"He said he was concerned that on foreign policy, the nation is now “bouncing from issue to issue without a clear articulation of what the national security interest of the United States actually is.” At the same time, he said, he is worried by the growing gap between the rich and poor, which he said could be addressed through better leadership in Washington. Webb’s comments took the political establishment in Virginia and beyond by surprise. Since declining to run for reelection to the Senate in 2012 after serving only a single term in office, Webb has largely disappeared from the political scene."
------------------------
My. My. He would be quite a president. He really was "born fighting." Is there a chance of this happening? I doubt it. Last time I heard he was still a Democrat. I suppose he could switch back to being a Republican and fight Hillary. That would be amusing. The mighty midgets who are Republican possibilities now might not be able to stop him. I don't include Jeb Bush in that crowd of non-entities but he is never going to get the nomination. Would he run as a Democrat and try to take the nomination away from her ladyship? He might do that and become the leading probability for VP, but he would not be a good VP. This man is a leader, not a Bidenesque cipher.
Would I support him? Yes, but that would be a handicap. pl
Jim Webb would be a nice fit for VP nominee in 2016 for either party!
Posted by: William R. Cumming | 20 May 2014 at 09:56 AM
Colonel: I don't think HRC is anything like a lock to be the Democratic nominee. It is not a certainty that she will run. She is advancing in years. As much of a free pass as Obama gets from the press, so will any Clinton be shredded by that same press. Witness the explosion of chatter Sunday about Dr. Rove's diagnosis. She is again unlikely to win the Iowa Caucuses if anyone else runs a credible campaign there. The Ready for Hillary people are trying to get Democrats to beg her to run and I get the impression she wants to be begged. Democrats who vote in primaries are very unlikely to do so.
Posted by: D | 20 May 2014 at 10:52 AM
Webb would be a good candidate but that
would disqualify him immediately. The Dems
have taken a page from the Repub playbook
IMO. The second place finisher from the pre-
vious winnowing process is now the front
runner,Hillary. At least that is the
current consensus.
The powers that be don't want an independent
"leader." A malleable person is all we are
going to get, witness that last two, "com-
passionate conservative" and "hope and change."
We got neither. As Col Lang mentions Jeb might
not be in the midget category but W. made sure
he would not stand a chance.
The current battle between the establishment
Repubs and the tea party activists says a lot
about 2016 dynamics and a true indy leader
emerging. A person may not agree with every-
thing they say but at least they are trying
to bring back a grass roots effort to rectify
the corporatization of politics.
Posted by: steve g | 20 May 2014 at 12:02 PM
WRC
The election would be fun to watch with Webb for VP but most presidents would find him a very difficult VP. He's a team player, but he wants to run the team and he is no more capable of shutting up than I am. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 20 May 2014 at 12:07 PM
WRC
I think that Webb as a VP would be as miserable as LBJ was. He does not appear to have the temperament to sit in someone else's shadow.
Webb in the mix would be a treat to watch but he has more baggage than Samsonite: multiple marriages, politically incorrect content in his novels, a temper. Like the colonel, tho, I'd vote for him in a heartbeat.
Posted by: HDL | 20 May 2014 at 12:12 PM
D
If HC does not run, Webb should. An interesting ticket would be Jim Webb/Elizabeth Warren. I don't see her as a leftist so much as someone who does not like plutocrats of the shark variety. I don't think Webb likes them much either. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 20 May 2014 at 12:38 PM
Colonel: I would love to see Webb run. He already overturned the apple cart in Virginia Democratic politics when he was able to bypass the Party's dull-as-dishwater-but-it's-his-turn candidate Harris Miller in 2006. He has the demonstrated ability to appeal to a broad range of voters.
Warren has already said she will not run, but plans can change in politics. She understands the harm the plutocrats have done to the US economy as well as anyone does. These days, that makes her a "leftist" in our brain-dead national conversation, but I think your assessment is on the money.
IMO the nominal political spectrum - left-right-center - in the US has become meaningless. The last two presidents - one nominally "conservative" and one nominally "liberal" - have done such a rotten job for everyone except 'plutocrats of the shark variety' that I think most citizens would respond to candidates who were not intimidated by those plutocrats and their lobbyists. I can't think of two possibles who fit that description better than Webb and Warren.
Posted by: D | 20 May 2014 at 01:18 PM
Colonel,
I’d vote for the both of you.
Posted by: VietnamVet | 20 May 2014 at 01:35 PM
May be wrong but thinking events are likely to favor Webb being on a ticket for a party in 2016! I previously itemized some in prior comments. A Vietnamese American wife might be a help. See Robert D. Kaplan's recent book ASIAN CAULDRON about conditions yesterday, today, and tomorrow in the SOUTH CHINA SEA.! A must read but not as strong as his BALKAN GHOSTS and THE ARABISTS!
Posted by: William R. Cumming | 20 May 2014 at 02:08 PM
Pat
Why do you believe that Webb will not be coopted by the DC groupthink and influence peddling racket?
He will need to raise a billion dollars to compete.
Posted by: Jack | 20 May 2014 at 02:22 PM
jack
He wasn't as senator. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 20 May 2014 at 03:12 PM
I agree,he would make a superb reformer president.
It will never be allowed. All sides of the economic/political establishment would fear him.
Do you remember how the MSM demonized former Navy SEAL democrat senator Kerry from Kansas. When he started making serious noise about running for President in 2004. At warp speed the MSM narrative took him from American hero to war criminal.
The media rulers would joyfully do the same to Webb the former Marine.
Posted by: Highlander | 20 May 2014 at 03:21 PM
Highlander
I liked Bob Kerry (however spelt) but he had problems. Along the way he married a succulent young thing (then) from the New York libbo scene who explained to him the shame of what he must have done in VN. He then became the President of the New School University. The power of the p---y. He told me in a deli in the West Village how tormented he was by what he did or did not do as a SEAL. I told him that the path of honor then was to ask the Secretary of the Navy for a court of inquiry in the matter. That was our last contact. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 20 May 2014 at 04:50 PM
Webb would have my vote. His biggest problem would be the general election, as campaign funding would be a challenge. I don't see him swearing fealty to any monied, corporate or institutional interest, which is what is required these days in order to compete in politics.
Posted by: DC | 20 May 2014 at 05:03 PM
While I can certainly see the appeal of a Webb/Warren ticket, presidential campaigns are VERY expensive these days and require heavy financial support from the wealthy elites. They would not be able to bite the hand that feeds them. In for them to be accepted by the elite they
would have to assimilate to some extent.
I spent few years watching politics up close to try and make sense of it all, and saw 'how the sausage is made'. My realizations about the real nature of politics today coincided with realizations from my study of history combined with reflections on my spiritual philosophy and I became an ex-liberal, ex-utopian and political atheist (I am NOT an atheist in the religious/spiritual sense). Now I no longer believe that any president or any politician or political party can "save" me/us from the fact that the US has become an plutocratic oligarchy* (with some remaining trappings of democracy especially at the local level). I see both political parties as hopeless co-opted by Big Money for the coming future. When I became a realist, I went all the way ;) I didn't lose my natural optimism, just tempered it and have come to rely on my sense of humor about the absurdity of real life to get me through.
*A month ago there were numerous articles responding to a study that showed the US has become a plutocratic oligarchy. Here are 2 articles on that, and both have a link to the original research paper.
MSM post... Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746
Snarky post... The ‘Duh’ Report: Study says America is an Oligarchy, not a Democracy http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/218858/the-duh-report-study-says-america-is-an-oligarchy-not-a-democracy/
Posted by: Valissa | 20 May 2014 at 05:26 PM
Webb has a book out/coming out: "I Heard My Country Calling: A Memoir." Doesn't look like a campaign bio. But then neither does Elizabeth Warren's "A Fighting Chance." Interesting to think about.
Posted by: Margaret Steinfels | 20 May 2014 at 05:38 PM
I'd like to add Chas Freeman and Bill Black to the list. Americans for Americans. Screw the money worshippers!
Posted by: SAC Brat | 20 May 2014 at 06:02 PM
A Webb-Warren ticket - oh, be still my heart!
I've fallen into the sin of despair so I don't think Jim Webb would have a chance against the corporatists but one can dream.
Posted by: Joan | 20 May 2014 at 06:19 PM
If Webb were slurred as candidate, he would decline to play the sorry-apology game. As he recieved more hatred through the MSM, he might inspire people who are coming to doubt MSM narratives or MSM honesty.
Posted by: different clue | 20 May 2014 at 07:06 PM
Well hell's bells Colonel….remind me to never confess all my many sins of comission and omission with you. The Corps might decide to dig up some long buried bodies and send me to a brig someplace.
Seriously however, if a Kerry type who worshiped at the feet of the establishment, was drawn and quartered by the MSM for the sin of military service. What would they do to an unrepentant Jim Webb?
Posted by: Highlander | 20 May 2014 at 10:05 PM
Webb/Warren 2016-Webb/? 2016-Warren/? 2016..."Be still My Beating Heart"
Posted by: Yours In Peace....R.L.Kirtley | 20 May 2014 at 10:54 PM
"...he is no more capable of shutting up than I am. pl"
He could hire Typepad to be his spokesperson.
Posted by: Anonymous | 21 May 2014 at 12:30 AM
From positions Jim Webb has taken as a Democrat, I think he will run for president, if he does, as a Democrat. One reason he may do so is to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Somebody has to do it. My thought continues to be that unless a debilitating medical condition of Hillary Clinton becomes public and it is of the type that will be almost prohibitive politically, she will run for president.
Karl Rove recently "signaled" the issue of brain damage, but it got no traction, because he did not have his ducks lined up first. The long time Republican political operative Roger Stone says that Hillary will not run; I think he is wrong, unless a bad medical condition surfaces. She craves political authority, and already has an "enemies list". If I remember correctly, when she ran in the 2008 Democratic primary for president against Barack Obama, not one member of Congress endorsed her. She is not worried about that, as much of the mass media will promote her, and will help her play the "gender card".
Jim Webb would be a good candidate. He can write and is literate, which means he is capable of understanding the subtle and devious fraud on the public that the current financial system and central banking structure are, when someone explains it to him.
Hillary's helpers will accuse Webb of being a sexist pig and an enemy of the "rights of women". They will point to his excellent and accurate article from 1979, cited in the Wikipedia entry, called "Women Can't Fight".
Webb's first hurdle is the Democratic primary, which is not the general election. It will be a tough one as he will have to appeal only to people of the Democratic party. Vice president Joe Biden will most likely also run. Perhaps Howard Dean will as well. Can Webb attract a large number of Democratic voters? I hope he tries; he and anyone else who will try to prevent Biden or Hillary from getting the nomination.
Posted by: robt willmann | 21 May 2014 at 01:53 AM
I would vote for him!!
Posted by: oofda | 21 May 2014 at 01:57 AM
D
IMO HRC will not run - and a Webb /Warren ticket would be a strong ticket . If HRC doesn't run then the Democratic Primaries are an open field . I believe like you a majority of the voters would vote for a national slate that stands up for We the People against the US /international oligarchs . The added value of a President Webb is we would hae a much more rationale foreign policy - we would likely see a mitigation of the neocon embeds and their agenda.
Posted by: Alba Etie | 21 May 2014 at 05:43 AM