Politico reporter calls Jim Webb “creepy”
Picked this up from Twitchy, but The Federalist has a much better explanation of what happened.
Most of the Democrats at the debate gave predictably boring answers to Cooper’s question. Lincoln Chafee said he was proud that the coal industry disliked him. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said the National Rifle Association. Bernie Sanders said Wall Street. What about Hillary?
“Probably the Republicans,” Hillary responded, in the apparent belief that nearly half the country is her enemy.
But the answer from former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, a highly decorated Marine combat veteran, is what shook everyone awake.
“Which enemy are you most proud of?” Cooper asked. “Senator Webb?”
“I’d have to say the enemy soldier that threw the grenade that wounded me,” Webb calmly replied, “but he’s not around right now to talk to.”
Webb was referring to an operation during the Vietnam War that eventually led to Webb being awarded the Navy Cross. After being repeatedly shot at while trying to clear enemy bunkers, Webb deliberately put himself between an enemy grenade and one of his fellow Marines in order to shield that Marine from the grenade blast.
So let me give you my own take, not that anyone asked for it. I hated Jim Webb for the longest time. Not only did he run against Allen who I liked, but he always was in opposition to the surge. I respected him, but I didn’t like him. It was weird, because I also thought his book Fields of Fire was the best book ever written about Vietnam. And still believe that.
But as a lobbyist, I sometimes get stuck in weird situations. Case in point was last year, when I was asked to greet Chairman Miller of the Veterans Affairs committee, and I was waiting for him to show up when in walked Dick Blumenthal. Everyone knows how I feel about him, and if I specialize in any one thing it is Stolen Valor. So, not exactly bosom buddies. But I’m also non-confrontational. Knowing that he was early, and the person designated to meet Blumenthal was running late I introduced myself and walked him backstage. We had a great conversation……about UCONN basketball. Some people would say I should have used the opportunity to light him up, but that’s just not my speed. I’m not that guy. I’m not confrontational, and I tend to look at peoples good sides. And Blumenthal has been pretty good at grilling the VA. But, UCONN basketball (and my hatred of that team) was a good ice breaker.
Anyway, a few years ago the same sort of thing happened with Webb. I was supposed to greet Steve Buyer, but Webb arrived first. So I grabbed him, introduced myself, and took him to the Green Room. (He was speaking at our convention.) Now, the only people I hate more than Jets fans in general is the Secret Service. So I am sitting backstage with Webb, trying to not hate the dude, when in walks secret service and asks “does anyone in here have a gun on them.” Webb sits back, puts on a huge smile and responds “What do you think?” The poor secret service guy just ran away.
Anyway, for the next hour I talked to Webb about all sorts of things, his book about the Scots in war, his own experiences etc. As much as I wanted to hate the guy, he’s actually an amazing guy to talk to. Later I would find out that in the USNA boxing championships Ollie North and he faced off. (Ollie won.) But I realized then that despite political differences, hating someone based on their beliefs is just a waste of time.
But it REALLY pisses me off that some Politico asswipe would call Webb creepy for his comments last night.
That’s the best debate moment since Admiral Stockdale. Don’t get me wrong, unlikely I will ever vote for Webb, but anyone who would try to ridicule that answer needs their head examined.
As the Federalist reporter noted:
Given what he must’ve experienced in combat — the physical and mental hardships, both of which I’m sure left scars that will remain forever — Jim Webb can “smirk” wherever and whenever he wants for all I care. He has every right to look back upon his actions and to be proud of them, because he did exactly what his country asked him to do. He did his job, and he did it well.
Category: Politics
I don’t agree with everything Webb espouses – just like any other politician – but he’s about the closest thing to a votable Democrat the party has right now. If there were a right and left wing of the party he would be in the right wing (in both senses.) I suspect he has a snowball’s chance in hell in 2016, but I would consider voting for him before a few folks in the Republican circus. His biggest problem is the rest of the party he has chosen – that’s a boatload of bad baggage to overcome.
Agreed.
This.
One’s choice of associates tells much about the individual themselves.
Webb freely chooses to associate with those who never met a tax they didn’t like; who think “bigger is always better” when it comes to government; who believe the government should “care for people” rather than allow people to care for themselves; and who think every problem can be solved by more public spending. To me, that voluntary and continuing association strongly implies that he shares those ridiculous beliefs.
That’s also enough to disqualify him as someone for whom I’d consider voting.
After this election season, the Honorable Sen. Webb might just choose to drop a few of those “associates”.
Whenever he’d drop the Democrat talking points, I was very impressed.
But damn, those Democrat talking points…
Well, that and how he reacted when the POTUS asked him about his son – who was deployed at the time. Webb didn’t exactly handle himself with class that day.
Sorry Hondo, you’re wrong. My old man was a Blue Dog Democrat from….Chicago. Talk about a fish out of water. You want to paint all Democrats with that broad brush, you’re welcome to it. You will be wrong, and knowingly wrong for doing it. Not all Democrats want big gov’t, Not all Republicans want small gov’t. Hell, gov’t size grows under both parties. It’s Math.
The exception to the rule doesn’t disprove the rule. The rule is that Democrats are irresponsible spenders of others’ money who solve financial problems by putting them off, raising taxes, or both. You mentioned Chicago. Unless I am mistaken, that city is still to be found in Illinois. Have you visited the budget battle being waged there? If not, do. It’s quite illustrative, after that, have a look-see at Wisconsin before Walker. There are many, many examples at local, state, and federal levels of stupid when it comes to fiscal irresponsibility by Democrats.
He voted for Harry Reid to be Majority Leader of the Senate. Unfortunately, he’s got to own that decision and its consequences.
As stated by others, I don’t forsee myself voting for a Democrat in 13 months, but if it was Jim Webb, I’d certainly have a lot to think about.
I didn’t have the stomach to watch the whole disgusting bullshyt session…its just another pathetic dumocrat “dog and pony show” imho, why anyone would vote for the morons is beyond me!
Free shit, that’s why.
Call me weird, but ‘tough enough to kill a man’ is a refreshing change. Heck, it might slow the Russians a bit in terms of their mission to publically walk all over us at every opportunity. A president should be a bit larger than life, IMO–at least larger than average. I’ll confess that I haven’t been paying much attention to the dems, as I thought they were mostly decided, but maybe I should give them a fair look.
The best view is through a scope reticle.
While I don’t think we can read anything into how the Russians might change their methods based off a hypothetical ‘President Webb’, I absolutely agree it’s a refreshing change.
In war, people die. Having someone throw a grenade at you, well, that makes them an enemy. And compared to the response of the front-runner, Mrs. Clinton, who claims that half the country is her ‘enemy’, I feel it’s actually much saner. I disagree with nearly everyone on here on most issues, but I’d never once label a conservative an ‘enemy’. Someone chucking a grenade my way? Oh, absolutely.
The coverage talking about this being weird or awkward is, at first glance, accurate. We don’t talk about killing people during debates, generally speaking. But Mrs. Clinton’s response was, in my opinion, indicative of a far more detrimental threat to our country than a life-or-death memory from decades gone by.
The rest of the Democrats are “tough enough to kill babies…..”
Politico isn’t that a mouth piece for the far left ???
[…] the way, TSO over at This Ain’t Hell has an interesting write-up of his meeting with Jim Webb. Apparently some leftarded douche Politico reporter called Webb […]
Love his answer. Of course the lefties get uncomfortable when it comes to the realities of war or realty in general. To the limp wristed Politico reporter: eat shit.
Liked Sen Webb’s books when I was younger.
I’m still not sold if he’s a political flip flopper (Democrat, then Republican, then Democrat again) of if he’s the constant and the parties lines have moved around him?
Lord Luddite, how can you even ask if the parties have flip-flopped over the past 20 years?
I don’t know if I’d call what the parties do “flip flopping”, as that would imply that they had a base of core principles to begin with.
My point was more that Webb may have been fairly consistent on some issues which has made him to left leaning for the current Republicans (likely Reagan would be also) and way to conservative on many issues for the Democrats, or at least those that matter in the primary elections. If it wasn’t for the decision to go to Iraq, he might have even not switched parties.
There was a debate in Las Vegas chaired by a cocksucker at which a commie, a turncoat, two commie lites, and Jim Webb participated. That’s the nicest thing I can say about Webb.
For some reason, reading this I had a mental picture of Damon Wayans’ character “Major Payne” from the 1995 movie of the same name saying “CREEPY? YOU THINK CHARLIE CARE ANYTHING ABOUT “CREEPY?” ONLY THING CHARLIE CARE ABOUT IS CREEPIN’ INTO YOUR HOUSE AND SLITTIN’ YOUR THROAT!” 😀
If I have to vote for a Democrat (and I might if Trump is nominated) Webb would be my first choice. If I limit myself to Dems who are likely to be nominated, I hope Biden runs. Although we differ on MANY issues, and he’s a loose cannon, he seems like a decent enough guy; more trustworthy than Clinton; and not hard-left like Sanders.
I’d hardly call someone with a demonstrated pattern of both plagiarism and telling falsehoods exactly “trustworthy”, regardless of to whom he/she is being compared.
Don’t forget, this wouldn’t be Biden’s first Presidential campaign. He first ran back in 1988.
He dropped out – after he was caught plagiarizing other politicians’ speeches on multiple occasions over the past several years; having fabricated details of his own family history to match that of his most recent incident of appropriating others’ words; and for having exaggerated and/or outright lied about multiple aspects of his law school record in a campaign speech.
I don’t call all of that an indication of being “trustworthy”. Rather, I call it an indication of a serious character flaw: a willingness to lie when lying suits his purposes.
One small quibble with your comment, Hondo. I didn’t say that I found Biden “trustworthy “, without qualification. I said I found him more trustworthy than Clinton, a statement I stand by, even while acknowledging Biden’s own serious issues. I’d still rather vote for him than Clinton or Sanders….or Trump. It’s a matter of pick your poison. Of course, my preferred candidate will be whoever the Republican Party nominates, so long as it’s not Trump.
In the valley of the blind, the one-eyed man i s king.
Well I’m not surprised Libtards would find a democrat that didn’t think of fellow citizens as the enemy. All the scumfucks up there that night listed Americans as the enemy except Web. That should be the real headline of the “debate”.
Democrats hate Americans. Hate them exercising their freedoms.
I rank “The 13th Valley” as number one. “Fields of Fire” ranks a close second.
Jim Webb made more sense than the rest of those “funnies” put together. His frustration was justified based upon the conduct of the “Here’s Hillary & Bernie Show.” The “intellect” of the bobbleheaded audience was also apparent.
I do not watch the so-called debates of either party. It’s nothing but a show, and a bad one at that. Each contestant wants to use the three or four sound-bite lines their handlers concocted for them, each lies, and all answer the question they want to answer, not the one they were asked. And, of course. the “audience” is a bunch of hand-picked plants. I’d rather watch “Jeopardy.” At least it’s an honest game that I nearly always learn something from.
The Democratic Party Jim Webb is part of doesn’t exist anymore.
His son has a good editorial in the WaPo. His last paragraph is: “This country has been at war for almost 15 years, and as I think about the ridicule leveled at my father in the past 24 hours, I can’t help but imagine what these same people must think about the service of my own generation. In their eyes, did we simply spend some kind of twisted ‘semester abroad’ in a place with plenty of sand, but no ocean? Or conversely, do they ignorantly dismiss our experiences, as they have my father, as those of cold callous killers?”
I will tell you what I see among the liberals I spend time with (work). Most of them are women. Their general view is that our soldiers are victims. They do not blame them for what they did in the ME, but they view it as more like surviving a car crash, not that there is anything ‘professional’ about it. In their view, it just amounted to simple survival. What little they know of the enemy our soldiers face has to do with the treatment of their females, and that resonates with these women — but only on the most vague terms imaginable. The complicated politics and societal structures found there are completely beyond them, as is the ideology of jihad. One of the things that fascinates me is that when a grandson or nephew of one of these women joins the military, they push very hard for them to go into fields where they either won’t be deployed to the ME, or if they are, they won’t be engaged (they hope) in combat.
The end game for them is simple: they just want everybody to play nice. They just have absolutely no grasp of the chasm between what they want and what actually IS.
So, Webb turned in his membership card exactly when? And when the-President of the United States George W. Bush asked this non-Democrat Democrat how that son was doing, Webb told him it was none of his business. I wonder did that make the son proud? All politicians suck. Some suck less than others. Webb is a Democrat in 2015. He belongs to the Democrat Party of 2015. If he wants out, if he wants to disassociate himself from the progressives, he nows where the exit is.
Webb is an old time Blue Dog in a party that has no room for non-communists anymore.
I would not vote for him as I disagree with his stance on about everything but one thing I would never question is his love for country or his support for our troops something the other 4 on stage with him and our current POTUS are highly suspect of