Meet Your Equal, Mr. President
30 November 2006 7:00 pm by Taylor Marsh
Meet Your Equal, Mr. President
| Maliki looks like he feels the same way as James Webb. Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA |
George Will is upset.
Mr. Bush got blasted.
Manners are more important to Mr. Will than a senator speaking truth to power.
Evidently, he never heard of the co-equal rule. Bush may be president, but that
definitely does not entitle him to have his ring kissed, especially by a man
who has been in combat, been decorated for it and come home to tell the stories.
Today, Will conveyed his displeasure with Senator-elect James Webb by calling
him names. Ouch! You meanie.
This is truly amusing.
Webb certainly has conveyed what he is: a boor. Never mind the patent disrespect
for the presidency. Webb's more gross offense was calculated rudeness toward
another human being — one who, disregarding many hard things Webb had said
about him during the campaign, asked a civil and caring question, as one parent
to another. When — if ever — Webb grows weary of admiring his new grandeur
as a \”leader\” who carefully calibrates the \”symbolic things\”
he does to convey messages, he might consider this: In a republic, people
decline to be led by leaders who are insufferably full of themselves.Even before his studied truculence in response to the president's hospitality,
Webb was going out of his way to make waves. …Already
Too Busy for Civility, by George Will
Yes, by all means, when troops are dying, being maimed and mutilated, with
Iraqis dropping dead by the dozen, let's make sure we're all civil. Excuse me,
but I thought Mr. Webb was being civil. After all, he didn't slug Mr. Bush.
\”I've always made a distinction about not speaking personally about my son.\” – Senator-elect James Webb
When two men of equal stature — elevating Mr. Bush because of the presidency,
not because he's president — have a conversation, with one asking the other
a frank question, why would anyone suspect that the person being asked the question
wouldn't answer honestly? And having the president pose a question to a father
whose son is at war, which is going badly because of the president, why would
he expect anything less than something he doesn't want to hear?
Did Mr. Bush miss Mr. Webb's campaign ads?
George Will expects Senator-elect Webb to ignore the dangerous reality while
making small talk at cocktail hour. He, too,
evidently missed the man's message.
Webb owes Bush nothing, except to be the best senator he can for the great state of Virginia.
That George Will can't quite get a grip on the renewed balance of power between senators
and the president is, quite frankly, odd. He knows better, but raises the issue anyway, because for far too long deference has been paid to George W. Bush, when Congress should have instead been doing their job.
The Founders would raise a pitcher
of ale in Webb's honor. They never envisioned the Congress kissing the king's
ring in America. It's long past time it stopped.
