New Yorker Magazine Blasts George Allen as "Bigot" and "Bully"
By: Lowell
Published On: 10/30/2006 6:54:34 AM
The latest issue of the New Yorker, just posted on the internet(s), pretty much nails it with regard to the U.S. Senate race in Virginia:
...in one of the most important of next TuesdayGÇÖs contestsGÇöVirginiaGÇÖs, which pits the incumbent senator, George Allen, against James WebbGÇöAllen is employing a tactic that combines prurience with philistinism.
Allen, as the now-famous GÇ£MacacaGÇ¥ incident and its aftermath showed, is a bigot and a bully. Webb is a Democrat-turned-RepublicanGÇöhe was President ReaganGÇÖs Secretary of the NavyGÇöwhom the Iraq war turned back into a Democrat. He is a novelist by profession. At the end of last week, as a new poll showed Allen slipping behind, he put out a press release consisting of annotated snippets from WebbGÇÖs novels, which draw on his experiences and observations as a marine in Vietnam. The snippets record callous behavior, bleak sexuality, and rough talk. (To suggest that their author advocates such things is akin to saying that GÇ£Ben-HurGÇ¥ is a brief for crucifixion.) Like the novels from which they are torn, the snippets are about men at war, so it is perhaps not so surprising that they are short on what AllenGÇÖs press release primly calls GÇ£positive female role models.GÇ¥
On the last point, I guess if you don't read "fiction" much, you wouldn't know that. For the rest of us, it's a big "duh" moment.
Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign. The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.
Comments
Positive female role models. (buzzbolt - 10/30/2006 7:38:52 AM)
James Webb’s female characters are far more dynamic, complex, and enigmatic than the men.
Women of strength appear early and often in Webb's fiction. In Fields of Fire (1978), we are introduced to Lt. Robert E. Lee Hodges' rural mountain heritage through conversations with his wonderful paternal grandmother. All of his life, she has captivated him with volumes of oral history about his ancestors. It is no coincidence that he becomes a natural leader.
A Country Such as This (1983) was nominated for both the Pulitizer and Penn-Faulkner awards in Literature. Webb introduces us to three marvelously complex women, the spouses of that novel's main male characters. A common thread is that they don’t easily give up under adversity — they are mostly still in the game at the end of the novel despite turbulent experiences.
In Something to Die For (1991), Webb creates a female Secretary of the Navy who is accomplished, respected, bright, intelligent and humorous. She is probably the most flawless character in that novel. There are many more and they are not difficult to find.
wow, this is great (PM - 10/30/2006 8:24:49 AM)
I'd love to see a few passages from Something to Die For written up.
Thanks for the information (Catzmaw - 10/30/2006 9:04:18 AM)
I've read Fields of Fire but have not had time to read the other two novels. Hodges' Okinawan girlfriend is also a strong character (I have to be non-specific so as not to give the story away) who does things toward the end of the book which show strength of character. I've also read Born Fighting, which is loaded tales of strong Scots-Irish women and in particular of Webb's own female ancestors. He speaks of them with admiration. No one reading his personal accounts could conclude he has disdain for women.
Yep (Doug Garnett-Deakin - 10/30/2006 11:51:30 AM)
I think grandma Hodges is actually in there.
Int'l Herald Tribune: Allen's Prez Chances "Imploded", Right Backs Romney (PM - 10/30/2006 8:35:55 AM)
http://www.iht.com/a...
Letter from Washington: For anti-McCain right, it's 'Mitt Romney in '08'
Albert R. Hunt Bloomberg News
Published: October 29, 2006
******After a few false starts, the latest favorite to champion their agenda is Mitt Romney, the governor of Massachusetts.
In part, that's because of the unacceptability of the two Republican candidates who are leading in the polls: Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor with a record of supporting gay rights, abortion rights and gun control, and Senator John McCain, who for various reasons, some irrational, is anathema to many social conservatives.
A year ago, there were two possibilities: the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee, and Senator George Allen of Virginia. Both have since imploded politically.
Thus, the infatuation on the right with Romney is growing.
This explains an e-mail I got a month ago from an eminent journalist in response to some of my investigative questions on an issue. He said, essentially, that the ideological wing of the GOP doesn't like Allen. Now that we see right-wing criticism of Allen's weird novel-gate slur campaign, the pieces are falling into place. Some of the ideological right would rather see Allen gone, if only to make way for Romney. Something to think about.
Jim Webb, An American Hero
Another intense photograph (Catzmaw - 10/30/2006 9:26:22 AM)
PM. One of the things I've been idly doing in spare moments is going to Webb's author's website (jameswebb.com) and pulling up some of his old articles for review. I started doing this when I was deciding whether to support him. Interesting how many of the Parade articles I remembered having enjoyed without ever having noticed who wrote them. For those who want to get a sense of Webb that doesn't involve imputing prurience to him based on fiction, go back and read some of his magazine work. He did an article on Mike McGarvey (Mac), his election driver, in the 80s that really got to me. Mac's incredible. These articles are thoughtful reflections on the costs of war and the bravery of our men and women (yes, he mentions the "gritty female marines" in Afghanistan who accompany patrols to conduct searches of the women) of whom we ask so much. Now I'm getting mad all over again about Smut-gate.
Thank you (PM - 10/30/2006 9:42:05 AM)
Thanks for the reference to his other fiction. I need to look at those pieces.
I wish Parade would have done a profile on him.
Pattern of Conduct (pammiekin - 10/30/2006 8:58:23 AM)
When George Allen was governor, my cousin, a Democrat, sat on the Commonwealth's transportation Board. When Allen was scheduled to appear at the Prince Michel winery for an event, my cousin was invited as well. Allen told the owner of Prince Michel that he would not put in an appearance if my cousin attended the same event. Nonetheless, she was there. When Allen walked in, he saw her and said, "What's she doing here?" He stayed but this is just an example of his pettiness and meanness. The whole notion that he is not a racist is ridiculous. I suspect that he is also a misogynist.
Pattern of Conduct (pammiekin - 10/30/2006 8:58:36 AM)
When George Allen was governor, my cousin, a Democrat, sat on the Commonwealth's transportation Board. When Allen was scheduled to appear at the Prince Michel winery for an event, my cousin was invited as well. Allen told the owner of Prince Michel that he would not put in an appearance if my cousin attended the same event. Nonetheless, she was there. When Allen walked in, he saw her and said, "What's she doing here?" He stayed but this is just an example of his pettiness and meanness. The whole notion that he is not a racist is ridiculous. I suspect that he is also a misogynist.
One of the spitting stories (PM - 10/30/2006 9:43:51 AM)
involves Allen spitting at the feet of a woman who had wanted to see him out of curiousity and did not realize it was a GOP ONLY event.
I thought this comment on Allen was interesting from the blog (PM - 10/30/2006 9:47:58 AM)
***I lived in Virginia while he was governor, met him once when he came to give a speech at a ribbon-cutting for a project I had worked on. That same day, he was quoted in the newspaper as saying he was opposed to the very financing tool that was instrumental in creating the project whose opening he had just spoken at. His handlers had set up the speech and it was clear he had no idea what he was talking about. I want to be very clear about this, because it is an issue I am very serious about. George Felix Allen is not remotely qualified to be considered any kind of a public "leader". On his best day, he would be an empty suit devoid of a serious thought. He is probably the one man in Washington DC who would, by comparison, make George W. Bush look positively brilliant. Allen is a racist redneck from way back and dumber than a 10-pound box of hair. It simple boggles my mind that nearly half of Virgina voters still support him. Don't they read a newspaper?
Contrast this opinion with all those of people who have met Webb in private and say things like, "He's real."
Eeeeeew. I just read a review of Scooter Libbey's "book." (PM - 10/30/2006 9:50:22 AM)
http://www.newyorker...
It's in the New Yorker, so it's "safe" to read, but it will turn your stomach. And I like strong fiction, but Scooter's book sounds sick.
TPM (Jon-Phillip - 10/30/2006 11:00:56 AM)
Check it:
http://www.talkingpo...
Talking Points finally posted about "Fields of Fire" being promoted by the UNITED STATES MARINE CORP.
Webb = solid credentials (hereinva - 10/30/2006 12:50:52 PM)
Webb, as a US Marine gave up the creature comforts of civilian life to fight a difficult war and even faced death doing so. He was one of the blessed soldiers to make it back alive. He captured the essence of those experiences in his novels. And Allen has a "problem" with that ??!!
Virginians are tired of the same old slogans and the same old rubberstamps..
Virginia is ready for REAL leadership - REAL change for Virginia and our country. Webb's the one !