Posted by
Buster Foghorn on Sunday, October 29, 2006 1:32:16 AM
At the beginning of this year’s election season, it was a promising development to see James Webb, Vietnam veteran, author, and former Secretary of the Navy, running as a pro-military, Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Virginia. As we enter the final stretch, however, one wonders if the recent back and forth over charges of sexually inappropriate scenes in Mr. Webb’s books marks a knockout blow to his candidacy. Rather than a rising star, is the James Webb campaign a crashing meteor?
Mr. Webb has been accused during the campaign of being demeaning towards women as evidenced by earlier comments about women in military academies and combat. It is therefore surprising to see him assert a charge against Lynne Cheney and her out-of-print book, “Sisters” written about 25 years ago, as a shield or barrier of defense against attacks on his writing.
Mrs. Cheney is not his opponent. She is not a candidate for any public office today. Further, it is not relevant to the charge that Mr. Webb’s books contain inappropriate sexual material to say – Mrs. Cheney is worse than I am! Or, You think I am bad, you should see what Lynne Cheney said in her out of print book about 25 years ago.
Mr. Webb’s other defenses were that the sections of his literary historical novels were taken out of context and were appropriate remembrances to advance the scenes in his plot. In introducing Mrs. Cheney’s writings as a defense: Did Secretary Webb read her book or did he merely reach for a DNC prepared talking point? If he did not personally read the out-of-print book, what does it say about someone who would plead “context” as his own defense and then make allegations about someone else’s writing without following his own prescription? There is little to be served by bringing Lynne Cheney into his campaign. Rather, it smacks of desperation and lacking in class to raise her as a shield when her conduct isn’t relevant to whether or not his writing is inappropriate.
Mr. Webb’s defense of his written work would have been better if he had merely ended his reply without raising the subject of Mrs. Cheney at all. Couldn’t he have merely asked: Have you read my books in context to understand how each setting is “illuminating surroundings or defining a character or moving a plot?" Do you realize I am explaining cultural differences and unusual values that I have seen personally—rather than trying to insert sexual material for a prurient purpose?
Mr. Webb acted in an un-Senatorial manner, without characteristic grace or class, when he attacked Mrs. Cheney for sexual content in her book Sisters as a defense to questions about sexually explicit material in his books. Just like the young boy who was crushed when Shoeless Joe Jackson was thrown out of baseball for fixing Chicago White Sox games in the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, one can only paraphrase and ask Mr. Webb: Please say it ain’t so, Jim.