Jamie Colby:  Six retired generals now calling for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to resign.  They claim he mismanaged the war in Iraq but do other retired generals agree?  Well, joining us on the phone from Little Rock, Arkansas, retired NATO commander and Fox News analyst, General Wesley Clark.  General, good afternoon.
 
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK:  Good afternoon.
 
Jamie Colby:  Thanks for being with us.  Let me ask you first, is it appropriate for a former general to comment on the Defense Secretary’s performance when we’re at war?

I seem to remember hearing General Clark advise the administration to use their military leverage to broker political change to the Iraqi constitution. 

And, for the United States it’s a question of whether we can take our military leverage in Iraq and use it to obtain political leverage to force these compromises. 

Well, it seems that the administration has begun to listen. 

From the diaries -- Larry

The Pew Research Center has come up with a political typology test that breaks down the American public into 9 categories based on views on the role of government, business and moral values. 

Contrary to the widespread impression of a nation only divided into two unified “red” and “blue” camps, our latest survey finds important cleavages on values and basic attitudes within each party. As a result, both parties face internal challenges as well as opportunities to expand their constituencies.

I stumbled upon this article today and it reminded me of what General Clark said at the WesPAC Annual Meeting in November.  He spoke about the threat of Global Warming and went into more detail than I had heard before.  I confess to being a bit of a skeptic (my weak defense is that I work with a bunch of republicans who, on every cold day, snicker and say "Global Warming, yeah right") but Clark really laid it out in an understandable fashion while at the same time emphasizing the threat posed...and a recent study confirms.

From the Diaries -- Brent

We've all heard Clark stress the need for the US to engage Iraq's neighbors...to make them part of the solution rather than part of the problem. 

Iraq's neighbors have an interest in meddling. Both Syria and Iran want to effect the outcome in Iraq and they want to effect the success of the American forces there.

Iran wants a buffer state, and Syria is basically playing a game against the United States. It's a serious tit-for-tat to get back at Washington's pressure and also to speak up on behalf of some of the Sunnis, because the Syrians, although they're allied in one way with Iran, they don't want Iran to take over Iraq. So, it's a regional competition. One of the things we have to avoid is the sort of tunnel vision focus on just the military and just Iraq, because it is a regional problem.

Seems like we've got differing viewpoints on the purpose and future of this site so I thought I'd post this blog entry so that we could all express our expectations/hopes for this site (and for WesPAC) and discuss, debate and deliberate about what it will take to get us there.  Just brainstorming here.....some questions that we should think about.

Do we want to maintain the status quo?

Do we want to increase participation?  Do we want to encourage new members to join?

What is the purpose of this site? 

Do we want everyone to have a voice in our discussions?

I found the following article interesting for the potential '08 implications.  Iowa Gov. Vilsack has said that he will not seek re-election and speculation stirs that he's planning to run for president in '08.  But, could this be a stumbling block for him?  If I were an enterprising opponent, I would certainly use this in a tv ad....

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200551117003

[snippets] Police in southern Illinois today captured convicted murderer Martin Shane Moon, who escaped along with another inmate from the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison on Monday.

From the diaries -- Larry 

(footage of Bu$h speech from Veteran's Day)

Kiran Chetry (Fox anchor):  Alright, that was the president speaking at a Veteran's Day speech yesterday about the War on Terror, Iraq and of course critics of the war.  Our next guest has made no secret about the fact that he also has a lot of criticism for the war in Iraq and he says he has a plan for Iraq that would send the right signal to our troops.  Joining us now is former NATO Commander and Fox News Military Analyst retired General Wesley Clark.  Good to have you with us, thanks for being here, General.

I happened to tune into 20/20 tonight, just in time to catch John Stossel on his latest "give me a break" tirade.  This time, he's vilifying the people who are anti-Wal-Mart.  He began by interviewing Ted Turner (I didn't catch most of that, just the tail end).  I've transcribed some of it below (and have left out the interview portions with "experts" claiming such things as "Wal-Mart's low prices amount to a wage increase to all Americans that shop there):

JS:  But in America, capitalists are vilified, people hate them.

TT:  Who does?!?

I woke up early today, excited that it was election day.  I knew that I was registered to vote (I had gotten the little card in the mail months ago) but I wasn't sure which polling place would have me on the roster (I submitted a change of address about a month and a half ago and haven't gotten an acknowledgment).  So, I went to the polling place in my current (new) neighborhood.  They didn't have me on the roster  so I figured I must be listed at the old polling place (the address change hadn't been processed).  So, I call my dad (at said old residence) and asked where his polling place was.  He said he would check and call me back.  I got a call back within 30 minutes letting me know the exact location and that I'm on the voter rolls (he had called the county clerk).  So, I left work early to head to the old polling place where I was also NOT listed on the rolls!!!  How can this be?!?!?  I MUST be one place or the other!  So, I was told that I could vote by provisional ballot.  They handed me an envelope that I was to sign (stating that I'm registered in this county but my name doesn't show up on the rolls) and a paper provisional ballot.  Much to my surprise, the ballot they handed me had already been filled out!!!    I brought this to the old lady's attention and she thanked me for pointing that out, took it back, and handed me a blank ballot.  <Incidentally, the old lady was leaning over my table while I was filling out the ballot, able to see who I was voting for, and talking to me while I was trying to vote, too!>  So, I filled out the new ballot (voted for Corzine, of course) and though the old lady had told me that she would come collect the ballot when I had finished, all I had to do was look up from the table, she was across the room yapping....and had left the satchel of all completed and blank provisional ballots in MY possession!  I carried my ballot and all the others over to her, she took the ballot from me, scanned the whole thing (including looking at who I voted for!!!) and proceeded to stuff both the envelope and the ballot (separately) into her canvas satchel.  I questioned how they were going to keep my ballot together with the envelope and she assured me that she would.  I said "well, it seems that this is an envelope and it would make sense that the completed ballot would go inside the envelope."  The other old lady there said that she should fold the ballot in 3 and put it in the envelope.  She did, then asked if she should seal it.  Old lady #2 said "no".  So I left, not at all confident that my vote will be counted (not that it matters, apparently the race has been called in favor of Corzine already), heck, I'm not at all confident that my ballot is even associated with my envelope!