Posted on 10/27/2006 9:20:40 AM PDT by truthandlife
To: Jim Webb Campaign Headquarters
Mr. Webb,
As you well know, the American people want to protect our children against child predators. Recently, Congressman Mark Foley resigned from Congress on September 29, 2006 as allegations surfaced that he had sent sexually explicit instant messages to male former Congressional pages, through AOL Instant Messenger. As a result of the disclosures, the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement opened investigations of the messages to find possible criminal charges. Mark Foley did the right thing and resigned. In February, DOJ launched Project Safe Childhood, an initiative to “combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children.” Some of your writings are very disturbing for a candidate hoping to represent the families of Virginians in the U.S. Senate and do not help the cause of combating the sexual exploitation crimes against children. Most Virginians and Americans would find passages such as those below shocking, especially coming from the pen of someone who seeks the privilege of serving in the United States Senate, one of the highest offices in the land:
– Lost Soldiers: “A shirtless man walked toward them along a mud pathway. His muscles were young and hard, but his face was devastated with wrinkles. His eyes were so red that they appeared to be burned by fire. A naked boy ran happily toward him from a little plot of dirt. The man grabbed his young son in his arms, turned him upside down, and put the boy’s penis in his mouth.”
Bantam Books, NY, 1st Edition, 2001, (hard cover), page 333. Quote is from para. 10,.Chap. 34.
We therefore call on you to immediately withdraw your candidacy from this race. We the undersigned ask that you put your personal ambitions aside, think of the greater good of the people of the United States and do the right thing — drop out of the U.S. Senate Race rather than persevering in one of self-interest that only serves to hurt the cause of combating the proliferation of sexual exploitation crimes against children.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
When I saw the movie "Seven" (insane, sickening, revolting brutality) about ten years ago, I almost left the theatre, more than once before the movie ended and I later pondered how a morally balanced person could invent the horrible fiction portrayed there, and why one would want to.
Yes, it is an altogether different genre than the fiction found in these quotes from Mr. Webb's novel.
But, I think the principle question is the same.
have you read the passages?
In the end it comes down to who better represents your point-of-view? personally, i don't associate with pedofiles or promote their works. Neither do I protect their ability to promote the ideas or make money from it. you should ask yourself, where do you stand?
I didn't say it explicitly, but what I meant was he should not be judged on what he wrote. Writers are free to write about whatever they want. To cast what he wrote about as detracting from his character is simply wrong. I write about murder, rape, drug use, and misogyny, if the mood strikes me. I just finished a story about a guy getting ground into tomato bisque by a train. I'm a fantastic guy and I should definitely be president, if I may say so myself. This is not an issue and does not deserve to be a part of this campaign.
like attacking the religion of ones mother in public forum?
one would hope that presidential candidates would be focusing their attention on the political landscape, business world, economy, hopefully some humanitarian efforts, and honing their managerial skills.
That's the only thing I can think of - that Allen feels that the bare knuckles are up and his opponent is looking for a KO any way he can get it, so why shouldn't Allen. But man, man oh man, if this is the level we have to sink to in order to succeed on the political stage, I say we just have another revolution and start from scratch.
So you don't think it is relevant that Webb wrote these despicable things? He is a U.S. Senate candidate!!!!!!
I haven't heard anyone say anything about his right to write whatever he pleases. I simply fail to see why it is dirty politics to give free publicity to his writings. He offered his novels to the public. Does he not want the public to know what he wrote?
He deserves to be judged because he is running for political office. We don't all have low standards.
Your point is well taken regarding Jim Webb as an author, to a point. But everything he does in the public realm is open to judgment. And Vietnam, the U.S. Marine Corps and the Navy Cross aside, his service doesn't ipso facto entitle him to a seat in the Senate. If it did, we'd have a military Senate. And if we don't judge, what do we do in the way of exercising our intellects? Everything we - and you - do is based on judgment. What he has earned is respect for his service. Not a seat in the Senate.
And, a small point, but he didn't win the Navy Cross. He received it. It's not a competition.
There's still some mystery about that?
No of course not, obviously he wants people to know - he wants people to buy his books. Allen however is using the writings to impugn Webb's character, as if writing about something like that implicitly condones it. It does not.
" I'd say Webb has earned the right to write about whatever the hell he wants. "
Webb's Vietnam service and Navy Cross, however honorable, do not give him a lifetime pass to avoid scrutiny when he runs for public office.
When Webb entered the political arena, he should have known that his paper trail would be examined.
These are not private letters , but, published works.
If a producer of X Rated videos decides to run for office, should he expect a pass on his " art " because he served in Vietnam ?
"Jim Webb is a pervert." bump
That's what is great about this country: you can defend this sicko, and I can call him the pervert that he is.
Have you not been paying attention? Webb's camp (funded by Soros, Hillary, Christie Hefner and Larry Flynt) have been running an orchestrated smear campaign against George Allen for MONTHS and the Main Scream Media has TOTALLY IGNORED WEBB's BACKGROUND!!!
None of the fawning "profiles" and editorial endorsements have mentioned ANY of this.
But by golly they've bent over backwards to find Allen's second grade teacher's mailman's hairdresser's cousin-once-removed-by-marriage mechanic's next-door neighbor who "heard" that Allen once said a bad word.
Well, I think that Harry Reid ought to resign because of this. Where do I sign THAT petition?
But don't you see? All Democrats have a lifetime pass. Anyone who put on a uniform: Kerry, Cleland, Webb. Anyone with a disease: Fox. Anyone who lost a loved one: Jersey Girls, Cindy Sheehan.
They can enter the conversation, but they cannot be forced to actually converse.
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