Posted on 11/30/2006 8:53:43 AM PST by Dark Skies
Newly elected Senator Jim Webb, D-Va., was so infuriated by a remark from President George W. Bush that the former Marine officer was tempted to punch the commander-in-chief.
The confrontation, disclosed in the influential Washington, D.C.-based publication The Hill, came shortly after the midterm elections at a private White House reception for newly elected lawmakers.
Webb, who defeated Republican Sen. George Allen in Virginia, ran a campaign critical of the administration’s Iraq policy, and has a son, a Marine lance corporal, serving in Iraq.
At the reception, Bush asked Webb how his son was doing.
Webb answered that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, a source close to Webb reported.
The Associated Press quoted Webb as saying, "I told him I'd like to get them out of Iraq."
"I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush countered, according to the source.
Emily Heil wrote in The Hill: "Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t.”
Webb’s spokeswoman Kristian Denny Todd confirmed that "Jim did have a conversation with Bush at that dinner. Basically, he asked about Jim’s son; Jim expressed the fact that he wanted to have him home.”
Todd wouldn’t comment on Bush’s response.
What a turd. Bush is nice enough to ask about the man's son, and the jerk turns it into an opportunity to make it political (cut-n-run). What parent wouldn't like their son/daughter serving in Iraq to have them home? But that wasn't the time, or place for the comment.
And then to play victim over it....give me a break. I kind of wish he HAD hit GW - then he would be sitting in a jail cell for assaulting the POTUS>...
Webb's the one that turned a personal pleasantry by the President into a political statement.....
Then Webb further compounds the issue with further ridiculous statements.......
What a loser.....Hope Virginia voters get what they deserve from his representation.
Too bad he din't punch Bush though, Felon's can't be a representative.....
Most people who read this account are missing an important aspect of it.
Lack of common courtesy is not the issue here, arrogance is.Jim Webb thinks that he has a mandate from the people.
Webb thinks that because he was just elected in an race, that puts him on equal footing with the POTUS. He forgets quickly he won by the skin of his teeth and has no real clue on the overall national security issues the POTUS face daily.
Pure and simple arrogance is his problem, as an former military officer, he of all people should respect protocol and make his voice heard though his vote.
I think he will quickly find out how little power he does possess when this little event comes around to bite him on the ass.
I don't think many Conservatives voted Allen out. I think he lost 90%+ of Independents with 'Macaca', his really weird reaction to the Jewish stuff, his seeming inability to answer direct questions (did you see him on MTP? he was downright embarassing, and that's pretty impressive when you are seated next to Webb), and his attempt to pander to feminist to win that got him killed.
I'm pretty sure most Conservatives did what I would have done: Voted for him, but wondered why the hell he's gone nuts, and praying it's only temporary.
"Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t.”
Senator Elect Tangled Webb ( D-Crazytown ) whined to the Richmond Times Dispatch that the White House leaked the account of his bizarre behavior.
Obviously, they wouldn't have known about Webb's inner desire to assault the President, unless.... they were monitoring Webb's conversations from the potted plants or had tiny black helicopters flying around the room.
Queue the Twilight Zone music .
I wish he would have. I have a feeling that the SS would have wound up pulling President Bush off of him.
Good grief! I didn't even know about that.
I'd like to read a media account of his son's reaction to this "incident."
Unfortunately, Bush has too much class and self-control to do that while he's still President. I believe he could easily kick Webb's a**, however.
"The President wouldn't let me use my own son as a political tool to score points with the media, and it made me so angry I wanted to hit him!"
Let him do it. Then, televise the footage of Webb getting the living crap beaten out of him by Secret Service.
Hell, I'd go a couple rounds with him (if he lasts that long). That way I can get satisfaction too.
A liberal's mother may have wanted to teach them manners, but he was too busy organizing Gay Pride days, I guess. ;-)
Bush, having been an excellent Golden Gloves boxer, would drop webb like a bad habit! Ollie North beat the crap out of this wussie!
LLS
Would it be wrong to wish he had, thus shifting the balance of the Senate?
This seems like a PR placement for the debutante Sen from Virginia; to shore up his manly bona fides with the electorate. The placement was originally in the Hill--he's a tough man [not] for thinking he'd like to slug the Prez. Get back to us when you've actually slugged somebody, palooka jim.
Just a banal cheap shot establish his street cred. [sic]
No doubt a small package on this one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.