Lew Rockwell, President of the Mises Institute and creator of lewrockwell.com, has recently posted several intriguingly positive articles regarding the Democratic US Senator from Virginia. Notably, is this article posted on lewrockwell.com, and authored by Fred Reed, where the positive aspects of a Jim Webb Vice Presidential nomination are defended. This argument was largely based on the proposition that Webb, as Vice President, would give Obama the greatest odds of defeating the war-mongering John McCain in the general election.
Further, in substantiating the case for Jim Webb as a far from ordinary Democrat is this attack piece on Webb from The New Republic. To my surprise the criticisms are not coming largely from right-wing John McCain supporters, but from authors such as Richard Just, a self identified leftist. His claim is that Jim Webb is not truely a liberal but instead a "right-wing reactionary." The further I read into this article, the more I started to like Senator Webb and so I began to ask myself the question - is it true that our own Democratic US Senator from rural Southwest Virginia, is in fact a liberty-loving Virginian Rebel?
Before attempting to answer this question, we must first provide an adequate description as to what we mean by 'Virginian Rebel.' By Virginian Rebel we do not mean redneck, racist, Nazi or any of the other smears that are often made against anyone sympathetic to the Confederate States of America or the cause of succession in general. While we are in fact sympathetic to the Southern cause and the right of states to succeed (the states formed the Union, not the other way around), we are not racists nor redneck and we're especially not Nazis. When we say Virginian Rebel we mean a strong-willed Virginian who fights for the ideals of the classical liberal (or modern libertarian). The Virginian Rebel is the champion of liberty in both the individual and economic spheres and follows in the footsteps of great Virginians such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Patrick Henry. If this definition is not adequately clear, please view the mission page where the beliefs of a Virginian Rebel are outlined in greater depth.
Now we will proceed in answering the question of interest.
Upon initial investigation, there is, in fact, a great deal of evidence to substantiate the claim that Senator Webb is a Virginian Rebel. From his personal website, I learned that Jim Webb is a descendent of several Virginian Rebels who served in the Confederate Army under Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Interestingly enough, Webb's grandfather actually inherited the name, Robert E. Lee Webb, from a family soldier who served in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. And like his ancestors, Webb has a profound understanding of the Southern cause during the Civil War. As he expresses in this June 1990 speech that he gave in front of the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, Webb voices a sincere sympathy for the Confederate claim to state sovereignty.
"Most Southern soldiers viewed the driving issue to be sovereignty rather than slavery," Jim Webb stated in the speech. Further, in his well-received 2004 book "Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America," Webb took shots at the big government enablers who attempt to smear the names of all the men who fought and died to preserve the South's right to self-government: "The venerable Robert E. Lee has taken some vicious hits, as dishonest or misinformed advocates among political interest groups and in academia attempt to twist yesterday's America into a fantasy that might better service the political issues of today." Hearing this language makes me think I am listening to Thomas DiLorenzo, Mises Institute Scholar (and author of "The Real Lincoln"), rather than a US Senator who associates himself with the likes of Hillary Clinton.
Along with his historical perspective on the Civil War, Jim Webb is a pro-gun, anti-illegal immigration, anti-war, marine veteran. He takes pride in the individualism of his Scots-Irish ancestors and much of his views on individual liberty seem much more inline with Ron Paul than with a large majority of his own political party.
When we view Webb from this angle, he appears the model classical liberal - a descendant of Virginian revolutionaries like Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jefferson. Unfortunately, we have to halt well short of a true Virginian Rebel (or maybe Ron Paul Democrat?) when we view Jim Webb in totality. As much as Webb is dead-on-right in regards to foreign policy, history, and individualism, he leaves much to be desired in the economic realm. He supports individual and civil liberties with great heroism but totally neglects the individual's natural right to economic freedom.
This spring I sent Jim Webb a letter asking the Senator to please consider supporting Ron Paul's "Honest Money Act." Neglecting my request, Webb responded with an email concerning his stance on economic issues, which lists a number of big-government, central planning measures that Webb would like to enact:
"I have taken a leadership position on several bills aimed at improving the economic well-being of hardworking Americans, including: the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 (S. 2636), to help homeowners with subprime loans to refinance their mortgages and to help state and local government redevelop abandoned and foreclosed homes; the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 (H.R. 2), to increase the federal minimum wage; the Energy Security and Corporate Accountability Act of 2007 (S. 1238), to impose a windfall profits tax on major oil companies, using the proceeds to help low-income households afford heating oil and to fund biofuels research; a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the abuse of foreign tax haven protections (S. 396); and the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act (S. 1871), to provide additional funds to states to promote improvements in the administration of unemployment compensation laws.
In addition, I voted in favor of numerous bills that are critical for helping Americans get ahead, including the bipartisan Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which was introduced to provide help to those Americans who are hurting most and to assist American businesses. I also supported passage of an amendment by Senator Baucus to the FY2009 budget to extend the Child Tax Credit, Marriage Penalty Relief, the Dependent Care Credit, and the Adoption Credit. In addition, I voted to support the creation of a fund in the FY2009 budget for a second stimulus bill to help get the economy back on track."
With economic positions like these, Webb is far from a champion of liberty and we can now see why he associates himself with the Democratic Party. This is the same old story in politics today. The Democrats support only individual liberty while the Republicans support only economic liberty. Then they "reach across the aisle" and we end up getting both individual and economic liberties taken away.
Despite Webb's shortcomings in the economic realm, there is much to be admired by the man. Certainly, we can say he is a greater champion of (individual) liberty than other VP prospects such as Hillary Clinton. However, this does not excuse Webb's unwillingness to champion economic liberty, and thus, we must conclude that Jim Webb is not a Virginian Rebel. While this is quite a disappointing conclusion it does not mean that we should necessarily be dissappointed if Jim Webb were to be selected as the Democratic VP candidate. Webb is at least half-way toward a Virginian Rebel, which is much further along than the vast majority of our politicians. Let us hope he someday reads Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson" and realizes the foolery in the government-managed economy that he advocates.
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