I think Webb is more populist than liberal, at least as the word seems to be used these days, but he is closer to where I think liberalism ought to be than many who claim the label for their own. And he is not without his faults.
And the idea that he is a militarist I think goes right back to the two or three stereotypes that are always attached to Webb in the media. Like most old soldiers, he is less likely to choose a military solution than almost anyone. A theme he develops at length in A Time to Fight is his own evolution from a Marine platoon commander, arguably much closer to the stereotype, to a strategic analyst much more interested in finding longer term trajectories that do not require military action.
I could dig up a quote or two, but Webb is much like Al Gore in that regard. One paragraph is never enough. His ideas do not easily translate to a media sound bite or a lazy quote. Now where are we going and what's with the handbasket?
However, when it comes out in paperback I'll try and get hold of it. No point right now as I'll be away for 6 weeks soon. keep to the Fen Causeway
His attitude about race relations pretty clearly evolved during his time in the field in Vietnam. Given the reality of the draft and American attitudes at the time, it is a given that at times his platoon in the field would have had more black faces than white. He came to know black Marines quite well as fellow soldiers and as honorable men who fought well and bravely for a country that treated them as something less than full citizens both before and after their service. During his time as a counsel involved in veterans' affairs, again and again Webb went to bat for individual vets, more often than not blacks, who were routinely short changed by the VA bureaucracy, almost always on his own and against the company line. Timberg dwells on that in The Nightingale's Song.
I would like to think that Webb's attitudes about women in the military also evolved over time. During his time as Navy Secretary he opened many previously forbidden billets to women. I suspect that if he had served in the much more gender integrated military that he had a hand in creating, his own ideas on the subject would have evolved much as they did about race in Vietnam. But that's only my opinion, worth exactly what you paid for it. Now where are we going and what's with the handbasket?
