When Jon asked a few of us to fill in while he frolics in the waves of Maui, I thought about putting something profound together, but then I remembered he suggested that we just be ourselves. Well, I’m a simple country boy – and I was struck by a story in George Will’s column about a newly elected Senator refusing to shake President Bush’s hand.
Where I come from that’s the kind of rudeness that just isn’t acceptable.
After recent elections gave Democrats control of the US Senate and House of Representatives, we heard their leaders talk a lot about the coming era of bi-partisanship.
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December 2nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
I notice you are not mentioning who James Webb really is, which makes him sound like some straw man Demo hack.
I’ve been acquainted with him from his Navy and Republican days, when he was Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of the Navy. (I was also in the Navy.)
Webb is perhaps the most highly decorated Marine Corps officer of the Vietnam War. By “decorated,” I mean for heroism in battle.
He is also probably the best novelist to emerge from the Vietnam era.
He is not very impressed by the armchair warriors of Washington, needless to say. His son is a Marine serving in Iraq.
Just a few “minor” things to note for context.
December 2nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
Thanks – all significant details – none of which excuse his behavior.
Although I am pretty new to this whole blogger thing — certainly I cannot match the volume of Mr. Bradley — I assume that most of the folks reading a political blog on a Saturday morning are familiar with most of the better know players in the national political scene.
December 2nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
Senator-elect Webb is worse than a Demo hack and that is Berg’s point. Webb went out of his way to be rude to the President. He may be a Marine hero from Vietnam but the chip on his shoulder weighs more than all his medals. Good luck to Harry Reid keeping this guy on message. As Tab points out this is clearly not the bi-partisanship that we heard about from the Democrats before the election.