Sorry George Will, you got the wrong boor (Webb vs Bush spat)

[NewJeffCT]

Amazing how Will leaves out Bush's pissy response to Webb...

I think I've been inspired to write a letter to the editor on this, about Will's lie of omission.

Webb: A Crashing Boor
November 30, 2006

That was certainly swift. Washington has a way of quickly acculturating people, especially those who are most susceptible to derangement by the derivative dignity of office. But Jim Webb, Democratic senator-elect from Virginia, has become a pompous poseur and an abuser of the English language before actually becoming a senator.

Wednesday's Washington Post reported that at a White House reception for newly elected members of Congress, Webb "tried to avoid President Bush," refusing to pass through the reception line or have his picture taken with the president. When Bush asked Webb, whose son is a Marine in Iraq, "How's your boy?" Webb replied, "I'd like to get them (sic) out of Iraq." When the president again asked, "How's your boy?" Webb replied, "That's between me and my boy." Webb told the Post:

"No offense to the institution of the presidency, and I'm certainly looking forward to working with him and his administration. (But) leaders do some symbolic things to try to convey who they are and what the message is."

Webb certainly has conveyed what he is: a boor. Never mind the patent disrespect for the presidency. Webb's more gross offense was calculated rudeness toward another human being - one who, disregarding many hard things Webb had said about him during the campaign, asked a civil and caring question. Webb might consider this: In a republic, people decline to be led by leaders who are insufferably full of themselves.

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-will1130.artnov30,0,7461000.story?coll=hc-headlines-oped

[MADem]

1. That thief is gonna tell others how to behave? Mister "Jimmy Carter's Briefing Book" himself?

That asshole has a lot of nerve! And he's up to his same old parsing bullshit, apparently.

He's a cheat and a thief...and I rather doubt genuine war heroes like Jim Webb need to take lessons on etiquette from cheats and thieves.

[XanaDUer]

2. It's just getting to be too much

too much

:nopity:

[LizW]

3. Irony overload!

George Will -- George Freaking Will calls someone a "pompous poseur"!

Words fail. :argh:

[arewenotdemo]

29. General George in 2004

But, for the new Kings Georges, America is the new Christian Rome and proud of it. You better get used to it, writes Will, whose verbosity is exceeded only by his pomposity. The price of empire, still the white puritan burden, is your money and your lives (but not his or George Bush's, for whom there are "other priorities" when it comes to serving in wartime).

(snip)

Will still argues the US could and should have "won" the war in Vietnam, whatever that would have meant. Like Bush, he never went there. But "in the war against the militias," Will pontificates, "every door American troops crash through, every civilian bystander -- there will be many -- shot, will make matters worse, for a while. Nevertheless, the first task of the occupation remains the first task of government: to establish a monopoly on violence."

"It is too late for debate about being in Baghdad," he adds. "And the (relatively) pretty phase of empire -- the swift dispatch of an enemy army -- is over." The imperial response, Will proclaims, must be "precise" and "overwhelming."

"Regime change, occupation, nation-building -- in a word, empire -- is a bloody business. Americans must steel themselves for administering the violence necessary to disarm or defeat Iraq's urban militias."

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0430-07.htm

[cornermouse]

4. Well, let's see...

Who has a child in Iraq risking his life and who does not? I think that's the correct perspective.

[xchrom]

5. imagine that -- george will calling someone else a boor?

the reigning Queen of crashing boors pointing fingers -- you'd think La Will would know better.

[Ganja Ninja]

8. Imagine him calling someone else "pompous".

If you look up pompous poser in the dictionary you'll see this picture next to it.

[NewJeffCT]

11. I know

next thing you know, Britney Spears will criticize Pam Anderson's marital woes.

[xchrom]

28. lol -- oooohhhh snap!

[jgraz]

6. I'd be pissed if I thought anyone still pays attention to this fool

Will was never relevant, but now he's just a clown.

[Bullshot]

7. George Will is nothing but a Major League Baseball player wannabe

who is frustrated that his life's dream was never realized, so he goes on in his life acting like some pompous a-hole, aggravating this deep divide between Democrats and the MSM.

[skiddlybop]

9. Wow, there they go again,

adulterer/racist calls military dad a "boor."

Yep, that's a Republican pundit for you.

[blm]

16. They'll be donning Purple heart band-aids next.

Their RW smear machine targets the senators with the most military credibility who speak out against them on military matters.

[Norquist Nemesis]

25. "Boor" The Conservative Elites' way of saying

"He's a pig". It's rhetorical snobbery in print.

[Red Zelda]

10. Hey, bow-tied asshole...

you got kids in Iraq?
Or just your hands on your crank?

[montieg]

12. George Shill LEFT OUT an important part of the repartee

in the response by B*. When Webb said "I'd like to get them out of Iraq.", B*'s response was, "That's not what I asked you. I asked how was your boy."

Now, in my opinion, B* was the boor with that asshole attitude. "That's not what I asked you. It's good to be the king."

[underpants]

13. That was my exact take on it too -see post#14

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2832295&mesg_id=2832526

[AlCzervik]

14. you know what is weird, in my local paper that column was in there today but the title

was "Webb is quickly unimpressive"

[The Stranger]

15. George Will is a second-rate commentator without an outlet.

He and that mutant Krauthammer are going to shrivel up together and hide in plain sight.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Will Is An Idiot With A Thesaurus

Krauthammer is just an idiot! See, and you thought they were the same!
The Professor

[Jacobin]

17. I do not read columnists who are INTENTIONALLY uninformed

Mr.Will is intentionally uninformed about the things he propagandizes on, which is a nice way of saying he LIES a lot.

[NewJeffCT]

22. Will is far preferable to many RWers out there

About 2 1/2 years ago, he had called on Bush to apologize & admit he (Bush) was wrong about Iraq and their WMD.

He has since criticized Iraq & Bush in several columns.

He also admitted that John Kerry was right when he said that fighting terrorism is primarily a police action, when Kerry was roundly mocked in 2004 for making the statement.

[Norquist Nemesis]

18. "Never mind the patent disrespect for the presidency"

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that if the sitting President had a (D) and the incoming Senator had an (R) behind their names, George Will would flip-flop on his opinion of who is the "boor".

[NewJeffCT]

20. I'm wondering

If from Senator's Jesse Helms' warning Bill Clinton that his life could be in danger if he visited Helms' state elicited a similar response from Mr. Will?

[JerseygirlCT]

21. I saw that this morning too, and have been thinking the same thing

where's Bush's response in this piece?

And I don't recall Will writing to castigate the boorish behavior of the VP with Senator Leahy, do you?

Or the Presidident's boorish behavior toward the press? (Remember the "asshole"?)

Awfully convenient and one-sided of Will.

[NewJeffCT]

24. "Pussy"

Don't forget, back in 1988, when a reporter from The Hartford Courant asked George W. Bush what he spoke to his father about, his response was the above word...

[Flubadubya]

23. In a republic, people decline to be led by leaders who are insufferably full of themselves...

He has definitely got that part right... that's why Bush's poll numbers are in the toilet and are sinking like the turd he is.

George Will just got the subject wrong on this one! Jerk! :grr:

[Orsino]

26. On Planet Will, calculated rudeness outweighs fabricated war rationales. n/t

[Crankie Avalon]

27. I consider this a ringing endorsement for Webb. I certainly respect him more...

...after reading the likes of a weasel like George Will feigning outrage over Webb's refusal to go along with another of Bush's feigned shows of "concern" for the troops. Nice reminder, too, that Webb is impacted directly by having a son who actually is a trooper, whereas not one young member of the entire Bush family would ever serve in Iraq.