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Title: Jim Webb, Iron Intellectual
Source: The Trail
URL Source: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the- ... im_webb_iron_intellectual.html
Published: Jun 6, 2008
Author: Alec MacGillis
Post Date: 2008-06-06 19:33:05 by a vast rightwing conspirator
Keywords: None
Views: 2609
Comments: 219

Barack Obama

Jim Webb, Iron Intellectual

By Alec MacGillis
Lost in the hubbub over Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's secret rendezvous at Sen. Dianne Feinstein's house last night were some of the intriguing ramifications of Obama's previous appointment, a rally at the Nissan Pavilion in the Northern Virginia exurbs that was also attended by Sen. Jim Webb and Gov. Tim Kaine.

Both men, of course, have been mentioned as possible running mates for Obama -- and, in the eyes of the veep-obsessed press, that made the event into an audition of sorts.


This was particularly true for Webb, who, unlike Kaine, was making his first appearance in the role of an Obama booster, having stayed neutral throughout the primaries. One thing quickly became clear, as the red-haired senator introduced the presumptive nominee: those pushing for Webb because they think he will bring muscular, regular-guy credentials -- Marine hero in Vietnam, former Navy secretary, Scots-Irish roots -- may need to think again.

There's no doubt that Webb is tough. He's stood up to President Bush at a White House reception and has a concealed-carry gun license. But he also sees himself as a serious, free-thinking intellectual. He has a bevy of fairly well-regarded books under his belt and prides himself on writing his own stump material.

If yesterday's joint appearance was any indication, far from canceling out Obama's Ivy League pedigree, an Obama-Webb ticket could be one of the most literary pairings ever to take the field.

Whereas Kaine served up a fairly conventional Democratic rallying cry, Webb embarked on a meditation on American history and self-conception over the past forty years. He noted that it was the 40th anniversary not only of Bobby Kennedy's assassination but also of his own swearing into the Marine Corps. He took the audience back to that "tumultuous year" -- the assassinations, the Tet offensive, the riots in which "the African American sections in many American cities had erupted with frequent violence" and the Democratic convention in Chicago.

Webb said he was giving the history tour "because we all know that the United States of 2008 is also a troubled and divided place in a quiet but equally disturbing way."

"The tumult of those earlier years," he went on, "convinced me and others that we needed to learn our love our country more deeply for all its ugly flaws, because it required us to sit back and reconsider the beliefs and values that had once been handed to us as our national legacy. We went through an intellectual challenge in justifying America's uniqueness on fresh grounds and this caused us to believe all the more strongly that ... that this was the moral beacon of the world, that for all or problems we had the will to solve them, the patience to undergo the painful debates that might identify solutions ... and the constitutional system that will provide remedies and thus hold us together as a people."

After a bit more in this vein, Webb got around to introducing Obama -- whom he praised, before all else, not for his toughness or determination, the qualities one might expect the ex-Marine to highlight, but for his brains.

"He is man of great intellect," said Webb. He then drove home the praise by punctuating the final sentence of his introduction with a loud fist pound on the podium.

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#1. To: All (#0)

I can see a big problem with an Obama/Webb ticket. They would find it difficult to get the stupids vote. The stupids are likely to vote for McCain or to stay home and watch Cialis infomercials.

a vast rightwing conspirator  posted on  2008-06-06   19:35:19 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: a vast rightwing conspirator, Arator, Hate Speech lovers (#1)

Senator Webb, another defender of our 1st Amendment. Quite a guy!

2007-2008 (110th Congress)

S. 1105: Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007

A bill to provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes.
Overview
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Jethro Tull  posted on  2008-06-06   20:03:06 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Jethro Tull (#2)

This is it? Is this all you got?

It looks like an embarrassment of... what's the opposite of 'riches' in this context? Penury? You mean you don't have nothing on his supermarket cashier's boyfriend? Maybe he's burning Arab-supplied gasoline in his car? Any moonshinig convictions on his grandpa's record?

a vast rightwing conspirator  posted on  2008-06-06   20:17:50 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: a vast rightwing conspirator (#3)

A typical vapid Obama supporter.

Jethro Tull  posted on  2008-06-06   20:37:38 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


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