Obama/Webb – The winning ticket
Thu Feb 07, 2008 at 10:06:57 AM PDT
Until last week I was an Edwards supporter and would have been delighted if he had been able to make a deal with Obama (my second choice) to run for vp. But as my Barack fever rises and I focus on a winning ticket, I think that the person who can totally annihilate any national security advantage that McCain has and could help us achieve a landslide victory in November is Senator Jim Webb of Virginia. Think about it!
Why I like Webb? Below the fold ...
First of all, he’s strongly against the Iraq war!
April 29, 2004 A critical question for citizens and journalists to ask the U.S. government right now is this: "Under what circumstances will the United States military withdraw from Iraq?
That's according to James Webb, the novelist, decorated Vietnam veteran and Reagan-administration Secretary of the Navy, ...
"What are the conditions?" Webb asked a crowd of more than 300 people in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union. "If you can't answer the question, then you shouldn't have been there in the first place."
Read more ... Former Navy Secretary Unleashes Tide of Iraq Criticism
And all other wars of choice!
Sen. Webb went on the offensive today and denounced the Lieberman/Kyl amendment as warmongering and a big fat, wet kiss to the "William the Bloody" Kristol wing of the GOP—including the star of the Neocons: Dick Cheney.
This proposal is Dick Cheney’s fondest pipe dream. It’s not a prescription for success. At best, it’s a deliberate attempt to divert attention from a failed diplomatic policy. At worst, it could be read as a back door method of gaining congressional validation for action with one hearing or without serious debate. Read more ... Crooks and Liars: Sen. Webb blasts Lieberman/Kyl Amendment
He is a Vietnam veteran with an equally solid tradition of military service in his family (as McCain) and a son who has served in Iraq. Plus he has served as Sec of the Navy in the Reagan Admin. (and he graduated 1st in his class in officers school rather than next to last like McCain)
Both sides of Mr. Webb's family have a strong citizen-soldier military tradition that predates the Revolutionary War. Read more ... Jim Webb's Site
He is a staunch populist!
The senator’s discussion of the economic conditions in the United States, however, went considerably beyond the pallid quasi-populist rhetoric normally employed by many Democrats. He spoke bluntly about the widening divide between rich and poor and the vast chasm that separates corporate CEOs from ordinary workers.
"Regarding the economic imbalance in our country, I am reminded of the situation President Theodore Roosevelt faced in the early days of the 20th century. America was then, as now, drifting apart along class lines. The so-called robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth. The dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt." Read more ... World Socialist Web Site: A Warning From Sen Webb
But he believes in accountability of the military. And he aint down with no signing statements!
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) took to the Senate floor today to dispute President Bush's assertion that the recently approved Webb-McCaskill Commission on Wartime Contracting was beyond the constitutional authority of the Congress.
Stating that the Commission, signed into law last night by the President in the National Defense Authorization Act, will "march forward in an expeditious manner," Webb questioned why President Bush saw fit to issue a signing statement critical of a bipartisan body intended to make government more accountable to the American taxpayer. Listen
He’s not afraid to make demands on the wealthy for the good of the society!
"... America's top tier has grown infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years. It is not unfair to say that they are literally living in a different country. Few among them send their children to public schools; fewer still send their loved ones to fight our wars. They own most of our stocks, making the stock market an unreliable indicator of the economic health of working people. The top 1% now takes in an astounding 16% of national income, up from 8% in 1980. The tax codes protect them, just as they protect corporate America, through a vast system of loopholes." Read more ... WSJ: American Workers Have a Chance To Be Heard
He wouldn’t hesitate to call a bumbling deserter a bumbling deserter!
According to Webb, Bush's military service was not his only fault.
"The Bush campaign now claims that these issues [Bush's service in the Guard] are largely moot and that Bush has proved himself as a competent and daring "war president." And yet his actions in Iraq, and the vicious attacks against anyone who disagrees with his administration's logic, give many veterans serious pause.
Bush arguably has committed the greatest strategic blunder in modern memory. To put it bluntly, he attacked the wrong target. While he boasts of removing Saddam Hussein from power, he did far more than that. He decapitated the government of a country that was not directly threatening the United States and, in so doing, bogged down a huge percentage of our military in a region that never has known peace. Our military is being forced to trade away its maneuverability in the wider war against terrorism while being placed on the defensive in a single country that never will fully accept its presence." Read more ... Ambivalent Mumblings: Webb's Op-ed Article Displays His Courage
All this plus an accomplished novelist and screen writer too! This is our guy!
Mr. Webb has written six best-selling novels: Fields of Fire (l978), considered by many to be the classic novel of the Vietnam war, A Sense of Honor (l981), A Country Such As This (1983), Something To Die For (1991), The Emperor's General (1999) and Lost Soldiers (2001). He taught literature at the Naval Academy as their first visiting writer, has traveled worldwide as a journalist, and his PBS coverage of the U.S. Marines in Beirut earned him an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Read more ... Jim Webb's Site
Who's your choice?
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