The president may have jumped the shark in his SOTU speech last night -- in fact, that seemed to be the common reaction in the post-speech hours -- but the post-speech rebuttal by newly-minted Senator James Webb was a calm and collected minor masterpiece of public speaking.
Mr. Webb is certainly no bleeding-heart left-wing liberal; he was, after all, Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Navy back before the scales fell from his eyes. He comes from a long line of military men, and unlike the service-dodging politicians who dragged our country into an immoral and unnecessary war of adventure, he has a son who is standing directly in the line of fire today.
So Mr. Webb's credibility when it comes to the conflicts in the Middle East far outranks that of the men who have been charged with keeping America safe in the world. He didn't hammer too hard on the issue of Iraq in his reply to the president's worn-out words of war, but he said the right things and he said them well.
The text transcript and video of
Mr. Webb's rebuttal to the SOTU speech are available online. And
many others have responded to the president's remarks by now, including
editorial pundits, the
new Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi and a number of
other politicians as well. But it is worth taking a moment to quote some of the high points of Mr. Webb's remarks here for us to consider:
It would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President's message, nor would it be useful. Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and healthcare for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.
{snip}
Like so many other Americans, today and throughout our history, we serve and have served, not for political reasons, but because we love our country. On the political issues -- those matters of war and peace, and in some cases of life and death -- we trusted the judgment of our national leaders. We hoped that they would be right, that they would measure with accuracy the value of our lives against the enormity of the national interest that might call upon us to go into harm's way.
We owed them our loyalty, as Americans, and we gave it. But they owed us -- sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for our welfare, a guarantee that the threat to our country was equal to the price we might be called upon to pay in defending it.
{snip}
We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable -- and predicted -- disarray that has followed. The war's costs to our nation have been staggering: Financially. The damage to our reputation around the world. The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism. And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped forward to serve.
The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction. Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.
On both of these vital issues, our economy and our national security, it falls upon those of us in elected office to take action.
The key points that Mr. Webb made in his remarks can be summed up in that final phrase -- it does fall upon those of us in elected office to take action, just as it falls upon those of us in the voting booths and the chambers of commerce and the streets of our cities to take action as well.
Our duly-elected representatives like Senator Webb, Madame Speaker Pelosi, and others can wave the flags and show us the way. But in the final analysis, it is still up to us -- up to all of us, you and I and our fellow Americans as well -- to follow their lead and to act, not just react.
Mr. Bush's statements in his SOTU speech merely underscored where we as a country have ended up, and reminded us of how we ended up here. But Mr. Webb's words, Ms. Pelosi's words, and the words of the many others who have spoken up in reply to the president's recursive remarks help to show us where we need to go from here instead.
They spoke. We listened. And now it is up to each of us to heed the call -- to climb out of this handbasket and to steer our country upwards, not downwards, again.
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