Webb drops the hammer on Romney

[highplainsdem]

Source: Politico

From Webb’s introductory remarks before Obama’s Virginia Beach appearance:

Governor Romney and I are about the same age. Like millions of others in our generation, we came to adulthood facing the harsh realities of the Vietnam War. 2.7 million in our age group went to Vietnam, a war which eventually took the lives of 58,000 young Americans and cost another 300,000 wounded. The Marine Corps lost 100,000 killed or wounded in that war. During the year I was in Vietnam, 1969, our country lost twice as many dead as we have lost in Iraq and Afghanistan combined over the past 10 years of war. 1968 was worse. 1967 was about the same. Not a day goes by when I do not think about the young Marines I was privileged to lead.

-snip-

Those young Marines that I led have grown older now. They’ve lived lives of courage, both in combat and after their return, where many of them were derided by their own peers for having served. That was a long time ago. They are not bitter. They know what they did. But in receiving veterans’ benefits, they are not takers. They were givers, in the ultimate sense of that word. There is a saying among war veterans: “All gave some, some gave all.” This is not a culture of dependency. It is a part of a long tradition that gave this country its freedom and independence. They paid, some with their lives, some through wounds and disabilities, some through their emotional scars, some through the lost opportunities and delayed entry into civilian careers which had already begun for many of their peers who did not serve.

And not only did they pay. They will not say this, so I will say it for them. They are owed, if nothing else, at least a mention, some word of thanks and respect, when a presidential candidate who is their generational peer makes a speech accepting his party’s nomination to be commander-in-chief. And they are owed much more than that — a guarantee that we will never betray the commitment that we made to them and to their loved ones.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/charlie-mahtesian/2012/09/webb-drops-the-hammer-on-romney-136858.html

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Great speech from Jim Webb!

[kentuck]

1. Thanks Senator.

Well said.

[randome]

29. Even more ironic considering how Republicans feel about France.

Remember Freedom Fries?

[mac56]

3. I like Jim Webb.

A good man.

[cr8tvlde]

4. I remember like it was yesterday. How dare they...my friends who came home

were troubled and basically unwanted as a reminder of something/ a war they had no say in. One did not come home. The numbers alone make me grieve.

Yes, I was unapologetically anti-war and still am. But that has nothing to do with those, the young men of my peer group, who served...I just wish they did not have to go in the first place...and thank them and welcome them home any time and from any where.

And to those Republican lily-livered cowards and thankless fools...off with their political heads...vote them OUT.

[efhmc]

13. Those who were not rich or connected went to war. The cowards who shout for war then and

now and have never set foot on the battlefield should be boiled in oil.

[tabasco]

5. Republicans "honoring" veterans:

[Aeroette]

6. That just makes me sick.

I was so upset when I saw those idiots wearing those Band-Aids, it took me weeks to calm down. And damn it, I'm still mad.

[AllyCat]

8. Welcome to DU. Thanks for volunteering to help elect Dems!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

9. Take heart, Aeroette

This band-aid lady has to deal with one helluva lousy set of dentures. Yeah, I said it.

[littlemissmartypants]

15. Welcome to the DU!

.

[Aeroette]

27. thanks

[TahitiNut]

17. If I ever saw that woman in person ...

... it'd be more than I could do to keep from ramming my fist in her self-indulged, disgusting, ignorant face.



Yeah ... I'd be jailed. It sure as hell wouldn't keep me from doing it, though. When I think of the guys I know and those with whom I served in Nam -- my high school friend who got put in a wheelchair for life -- I just couldn't handle it.

[Historic NY]

7. Thank You Senator Webb....wish you'd stick around POTUS needs men like you.

[OldDem2012]

10. Well said, Senator Webb. Semper Fi. nt.

[highplainsdem]

11. Lawrence O'Donnell just showed Jim Webb giving that speech.

Wow.

[George II]

12. Damn, I wish he would have run for re-election.............

[Zambero]

25. Same here

Still, it's reassuring that he's out on the stump going all out for President Obama in a very close state AND to help provide "Macaca George" with two well-deserved consecutive defeats.

Hopefully Webb will continue to serve in some another capacity after he leaves the Senate.

[NBachers]

14. Webb was the primary focus of my donations during the 2006 election cycle; he beat George Allen

and it was a total nail-biter. I went to bed and he was behind; I was dejected. I woke up and he was ahead by a hair, but it took two weeks to certify the election. How glad I was to see him as Senator Jim Webb.

Thank you, sir

[FailureToCommunicate]

16. The video of this address is pretty powerful! Hope someone is able to post it too

[highplainsdem]

24. Haven't found the full video yet. Partial video of the speech was on The Last Word - link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755883/vp/49205834#49205834

[Zambero]

18. Bravo Senator Webb!

I wish him well in his retirement from the Senate, but he still has much to offer. Hoping there will be a place for him during President Obama's 2nd term.

[wordpix]

19. +1

[JimWis]

20. K & R

[Tx4obama]

21. Here'a a link to Senator Webb's FULL prepared remarks

Here: http://www.wvec.com/home/related/Sen-Jim-Webbs-introduction-of-Pres-Obama-171569411.html

[highplainsdem]

23. Thanks!

[goclark]

28. Breathtaking! This should be its own thread

Where is the full video?

[Tx4obama]

35. I searched for a full video last night but couldn't find one. The link below has some of Webb on it

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/101762248

[genxlib]

22. Needed to be said

And no better man to say it.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

26. "many of them were derided by their own peers for having served."

That's true. WWII Vets all acted like Vietnam Vets spent the whole time getting high.

[pinboy3niner]

32. The first time I set foot in a VFW I got a lecture

"At least we won OUR war!"

"VN veterans are just a bunch of crybabies and whiners."

For VN vets the sense of betrayal was so strong that when Vietnam Veterans of America was formed it adopted as its motto:

"Never again shall one generation of veterans abandon another"

[Spitfire of ATJ]

39. I know all about it. The WWII Vets figured they took on a "real army". Nazis with tanks and,....

..."real air forces and navies" and beat them back in less than four years and THEY were in it for the duration while Vietnam Vets only had to serve for a year and were up against a bunch of guys in black pajamas. Telling them it was in the jungle didn't impress them because there were jungles on the island campaigns against Japan.

The Vietnam Vets had to tell the other Vets it was the fault of the brass and the politicians for not letting them win which wasn't fully believed, which is especially unfair as Korean War Vets had gone through the same situation of maintaining an imaginary line that wasn't to be crossed.

The average age of WWII vets was 25 while Vietnam Vets it was 19. To WWII Vets then in their 40's and 50's they were "kids" who just wanted to get out of there in one piece and didn't care about "winning".

It was horrible for Vietnam Vets. Especially since most of the wounded were victims of boobytraps. Many never saw the enemy. The tactics were often very sneaky. The enemy would fire from cover and vanish. When the squad flanked the position the flanking positions were rigged with explosives.

[toby jo]

31. Hey now, Mitty's said he'd increase military spending, sure and he'll get us

involved somewhere to spill a little blood. He's a man's man, just get your delusions up.

[Historic NY]

33. Economic Monarchists!!

"Finally, I want to tell you why I believe this election is so important, and why it is my honor to introduce our President. Our very system is being challenged by a handful of economic monarchists who are throwing tens of millions of dollars into this race. This is America; they are welcome to their views. But their flood of money is perverting our democratic process. This is exactly what our campaign finance laws were designed to prevent. It is not healthy. We are being challenged, as Americans. We must either meet this challenge or accept that the United States of America has descended into a financially based aristocracy. "

"Andrew Jackson believed in the American dream and lived it. But he also hated aristocracy and never forgot the roots from whence he came. He was the first President to argue that we measure the health of this society not at its apex but at its base, and that the role of our government leaders should be to provide a voice for those who otherwise would not be heard in the corridors of power. He built the foundation of the modern Democratic Party on a base that he labeled the farmers, the mechanics and the laborers. He once said that “the rich and the powerful can take care of themselves. But the poor and the humble require the arm and the shield of the law.”

[beachgirl2365]

34. check out Rachel Maddow's show last night for more on this!!!

Rachel did an EXCELLENT piece on this last night!!!! Talking about how Mittens protested FOR the Vietnam war and protested FOR the draft,....... then ran away to France to hang out on the beach with Anne (oh, yeah, & to do that missionary thing,.. what a PUSSY). She was calling him out as the supposed newly elected leader of the Rethuglicans, (& most deservedly too!), and asking him to do his job and be a leader......Apparently a Rethuglican Senator anonymously voted to hold up the annual COLA increase for widows, widowers and children of our veterans, who paid the ultimate price for their service.......well I guess he is leading in a way,. and the flock is just following the historic example set by him.......................doing a hellavu job their Mittens!

[hue]

36. Rmoney's negligence, ignorance and treatment of our Vets is unconscionable!!

Not that he has a conscience or a soul!

[FemVet]

37. Sorry if this is repetitive...

I said this on another post so I apologize if you are reading it twice but as a female veteran I'm ready for Webb to be done with politics until he can apologize to all of the women he harmed with his article called "Women can't fight". Not to mention me and 3 other women went to his office to talk to our local senator about the issue of military sexual assault and instead he sent this bored legislative aid who took no notes and kept checking her watch while we detailed statistics and personal stories. I appreciate his honorable service but just because he is an ally, doesn't mean he's someone I want on my side. I hope I didn't offend any of you! My apologies!

http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/jim-webb-women-cant-fight/

I know this article is quite old but Chris Matthews gave him the chance to recant and instead he did some strategic dodging.

[sarcasmo]

38. Kick!