While watching the recent Democratic presidential debate one thing became abundantly clear: former Sen. Jim Webb did not belong up on the stage with the other “progressives”. He simply wasn’t trying hard enough to out-progressive each of the other candidates, as the others were all trying so hard to do.
Much like the Democratic Party icon John F. Kennedy, who would be a Republican in today’s political environment, Jim Webb came across as a reasonable person, certainly not an extreme liberal. Not the far left ideologue that all the other candidates he shared the stage with tried to portray themselves as.
With that being said it’s pretty obvious that Jim Webb will not be around much longer as a Democratic candidate. He will simply be pushed aside by the party he no longer mirrors, and by a corrupt news media who are invested in having extremist candidates who are much more newsworthy than someone who comes across as reasonable and not hyper-partisan.
Probably overlooked or unrecognized by most viewers, Jim Webb wore on his suit lapel a pin representing a military decoration he’s received, the Navy Cross. One step below the Medal of Honor and awarded only to those who have exhibited great courage and heroism in battle. As he somewhat awkwardly mentioned during the debate, he was also wounded while serving as a Marine during the Vietnam War.
Webb certainly has given of himself to this country and deserves better treatment from the CNN moderator than what was exhibited during the debate. Through his blood, sweat and tears on the battlefields of Vietnam he truly has earned the right to be heard.
All one has to do is take a close look at today’s Democratic Party and there aren’t many members who wear something similar on their suit lapels as what Jim Webb wears on his. More than likely you’ll see a rainbow-colored flag instead of a military decoration awarded for heroism in battle.
It seems that to most Democrats recognizing and promoting a particular social issue is far more important than courage on the field of battle. When Democrats do think of the military, what they think about is more social experimentation and more “rights” for homosexuals and trans-genders.
Hopefully the hosts of the next debate will recognize that Americans aren’t just interested in hearing about the liberal progressive agenda, the so-called ‘red meat’ of politics. While it may be well received by the cheering mob in the studio audience, most Americans care more about what’s going to be done to fix this country and get us moving back in the right direction, not just the meaningless campaign slogans.
Perhaps some of us are interested in hearing reasoned responses to questions much more. Perhaps we’re all just tired of candidates playing on emotions and promising the world to a specific constituency, knowing full well they’ll never be able to actually produce.
It’s pretty obvious that the Democratic Party has moved so far to the left that it would not even be recognizable to our parents. The other candidates on the stage, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Lincoln Chaffee, and Martin O’Malley literally stepped on each other’s toes running as far to the left as they could go in search of the ‘progressive’ vote. It was almost comical.
When a question was asked about Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal, her opponent Bernie Sanders chose to follow the party line and protect the candidate whom everyone including Bernie expects to be their standard bearer in November 2016. Instead of going on the attack and demanding answers Bernie chose to help protect Hillary.
Any concerns voters might have about the careless and reckless security practices on the part of Hillary Clinton during her tenure at the Department of State apparently didn’t matter to Bernie or anyone else on the stage. Unlike black lives, which certainly mattered.
The one reasonable candidate on the stage, the former Marine, has certainly earned the right to run for president, far more than some of the candidates currently running for either party. It’s just a shame that the party he claims to belong to has turned its back on the true public servants and war heroes like him, and has chosen to hitch their collective wagon to a socialist and a pathological liar instead.