Wesley Clark Again...

[emmagata]

Originally posted by Lanshark
Doesn't say something about our political system when a person with no political experience, no stance on issues, and no announced platform can announce he is running and immediately become the front runner?

Yea, it's that Bush is really really really that bad.

Who's next to join the run for President?

Alf?

 

[dmadman43]

Doesn't say something about our political system when a person with no political experience, no stance on issues, and no announced platform can announce he is running and immediately become the front runner

Yea, it indictes how totally unplugged uninformed, and totally apathetic the majority of the American public are.

It is interesting to think about who would be better able to get us out of Iraq.

Really? Well, you'd think someone with his vast military background would at least have some inkling of a plan at put it forth. If nothing else, to at least put pressure the 9 other Dwarfs. . The guy is now even backpeddling on his original position.

I think that being the NATO commander of Europe would be a job that would require a lot of administrative ability

You mean similar to Eisenhower? Yea, that guy was effective.

I think that being NATO Supreme Allied Commander, , holding a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and being licensed as an investment banker make him more than qualified to bring us back from financial ruin, win the war on terrorism, and renew the foreign goodwill we've lost.

It certainly makes we wonder that a guy with such a supposed big brain can't come up with any sort of platform out of the gate.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

NATO, oh please. Sorry that does not make him a good presidential candidate.

 

[dmadman43]

There are a lot of people who think that the government would benefit with leaders who have good administrative skills rather than are career politicians, politics as usual insiders

Then based on that benchmark, I'm assuming you liked Reagan, and you like GW Bush? The knock against Reagan was that he was an "actor". The knock against Bush was that he wasn't plugged into the beltway.

But he does seem a stark contrast to Bush - top in the class at west point + rhodes scholar vs. cheer leader with mediocre grades at yale; served in Viet Nam, purple heart, etc.,

Then by comparison, that should have ruled out Gore in the last election. He got worse grades than Bush and failed out of Divinity school for heaven's sake (no pun intended)

You people need to get your story straight about qualifications.

 

[d-r]

I thought that the far right would try to grab at anything.

"Yea, it indictes how totally unplugged uninformed, and totally apathetic the majority of the American public are. "

You should try to be more careful in what you say. You accuse the "majority of the American public" of being uninformed, and then say that Clark doesn't have an inkling of a plan for an exit strategy. (btw, majority is).

http://www.clark04.com/times.php

Anyway, see, here you have a guy who liberals on the far left are going to go against - they aren't going to be happy with someone with a military background. The Nader-types are going to fight against this. The far left liberals are not going to want someone with the strong military ties. On the other hand, the far right wingers are scrambling because they are worried for their boy.

What happened in the past election, if you divide the US voters into quartiles from left to right, is that the dem. and rep. candidates basically split them right down the middle - basically both getting around 1/2. The far left liberals abandoned the dems for the greens in the last election, but the dems and reps still basically split right down the middle. It would look likie this

I-----left 25%----I-----25%----I------25%------I-----right 25%-----I

A guy like Clark isn't going to appeal to the far left liberals or the far right conservatives. But most of the people in this country aren't extremists, and moderates are going to like what Clark has to say. The extremists on each side won't (some people think that there is only the two extremes, but the majority of Americans are moderate). Instead of splitting right down the middle, look for Clark to appeal to the middle group. This is what concerns the far righters.

"Most of the things I read from Clarks critics, while certainly negative, have not stooped to the levels of hate and disgust that some of Bush critics (haters) have."

John, I don't think this should be a competition of who has been criticized more, and frankly it wouldn't surprise me if Bush has been criticized more - there is plenty of material there to work with.

In addition to far left extremist liberals and far right reactionary conservatives, Gen. Clark has enemies he has made in places like Yugoslavia - not just peace protestor liberals, but Serbs and Milosovic's supporters. Of course if you were beaten you are going to be resentful. I've seen him accused of trying to start ww3 in yugoslavia. Accusations of being a war criminal. I've seen this, which to me, sounds completely nuts (but politics is something that tends to bring the nuts out):

from http://www.greenspun.com/com/zpub/un/clark.html =

Contributed by Rob Jussaume (robertjussaume@yahoo.com) on October 3, 2002.
Wesley Clark is not out of the game yet. I suspect him of being the mastermind of the 9/11/01 attacks, as well as the current sniper siege of the East Coast (written 10/02).
I started thinking along these lines when people pointed out that the WTC/Pentagon attacks reminded them of the choice of targets in the 1999 Kosovo War. Hmmm...

Who else combines a Top Secret clearance with a Rolodex of terrorist friends (including KLA), a resentment of Pentagon brass, experience in political violence, and a partisan hatred of GW Bush?

During the Kosovo War, Gen. Clark tried to start a war with the Russians by bombing the units they sent to Kosovo. If all the 9/11 planes had hit their targets, we would have gone to our highest strategic alert--and Russia would have been the adversary. As it was, the perps nearly killed Rumsfeld and traumatized the whole country through the media coverage. President Putin VOLUNTARILY took the Russian forces off of high alert, which is the only thing that prevented THE BIG ONE.

A few days later, a Croatian hijacked a passenger bus and crashed it in Texas. Clark has many Croatian contacts, including the commander of Operation Storm.

It's entirely possible that the "supreme being" (God forgive me for saying it, even as a joke) has accomplices in the Active Duty armed forces. They can will help him with staging areas, convenient delays, etc.

Another suggestive factoid: the Joint Chiefs of Staff had a creepy plan in 1961-- to attack Americans and make it look as if Cubans did it. This was Operation Northwoods. What's to stop a retired 4-star, with no scruples, from dusting off a Cold War provocation scheme and putting it into effect?

I'd love for the FBI to call General Clark in for questioning.

 

[Planogirl]

I fail to see how Gore's qualifications or lack thereof have anything to do with General Clark.

I fully intend to look into the General's background further. I don't feel the slightest bit concerned that he doesn't have a "plan" immediately out of the gate. I would feel concerned if he did since he's not privy to the full situation.

 

[d-r]

Then based on that benchmark, I'm assuming you liked Reagan, and you like GW Bush? The knock against Reagan was that he was an "actor". The knock against Bush was that he wasn't plugged into the beltway.

You know what happens when you assume, right?

I said "there are a lot of people."

"You people" again, what happens when you assume? Did I vote for Gore? And if I remember correctly at least Gore was on the ground in Viet Nam rather than drinking his way across Alabama.

Again, the whole world is not split down the middle with us or them liberal or conservative.

"you people." Do you say that a lot?

 

[dmadman43]

"you people."

Sorry, that was directed at those bent on finding every objection to Bush. I have no problems with fact based, well thought out criticism. Things like grades and unsubstanitated charges about AWOL and drinking really don't help build one's case against Bush.

And if Vietman is now the barometer, (even a desk job like Gore had) then I guess it will be a close race between Kerry and Clark. I mean, Kerry served in Vietnam. Did you all know that? I didn't. Wow!

I fail to see how Gore's qualifications or lack thereof have anything to do with General Clark.

The poster was discussing supposed qualifications for Presidency, and I was attempting to point out some inconsistencies in the argument. That's the relevance

 

[dmadman43]

Anyway, see, here you have a guy who liberals on the far left are going to go against - they aren't going to be happy with someone with a military background. The Nader-types are going to fight against this. The far left liberals are not going to want someone with the strong military ties. On the other hand, the far right wingers are scrambling because they are worried for their boy.

Hey, I've been very clear here that I thought Clark would be the most formidable opponent to Bush, for the reasons you state. He's got the military background to appease the middle of the road Democrats. However, I'm baffled (yet not surprised) he's been so wishy-washy on his Iraq postion, and has nary a domestic plan.

If the polls are to be believed, despite everything that is going on, the public feels the economy is the #1 issue, yet many here seem to be jumping on the Clark bandwagon because of his military background. Clark will need to come up with a domestic plan soon

http://www.clark04.com/times.php

The US is doing everything Clark cites here. The fact that it's not getting reported is giving the public the impression it isn't happening. I was hoping for something a bit more insightful from someone with such a supposed big brain.

 

[disneycrazed139]

Bumping up....and just wanted to re-insert this!
Why vote for a candidate who is NOT a career politician? Plenty reasons why!!
Hopefully, by now, more people are familiar with him and his views are more crystalized. You have to realize too, that Clark was ENCOURAGED by thousands to run. He is absolutely NOT a career politician, and that is exactly WHY we need him in office. He is a brilliant person. Did anyone see him on the cover of Newsweek a few weeks ago?

I think that being NATO Supreme Allied Commander, holding a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and being licensed as an investment banker make him more than qualified to bring us back from financial ruin, win the war on terrorism, and renew the foreign goodwill we've lost.

Plus, having no political experience lessens the possibility that he is corrupt. It also shows that he is in this for the good of the nation - he's not a career politician.

http://www.clark04.com/about.php

President Wesley Clark '04

 

[disneycrazed139]

Just wanted to bump this up. Right now Clark is hoping for a win in the NH primary.

Anyone know what General Clark did on Martin Luther King Day? Unlike the competition in Iowa, he was down in South Carolina offering a speech on the virtues of the late Dr. King.

 

[ToriLammy]

So Clark was in SC honoring King huh? Funny, the news media is reporting it as a campaign stop and why not since Clark sat out the Iowa race he had time to go to SC, especially since after NH the next primary stop is SC.

Posted on Mon, Jan. 19, 2004

Clark campaigns in South Carolina
By DANA HULL
Knight Ridder Newspapers

COLUMBIA, S.C. - While his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination fought it out Monday on Iowa's frozen turf, retired Gen. Wesley Clark spent the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday campaigning in South Carolina, where blacks will make up perhaps 50 percent of voters in a key primary Feb. 3.

Clark has spent more time in South Carolina than any of the other six states that have primaries Feb. 3, and Monday was the 10th day he's campaigned here. Thirty-second television ads for him have been airing since Dec. 2, and the Clark campaign has five state offices, 40 paid staffers and a dozen full-time volunteers.

South Carolina is key because black voters will make up nearly half the Democratic electorate here after the overwhelmingly white contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. It also will be the first Southern stop in the Democrats' quest for the nomination, which may make it more receptive to Clark as a military man who was raised in the South.

A retired four-star general who grew up in Little Rock, Ark., Clark must do well here or his campaign will lose credibility. South Carolina has nearly 400,000 veterans, along with military installations at Fort Jackson in Columbia, Shaw Air Force Base, the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island.

"Wes Clark fits like a nice little shoe with Southern voters," said Jim Hodges, the state's former governor. "The South holds a critical part of the success of the Democratic Party. Clark is a native son of the South: He speaks the language of the South and understands the voters here."

Clark began the day Monday at a raucous prayer service at Zion Baptist Church, where he smiled, sang and clapped along with gospel music. In the pew in front of him was Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, who recently ended her own bid for the nomination and is campaigning for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

Clark then marched to a rally sponsored by the NAACP at the state Capitol, where the Confederate still flag flies on the grounds, to enormous controversy. Clark almost encountered another of his long-shot rivals there - the flamboyant Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke at the rally - but Clark's aides hastily arranged a 10-minute news conference that began as Sharpton started speaking.

Then, in a passionate speech to honor King's legacy, Clark blasted President Bush's recent appointment of Charles Pickering of Mississippi to a federal appellate bench and pledged to secure voting rights for all Americans. The Justice Department files several lawsuits every year in federal court alleging racial discrimination in voting.

Clark was almost giddy in his closing remarks before 800 or so people on the statehouse grounds.

"Dr. King, Dr. Martin Luther King, happy birthday to you, sir!," said Clark. "We honor you, and we honor your memory, and we are going to complete your work! Happy Birthday, Dr. King! Thank you!"

Clark then flew on a plush chartered jet to Southside High School in Greenville, S.C., for a "Conversation With Clark," his signature town-hall style event. By then, his voice was hoarse.

Last Thursday, Clark flew to South Carolina for just one event: A discussion of school funding and equity. His pledge to raise the minimum wage to $7 an hour by 2007 led the students at Dillon High School to cheer.

"He looks pretty good so far," said Marcus Carmichael, 18, who will vote for the first time Feb. 3. "He wants to raise the minimum wage, and I like that."

C. Jack Ellis, the mayor of Macon, Ga., expressed confidence that Clark could carry South Carolina.

"He's going to win South Carolina by far," Ellis said. "He's got the best chance to beat Bush, and everyone knows that he was a general in the Army. The Army is 30 percent African-American, and most blacks who are in the Army are from the South."

Still, victory is far from certain.

"A lot depends on what happens up the road in Iowa and New Hampshire," said Neal Thigpen, the chair of the political science department at Francis Marion University in Florence. "But I haven't seen much from the Clark people in the way of a ground operation. Edwards and Dean have a pretty decent organization in the state. My sense is that the vote here is pretty loose. There's a huge percentage of voters who are undecided."

 

[caitycaity]

you know, any time a person has enemies among both respected democrats and respected republicans, i think you need to look a little closer. wes clark is a joke. as much as i dislike bush, i think it would be better for america to have bush as president rather than clark.

did anyone see bob dole rip clark a new one on cnn last night? it was pretty damn funny.