Jim Webb Attacks Clinton With Eye on Independent Run

[Purveyor]

When Jim Webb quit the Democratic presidential race on Oct. 20 amid low poll numbers and a minimal debate presence, the former Virginia senator left open the possibility he'd return for a White House run in a different political guise. Now he appears to be edging closer to making good on it.

On Saturday morning, Webb used Twitter and his Facebook page to attack Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton for her handling of Libya during her time as secretary of state.

The lengthy condemnation on Facebook, which said, among other things that "Clinton should be called to account for her inept leadership that brought about the chaos in Libya," came just days before the end of the year, which his team had previously told CNN would be reasonable time for them to make a decision about an independent bid.

Since dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination, Webb has continued to maintain his Webb2016 website, which he has updated with posts about the possibilities of an independent run. On Twitter, he and his fans have been promoting a #WebbNation hashtag.

A run by Webb, who often manages his own social media accounts and has also used them recently to promote a petition in favor of his run and to deliver kudos to Bernie Sanders in his battles with the Democratic National Committee ("nothing more than an arm for the Clinton campaign," Webb tweeted), could further complicate the already unpredictable 2016 election.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-12-26/webb-attacks-clinton-with-eye-on-independent-run

[saltpoint]

1. Unless there are somehow more

than I suspect there are, Webb's supporter's nationally are a very small group.

By 'small,' I mean there are few of them and not that they are physically tiny. Although for all I know, they may be physically tiny. I've seen no polling on that at all.

It doesn't feel right now that a third party run by Webb will go very far.

[akbacchus_BC]

2. Jim Webb!!!

I think he missed the road to the Republican Debate. He was at the wrong stage in the first Democratic Debate. Gosh, who remembers him! Do not give him any creds by referring to him on DU! Let's not be CNN for him as they do for Trump!

[Cali_Democrat]

3. Jim Webb? LOL.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/12/jim-webb-southern-white_n_7779298.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Jim Webb Stands Up For 'Southern White Cultures'

WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate Jim Webb on Sunday suggested that recent efforts to remove Confederate symbols from public places were as "divisive" as Donald Trump's disparaging comments about Mexican immigrants.

Without prompting from "Fox News Sunday" host Bret Baier, who had been asking questions about national security, Webb asked if he could please talk about Trump, the billionaire GOP candidate who has called Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. Webb criticized Trump before pivoting.

"This kind of divisive, inflammatory rhetoric by people who want to be commander-in-chief is not helpful, and we have seen from the liberal side as well this kind of rhetoric as it goes to Southern white cultures," the former Virginia senator said, apparently referring to recent debates over the Confederate flag.

[nxylas]

8. I think Trump has that demographic all sewn up

Webb is still using dog whistles while Trump uses a bullhorn.

[Ken Burch]

9. Perhaps he'd be willing to be Trump's third-party running mate. n/t.

[rjsquirrel]

17. Dude is an outright bigot

Our party's occasional flirtation with the last remnants of manly white bigoted southerner military types never works out. I'm just cringing remembering Wesley Clark, for example, who struck me always as a right wing Trojan Horse.

Memo to Webb:no one cares and you won't break 2%.

[bigdarryl]

21. I don't think he's a bigot his wife is Asian

[atreides1]

22. And?

Have you noticed that many misogynists are married to women?

Just because his wife is Asian, doesn't mean he still can't be a bigot!

[Fawke Em]

36. Well, I know him personally and he's not a bigot.

Wes Clark was never a right-winger. His social beliefs are too far left.

[elleng]

41. Hi, Fawke!

Happy Holidays!

[rjsquirrel]

42. I was talking about Webb

Clark is just a militarist tool.

[one_voice]

33. My sister in law..

was married to a white dude that called her a s*ic (she is Puerto Rican), used the *n* word all the time (we have black people on both sides) and beat the shit out of her regularly.

Being married to a minority doesn't cancel out the bigotry. I always called it the slave master mentality. It was the closest he could come to owning a slave. Piece of shit that he was...

[NYCButterfinger]

26. You have a problem with the South?

Wesley Clark is a fine leader.

[rjsquirrel]

31. I'm a Texan

He's a bigot.



Of course his wife is Asian.

And I can have any problem I want with the south, pal. I'm a southerner, NYC butterfinger.

[NYCButterfinger]

35. Alright, dude. I'm just saying, that the South is a powerful food place

Nice food

[elleng]

40. Yes he is,

a DAMN fine leader.

[elleng]

39. In NO WAY was Wes Clark EVER right wing, and certainly NOT a Trojan Horse.

We the People persuaded him to run. It's clear you never bothered to listen to a word he said.

[rjsquirrel]

43. Yeah?

Where's he working now?

I was calling Jim Webb a bigot with his "Scotch Irish" bullshit ("I speak for the white working man&quot .

Clark is just a centrist tool.

[NanceGreggs]

4. No doubt the HRC campaign ...

... is crushed by this news, and are scrambling to defend against the oncoming Jim Webb onslaught.



>>> because it's been rendered necessary

[JonLeibowitz]

28. No need, they will never face him. However, Bernie was briefed and can handle him.

[silvershadow]

5. Yeah, Jim Webb "attacked" HRC, right after they had breakfast together. Wink, wink.

Probably just another Republican attempt to derail the Bernie train.

[rjsquirrel]

18. I see no possible way

a Webb candidacy threatens Bernie. Arguably it helps him.

[CorporatistNation]

44. More Power To Jimmy, Though Overall Not A Fan

If He Can Assist Bernie in DERAILING The Hillary/DNC/Wass Schultz Cabal... MORE POWER TO HIM!

[CorporatistNation]

45. Hillary Has NOT Been Held Accountable For Her F UP In Libya...

I mean has she been held Accountable for ANYTHING? No matter what she does or says the media lets it slide... That is Corporatism.

[demwing]

30. Webb's a bit of a Bernie fan

Last edited Sun Dec 27, 2015, 02:57 PM - Edit history (1)

no love lost between JW and Clinton.

[pnwmom]

6. Or maybe he thinks there should be a non-socialist alternative for the gun set.

[beam me up scottie]

11. Didn't Hillary brag about being a hunter and pander to the "gun set" before?:

Clinton touts her experience with guns

“I disagree with Sen. Obama’s assertion that people in our country cling to guns and have certain attitudes about trade and immigration simply out of frustration,” she began, referring to the Obama comments on small-town Americans that set off a political tumult on Friday.

...

“You know, my dad took me out behind the cottage that my grandfather built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton and taught me how to shoot when I was a little girl,” she said.

“You know, some people now continue to teach their children and their grandchildren. It’s part of culture. It’s part of a way of life. People enjoy hunting and shooting because it’s an important part of who they are. Not because they are bitter.”

...

Noting that many hunters and gun collectors want to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals, Clinton referred to her positive childhood experiences with firearms.

“As I told you, my dad taught me how to shoot behind our cottage,” she said. “I have gone hunting. I am not a hunter. But I have gone hunting.”

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/12/clinton-touts-her-experience-with-guns/

If she wins the nomination she'll do a 180 and go on another God, guns and glory tour so she can pander to them again.

It's what a weathervane is made for.

Your default position is hilarious, whenever an uncomfortable subject is brought up in this forum you guys grab for the gun nut meme like your life depends on it!

I love the smell of desperation in the morning.

[Betty Karlson]

7. If Webb, Jeb!, and Hillary compete for the centre, with Trump running independently to their right,

plenty of room for an independent run by a real Democrat - and one who'd sweep the electoral college when doing so.

[Uncle Joe]

10. I believe Jim Webb handled the question regarding security threats to the U.S. well in

the first debate, he would probably make a good Secretary of Defense.

China's hegemony in the Eastern Pacific will be an ever growing problem with our Asian Allies.

A Chinese Coast Guard ship which appeared to be armed with several cannons has entered what Tokyo regards as its territorial waters near disputed islands, the Japan Coast Guard says.

Japan and China routinely butt heads over ownership of the uninhabited East China Sea islets, as Chinese ships — mostly coast guard vessels — and aircraft have sometimes approached them to back up Beijing's claims and test Japan's response.

It was, however, the first time an apparently armed Chinese Coast Guard vessel had "entered the territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands", the Japan Coast Guard said.

(snip)

Relations between Japan and China hit a low after Tokyo in September 2012 moved to increase its formal control by nationalising some of the islands.

(snip)

Distrust, however, remains high as China is wary of moves by Mr Abe to raise Japan's military profile while Tokyo frets about Beijing's increasing regional and global assertiveness.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-26/armed-china-ship-near-disputed-east-china-sea-isles/7055082

Thanks for the thread, Purveyor.

[Nyan]

15. China's not interested in military adventurism.

Last edited Sun Dec 27, 2015, 09:18 AM - Edit history (1)

They're more pragmatic than that.
All the talk of China being the next empire is actually a projection on the part of the Europeans and European-descent Americans because the average notion of empire for them has been "You either submit to us, or we'll destroy you" type of hyper-militarized empire driven by ideologies and/or a sense of superiority.
China has been an empire in the eastern hemisphere for thousands of years, for sure, but the way they governed differed drastically from those in the western hemisphere.
They will do what it takes to preserve what they view as economic and strategic interests, no doubt about that -what they're doing in the South China Sea at the moment is largely driven by the need to secure essential trade route. Not just to China, by the way, but to "our allies" as well, including India, South Korea and Japan.
What's happening between China and Japan surrounding Senkaku Island could -and should- be viewed as one of many hundreds of territoritorial disputes around the globe, but then, you might remember SOS Clinton's "pivot to Asia" strategy, which is a heavily militarized strategy targeting China; it has made China nervous, and, more susceptible to Russia's "Turning to East" strategy after they got sanctioned and ostracized by the West over Ukraine, leading to Russia and China becoming buddy-buddy with Renminbi-Ruble natural gas deal (yes, that was the unintended consequences of pushing China militarily).
Hence, the territorial dispute between China and Japan becomes a good story advancing the narrative that China is the aggressor in East Asia, and we must go there and stop them (Stop them how, btw? Get into another war in that part of the world over islands belonging to either China or Vietnam?) Nevermind that Japan also has territorial dispute with S. Korea, which doesn't get picked up as often in the media because that doesn't serve the narrative.
What we should be wary of is the fact that all the parties involved have their own agendas, and even as they seem to share short-term interests with US, they'll eventually help themselves while our empire consumes every ounce of energy and resources that we have left.
Do you see Saudi Arabia turning off money and support for their Jihadists because America wants it? Do you see Turkey's determination to fight ISIS? And you might think now that Japan is scared of the big bad China and that's why they need to revoke title 9 of their constitution forbidding them to start a war.
Well, America let Japan have their way because we wanted the Phillipines and the control over Latin America. And ended up with Pearl Harbor. Coddled the Saudis because the big bad Soviets, and ended up with 9/11.
It's not going to help us in any way to antagonize China like this. It's only pushing them to forge new alliances, and we're not really protecting our allies.
S. Korea, for instance, is not at all happy with the fact that with American support, now Japan can start a war. They see it as America picking sides, when it should play an even-handed role.
And while I acknowledge that Vietnam must have some legitimate grievances with China, the regional power, I happen to think that Vietnam is using overzealous American policy makers to add a leverage in their dealings with China.

[Vattel]

12. Well, he is right about one thing:

"Clinton should be called to account for her inept leadership that brought about the chaos in Libya,"

[Kalidurga]

13. He made more sense with the Bad Lip reading treatment

Well at least it made his performance look less embarrassing.

[Fawke Em]

37. LMAO!!

And Hillary does get on my nerves staring at others while they're talking.


And blinking.

[Kalidurga]

38. I know right

"Have fun in staring class"

[davidpdx]

14. Webb would be wasting time and money running on a third party ticket

I guess Chafee is available to run on the ticket.

[pengu]

16. This could be a big year for an independant if it's Clinton vs a brokered convention Republican

But Webb? He's delusional. He's got like 3 supporters nationally.

[NCTraveler]

19. In all seriousness,....

You and a Hangul of others would be the only votes he would get. It's not like if Clinton or Sanders went third party.

[stevenleser]

20. He would take more votes from the Republican nominee than from the Democratic nominee.

That is to say, he would get three hundred votes from Republicans to two hundred votes from Democrats in each state.

[MohRokTah]

23. RUN JIM RUN!!!!!!!

Given the wing nuts leading the GOP, Webb will be the perfect spoiler from the right. Republicans will flock to him in droves insuring Hillary wins!!!

[Orangepeel]

24. he probably won't get around to it

I'm not sure what all it takes to get on most state ballots, but Webb doesn't have much follow-through when it comes to political activities. He seems to get bored/distracted easily.

[Nyan]

27. I got that impression about him, too.

His performance at the debate was kinda entertaining to me in a weird way, because he was so out of place. He didn't look or sound like a democrat.
He was oddly principled on some issues and firmly holding his ground, but it didn't resonate with democratic audience.
His comment about enemy soldier at the end nearly killed me. It's like, what are you doing dude...

[mmonk]

25. Would he even pull 1%?

[mwrguy]

29. What a loser

Of the sore variety.

[FSogol]

32. If you send him $10, he'll have $20 in his war chest.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

34. Go for it!