Like a sizable portion of the BT community, I have some considerable concerns about the idealogical leanings of at least a few of our new Democratic Senators and Representatives. While not perfect, I do think there is quite a lot to take comfort in from the following Jim Webb interview, conducted by renowned xenophobe, Lou Dobbs. What do you turkeys think about what Jim Webb had to say? Lay it all out.
Video stolen from Atrios</p.
That’s what a Southern Progressive looks like. Who would’ve thunk it?
And he totally took the xenophobic agenda off the table with his talk of fairness.
I’m glad we got him and not disappointed that we didn’t get Harold Ford.
Webb comes from a background that was not privileged. His book Born Fighting speaks pretty firmly to the disparities of wealth and opportunity in the country – though that’s not at all the central theme of his book.
I’ve never understood why he’s been put in the same camp as Casey. He’s firmly in support of women’s right to choose, for example. This interview clearly shows that he’s unafraid to voice positions that are usually left unsaid by most Senators of either party. It will be interesting to see what he does in the Senate.
Do you or anyone else know any background about the quotes the Allen campaing threw out about Webb’s comments on the Tailhook scandal or women in the Air Force Academy (or was it the Naval Academy)?
I really like what I’m hearing from him, but those comments seemed horribly sexist. I, of course know that Allen’s campaign was really desperate and was reaching pretty low, so I don’t want to make any assumptions, but would like to know more.
Sen-elect Webb comes up on Wikipedia under “Jim Webb” now 🙂
Briefly, he graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1968, at age 22. He served as a Marine Corp infantry officer until 1972. See Wiki for all his military honors and awards! He attended Georgetown Law School, 1972-75, earning a law degree. No grass grew under those boots.
The article on women attending the USNA was very early; it may have been written during his years there, as a piece for an academy newspaper, for example. Webb defended himself in several interviews that I saw, pointing out that as Secretary of the Navy in Reagan’s administration, he opened up many opportunities for women to serve in the Navy.
This link in Wiki refers to extracts from his novels:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701000.html
Here’s what Webb said about these issues, quoting his original statements about the Tailhook scandals. It looks like the repubs quote Webb very selectively, taking statements and leaving out key words and sentences. Everything in the box is from Webb’s campaign site.:
I lifted these passage with no omissions, other than the passages that followed them, detailing some things that Webb did as Sec. of Navy to advance women’s careers in the Navy when he was Sec. of the Navy.
He did write an essay against admitting women to the Naval Academy while he was a student there. It is not flattering, to say the least. I can’t find a link to it at the moment. I did hear Webb discuss this, explaining it in terms of his youth, inexperience, the male atmosphere at the academy at the time, all but calling himself a narrow-minded juvenile in his statements. He apologized and indicated that what he wrote was wrong. His own experiences quickly changed his opinion about women in the military, he said.
For me, the telling issue is that he helped military women advance when he did not have to do so, indeed, in an administration where that would not have been expected at all. That suggests a change of attitude not motivated by political ambition. I do believe that Webb has not had a career with political intentions as a driving force. So I tend to believe that he does have basically good attitudes toward feminist issues, particularly for a person with a strong military background.Not perfect, but with clear signs of growth over time.
Thanks Kidspeak. I attempted to write this comment earlier, but bailed out because I wasn’t sure I’d get it right. You did a very thorough and much better job than the comment I wrote but did not post.
I saw an interview where he renounced his youthful essay about not admitting women to the Naval Academy. He all but called himself, in retrospect, a young hotheaded fool. He seemed sincere to me.
I am, however, waiting and watching. I want to see some real action from these new dems-in-charge before getting too excited about any one of them or all of them collectively…
Me, too. Watchful waiting!
Thanks so much for all this Kidspeak. I had gone to his web site yesterday, but didn’t find this.
I was, however interested in learning more about his wife. I’ve always felt that who a man marries says alot about his attitudes towards women. Here is what his wife, Hong Le Webb said in response to a question about her education and career:
I grew up in New Orleans, got my undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and my law degree from Cornell University. I am a corporate securities lawyer in the Washington office of a Michigan-based law firm.
I’m impressed!!!
Very surprised by Webb’s handling of the issues both here and on NPR this morning where he actually recognized class warfare as an objective of the neocon agenda. He went back to the 1880s for a comparable period where wealth was so concentrated in 1% of the populace.
This is not the Webb I’ve been led to expect by the MSM, and I’m delighted.
Yeeeeeeeeeeh! Yahoo! Thank you. –sandra
looks like the grown-ups have finally arrived.
to think that webb’s predecessor was actually considered “presidential material” … the contrast is truly remarkable.
it is amusing that the republicans think that they can spin their defeat into a “conservatism won” narrative, as if they expect to simply step back into power in 2 years after the democrats have rehabilitated “conservatism” for them. if this is the new definition of “conservatism” and if the democrats in fact do a good job over the next election cycle, why would anyone want to replace them — especially with the sorry assclowns that just got sent home?
I thought he was great. I support everything he said. It is time the rich and corporate america stop getting a free ride. He sounded totally passionate and committed to working to restore fairness by reversing the obscene inequalities that currently permit the rich to amass wealth faster than ever before and keep the middle and lower class from making ends meet, let alone saving money. He was confident, poised, articulate, mature, polite – how refreshing. I really liked him.