E.J. Dionne wrote a terrific column about newly elected Virginia Senator James Webb in today’s Washington Post. It was Webb who delivered the Democrat’s pugnacious response to President Bush’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. I hope the mealy mouthed Hillary Clinton took copious notes during Webb’s speech. As Dionne wrote,“Webb's performance was a salutary sign that Democrats just might be getting over the battered party syndrome that has left so many of them terrified of saying exactly what's on their minds. Then again, maybe Webb was just speaking for himself. Having lived on the Republican side of politics during the Democrats' most traumatic years, he may have escaped the traumas associated with defeat.”
Indeed, Webb pulled no punches about Bush’s reckless war in Iraq which timid wrong-headed Democrats like Hillary supported. Webb also didn’t hold back about the class warfare waged against working people struggling to make ends meat.
Webb is not a corporatist nor is he a mealy mouthed “triangulator.” For a generation the Democratic Party was a self-gelding machine of ineptitude. Even President Clinton was unable to prevent the party’s decay. Thankfully, Democrats such as Webb doesn’t carry that baggage. And by the way, we kooky bloggers championed Webb early on because he spoke our language. It’s the language of truth over expediency and action over centrist inertia. Senator Webb, thank you for joining the Democratic Party.
1 comment:
I caught only the last half of Senator Webb's speech, and my first thought was "Stop... forget Hillary and Barak. Run this guy." I've heard he wrote that speech himself, and I could believe that: a man who didn't write those words could not have delivered them as well. And how many are there on the Hill who have sons in this fight? Jim Webb is the kind of man we need in that office- hell, we needed him six years ago.
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