There is a far cry between Mr. Webb, as an author writing fiction, describing unnatural human behavior in the insanity of wartime--thus bringing it to light, and the actual practice of unnatural behavior by Mr. Foley, the political comrade of Senator Allen, and worse yet, of the Republican leadership, knowingly protecting such perversity right under their noses.
The Republican dirt-machine, now desperately operating in overdrive, no doubt hopes that Southerners in Virginia and Tennessee are so ignorant and so easily manipulated by distortions and lies, especially when there is a sexual or racial element, that they will again fall an easy prey for the GOP. Let's hope that Southerners for once wise up to them.

I would suggest that anyone who wants to fault James Webb on what he writes about to read the reviews of his books on Amazon. These reviews include that his works are the finest books of the War. I would further ask them to read what Senator McCaine had to say and that moreover after he wrote some of the soi called "sallacious" books he was appointed to be Assistant Secretary of Defense and then Secretary of the Navy by Ronald Regan. Are we to believe that President Regan would appoint a man such as the one that George Allen would now contend is unfit to serve because of what he wrote as a novelist. Are we also to believe that before being appointed President Regan was not aware of Mr. Webb's writings. This man was well investigated before he was appointed.

The novels sound like a good read, indeed. What are the titles?
Perhaps Allen could write a so called fiction on racial politicizing.

Webb can write what he wants, it's free speech; but with free speech you have to be held accountable for what you say or write. I have read the excerpts, and frankly, they just seem odd and out of place. I personally don't know where one would account for a father who picks up his naked son and insert the child's penis in his mouth. But hey, if that's in Webb’s head and he feels the need to express it- go for it. And yes, what you but down on paper in a work of fiction does represent the thought process that goes on in that person’s mind.

after the Foley story I'm down with the republicans

It amazes me. A republican (Allen) calls somebody a name (yes, stupidly) at a rally... it's front page news... all over TV. "Horrible, Terrible" they cry.

The democrat (Webb), it is discovered, writes sex-trash scenes in his novels, and the story is buried across the media.

This story did not even appear on the front page of abcnews.com. I had to scroll WAAAY down the page on cbsnews.com to even find mention of it. It's not on Yahoo's headlines. I haven't heard word one on network radio news as of 6pm Friday. (Talk shows, yes, of course... but Not the "news".) Haven't been near a TV today, so I can't comment on that.

Even the headline of the CBS article makes it sound like Allen's fault for daring to give this joker's book a "bad review".

I'd rewrite the headline to say something like: "Underage Sexual Perversion Found In VA Senate Candidate Jim Webb's Novels"

Nobody who writes this kind of filth deserves to have a leadership role in any capacity... especially for Virginia.

(and don't tell me it's because it's part of the story... come on now!)

Any party who would support this deserves to lose. I write this as an independent Virginia voter who has supported candidates of both parties... who WILL NOT be voting for Mr. Webb.

This kind of shameful conduct is exactly why these republicans are in trouble today, no standards while running for office, no standards while in office. No wonder Foley's seat was more important to them that protecting the young boy ! Their shame is now starting to foul the water so bad that not even the most loyal republican can drink from it !

Wow! Talk about grasping at straws. C'mon guys. Show some dignity. Losers on their way out need to show more class than this.

What are they gonna do next week? Try to convince us that finding evidence of the existence of the tooth fairy, bigfoot, and the easter bunny is more important than the disaster in Iraq?

Last month I was fairly certain that the GOP would hold onto control of congress, but when I read that the PR guys specifically want to turn the American public's attention away from the war and onto taxes, I knew their time was up.

They're cuttin' and runnin' like usual.

(Vote Robot)

Remember Mark Furman anyone? Seems to me that plenty of people at ABC implied that it was suspiciously racist for Mark Furman to use the N word in his novel. Right? So why not Jim Webb. After all was it not Webbs party that started the dirty campaigning anyway? Sounds like he can dish it out with Allen and Macaca but he can't take it, and he is only being accused of his own words in print.

My remarks are directed to Arthur Wilson: where do you get the idea that Mark Foley was Senator Allen's "political comrade"? Can you prove that a professional relationship existed between the two or that they routinely spoke to one another?
Furthermore, Southerners aren't stupid, and Democrats have many skeletons in the closet (i.e. Ted Kennedy's fatal love affair and Clinton's pre-eminent liaison with Ms. Lewinsky).

i hope all the major news outlets go broke

This is purely a desperate attempt by the bumbling Allen campaign to sling some mud at Webb. That's what GA needs to do, but folks have to realize that writing some questionable scens in critically-acclaimed noves (John McCain openly praised Webb's books) does not mean the guy is a wacko. It will be interesting to see what, if any, impact this new "scandal" will have on that close race.

The Republican ad running in Tenn. against Mr. Ford and the ad Senator Allen is running against his opponent shows just how corrupt the Republican Party really is. It is disgusting.

What ever happened to to a civil debate where a Democrat and a Republican could disagree on issues, yet still show mutual respect? I'll tell you: Karl Rove and his political machine have succeeded in crushing this harmony by pushing moral issues and governing from the extreme right to drive a wedge in our American Electorate. George Allen is using these "Rovian" tactics against Jim Webb now and Virginians are SMART enough to see through the Republican smoke screen. Because to Mr. Allen's dismay, on the other side is the nonfiction story about American soldiers dying in a war with no end in sight, with a price tag of 4 BILLION a week, and a Republican run government that refuses to be truthful with the American people. Jim Webb's books are highly acclaimed novels that George Allen should read. He could learn something about history. Sadly, they are no doubt foreshadowing the tone and language of future books written about this Iraq War.

So this is what the so-called "party of ideas" has to resort to in one of the most important races in the country? Maybe this is a good sign. Everyone now knows that the Republican party is a party of horrible leadership and horrendous, historically bad ideas, and the only thing they have left is flipping through fiction books looking for passages that might offend a grandmother or two.

Face it, boys. The Republican revolution is dead, and nobody is coming to the funeral.

Mr. Webb wrote these explicit passages while a Republican in the service of the Regan Administration. Would the last minute moralists correct me if I'm wrong but where was the outcry then? Webb was good enough of Regan and he’s probably good enough for Va. Perhaps all that moral outcry was simply bottled up until now coincidentally to explode during the last week of the campaign? Yeah that must be it- hey I got Ocean front property in Arizona for sale too- who's buyin'?

I can never figure out why Republicans like Rush Limbaugh and Lynne Cheney can do things (drug addiction and doctor hopping for Limbaugh and lesbian love story writing for Lynne Cheney) and think they are "above it all". Republicans are always pomous, arrogant people who got us in all the messes we are in (Iraq, deficiets, New Orleans gone, less jobs, only millionaires getting richer, corporate corruption, political corruption, gay Republican trolls) today. So tell me again why to vote Republican?

Greg -- then you are truly ignorant!

Jim Webb's books are REQUIRED reading of all marines ranked corporal to sergeant as indicated on the marine corps reading program web site -- it is also on the Official Reading List of the Commandant of the U.S. Marines.

It is heralded as one of the all-time greatest novels written about the Vietnam War.

The U.S. Constitution is also listed as required reading alongside Jim Webb's book.

Now, if you are TRULY Independant Va voter and are now presented with these facts -- i seriously doubt you could not vote for Webb because of "this issue".

If you say you can't -- because of THIS issue, I say you're lying or completely disingenuous.

so which is it?

I am voting Democratic in this election, not because the Democrats are a whole lot better than the Republicans, but because they can't possibly be worse. It is all about money and greed and power. I seriously doubt that many of these politicians give a damn about religion or sex or dying Iraqiis....they give a damn about power and money and they will use whatever means they have to hold on to both. When I saw the newscast of Bush saying "stay the course" some 27 times it was so clear. This man is a puppet. He is the voice of the monied few who control the country and who manipulate the electorate through the kind of stupidity that is so clearly demonstrated in these exerpts from the Virginia election. We seem to be in the last days of the Roman Republic. Will the next president have the power to appoint his horse to the Senate, as happened in Imperial Rome?

May be PREZ. Reagan had dementia to elect such a person as his NAVY Secretary!!!!! If The GIPPER can be wrong VIRGINIANs can be wrong and ELECT WEBB!!!!! So Allen its time for you to GO!!!!!!!