Highlights from Jim Webb at the National Press Club

Today, I had the privilege of sitting at the "head table" - along with Hong Le Webb, plus journalists from USA Today, Business Week and the Buffalo News - to hear Senator Jim Webb speak to a National Press Club audience of several hundred.  Highlights from the speech, and from the questions after the speech, are below the "fold."  The photos were taken from where I was sitting.

Highlights from Webb's Speech
*Joked that he would "try to stay out of trouble today," and mentioned that "it's been a couple of months since I've been in trouble."

*Talked about how proud he was to have been a journalist, and specifically noted "the reporting that Dana Priest and Ann hull have done on the outpatient care at Walter Reed" as making "government more accountable" and "help[ing] ensure better care for the nation's wounded veterans."

*Reminisced about the race last year, how his "political credentials were viewed with unease by both sides."

*Said that his strategy during the campaign was to stick to his "own sense of values and political instincts rather than polls and focus groups," to talk "about deeper themes rather than mere political issues."

*Specifically mentioned Tom Davis' comment that he's a "one-issue Senator" (Iraq).  Webb joked that, yes, he HAD been spending an awful lot of time on economic fairness issues.

*Stressed the importance of diplomacy in Iraq, of "engagement with all of Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria." 

*Noted that he had "authored a bill...which would prohibit the use of funds for commencing a wider war against Iran with exceptions that will allow our military to defend itself against attacks based in Iran, including directly pre-empting those kinds of attacks, and including hot pursuit into Iranian territory if our military is attacked by forces that might withdraw into Iran." 

*Also on Iran, Webb pointed out that his bill "takes no options off the table with respect to our long-held positions regarding Iran's nuclear program or our demand that Iran recognize Israel."  The main point of his bill is to ensure that the Administration does not start "unprovoked military activities without the approval of the Congress."

*Criticized the "evolution of a quasi-military Praetorian guard filled with 100,000 civilian contractors now in Iraq...accountable to no one."  Also blasted "the arrogance of this administration on such issues as NSA wiretapping and selective dismissals of US attorneys" and, of course, Hurricane Katrina.

*Stressed the need for "a meaningful GI Bill for those who have served since 9/11."

*Spoke about the growing disparity of wealth in this country, where the "top 1% now take in an astounding 16% of national income, up from 8% in 1980," where "47 million Americans lack health insurance in the wealthiest country in the world," and where 1% of people own 53% of stocks.  Criticized the concept of "economic Darwinism" that some maintain "should not be a source of governmental concern." 

*Received applause for raising the issue of "the staggering prison incarceration rates in the United States, which are higher than any other nation in the world."  Noted that "a black male who does not finish high school now has a 60 percent chance of going to jail."  Yes, "we want to keep bad people off of our streets," but "there's something else going on when we're locking up such a high percentage of our people, marking them as marked inviduals at an early age and in many cases eliminating their chances for a productive life as full citizens."

*Asserted that he is "determined to do everything I can to advance a progressive agenda that addresses the issues surrounding economic fairness and social justice."  Said that we need to "keep the United States economy strong and engaged in the rest of the world," while also "safeguard[ing] the rights of workers and the environment."

*Praised his Senate staff as "the finest staff in the United States Senate," one that is "representative of Virginia in every sense of the word."

Questions after Webb's Speech
*Regarding timelines for troop withdrawal in Iraq, Webb said that "timelines are generally unworkable."  What we need is a "diplomatic solution," then the troops can be withdrawn relatively quickly.

*Regarding a posible cutoff of funding for Iraq, Webb said that this is an "ongoing" war, and so that's "not the way to go."  For one thing, it's "hard to target where the money goes."  For another, it "creates misunderstandings" that we are hurting the troops in the field.  Iran is different, because there's a "clean line there" - shall not COMMENCE hostilities. 

*What happens if we quickly pull our troops out, won't that just strengthen Iran, destabilize the region, etc?  Webb said that's a "red herring," and that "noone is calling for a precipitous withdrawal" from Iraq.  But the fact is that there won't be stability in Iraq "as long as US troops are there."

*What about dividing Iraq?  Webb responded that there are smart people who have advocated this, like Sen. Biden, but emphasized that the key was to get the countries "tangential to Iraq" and bring them in "overtly into the diplomatic process," give them a "sense of ownership."

*On whether Iraq increases or decreases the likelihood of another 9/11, Webb said that "volatility and anger" against America have "increased around the world" since the invasion of Iraq, and that he had warned about this.  Webb did note that we had gotten a lot smarter regarding defending ourselves against terrorist attacks since 9/11.

*Is Iraq another Vietnam?  Webb said that he did NOT believe that there were parallels between Vietnam and Iraq.  Webb added that he "still strongly support[s] the Vietnam War," that the "logic was sustainable," that as late as 1972, a Harris survey indicated that 74% of the American people felt it was important that South Vietnam not fall to the Communists.  In contrast, there is "no consensus" about Iraq, which has turned into a "huge strategic blunder."  The troops themselves want to be out of Iraq.

*Regarding Afghanistan, Webb said that we "handled [it] much smarter than Iraq."  We involved countries in the region, including Iran, in a diplomatic process that resulted in the Karzai government.  However, we do need "better accounting in Afghanistan" - how much is Taliban, Al Qaeda, and how much is drug related.  According to Webb, Afghanistan is a "narco-state."

*Question about whether President Bush should be impeached.  Webb said that there's been a "constitutional imbalance since 9/11" which is "very troubling."  Webb stressed the need for "accountability across the board," including having the people subpoenaed from the White House testifying openly.

*On economic fairness, Webb said that we should not be rewarding companies through the tax code for sending work overseas.

*On health care, Webb noted that our system puts U.S. corporations at a competitive disadvantage with other countries where health care is paid for at the national level.

*On the Democrats winning the South in 2008, Webb said that Virginia is a "microcosm" of the country right now.  Northern Virginia is very "California-like," with high tech jobs, a multi-ethnic population, and a lot of wealth.  Southwest Virginia is "as red as any red state."  The key to winning in the red areas is a message that can bring back the "Reagan Democrats," one that makes clear that the Democratic Party is the party of working people, economic fairness and social justice.  If Democrats get back to Jacksonian Democracy, where the health of the society is measured at its base, not at its apex, then they can win in the South and other red areas.

*Finally, Sen. Webb said that he would be writing a book based on the themes he talked about today.  He joked about how his prototype for being a Senator, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "put out a book a year while in the Senate," and how he probably wasn't going to match that pace.

Comments