Over at NRO, a “conservative activist” writes of the passages from Webb’s books:

Race is over. Finished. Done. Webb is toast.

Yes, it’s only fiction, but that bit about the father and his naked son is so despicable that the sensible people in red Virginia will certainly “go home” and support Governor Allen.

I think Webb even loses some of the independents in Northern Virginia with these revelations.

Maybe you guys in Manhattan are desensitized to this filth, but the people of Roanoke, Lynchburg, Blacksburg, Fredericksburg, etc., aren’t. And no way will these voters EVER accept the argument that it’s only fiction.

Gee, maybe we can have a book burning!

Here’s the passage that seems to be setting every one off:

“A shirtless man walked toward them along a mud pathway. His muscles were young and hard, but his face was devastated with wrinkles. His eyes were so red that they appeared to be burned by fire. A naked boy ran happily toward him from a little plot of dirt. The man grabbed his young son in his arms, turned him upside down, and put the boy’s penis in his mouth.”

I haven’t read Lost Soldiers, the book this passage is from. So I can’t vouch for the context. But given that the book takes place in Vietnam, it seems rather clear here that Webb is scene-setting, not — um — actually endorsing some exotic ritual involving the kissing of a boy’s penis by a relative, which, by the way, isn’t an uncommon practice in much of the world (do a “find” on the word “Vietnam” in that link — imagine that! Webb’s describing something that actually happens over there!). Here’s a brainstorm: People from other lands sometimes do things we find strange. Merely describing those customs and traditions in a book isn’t indicative of the author’s own pedophelia. Jesus.

That the Allen campaign has seized on this in the midst of the Foley affair is about as sleazy as politics gets.

Incidentally, Lost Soldiers received glowing praise and endorsements from Newsweek, the Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, conservative favorite Tom Wolfe, and . . . John McCain.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 26th, 2006 at 10:40 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.