Those of us who only know of this brief portion of Jim Webb's life on the campaign trail, may fail to recognize the powerful and lasting contribution Jim Webb has made to American life in multiple arenas. Writer, Journalist, Counsel, Hero, Fighter, Family Man, Statesman; Jim Webb served all of these roles and more. For a small but striking example, consider this Baltimore Sun article that profiles a young writer named David Danelo who was inspired and mentored by our US Senate Candidate Jim Webb.
Danelo said he decided to focus on noncommissioned officers -- or "NCOs" -- after a conversation with James Webb, another former combat Marine and academy graduate who took to writing. Webb, a Democrat who is running for U.S. Senate in Virginia, told him to write only what he knew. That advice helped him realize "that I didn't have a responsibility to be anything more than I am at this point." Given his experiences in Iraq, Danelo decided to write a book about Iraq through the eyes of "the grunts."
Clearly, Jim Webb is the kind of accessible leader who will encourage potential where he sees it, and work to bring out the best in those around him. That's something I've seen in working with Jim Webb in these brief, transformational months on the campaign trail.
The Baltimore Sun article is involving and ultimately inspiring, I encourage you to read it. There are pieces of wisdom here for us if we care to look. For example, this quote from Jim Webb can stand as a guide for those of us who participate in political discourse, but will also serve us as we work to understand the volume, diversity, and power of Jim Webb's writings.
"A writer's responsibility is to speak honestly regardless of the cost. Without that, he is simply a propagandist for one side or the other."
I think we may see in this the kind of Senator Jim Webb will make once elected. Perhaps a Senator's responsiblity is to speak honestly regardless of the cost, that he may best represent all of America, not one faction or the other.
He's cried wolf so many times ... why should we take him seriously now?
You want policies, but policies are written into legislation through comittee. Webb is clearly stating his values and the issues that are important to him. Policies follow from those and Jim Webb's sterling character make me more confident that he can face the shifting tides of live in the US Senate much better than Harris Miller.
Take Don't Ask Don't Tell, for example. Harris Miller says it's bad, but he doesn't know a damned thing about life in the US Navy, and he's obviously pandering to gay voters for this primary.
Jim Webb has served at every level and worked as a journalist within the Navy on top of that. He supports DADT but would like to see it evolve. You don't want men and women living in the same quarters on ship. I trust his knowledge and experience will allow him to be guided by his values, e.g. honor, fairness, when the time comes to help direct the debate and form policy.
Webb is worthy of our trust precisely because he is a man of character capable of keeping his own counsel. I wouldn't think to demand more of Miller because any promises he makes today will be easily broken tomorrow. Consider the promises he must have made to Dibold when he represented them in the ITAA. He was the leading lobboyist opposing voter verified paper trails. When he decided to run for office, he knew that was a losing issue and changed his positions.
All the white papers in the world can't compensate for trustworthiness. I know Jim Webb has that, and that's enough for me.
They need to look at what he does versus what he says.
Case in point is here.
Microsoft is one of the biggest corporations behind the ITAA
(Miller's agenda) and as one can see,
they will sell anyone out the minute it means they can labor arbitrage generally and they will also sell anyone out the minute they can trade to obtain more legislation for their agenda...which is subsidies, absurd trade agreements based on what the believe if their business model of the future (ridiculously flawed or not, not being broken up as a monopoly and so on)
So while Miller panders and Webb is honest, the person who really could potentially negotiate civil unions and get somewhere in Gay/Lesbian rights is Webb.
In other words, gays are being played by Miller.
IT Confidential: ITAA's Miller Wants To Go To Washington
By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek
Jan 9, 2006 12:00 AM
Harris Miller, aka the Antichrist if you're an unemployed IT worker, is gearing up for a Senate run as--a Democrat? "I think businesspeople can be good Democrats," Miller told me last week. "I'm proud to be a businessman; my father was a small businessman."
Miller stepped down as president of the Information Technology Association of America last week to focus on his campaign for one of Virginia's Senate seats. The ITAA is a high-tech industry lobby group backed by the likes of IBM, Intel, and Microsoft. Through the ITAA, these heavyweights have been pushing the federal government to ease restrictions on the hiring of immigrant tech labor and quash bills that would limit their ability to move operations to low-cost countries.
As recently as October, Miller chastised the feds for making it too cumbersome for ITAA members to hire foreigners. "The current H-1B visa cap makes it increasingly difficult for U.S. companies to compete in global markets," he said. As for outsourcing, another bogeyman that trade unions, some legislators, and Lou Dobbs say will have all of us flipping burgers at McDonald's, Miller thinks it's a good thing. "Global sourcing continues to be a net positive for American workers and the U.S. economy," he said in an October release.
Hmmm. One Democrat called execs who outsource "Benedict Arnold CEOs." To his credit, Miller isn't changing his tune now. John Kerry's quip was "an outrageous statement not befitting a person who should understand how the global marketplace operates," Miller told me during our phone chat.
That's not to say Miller thinks he can bag the nomination by telling U.S. IT workers to eat cake. Sounding a shade more populist than during his 11 years at ITAA, Miller said the government needs to do a better job retraining pros whose jobs have been outsourced. Specifically, trade-adjustment assistance, a federal program that gives financial compensation to U.S. manufacturers hammered by cheap imports, should be extended to the tech industry. He also wants to see more national spending on IT infrastructure and education.
Has Miller become a true centrist? Some bloggers aren't buying it. "The tech community may not be so enamored of him given his support for allowing more foreign hi-tech workers into the U.S.," TooConservative.com notes.
It's not just labor that's less than thrilled with Miller's run for office. Oracle pulled out of the ITAA upon learning of his Senate bid. It seems the company believes GOP Sen. George Allen, the man Miller would unseat, is doing a fine job. "It concerned many of us at Oracle that ... Miller would consider challenging Senator Allen, considering the great things he's done," Oracle legal VP Robert Hoffman said in an E-mail.
Miller thinks Oracle's decision is bizarre. "I'm not running as an ITAA employee, and I don't know how anyone could assume that," he said.
Is there more to Oracle's attachment to Allen? Could it be his introduction of the Federal Internet Tax Prohibition Act? Could it be related to his November tour of Oracle's facilities in China? Could it have something to do with the fact that, as governor of Virginia in 1996, Allen convinced Oracle to locate a development center in his state? We don't know. But this story should get better and better.
Watch The News Show at noon ET every weekday, at TheNewsShow.tv or InformationWeek.com. John Soat will return to this column next week. Send industry tips to jsoat@cmp.com or 516-562-5326.
I agree with the other comments in your posting, Kevin.
Jim has stated that he's more pro-middle class on some economic issues. A lot of powerful people don't like that. Jim has said that he's big on respecting the privacy in people's personal life. A lot of people don't like that.
And I WANT Allen to lose. The people who want him to win will think of more bad things to say. Can't we all just get along?
I am amazed that the Republicans even had to invent Lee Atwater and Karl Rove. They don't need an evil genius to beat Democrats. We do it for them.
Being pro-gun, pro-choice, and pro-gay rights is pretty specific as far as I'm concerned, and saying "the government should stop at my front door, unless there's a compelling reason for it to come in," is about as specific as I need.
"A writer's responsibility is to speak honestly regardless of the cost. Without that, he is simply a propagandist for one side or the other."
It's so profoundly challening to see truth through the blinders of political discourse. We try to inspire, to challenge, to cheer on our side, but when do we lose site of truth. How costly can truth be? It can be a fools game, if our side uses truth but the other side distorts it, the immediate costs can be too great.
I'm hard pressed to ever find anything of value in the Bush Administration, if I ever did find something, would I admit it? I can laud their abitilty to control the media message, but ultimately that's despicable for it's destructive and corrosive effects on journalism, knowledge, and fair mindedness. I can applaud their ability to win elections, except that skill is profoundly based on Atwater fearmongering, voter suppression. So even if I agree that they win and they stay on message, can I possibly admit those truths without expressing my ultimate disdain for their indecency?
Truth is tough.
How about Democrats? Can I support DLC democrats for their fundraising abilities without faulting them their loss of working-class whites as a Democratic voting block? Can I support Progressive Democrats for their energetic, powerful visioneering, hard volunteer work and grassroots mobilization without faulting the fact that to-date they have yet to forge a compelling national vision, message, and developmental structure or take the reigns of government from the dangerous right-wing conservative failures running the show?
Truth is tough.
Webb's stances on these issues are an open book. Webb has written extensively, engaged in countless live-blogging sessions across the internet and answered with candor and honesty.
If you were interested in what Jim Webb wants to accomplish you wouldn't have to look very far. It's all there in black and white. It's one thing to ask the questions, it's another thing to imply that Webb has no answers. It isn't clever, it's just weak.
Sure does look like an awful lot of trolling going on in the final days before the primary. But the real question is who the trolls are working for. Miller? Allen? Take your pick cuz it could be either. Or both.
Oh, hey, anyone got a link to that Fredericksburg article? I haven't seen it for a post or two.
I have been troll rating you because, based on the content of the comments you have posted on RK, you are a troll (you fling poo). If you really were as knowledgeable about the issues and candidates in this race as you purport, you would have decided by now as it is not a difficult choice.
This is the only response I will afford you as you are not worth my time or effort beyond continuing to troll rate your posts unless you give me cause to reconsider.
Good Day Sir.
I know politics is full of trolls and spinners, but if you assume people are who they say and are just willing to point them to what you - or your candidate - stand for, that should speak for itself.
No wonder the Republicans are winning. We're too busy calling each other names to fight them.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/10/AR2006061000823.html
Miller ... has not built his campaign on image or personality.Instead, he brings to the campaign a network of loyal Democrats, built over 30 years in the state party, and a series of traditionally Democratic policy positions designed to draw a sharp contrast with Allen. Where Webb is fuzzy on issues, Miller is sharp, offering well-scripted answers.
... Larry J. Sabato, head of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said Miller "has run a better campaign."
Webb, by contrast, has struggled. Peter Brodnitz was Kaine's pollster last year and now is advising Webb. He said the campaign is seriously underfunded, can't match Miller in radio and direct mail and hasn't even tried on television.
Webb has relied on passion among a new kind of Virginia activist: Democratic bloggers who helped draft him into the race. On such sites as Raising Kaine, one of the state's most liberal blogs, Webb's campaign has become a cause célèbre.