That's just too funny.  I do agree with you though; the Republican side of the aisle loves to make fun of the Democratic side for being "soft" and "whiny" and "pansyish" but the minute anyone shows that they have some balls, they are a big meanie-mean pants.

Typical.

who is tough, she's shrill, divisive, inappropriate, over the top, etc etc. Just depends on whose ox is gored.

Republicans have been getting away with being shrill, mean, divisive, etc, while incorrectly accusing Democrats of undertaking what it is that the republicans are actually doing. So now they see real aggressiveness as accomplished by adults, as Webb and Spitzer are doing, and guess what, the republicans are shocked, I say shocked! Just goes to show you should be careful what you wish for.

Just maybe, the real world public is fed up with republican tactics. And just maybe at least some Democrats no longer suffer the delusion that they are dealing with old-time republican-types who understood how the American system of governance works. Spitzer seems to understand you can neither trust nor deal in good faith with the current crop of malicious Bushite republicans. Wonder when Harry Reid will grasp that fact?

not all us Republicans disapprove of Mr. Webb - some of us actually are quite proud he's our new Senator

I'd like to politely disagree with the comment that we should "stop being polite."  There's a difference between being "assertive" and "aggressive".  You can assert yourself and what you stand for without becoming an aggressor who creates unnecessary enemies (as the Republicans did over the past decade, sowing their defeat).

Jim Webb's response to the State of the Union was brilliantly assertive.  Whereas, even though I am a huge fan of Eliot Spitzer, I don't like the steamroller comment.  To me, it smacks of the kind of arrogance that got the Republicans deservedly kicked out of office this past November.

what exactly has Spitzer done? I'm curious. If he has done something worthy of praise, then I'll praise him but I didn't see anything in the linked article about what he has actually done.

As Attorney General, he routinely took on the most powerful corporate interests in America, and won, at a time when the Federal government was letting corporate America get away with pretty much whatever it pleased.  Among the corporate interests he beat were mutual funds, investment banks, insurance, tobacco, etc.

There's some info on his Wikipedia entry

I think the Democratic voter base has tolerated the reticence of some elected officials to criticize or assert itself against the Republicans long enough and are demanding more aggressive and assertive Democratic leaders.  Eliot Spitzer, like Rudi Guiliani, are go-getters....geez, what would you expect New Yorkers would want after 9/11?  Well the rest of the country needs the same assertiveness of Eliot Spitzer in Democratic officials. Heck, we're all grownups here. This is a tough world and America wants tough leaders!

I hate to be the one to say it, but living out of state right now as I pursue a doctorate, I can tell you how different the political climates are in New York and Virginia.  I don't think Virginians have a cultural propensity towards a governor who uses expletives when describing himself as a steamroller, and furthermore I'm proud of our stance on that.  I think being assertive, as noted above, is lovely, but surely we are a state intelligent enough to produce leaders with great tact and manners in their assertiveness.  Heaven forbid my beloved commonwealth turn into a political New York.

Of course, in New York, even the nuns use language like "I'm a f-ing streamroller..."!