Manly Men

Jay Carney is all agog about the Jim Webb response. Which is fair enough; I liked it myself. But cynic that I am, I do have to wonder a bit about how he (and Tweety too, in his very Tweety way) are reacting to what Webb said:

His direct delivery, his deliberate pauses between sentences, his old-fashioned accent -- all made it an unapologetic speech but not a lecture. He showed the Democrats, and all those who oppose Bush on Iraq, a way to oppose the war with dignity, humility and strength.

There's a bit of an annoying focus on process here: if Webb is right about Iraq, who the hell cares if he gave his address in scuba flippers, a fruit hat, and a Dennis Kucinich mask? Right is right, especially in matters of life and death, right?

But you know, if what it takes is for the Democratic party to find a Manly Ideal like Webb to articulate simple common sense for the Punditry to get on board with coming out against a hideously stupid meatgrinder foreign policy, then, so be it. It kind of reinforces something Digby has often said about how subtle issues about "masculinity" and "femininity" play into our politics. But hey, if this dynamic is now ours, well, OK.

Interestingly enough, I'm watching McCauliff (Now HRClinton's campaign committee manager) on the Daily Show, and he's telling Stewart "hit us, hit Hillary, we'll hit back harder." I like it -- mostly.

I wish our elections would be decided rationally, on issues, but they aren't. But if the Dem candidates have learned at long last to be feisty, hell, it's about goddamn time.