And they link their criticism to Allen's failure to understand war--including his lack of personal military experience and his leadership failures concerning the war in Iraq.
The folks in Southwestern Virginia are getting an earful this morning.
The editorial packs a punch, and you should read the whole thing. But here are some key excerpts:
That George Allen has trouble telling fact from fiction seems evident in his six years as a partisan loyalist in the U.S. Senate. He has been a safe vote for whatever version of the war in Iraq or against terrorism that the Bush administration is selling on any given day.Ah, but that's just politics, surely -- albeit politics of deadly serious consequence.
The latest twist in Republican Allen's strange re-election campaign suggests, though, that the poor fellow really doesn't understand the difference between reality and fantasy -- if, that is, one is supposed to believe that his latest attack on his Democratic challenger is sincere.
Which the Roanoke Times, obviously, does not--because here's how they conclude their withering criticism:
[I]f a candidate declares he's shocked, it doesn't mean he believes a word he's saying.
In between taking Allen apart for fatuity and hypocrisy, the editorial board at the Times has some admiring words for Webb:
Webb is an acclaimed novelist who in real life led Marines in combat in Vietnam. He draws upon what he saw and learned, there and in travels to trouble spots around the world since then, to bring some of his experiences alive for readers.And guess what? War is hell, cultures differ and people can be disgusting. Despicable, even. And they can be redeemed.
Exactly.
But the main focus here is--as it should be--on George Allen, and the picture's not pretty:
Allen, like the president he has served so faithfully, has none of Webb's firsthand knowledge of the reality of war. Perhaps if he did, he would be less easy in his reassurances about the sacrifices of others and tougher in his expectations of leaders whose war plans have gone tragically, and predictably, awry.Surely, though, Allen's 11th-hour outrage is just a desperate attack to gain some momentum in the final weeks of a flailing re-election campaign.
Whew. Did someone say "backlash"?