Next, here's an Amazon.com review by U.S. Marine Corps officer (he flew helicopter missions in the Persian Gulf War and Somalia) Quang X. Pham, a refugee from Vietnam whose father spent 12 years in a North Vietnamese prison camp:
When right wingers get desperate, what do they do? They viciously attack, of course, like the snarling and rabid pit bulls that they are. Look at Rush Limbaugh's vicious, disgraceful mocking of Parkinsons sufferer Michael J. Fox. Or how about the Allen campaign's wildly false charges against Jim Webb, that he is a misognyst (LIE), that he will raise taxes $2,000 per Virginia family (blatant LIE), that he opposes traditional marriage (yet another blatant LIE), etc., etc? Lots of crazy, even warped shit, but it's nothing surprising when you consider the slimy source (Dick Wadhams, Scott Howell, etc.) from which it emanates.
Now, the Allen campaign, with nothing left to say on its elusive "positive vision for Virginia" or on its nonexistent "record of accomplishment" in the U.S. Senate, has resorted to attacking Jim Webb's writings, and specifically a harrowing scene from one of his great, dark, haunting, brutally honest Vietnam War novels, "Lost Soldiers." (I keep thinking about Norman Mailer's similarly brutal war novel, "The Naked and the Dead," as well as the movies "Apocalypse Now," "The Deer Hunter," plus novels like "Cold Mountain," which contains some truly bizarre, disgusting, and bloodcurdling scenes).
Recall that George Allen has practically bragged about not reading fiction books. Recall that the Allen campaign has actually attacked Jim Webb for being a fiction writer! Now recall that there was have been people throughout history century who have held rigidly authoritarian views and who have burned books, including that dreaded "fiction." Allen and his "A Team" fit firmly into that fine tradition.
Anyway, now we have Allen's attack on Webb's great book, "Lost Soldiers," which Allen has never read, and which is about a time and place (the Vietnam War and its horrible aftermath) Allen does not know, since of course he managed - like his chickenhawk friend George W. Bush - to avoid the entire experience. I believe the right wingers called it "draft dodging" when it applied to Bill Clinton.
So, what do two people who actually KNOW Vietnam and were deeply affected by it have to say about "Lost Soldiers." First, Senator John McCain, who was horribly tortured in a North Vietnamese prison and who now has (sadly) endorsed George Allen for re-election:
James WebbGÇÖs new novel paints a portrait of a modern Vietnam charged with hopes for the future but haunted by the ghosts of its war-torn past. It captures well the lingering scars of the war, and exposes the tension between the dynamism of a new generation and the invisible bondage of an older generation for whom wartime allegiances, and animosities, are rendered no less vivid by the passage of time. A novel of revenge and redemption that tells us much about both where Vietnam is headed and where it has been.
That's right, John McCain - one of Jim Webb's oldest friends, by the way - LOVED "Lost Soldiers." Of course, Senator McCain actually READ the book, unlike George "anti-learning" Allen.
Next, here's an Amazon.com review by U.S. Marine Corps officer (he flew helicopter missions in the Persian Gulf War and Somalia) Quang X. Pham, a refugee from Vietnam whose father spent 12 years in a North Vietnamese prison camp:
So, there you have it. Two military men who experienced the fire and hell of war firsthand think that Jim Webb's "Lost Soldiers" is 5-star brilliant, that it's powerful, "authentic," and generally "captures well the lingering scars of the war."
What would chickenshit, chickenhawk George Allen know about that?
P.S. Not to compare the quality of Jim Webb's amazing writing with that of Newt Gingrich, Lynne Cheney, or former Cheney Chief of Staff I. Lewis Libby, but...
*In 1981, Vice President Dick Cheney's wife Lynne wrote a book called "Sisters," which featured a lesbian love affair, brothels and attempted rapes. In 1988, Lynne Cheney penned a released about a Republican vice president who dies of a heart attack while having sex with his mistress.
* Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich cowrote a thriller called "1945," featuring such titillations as biting foreplay, "pouting sex kitten," "exotic mistress" and "after-bout inhalation." At one point, the mistress of the president's chief of staff sits "athwart" her lover's chest and hisses that he must tell her a secret "or I will make you do terrible things."
*In 1996, former Cheney Chief of Staff I. Lewis Libby wrote "The Apprentice," a novel that includes references to bestiality, pedophilia and rape.
Of course, since George Allen neither reads nor writes, this isn't a problem for him. Except that George Allen DOES talk, and when he opens his mouth words come out like "macaca," "welcome to the real Virginia," and "let's enjoy knocking [the Democrats'] soft teeth down their whining throats." I can just imagine what Allen would write if he had the talent or inclination to do so. I shudder to think.
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 necessarily represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.
What is awesome about this is that this race (if Webb plays this right) is now turned back to the issue of war, and the fact that Allen did not serve, and Webb did.
"Nitpicker" also reminds us:
"My friends, we're going to run this campaign on positive, constructive ideas and it's important that we motivate and inspire people for something."
Deamonize your opponent and make him seem unworthy to vote for them. Disgust the elctorate so that only the partisans vote, hoping you have more of them than the other side.
Lies and rumors are like living, breathing things. The more we talk about them, the more credence we give them. They want us to discuss this ad nauseum, get offended, and get hysterical. We cannot fail to learn an important lesson from Swift Boat – Defend your guy, but DON’T discuss and spread a stupid lie or rumor. Don’t talk about the ad – talk about his Vietnam experience. Don’t talk about the ad – talk about his purple hearts. Don’t talk about the ad – ask where their guy was during all of this carnage in Vietnam. Don’t talk about the ad – you give it life every time you do…
So, let’s talk about our guy. Let’s talk about his Navy Cross, his Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and his two Purple Hearts. Get the talk back on message. Let’s talk about integrity, people. Our man has it – their man doesn’t.
Integrity, integrity, momentum, momentum, momentum….
Check this out, it has some good information:
Clearly arousal is not the point of the passages they are quoting, but they seem to have confusion in expecting that it ought to be.
NEWS FLASH: Not everything that is sexually graphic is designed to enhance your masturbation experience!
i.e., it's not all about you.. really.
Anyway, the movie Jarhead illustrates this point. Sexual explicitness is essential to the story. Without it, the story doesn't get told. Is that the real offense, fiction that illustrates the true events effectively?
And in the realm of nonfiction, the story of Abu Ghraib cannot be told without even more gruesome sexual explicitness.
Healthy adults should be able to distinguish this from erotica, and those who are complaining seem to be unable to do that.
In the case of Jarhead, if it's too much for you, don't watch it. With Webb's books, if they are too much for you, don't read them. They just are not bodice ripper romance novels. Now some of those *are* erotica, but I digress...
But don't let our man be swiftboated! You guys have got to respond quickly and boldly to this stuff. There are several ways to go and I won't presume to know the best approach. But it's gotta be done and it's gotta be now. IMHO, a mere press release won't do.
Almost 3,000 American soldiers are dead for what? 650,000 dead Iraqi civilians since we invaded - Why?
George Allen is a major reason we're stuck in that hell hole. We need more people like Jim Webb who tell the truth about what it is like. No it isn't pleasant and no, it isn't the kind of thing we ever want to turn into reality. But that is exactly what George Allen and George Bush have created there - another opportunity for atrocities like this to actually occur.
Short of actually going to the war, it would help if they at least read Jim's books - oh that's right - neither of them believe in reading. Too many complications for their simple minded view of the world.
Webb, as a novelist some years ago, depicted disturbing, sexual scenes from war, based on what he saw in Vietnam, for literary resonance.
The Bush administration in this day and age -- supported every step of the way by George Allen -- promoted and allowed sexually perverted forms of torture to take place IN REALITY at Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, and secret CIA prisons God-knows-where, because they think it is necessary and morally acceptable.
I think we should post a few choice photos of Republican-sanctioned S&M activities from Abu Ghraib, and ask the question: Who are the perverts here?Comments
This has been planned for months! (buzzbolt - 10/27/2006 8:07:03 AM) This Allen Campaign attack and especially the timing has been thoroughly planned for months. The attack on Webb's fiction was released on Thursday, 12 days before the election. They expect that the story will grow and rippen through the Sunday TV talk shows. On Monday, 8 days before the election, the vicious TV ads will begin all over the state and increase through November 7. You can also be sure that the Allen people are ready for any and all responses from the Webb campaign.Well, the best defense is a good offense. (Lowell - 10/27/2006 8:14:23 AM) Time to start "offending" these book-burning bastards.Right on, Lowell. (phriendlyjaime - 10/27/2006 9:09:21 AM) I reserve my "Hitler" refs fer certain people, is now one of them.Caspar Weinberger rave review: (PM - 10/27/2006 8:13:44 AM) "Readers may recall my unbounded admiration for James Webb, one of our finest war novelists since Stephen Crane. It is a pleasure to report that Webb's Lost Soldiers (Bantam Books, $25) is fully up to his high standards--taut with skillfully narrated realism. It is a tale of the search for two American traitors who caused the death of Marines in a remote outpost in Vietnam. No one else has ever conveyed better the dangers, risks and horrors of our war in Vietnam. Once again we see and live through the misery, terror and hardship of infantry fighting in that strange land--a land that Webb has clearly come to love." - Caspar Weinberger, Forbes, October 29, 2001
http://nitpicker.blo...Criticizing Webb's fiction it's too bizarre for words. I guess they're (GeorgeAllenVa - 10/27/2006 8:57:55 AM) trying to motivate the Christian right, which has been so turned off by Allen's campaign.It is shit like this (Newport News Dem - 10/27/2006 8:59:49 AM) that drives down boter participation in our democratic republic.
It should only drive down turnout on one side (Lowell - 10/27/2006 9:58:08 AM) - the REPUBLICAN side. On the Democratic side, it should infuriate people and drive turnout through the roof!This was just discussed on MSNBC. (Left Wing - 10/27/2006 9:23:06 AM) The democrat's only defense was to say that it's a distraction to keep us from talking about Iraq. Why didn't she know the McCain and Weinburger endorsements or bring up the Lynne Cheney and Scooter Libby books????? She sounded very weak while the republican b*tch kept referring to it as "Foley-like". Momentum... (VA for IKE - 10/27/2006 9:23:33 AM) Wilder, WaPo, Virginian-Pilot, Warner, Kaine, Fox….It’s called momentum…people. The more we talk about this sleazy attack, the less we are talking about our momentum, and even more hurtful – the less we are out on the streets or on the phones…According to Amazon.com.... (Left Wing - 10/27/2006 9:49:31 AM) "Lost Soldiers" moved up the list overnight. Interesting...... strange.. (Kathy Gerber - 10/27/2006 10:37:07 AM) Some people make an inaccurate association between sexually explicit anything and arousal as an end goal, especially those who don't bother reading literature beyond high school requirements.
Webb needs to respond forcefully to this latest attack (bamboo - 10/27/2006 10:57:55 AM) Lowell: Your posting here helps to put this issue into perspective and there are doubtless many trolls hoping to fulfill their own prophecy on the effectiveness of bringing up Webb's fiction at this late date. War is HELL on Earth (NukeTeacher - 10/27/2006 12:26:43 PM) People who send our troops into that environment ought to know what it is like. People who start war without provocation ought to at least have experienced war's horrors themselves - perhaps they wouldn't do it then. Which is worse? (Kindler - 10/27/2006 1:22:41 PM) Let's make a simple comparison: What was the Post thinking? (ldavid56 - 10/27/2006 5:30:37 PM) The only good thing to come out of this story is how stupid it makes George Allen look in comparison, when he has to go on the rampage attacking fiction--fiction for god's sake! Obviously George can't tell the difference between fact and fiction, as evidenced by his campaign. The biggest surprise is that the bubba even picked up and READ a book!