As with other ethnic groups, those inside the culture know how to read such code words, and there may come a time when the right Democratic strategist knows how to counter them in the manner that Mr. Dean contemplated. John Edwards is at his visceral best when his campaign rhetoric seems directed at doing that.

The decline in public education and the outsourcing of jobs has hit this culture hard. Diversity programs designed to assist minorities have had an unequal impact on white ethnic groups and particularly this one, whose roots are in a poverty-stricken South. Their sons and daughters serve in large numbers in a war whose validity is increasingly coming into question. In fact, the greatest realignment in modern politics would take place rather quickly if the right national leader found a way to bring the Scots-Irish and African-Americans to the same table, and so to redefine a formula that has consciously set them apart for the past two centuries.

Secret GOP Weapon The Scots-Irish vote. by JAMES WEBB

That last sentence is the single most interesting political statement I have read in my lifetime.  And this.

The most important--and unfortunately the least debated--issue in politics today is our society's steady drift toward a class-based system, the likes of which we have not seen since the 19th century. America's top tier has grown infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years. It is not unfair to say that they are literally living in a different country. Few among them send their children to public schools; fewer still send their loved ones to fight our wars. They own most of our stocks, making the stock market an unreliable indicator of the economic health of working people. The top 1% now takes in an astounding 16% of national income, up from 8% in 1980. The tax codes protect them, just as they protect corporate America, through a vast system of loopholes.

Class Struggle American workers have a chance to be heard. by JIM WEBB

And this.

His problems began when he stood up to a man named A. P. Mills, a local baron who owned both the bank and the general store in Kensett.  A. P. had done alright during the hard times, even finding a way to send his son Wilbur to Harvard.  Upon his return Wilbur became a judge, and then a rather famous congressman, both for his expertise in tax law and for his antics with a South American stripper named Fanne Foxe.  A. P. Mills was a cheerful man, a true "good old boy" who still would remember my mother by name when she returned to Kensett with her children more than a decade after she had moved away.  But he was also very much a creature of his time and place, and my grandfather was not.

As my grandmother, great-aunt, and aunt all told it, my grandfather's sin was to explain to the black folk of Kensett that they were being charged higher interest rates than whites at A. P. Mills' store, thus keeping them in an even worse spiral of debt -- and also to suggest to A. P. Mills that this was not a particularly Christian thing to do.  My grandfather was pointedly warned that he was causing trouble.  By all accounts, my grandfather then told A. P. Mills to go to hell.  And A. P. Mills, along with some others who controlled the admittedly sparse purse strings of White County, showed my grandfather that there could be such a thing as hell on earth.

Within a few weeks my grandfather could not get a regular job in White County.  He moved back up to the Carbondale coal mines for a while but my grandmother, one of twelve children, got homesick, so he brought the family back to White County.  They began following the crops around the region, picking strawberries when they were in season, picking and chopping other people's cotton, and truck farming.  School for my mother and her brother and sisters became intermittent and at times impossible as they picked and chopped alongside the adults.

My grandfather, shunned by the local-powers-that-were, never backed down from his beliefs.  He had broken a hip badly in a farm accident, and an apparent bone infection eventually caused his skin to permanently split open in that area (I write "apparent" because no doctor ever treated him), bringing a steady ooze from the joint.  My grandmother kept two sets of bandages for the hip, boiling one every day while he wore the other.  But this did not keep B. H. from walking six miles round-trip to Searcy several days a week in order to debate others who gathered in the town square to discuss politics.  He argued for the rights of the black and the poor, and the unfairness of local leaders.  And in these spirited debates he was usually, as a wise man once put it, in either a minority or a majority of one.

Jim Webb, Born Fighting

And this.

Years of this kind of labor gave my mother arms and shoulders like a weight lifter.  When she met my father in Texas at the age of seventeen, his strongest initial reaction was not of her dark-haired , violet-eyed beauty, but that her hands felt as rough as the bark off a tree.  And as I myself grew into manhood and progressed through a variety of academic and professional challenges, my mother and grandmother both would seize my hands whenever I first walked into their homes, massaging the palms and feeling their thickness. Whatever else I did in life, it was important to both of them that I never lose my "workingman's hands."

I have Fischer's Albion's Seed, but so far I have only been able to make myself skim it.  There is more passion in one paragraph of Webb's writing than in the whole of Fischer's book.

Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.

On the subject of Obama and Webb, I think Webb issued a powerful invitation in that first WSJ article.  And it seems to me that Obama in some sense accepted the invitation with that famous speech on race.  Can you imagine what it might do for the whole issue of race, particularly issues of black and white, if the two of them continued that conversation?

Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.

Webb has voted for more surveillance, benchmarks, funding the troops without demanding they are brought out of Iraq--but all the bills have kinks in them, wasn't there a 180 day sunset clause on the phone-tapping bill?  I think that means after 180 days it expires unless there is another vote to renew it--or did that already happen?

I have difficulty playing purist on Senate votes.  It is a game on so many levels--"looking good/looking bad" just for starters.  It is like football in the rain--you can't play without getting dirty. I agree with budr's  comments about him being difficult to categorize.   I agree with Drew's view that he shouldn't be the V.P. candidate.  In my view is the combination of his populist views, principles and  character I find both fascinating and appealing.  I certainly wouldn't discount the likelyhood of personal growth on his views regarding some social issues Drew and others have found problematic.  

I take a tan too readily to be a true red neck in the original sense, but I grew up in Oklahoma in the 50's surrounded by racist and reactionary views.  I used to say that Oklahoma was a good place to be from. Upon retiring to Arkansas, from whence both of my paternal grandparents came, I was pleasantly surprised at the attitudes of so many Arkansans.  It is at least a purple state, if not blue.  Only one federal or state office is currently held by a republican.  

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

Now, I like Obama's thinking about electoral politics. He has a long horizon and he thinks in structural terms about what his ticket needs to get people to vote for him. So I think he'll pick a running mate who will be a good fit over the longer term. For my money, I can see both Edwards and Webb working out, but Edwards would be risky -- it depends on whether Edwards can push through a narrative that he has renewed himself.

Is this the issue?

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.

Lyndon Johnson defined the art of politics as consisting of "knowing when to hold a knife to a man's belly and when to push it in."  My sense for Webb is that he knows both.  I am sick unto death of wimpy, timid democrats. I want someone who will stomp holes and drive stakes through the sons of bitches that have got us into this mess, someone who knows how to do business up close and personal with a knife.  I think Webb qualifies on these counts.  The simmering anger shows through in TV interviews.  He seems good on his feet.  

It is in this regard that I have the greatest concern about Obama.  He might make a great Secretary of State.  But what we need now is a domestic "war leader" who will aggressively and cunningly cut out the cancer that is at the heart of the US political and economic order.  It needs to be done quickly. The first hundred days. Of the major democratic candidates I favored Edwards because, in part, he had fought the vested interests on behalf of the lowly and won. I think Webb might be even better, but neither is an option now.

I just hope that Obama has personal qualities he has not yet shown.  He will need them if elected.  He could compensate by selecting a strong staff and cabinet.  I do believe Obama could use the presidency to sell the people on the need for getting the Ship of State off the shoals before the hurricane hits.  Webb could help from the Senate. I would rather see him there than as Secretary of Defense.  Edwards would make an excellent Attorney General.  Impeach Chief Justice Roberts and replace him with Hillary.

To this I would add that whoever becomes president this time, should they seriously attempt to right previous wrongs and get the ship of state off the shoals, had better be prepared for the trip to be one way.  The pack of wreckers who are currently in process of striping said ship will not meekly go away.  Were Obama willing and able to let Webb be his "tough guy" alter ego and give him the prominence Clinton gave Gore, I would be happy with Webb as V.P.  He could be the attack dog from Hell on the campaign trail, and someone who could credibly stand up to McCain.  But for that to work, Obama's campaign would have to forget about changing the tone of national politics until after they have won on the opponents home court, no quarter asked or given.  

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

Congressional voting records are often difficult to decipher because each bill can be very complex and an understanding of the choices and reasons for making them elusive.  Without a detailed review of the bill, and the context in which it was considered I find it impossible to criticise a member's decision for support or non-support.

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears

Today after some rest and a little closer reading, my congratulations.  I think you've done a better job in a short time of "getting" Jim Webb than most do.  Far too many get as far as Marine war hero, former Reagan Navy Secretary, wrote an article titled Women Can't Fight, and think they know all they need to know about Jim Webb.  Yeah, and Obama is a black man named Hussein who's a closet Muslim.

Jim Webb On Race, Grievances Of White... - ! * POLITICS * ! - tribe.net

Webb even drew a parallel between this bloc and African Americans, suggesting that their grievances with and needs from the federal government are remarkably similar.

"Black America and Scots-Irish America are like tortured siblings. They both have long history and they both missed the boat when it came to the larger benefits that a lot of other people were able to receive. There's a saying in the Appalachian mountains that they say to one another, and it's, "if you're poor and white, you're out of sight." ..."

" If this cultural group could get at the same table as black America you could rechange populist American politics. Because they have so much in common in terms of what they need out of government."

A powerful coalition indeed. If only there were two politicians who understood these cultures, and had the desire and capacity to unite them for a common cause...

Master of the Senate - The Current

Though no one will ever mistake Webb for a gladhanding backslapper, he has mobilized an extraordinary coalition of Democrats and Republicans behind a dramatic expansion of veterans' educational benefits. After passing by an overwhelming margin in the House, Webb's Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act won 75 votes in the Senate. Because the measure was attached to the Democrats' Iraq War spending bill, which included a number of other spending proposals favored by Democrats and opposed by the Bush White House, there is good reason to believe that the entire package will be vetoed. But there is also good reason to believe that something like Webb's proposal will eventually be made law, thanks in no small part to the measure's overwhelming popularity among veterans and military families.

Senator Jim Webb, Choosing His Battles : NPR

Whatever one's beliefs and loyalties to various political interests, and however loudly one wishes to argue about substance, this is no place for underhanded tactics or dissembling behavior when it comes to your colleagues, because the payback in such cases is usually paralysis. The Senate, more than any other body in American government, is a place where a very few people, and on occasion even a single member, can stop things from getting done.

The United States Senate is a venerable institution. It is also an odd kingdom with 100 fiercely protected fiefdoms. No, let me amend that, as they say in this place. In terms of volatility, behind all of its courtesies the United States Senate is composed of 100 scorpions in a jar. And one should be very careful in deciding how and when to shake that jar.

From the book, A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America by Jim Webb, United States Senator, published by Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc., reprinted with permission.

James Webb on the Issues

And my apologies if this is more domestic US political stuff than is appropriate for ET.  As you may have guessed by now, I am not entirely objective on these topics.

Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.

I've been to his website, where there is a long bio of him in a style I would call, "Well, it's all true!"  It is important to know, maybe, that

About James Webb

His fifth novel The Emperor's General was purchased by Paramount pictures as the largest book-to-film deal of 1998.

But then I thought.  Hold on.  What about the other countries?  What are his views on Pakistan, for instance?  In my search, I came across a 1998 piece of his called, "What to Do about China."

Here's the final paragraph--the context is: He has declared that China is an expansionist power.  His evidence: China, he says, helped Pakistan build their nuclear bomb, so expansion here means influence, I think.  Anyway, here's his summing up.

What To Do About China

Beyond doubt, China will object to such a refocusing of. policy with accusations of an attempt to "contain" legitimate Chinese interests. But every expansionist power in this century has made similar claims against those who have tried to quell their aggression. And it is China, through its internal repression, encouragement of nuclear proliferation, and even the possible manipulation of our political process that has made such efforts necessary.

Oooooookay.  He's a soldier.  Everything is a battle to him.  But, you know, this is war talk.  In the article (written in 1998) he talks about the key countries whose relationship with the US should be...heh...he wrote it better than me.

What To Do About China

They can begin by putting American relationships with Japan, India, Israel and Russia on a much firmer footing. Along with the United States, these four countries possess the key ingredients of geography, military and economic power, and technological superiority to insure that China's future conduct conforms to international norms.

Here we go:

What To Do About China

First, Japan. Despite continual bickering over trade policy and its recent economic problems, Japan remains our sin le most important bilateral relationship. At the same time, Japan to date accounts for nearly 10 percent of direct investment in the Chinese economy, and 30 percent of China's external borrowing. Through its power to reorient these activities, Japan has the standing to influence China's economic and military conduct, particularly with American backing. As relations with China enter a new phase, we should work to strengthen this most important of alliances.

Second, Israel. It stands to lose greatly through the strategic axis China is developing with the Muslim world. The first foreign official to visit Pakistan after its detonation of nuclear devices was Iran's Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi, who proclaimed that "Muslims now feel more confident that Pakistan's nuclear capability would play a role of deterrence to Israel's." Though he later played down this statement, the world must consider it in the context of Iran's attempt to develop nuclear weapons of its own also with Chinese - and Russian,-assistance. The United States and Israel must keep the rest of the world focused on this, and should not rule out pre-emptive military strikes if there is evidence that Iran is building a weapon.

Third, Russia.  Its, assistance to Iran and even to China seems based on its own economic need in the absence of a national strategy, as opposed to China's conscious designs. With respect to these two nations, American foreign policy has reached a true historic paradox. Having brought the Soviet Union to its knees, we watched Russia struggle with democracy at the same time we were flooding nondemocratic China with an excess balance of trade. As a result China now is rich enough to short-cut its rise as a superpower by buying Russian hardware and technical assistance off the shelf.

A principal goal of American foreign policy should be to offer Russia incentives to cease providing China and other nations with such capabilities. Russia itself should need little coaxing. The Soviet Union developed a strategic alliance with India in the early 1970's partly as a counterpoint to then-evolving Chinese power. Russia has a history of immigration and boundary disputes emanating from 2,600 miles of shared border with China, and remains at risk in its sparsely populated and mineral-rich eastern territories.

Fourth, India. Its importance to our strategic interests deserves fresh scrutiny. Although American businesses have become India's main trading partners, it has long been ignored by United States policy makers. India, a democracy with a legal system based on English common law, has the demographic makeup and geographical position to become an important ally, as well as a trading partner on a much larger scale. Its population of nearly one billion represents a potential consumer base almost as large as China's.

Our past tensions with India can be understood in part by choices made during the cold war, when both India and Indonesia sought warmer relations with the former Soviet Union based on their mutual fear of China's move toward regional dominance. Although India signed a security treaty with the Soviet Union in 1971, it did so when the Nixon Administration was vigorously pursuing fresh relations with China. Nor should stronger relationships with India be interpreted by Pakistan as a rejection of our interests in that country, any more than Pakistan's closeness to China has been viewed here as a rejection of the United States.

I mean, I sort of understand it, country's are considered as things, things with influence and--heh!  That was Jim Webb on Foreign Relations back in 1998.

Ya know, he's not a peace-monger.  He's been a soldier, his son is a soldier, his father was a fighter pilot, war war--always another war.

My thought a few moments ago: Would he--in history books far in the future--be seen as first having brought the US back to economic efficiency, and then continued wars across the world--does he believe in diplomacy--well, that's where they lie to you and you pretend to believe them.  And lie back, of course!

There's something about his visceral war stories, the guy who wrote Jarhead said (if I'm remembering right) "You know, they think all those war films will put us off.  Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Black Hawk Down.  But you know, we watch those films.  We love 'em.  And then we go sign up."

PARADE Magazine Articles

Journey's end.

And here, in the shadow of the Pakistani border at the far edge of Afghanistan, we finally link up with Corporal Ramirez. Dripping sweat, he breaks from a working party when our helicopter arrives, greeting Jim and me with a handshake and a quick embrace before getting back to work. My son later joins his squad on a combat patrol up into the steep mountains. Then, as night falls, we talk for more than an hour of home and of Afghanistan. The seductive quiet of the mountains, where al-Qaeda's forces watch, listen and hide, can be deceptive. Shortly before our arrival, a three-man patrol repeated an earlier route and was quickly wiped out as it stepped down a ridgeline into a ravine. The platoon is still haunted by the bravery of the patrol's radio operator, a 19-year-old Tennessean who fought the attackers to his death, giving up his radio only when they cracked his forearm on a rock to pry it out of his hand.

The message for Corporal Ramirez, carried so many thousands of miles by my son, is a letter from my daughter, Sarah. I have no need to read it to know the gist of what she said.  This is the second time that Corporal Ramirez has deployed to Afghanistan in little more than a year. I have seen her struggle with the pain of these separations-forgoing normal college rituals, forcing herself to learn more about this proud oddity called the