George is all in a snit..... no, not our president George who was stood-up by Iraq's prime minister Maliki on Wednesday.... I'm talking about George Will in his column "Already Too Busy for Civility" about Senator-elect Jim Webb's (VA-D) snub of The Decider at a White House reception when Bush asked Webb about his Marine son.
Seems like Webb won't pretend to make nice with the person who lied the country into a war that has cost thousands of U.S. lives and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. Will is offended.... offended.... that Webb didn't want to "symbolically" honor such a person.
Maybe Will can't see past his snuff-stained stuffed-shirt to recognize a real person when he sees one. A father who is not interested in making small talk about his Iraq-serving son with the person who is keeping him, and all of the brave U.S. troops caught in the Iraq civil war, at deadly risk.
Webb published a column in the Wall Street Journal recently that sounded the alarm on our "steady drift toward a class-based system." Will took great offense at what he considered Webb's imprecise use of the English language, and even defended the notion that America is less, not more, "egalitarian".... guess the view of the real world isn't all that clear from Will's carriage.
If Will is so easily offended by Webb that he must parse Webb's words to justify rejecting the argument, Webb must be close to the mark indeed. Webb won't be a toady to the D.C. elite and they are out to hobble him.
We, in the nation's increasingly cheap seats, say.... "You go Webb!"
1 comment:
I've been seeing your comments in the WaPo blog areas for some time but am visiting yours for the first time. I too was heartened by Webb's deft handling of the Misleader's water-cooler-back-slapping bit (which the press still falls for hook line and sinker, sadly). Thought I'd share the note I just jotted off to Webb at his campaign site. I'd encourage other to do the same, so he knows just how much real, bowtie-free Americans appreciated it.
Dear Senator Webb:
I'm not one of your constituents, but I wanted to say how proud I felt to have supported you when I read your frank but civil comments to the president the other day. For too long the Congress and the Washington Establishment has mistaken our constitutional republic for a monarchy. If a citizen - let alone an elected Senator - cannot speak his mind (politely, if pointedly, both of which you did) to the President of the United States, then our Constitution is not worth the paper it is printed on, and the Founding Fathers have failed in their brave and visionary experiment.
I do not think there was anything disrespectful or inappropriate in that exchange with your co-worker and my employee, the POTUS. I thank you most sincerely, and wish you and your son the best.
[signed]
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