Former Virginia Senator, Jim Webb took to Twitter and facebook to attack Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy record on Saturday, according to a Bloomberg report, “Webb Attacks Clinton With Eye on Independent Run.”
Rumors about a third party run have been swirling since Webb dropped out of the Democratic race, so this appears to be a step to test the waters. This bizarre 2016 continues to elude easy predictions, so in light of the likely Dem and GOP candidates, Webb can only be a much better choice for many Americans. The press and punditry labeled him grumpy after the first Democratic debate, but I guess I was watching a different debate. Webb’s answers on foreign policy showed a wide breadth of knowledge on the issues, a no-nonsense and non-partisan analysis and he far outshone the other candidates. Plus he has the distinction of having served and bled for this country as a war hero in Vietnam.
Perhaps here is the candidate who can help rebuild our national character and out of the other contenders, in both parties, he’s the one I could support without a great deal of heartburn……..so far. Unlike some people who go “all in” for a particular candidate, I don’t trust politicians in general, so my vote has to be earned over the entire course of the campaign.
I’ll give you the example of Ted Cruz, who articulates many of the conservative views that appeal to me. During that last debate he launched into a heated immigration scuffle with Marco Rubio. The dreaded “A” word, which sends conservatives into apoplectic seizures, was bandied about. Well, Cruz lied about a previous position he took, which later video proved. Instead of saying he changed position, his minions insist he never did support amnesty and that his previous position wasn’t really his position, but a position he took to put a poison pill in a bill. All that speaks to conniving and underhanded political machinations and therein, I was back to my original hesitation over him – every move he makes is too contrived and calculated, which here again being a careful planner is a good thing, but being willing to twist facts to promote yourself (not a cause, but your own political aspirations) goes too far in my book. Hence, he lied and while it’s not the huge mountain of lies Hillary Clinton spews, while trying to claw her way to back into the White House, it’s still an outright lie. This speaks to character. I still admire many things about Ted Cruz, but my willingness to back him has softened a great deal.
I’m curious how y’all decide on who to support???
libertybelle diaries 
Libertybelle, first off, nicely done on the prior thread. I enjoyed reading the exchange but elected to stay out of it even though I am from NC and only about an hour from the “incident” she was speaking of.
Jim Webb. A curious guy. For now, he really has no party and not much of a constituency which is why he was mostly silent in the debates. My disgust at the Dem party is decades old since I never was one. My disgust with the R party has evolved from frustration to distrust to contempt. It needs to be badly disrupted if not torn apart. The Dems need to be given all the power they have lusted for, just once, and then I believe they will devour themselves on camera over “ideological purity” issues just like the CPUSA has always done and most every Leftist ideology eventually does.
Mr. Webb. He seems to have positions on both sides which might draw from both sides. Personally I prefer the Reagan model–no pastels, but bold colors. Webb would be attractive if Hillary and Trump are the nominees.
*Apropos Cruz et al:
*(The use of the word being very deliberate much preferred over the more current [“polite/PC”) Evolve.
Apropos 1660s, “opportunely,” from French à propos “to the purpose,” from propos “thing said in conversation, talk; purpose, plan,” from Latin propositium “purpose,” past participle of proponere “to set forth, propose.” Meaning “as regards” is 1761, from French. As an adjective, “to the point or purpose.”
***
But to your curiosity LB – for the first time since ’76 I’ll be voting in a Republican Primary for; with hardly nary a doubt – a Loser. But I figure you and Robert being readers where we all made acquaintance my *Secret Ballot* isn’t likely to be so secret. But, just among us?
But come next November I could see myself voting for Webb. Kinda like Robert ends with his final sentence.
(Incidentally Robert. With the likes of people such as yourself, myself … any use of the word ‘Evolve’ does not in the slightest perturb me. Now Politicians [of any stripe] foisting the word in my even general direction is a whole different pig of another color.
Too much lipstick.)
Jim Webb is a stand-up guy and one of the few Democrats I have any respect for. He is a man of honor, a decorated Vietnam veteran and Marine officer who once resigned from a government position because he was asked to violate his principles. If he decides to oppose Hillary Clinton it will be a serious challenge to her presidential run.
I like Webb very much, and thought he was the best aspect of the first Dem debate; however, I would have to find out his other views, especially why he chose to enter the presidential campaign as a “Democrat”.
The next President will name an AG, Cabinet positions that will be crucial in the next few years, determine the military funding and strategies, will almost undoubtedly have to nominate one or more Supreme Court Justices, etc.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there “is” such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and postive action.”
At the Climate meeting in Paris, the President quoted the small part about there “being such a thing as being too late”, but I think he quoted King just so he could quote King; otherwise, I believe he should have quoted the whole passage, because the “being too late” part is too banal. I believe the most important lines are “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.”
“Tomorrow is today”—I further think that a passage from Rilke is at work in us: “It seems to me that almost all our sadnesses are moments of tension, which we feel as paralysis because we no longer hear our astonished emotions living. Because we are alone with the unfamiliar presence that has entered us; because everything we trust and are used to is for a moment taken away from us; because we stand in the midst of a transition where we cannot remain standing. That is why the sadness passes: the new presence inside us, the presence that has been added, has entered our heart, has gone into its innermost chamber and is no longer even there, is already in our bloodstream. And we don’t know what it was. We could easily be made to believe that nothing happened, and yet we have changed, as a house that a guest has entered changes. We can’t say who has come, perhaps we will never know, but many signs indicate that the future enters us in this way in order to be transformed in us, long before it happens.”
We are actually Providentially lucky in seeing more of the future than we are usually privileged to see, as it transforms in us. This isn’t ignorant armies clashing by night, but knowledgable enemies, even though foot soldiers on either side are often LIV’s. We face ‘Educated Barbarians’, the worst sort, because they know what to attack, what to destroy, and what to transform.
We have to be careful now, and be aware of the Future as never before.
We need to prove that we are the heirs to our American Founders.
It is far too early for our decision to take root in us about the candidate we will truly strive for. In an odd way, the “fierce urgency” bids us to take our time, paying attention, remembering all that this election will bring. We will not know who Rilke’s “guest” is, that will change us so, for a few months; but, we have to be set at the starting blocks, ready to sprint.
This is a mixed-up group of thoughts. I’m sorry.
http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2016/01/hillarys-smoking-gun.html