Give Clark a Star
Submitted by Kat on July 7, 2008 - 1:42pm.
Give Clark a Star
By AMITAI ETZIONI, Huffington Post l Published: July 7, 2008 at 1:45 PM
" ...he is very much a straight shooter. We need people like him who speak the truth..."
I got to know General Wesley Clark when we both served as members of a commission studying how best to connect the dots, how to use information for national security without violating privacy and other rights. The commission was put together by the Markle Foundation, and met in Aspen, Colorado and Washington, DC, among other places. There were day long deliberations and the requisite cocktail hour and elaborate dinners. In short, a chance to get to know those you spend time with.
I am telling you all this because I want to make it clear that my heart did not go pitter patter when I heard Clark's name mentioned as a presidential candidate -- not because of some kind of bias against generals, but because it became clear to me that he isn't a politician; he is very much a straight shooter. We need people like him who speak the truth, without beating around the bush, if you get my drift. Hence, I am particularly troubled by all those who jumped down Clark's throat when he pointed out that the fact that McCain was a prisoner of war and that his plane was shot down is not necessarily a preparation for being a commander-in-chief.
This is a campaign in which the Internet is systematically loaded with all kind of smears, lies, half-lies, and misquotes about the presidential candidates. The editorial writers, the talking heads on the tube, and other such public voices have not broken out in a chorus demanding that such dishonesty stop. They assume that each side will correct the other, and somehow the facts will bubble up. It is all part of free speech, they say. But where do they get the nerve and find the audacity to censor Clark for speaking the truth? After all nobody is claiming that McCain's limited and particular military experience has anything to do with being commander-in-chief. Fire away, General Clark.
By the way, I am not sure that military experience of any kind makes for a good president. Bill Clinton kept the country out of war and made it prosper for eight years, despite the fact that he had no more military experience than Obama and was rather uncomfortable around generals.
Indeed, the whole terminology is misleading. We do not want the commander-in-chief, the president, to be a military person. We want a civilian authority to lead the country and order around the military. This alone is a good reason why we should elect someone who is not "a military man" and leave the retired generals to speak truth from the side lines.
...just because he was a military man. However, I applaud her defense of him.
Aside: At first I read "...misquotes about the presidential candidates...." as mosquitoes and thought, yeah, it's been like a swarm of the little beasts and no one offered Clark any repellant.
While McCain's service doesn't necessarily qualify him to be President, it doesn't DISqualify him either.
of Etzioni's communitarianism. But someone should tell him that retired generals are people too. And CIVILIAN people at that.
Interesting website:
That seems to be how things are working out; not because of any disrespect towards Clark, it's just the political reality. There are simply places where it would not be smart politically for the "official" Obama campaign to even approach.
Great article.
"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism" - Whoever said it, it's true.
...he will be considered ultra-fair game for the swarm because Obama did not defend him.
Some people still don't get it. When it comes to defending Clark, to hell with the "political reality."
For those who denounced Clark on other sites, I doubt they will ever get it, but I will continue to swat those mosquitoes when they are here.
whether or not Obama vocally defends his truthful statements. And we and others will defend Clark, and his message will keep getting out...to the benefit of the Obama campaign. Point is, we don't want Obama to be drawn into that swarm unnecessarily.
It's the "big picture" thing.
"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism" - Whoever said it, it's true.
What part of not wanting to talk about presidential politics here don't you get? Gordon Brown has told people in the UK to stop wasting food. Chew on that topic for awhile.
...I want no part of that "big picture." No principles I share, no values I share, just winning at any cost.
And the "big picture" keeps shifting with shifting positions on the part of the presumed nominee. For instance, my "big picture" includes a healthy 4th Amendment. His? Not so much.
So, you see, the "big picture" is in the eye of the beholder.
...the gentle general with spine of steel and heart of gold -- a perfect combination for a President.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
Wes Clark -- Make America All It Can Be!
is that Wes is too honest for elective politics. Particularly in the American Idol style politics we have these days.
We really need to get rid of the all powerful executive. If it's going to be an American Idol election, I'm "hoping" we can make another "decider" not even close to being reality. The senate and congress are going to have to put on their big boy and girl pants and do something about the mess our country is in and whoever sits in the oval is going to have to get used to it.
... made me forget this principle:
the whole terminology is misleading. We do not want the commander-in-chief, the president, to be a military person. We want a civilian authority to lead the country and order around the military. This alone is a good reason why we should elect someone who is not "a military man" and leave the retired generals to speak truth from the side lines.
I assume this is why even the Secretary of Defense is supposed to be out of the military for 10 years before being allowed to serve in that capacity.
This means that McCain has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to run on. I don't support Wes because of his military experience (except insomuch as it exemplifies his patriotism), I support him because he has the experience--that he just so happened to have accumulated in the course of a military career, but that, with that turbo-powered brain, he certainly could have built up anywhere--to run a country intelligently and fairly and with a view to the long term benefit of the country and the world. But McCain, by running on his POW record, has managed to make me and, I suspect, plenty of other people forget that the military is run by civilians by design. McCain has got a big fat pile of NOTHIN' to run on and he managed to make even me, a die-hard Democrat, forget the principle that would undercut his whole raison d'etre as a candidate. Good for him, I guess, but I hope somebody with a bigger audience points this out to the electorate eventually.
Sorry, I don't buy this premise at all. I would have voted for Wes Clark in a second. McCain's military service is not a liabilty, or negative in any sense should he get elected.
My point was that McCain's military service is ALL he's running on.
It's my fault for not being clear, but my goodness, how could any Clark supporter be accused of saying that a military background is a liability? I feel horrible and I apologize for not explaining myself better.
I guess I can't edit my original statement since it's been replied to, but what I should have said, to be clearer, wasn't "I don't support Wes because of..." but instead "I support Wes not because of...."
Gah. I feel absolutely mortified... I guess it's just that as a member of this community for 5 years, I didn't choose my words carefully enough to make sure there could be no misunderstanding. CentralMass, not only would I also vote for Wes in a second, I would beat you off with a stick (affectionately, of course) to get there first!
In all fairness, you can't discount McCains three decades in the Senate and House.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
Wes Clark -- Make America All It Can Be!
... because I like to stay awake during the day :), I get the impression that he's really not running all that much on his time in Congress. It's all terra terra terra... which makes sense, given that that's the one issue that voters still think Republicans are stronger on than Democrats are.
I mean, he's admitted that he doesn't know much about the economy (ye Gods! this election is taking place in the middle of a recession! it's almost ALL about the economy). I do think that he's earned the right to run for President, definitely, and I wish he'd run on his non-POW record a little more. And like everybody else in the entire world, I really respect his honorable service as a POW and I think his refusal to leave the camp says a lot about him and his sense of honor and integrity. It's just that he's running almost entirely on the supposition that he'll be better at defending us, militarily, against terrorism.
But of course you're right, Stan, he's served for a long time and has a lot of experience. In things other than the economy, by his own admission. :)
...how he can spend some 35 years in Congress and not learn anything about the economy.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
Wes Clark -- Make America All It Can Be!
In the generic sense, and taking the statement literally, I don't want "a military man" either, not in the sense of being militaristic. But I don't mind if the person was in the military depending on who the man is and what he did in the military. Our Wes acted as the mayor of a large city as a base commander, as a diplomat in the Balkans, as a head of state at NATO bringing 19 countries together to accomplish a mission. He's not exactly the run-of-the-mill "military man" you run into.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
Wes Clark -- Make America All It Can Be!
someone clearly not a 'military man,' and look at what we got! I think its wrong to add this to the list of requisites.
showed what the grownups do, today. He's going to be a force in the senate, just watch:)
about this dust up. She talks about how Obama threw Wes under the bus. She talks about how McCain stayed behind when he could have been released as a POW. Then she asks who the reader would rather be in a fox hole with, O or M? GIven how much McCain has changed since his time as a POW and the earlier maverick politician days and his pandering to the BushCo (I'm going to give the country the third term crowd), the answer to the question, "who would you rather be in a fox hole with is Wes Clark.