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"Reclaiming a Fair and Just America" seems to be "restoring the policies of the Democratic party" or "reversing everything Bush".I'll recommend the book for the military and foreign policy discussions, with the usual caveat that he's writing from hindsight. Webb's discussion and comments on the military and foreign policy were overall interesting and raise some questions, but much of the book (outside his auto-biographical discussions) is a rant against the Bush administration and promotion of traditional Democratic party positions. Like others I had hopes for new ideas from this book and was disappointed. Sen.
There's no doubt that Webb is a fine thinker/writer/warrior yet his first book as a politician is a bit premature. He proudly disclosed his non affiliation with defense contractors despite serving in the DoD and as SecNav under Pres. He had boxed while at Annapolis, fought in Vietnam and has written two nonfiction books with "fight" in the titles. Our country's problems have been well discussed and documented by everybody and anybody.
Is that's all there is to the "fight."If you want to read a narrative that I believe is Webb's finest work, try his novel "A Country Such as This." That's the real Webb. Reagan yet his disgust at those who stood on the sidelines and protested the Vietnam War can still be felt. According to Webb in the final chapter, he wrote, "There are leaders among us.to that group I would say, quite simply, that your country needs you." He basically asked Americans to stay engaged in the politics of our country. I will look for a more cogent political book from him down the road. Huh. Clearly Webb enjoys fighting.
What then we as Americans must do now. The Democrats are fortunate to have Webb on their side. Naturally, I was expecting new ideas for a national "fight" instead of a rehashing of Webb's exploits and observations as a Marine officer, journalist, world traveler and political appointee which I had read while skimming through his book about the Scots-Irish. While Webb did not shy away from bashing CEOs for making oodles of money, he offered limited solutions.
I recently read "Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles in Backroom Power" and found that book to be more insightful. The book tends to focus more on Jim Web and his background (which is impressive) and to a lesser extent on politics in Washington DC. Prior to reading the book, I really didn't know much about Jim Web. Aafter reading the book was quite impressed in how he became a US Senator from Virginia.
His point, moral dilemmas should be faced head-on without partisanship or political motive. He argues convincingly that the upper class in America, the top one percent, have a disproportionate amount of America's wealth and the middle class and lower classes have been left far behind. In the Jackson example, Webb examines the apolitical nature of the early-nineteenth century president's decision to curtail the power of the US banking system. In short, Webb calls on his peers and the American citizen to press for more accountability from policy makers.
With a Houdini-like narrative, A Time to Fight escapes political partisanship and provides a fresh, honest, and independent missive to the American public on the shortcomings of our nation. Webb uses his sources wisely, but a more robust explanation of his sources, through footnote or endnote, would add further clarity to his narrative. Moreover, Webb provides ample evidence, via a review of the "broken" prison system, to illuminate the political distance that his peers keep from "hot" issues, such as the one Jackson faced with the banking system. Weaving personal vignettes with historical lessons, Webb explains, in an articulate and concise fashion, the challenges our government, and US citizens, face in the years to come.
In peripheral contentions, Webb uses Andrew Jackson's presidential leadership against the nascent corporate bank to illustrate that courageous decision-making has been used by American political leaders. Using family experiences (with particular homage paid to Webb's Uncle Tommy), West Point and Marine Corps leadership lessons, journalistic insights, boxing matches, and White House "inside baseball;" Webb tackles three main themes in his work: economic fairness, leadership in government, and prison reform. Noting that the lion share of culpability for the disparity lies with the Republican Party, Webb also explains that former administrations are partly to blame.
Webb, having fought in Vietnam, has visited the darkest places of the psyche and knows that spilling blood comes with great, unseen consequences. I was left feeling like the book was unfinished. My point of view, first of all, is that there is an under-current, of a powerful, select elite who control the market, our politics and news. That being said, I was surprised at the empathy I had for Jim Webb's military perspective. Though he offers a general idea to elicit people's passion to demand a change for the better, there could have been so much more. He takes the reader on a journey of how others with his values have changed as the presidency has changed as well.While I am all-too aware of the corruption of Wall Street and within our justice system, which Webb outlines, there are areas of American (and Middle-Eastern) history in which I have sadly have been ignorant. There were many military and political experts with experience who were ignored by the Bush and his cabinet members in regards to the pit-falls of initiating a war in Iraq.
Webb proves the adage that the personal is political and does so with the flow of a gifted writer. It is more than rhetoric; He has evidence.It is assuring to see that a Senator can be so openly opposed to a domineering, covertly and overtly aggressive administration.
Webb adds much richness to this work by integrating his own story into his switch from siding with the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. Our occupation over-seas has created more terrorism than his, and others, careful, thoughtful approach.
Most of the media I digest is in the margins. It is done only as a last resort.
Though the information and the solutions are truthful, it is a somewhat timid truth which only touches the surface a deep ocean of manipulation and anticipated revolution. His autobiographical approach to dissecting the time-line of America's political parties gave me a much more human connection to the soldiers who have made history, and who are currently fighting.
Webb, if anything, has a strong understanding of the fine points of this history and how it dangerously repeats itself when we are uninformed.
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