Jim Webb

[MADem]

31. Holy shit, I remember those days. Brings to mind a story!!!!!

There used to be a meeting every few months, a social event, really, where senior female leaders in and around the Pentagon would have a lunch and do a little networking, and they would have a speaker. After that article, Webb spoke to that group.

I had a nice after-the-fact convo with someone who was AT the speech Webb gave and I guess the only way to describe it is that they ripped him a new one. BIG TIME. There was damn near blood on the floor. I can picture it--back then there were no female flag officers, they were all 0-5s and 0-6s....and they were standing up in their dress uniforms shaking their fists at the guy and shouting him DOWN and booing him. Talk about brass! It's something I would have enjoyed seeing.

And you're right--he does have a sexist legacy to live down. I didn't hear much about it in the Allen-Webb contest, but Allen was such a sexist he made Webb look progressive on that score.

That IS something that will come to the fore on the national stage--especially since the GOP are trying to claim that they "understand" women better, and they have a few perky tokens who will shamelessly carry their water to prove it.

What a trip down memory lane...that's when Webb was aligned with Newt "infections in the foxholes" Gingrich on the issue of female servicemembers in combat slots!