House tiff, and attacking Bush and Will for their actions and reactions.
Professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Hanchette:
"... After all of our dealings, I came away thinking [Webb] is probably one of the most articulate, forthright, clear-thinking, down-to-earth, trustworthy, honest, courageous, intellectually gifted public figures I've met during 22 years in Washington.
Webb -- a celebrated boxer in his younger years -- can be inclined to confrontation. He can get in your face. But it's always for a reason. He doesn't look for trouble. But when trouble comes, he responds directly. He doesn't start arguments. He ends them. ..."
http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/...
Washington free-lancer Seffanie Rivers
"... After the monumental loss Bush’s Republican Congress suffered last month, throwing salt probably was all the president could come up with on his own without a speech writer. And Bush probably thought Webb would put on a happy brown-nose face, seeing as he was a guest. Like many times before, though, Bush was wrong. ..."
http://www.eurweb.com/...
The (New York) Journal News columnist Phil Reisman
"... But the real story behind the White House encounter, though, is that Webb is a living nightmare to Bush. The writer-soldier-statesman is one American hero that the Bush operatives couldn't "swift boat" with lies, half-lies and innuendoes. If they had tried to smear his record of service, he'd have hit back and knocked them on their butts. ..."
http://www.thejournalnews.com/...
Boston Globe editorial
"... There are thousands of Jim Webbs in the country, parents worried that their child will be, as John Kerry once said of troops in Vietnam, the last to be asked to die for a mistake. It can only be instructive for the president to have met one parent who wouldn't be put off with platitudes. How's Jim Webb's boy? In danger. ..."
http://www.boston.com/...