The Case Against Jim Webb for VP - Democratic Underground

Bullet1987

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 10:55 AM
Original message

The Case Against Jim Webb for VP

Linked from the Huffington Post...

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/ixnay_on_the_ebbway.php">Ixnay on the Ebbway

Doesn't sound too promising, does it? But that is actually the least of my worries about Webb. No, what I worry about is the fact that Webb basically became a Democrat the day before yesterday, and he has a long history of holding some pretty wingnutty opinions and making some fairly outrageous and offensive statements. To quote a Rolling Stone profile of the man, just a few years ago he was saying that "Liberals were 'cultural Marxists,' and 'the upper crust of academia and the pampered salons of Hollywood' were a fifth column waging war on American traditions."

In 2000, Webb opined that affirmative action was "state-sponsored racism"; that same year he endorsed the ultra-conservative Republican George Allen for the senate. In 2004, Webb wrote an op-ed for USA Today arguing that John Kerry "deserved condemnation" for his opposition to the Vietnam War (to be fair, in the op-ed Webb is also critical of George Bush; but then again, in the same piece Webb also takes a swipe at the "liberal media"). Troublingly, he gave this glowing endorsement to Mark Moyar's uber-wingnutty "revisionist" history of the Vietnam War, Triumph Forsaken, which was published in October 2006:

......

But as Rick Perlstein has demonstrated in a devastating review, the Moyar book is dreadful piece of far-right propaganda posing as history. What it basically is, is a book-length elaboration of the "stab-in-the-back" myth: i.e., Moyar argues that the Vietnam War was winnable, and that only the treachery of liberal elites in the media and the government prevented America from achieving "victory."

Jeez, I didn't know all of that about Jim Webb. And I'm wondering if many of the people on DU who want him as VP know these things too. The original link was on The Huffington Post, that's where I saw it. The entry itself is up on a blog.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Parche

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 11:00 AM
Response to Original message

1. VP

I dont want him for VP for different reasons, we need him in the Senate
This year we have a chance to go over 60 Dem Senators, and kick Lieberman out of his committee
chairmanship...........:woohoo:

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Zueda

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 11:05 AM
Response to Reply #1

2. I trust that Kaine would appoint a dem. n/t

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

havocmom

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 11:07 AM
Response to Reply #1

3. Correct! We need the rest of the DEM Senators to stay on the Hill

Go to a Governor for VP slot. Someone from a state executive suite in West would be great.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Bullet1987

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 11:08 AM
Response to Original message

4. You never know...

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Overseas

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 11:13 AM
Response to Original message

5. Thanks for the info. K&R!

I don't want Obama to go to the right to show bipartisanship. Sometimes he seems to go too far to incorporate Republican types. Their policies have been very destructive and shouldn't be rewarded.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Muttocracy

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 11:21 AM
Response to Original message

6. thanks - I'm not a fan of a recent Dem. convert myself. nt

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

ladjf

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 11:25 AM
Response to Original message

7. Webb is a Republican in disguise.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Bullet1987

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 11:31 AM
Response to Reply #7

8. That's the way the entry makes it sound...yes

I think people on DU like him simply because he's spoken out against the war and Bush. But you need to get over that and did deeper. The guy has said some really nasty things about Democrats in the past.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

ladjf

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 11:39 AM
Response to Reply #8

9. I regret to sound so narrow minded but I can't help but feel that

a person who was once a prominent Republican could never be trusted to lead the Democrats.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Sulawesi

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 12:07 PM
Response to Original message

10. I am from VA, and generally like Webb, but appreciate your info...

...I am sure all these VP candidates are being vetted behind the scenes...I would certainly hope so. Good Post.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

malik flavors

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 12:12 PM
Response to Original message

11. Sounds like just the guy Obama needs to reach independents & culturally conservative.

Edited on Wed May-28-08 12:12 PM by malik flavors

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Shakespeare

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-28-08 12:15 PM
Response to Original message

12. And the response, linked at HuffPost: In Defense of Webb, by (the excellent) Spencer Ackerman

http://thinkprogress.org/attackerman/2008/05/27/itsprobablynotagoodideatofightwithkathyg/

Ackerman makes reference to a longer piece he's written that will be published in the coming days (that he's trying not to reveal too much about).

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

DU AdBot (1000+ posts)

Wed May 01st 2024, 11:22 PM
Response to Original message

Advertisements [?]

Top

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.