General Wesley Clark at Netroots Nation
UPDATED

July 17, 2008
transcript by Reg NYC

Thank you.

(applause)

It is so good to see you here.

(continuing applause)

Thank you for that warm welcome. Thank you.

(more applause)

Thank you very much. Thank you.

(more applause)

Thank you.

Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is it. Netroot Nation. We tell it straight.

(cheering)

That, that's the truth, and that's why I'm here. You all have been, you, you've been a major force in my life. And I know when Howard Dean comes, he's going to say the exactly same thing to you.

I was- I'l tell you my story. It's a, it's a long, sad story of, of ...of saying things that get taken and used by other people. (laughter) So, I was down at CNN. I was a - I don't call it a pundit - I was a military analyst, and I wasn't on the Pentagon's payroll. In fact, Don Rumsfeld hadn't figured this out at that point.

(applause)

And,

(more applause)

And I was talking about what was going on in Afghanistan. I was doing military commentary. I was talking about the possibility of the United States going to war with Iraq in 2002.

And the Times of London called, and they asked me to write an op-ed piece that could be published in the Times of London about whether Saddam Hussein was a threat and if he was what we should do about it. And this was August of 2002. And so, I was at home and working in my, in my study, and my wife came in and she said, "Honey, what are you doing?" I said, "Well, I'm writing this op-ed for the Times of London." She said, "Oh please," she said, "Don't do this!"

(laughter)

She said, (laughs) "You're going to disagree with the Pentagon," and she said, "When you do, the Democrats will use it, and you'll be drawn into electoral politics, partisan politics." She said, "Please, do you have to do this?" And of course, I said, "Yes." And-

(enthusiastic applause)

And you all drew me in. I, I did speak out. I was called in front of the Senate and I testified in September of 2002. And I testified in front of the House, and I warned about the dangers of going to war. I warned about the wording of the Iraq War Resolution. At the time I was in front of Senate, the White House had proposed that the Iraq War Resolution would say they had the authority to use force anywhere in the region at any time, undefined. So, at least we got that taken out of the Resolution.

And Ted Kennedy did use my words, and before I knew it all kinds of stuff was happening. One of the people I was in business with actually called me in. He said, "You know," he said, "if you stay here, we won't get anymore business deals." And I said, "Gee, I'm, I'm really sorry about that," and I left. And a lot of people talked to me about running for office, and I would never've done it except for 70,000 people on the internet who demanded (applause starts) that I show myself. You did, and I thank you for that.

(full-on applause)

Y-you've given me hope and inspiration in this complex and difficult American political system. You've done that. You made it possible for me to run for office, and I'm not saying that it was the greatest run anybody's ever made for the Presidency, but we did win a state. And-

(applause)

And not even the state that I live in. (laughter) And we did raise 20-some-odd million dollars, including several million dollars from you all online.

And after that campaign, you did give me a chance to continue to have a voice in America. And together we've actually accomplished something. You know, we started along with VoteVets, we started stopiranwar.com . (applause starts) And you know what? It's still there.

(applause)

And George Bush's government today has a representative in a meeting in Europe with the Iranians.

(cheers and applause)

You can take some credit for that, because your voices were part of that.

And one time some blogger was trying to make an issue - I don't know exactly why he picked on me, but he found my cell phone records and he published them online. And there was this huge torrent of outpouring and outrage, and you all did that and you helped people protect their privacy online. You did that. (applause starts) And that's important.

(applause)

When Darcy Burner, who's a candidate (cheering) for Congress-

(more cheering)

You know, her house burned down about three weeks ago, and you all helped us raise tens of thousands of dollars for Darcy Burner. And I thank you for that.

(applause)

And I hate to say this, but I was taken out of context (chuckles) on Meet the Press or on Face the Nation. (laughter) I mean, there's just no other way to say it. But someone came to me last night. They said, "You weren't taken out of context, General Clark." They said, "This was a playbook operation by the right-wing freak machine." It's the great freakshow. And what they do is they take a statement, then they either take it out of context or distort it. Then they blast it. Then they criticize, and then it becomes personal. They're getting so good at it that they did all three steps in less than 12 hours. (laughter) And you fought back and I'm (applause starts) grateful to you from the bottom of my heart.

(applause)

Several years ago, I was at a Washington dinner with James Carville, and we were just having a casual conversation. I said, "James, how are we going to, how are we going to convince the American people that just because we're in a time of war that they don't have to vote Republican? How are we going to get them to understand that Democrats have a pretty good national security record?" He said, "You'll never get the American people to believe that Democrats will defend them until Democrats stand up and defend each other."

(applause and cheering)

Thank you, because you did that.

(applause continues)

No, this is a great community, this Netroots Nation. It is a great community, because it stands for principles. You all are people who are from all walks of life, from all, every spectrum, from every state, from every profession, from every background imaginable. But you're united by your passion for good government that takes America in the direction we must go.

(applause)

I think you know what tho-those directions are. I think in foreign policy it's clear, we have to make more friends and fewer enemies in the world.

(Cheering and applause)

I think it's clear that if we're going to succeed in our efforts in Iraq and in Afghanistan that we've got to have more non-military capabilities to go along and complement and support and reinforce the incredible courage and ability of the men and women in uniform.

(applause)

I think you understand that in the economy that it can't be all about giving more pay and more perks to CEOs, that we've got to take care of the people in this economy who do the work day in and day out.

(applause)

I think you understand that what it means to, what it means to make America more globally competitive in the world. It doesn't mean giving an 18 billion dollar tax subsidy to the world's largest corporation.

(applause)

But it does mean having a real poligy- a real policy on energy, working toward energy independence, supporting alternative energy and renewable energy. It means really digging in on education and making sure our youngsters have preschool education, great secondary schooling and that every single American who has the desire and the ability to go to college or university can afford to do so.

(applause)

I think you understand it means that we've got to have a real healthcare reform in this country. (Cheering and applause) Every American should be covered by meaningful healthcare, not just an insurance policy that can be cancelled, but every American has a right to healthcare. And (cheering and applause begins) we're united in demanding it be provided.

(cheering and applause continues)

And I think you understand that when you're talking about the non-military and non-economic factors of national power, you understand that the most powerful elements of America are what we believe in, our values as a nation, and that we can't succeed in the world if we compromise our own values on things like human rights and the treatment (applause begins) and abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo.

(applause and cheering)

These are some of the principles that pull us together as a Netroots Nation, but if you want to see how significant we are look at the people amongst us who are not only members of this community but who are standing for office. And could I ask all those who are running for elected office this year, this cycle - whether it's state or local or federal office - please stand up right now!

(extended cheering and applause)

Thank you for giving them a big round of applause. And I want to add my personal thanks to our candidates, because I think it takes a lot of sacrifice and it takes a lot of courage to run for public office in America. And I salute them for doing so. Thank you.

(applause)

But I think another value that pulls us all together here in America is that we're people who believe in public service in general. And I'd like to recognize all those who are in public service professions. I'd like to see our teachers stand up. Would you stand up if you're a schoolteacher?

(applause)

Alright, thank you. How about our healthcare workers, our nurses and doctors and medical profession?

(applause continues)

Thank you.

(applause continues)

How about our public service lawyers, our defenders?

(applause)

Thank you. How about our police and firefighters?

(applause)

How about our community volunteers, our development, our organizers who go out there and bring people together? Would you stand up?

(applause)

And I want to recognize our active duty military and our veterans. Can I ask you to stand up (applause begins) if you serve or did serve this country in uniform.

(cheering and applause)

Thank you.

(applause continues)

I don't know if I'm- Did I miss any professional group? (laughter) If I did, I apologize, but there's one other group that is doing a very important public service that I do want to recognize. You see, beyond all the issues that we have, beyond all the great members of this group individually and what you bring to your communities - running for office, serving in public service professions - beyond all of that, you're doing something else. You're like, you're like the keel on the ship of state. You're like the compass on the bridge. You keep America going in the right direction. You bring passion. You bring commitment. You bring your ideas. And you bring your energy to American politics. We've needed you for so long in this country, and we need you desperately right now.

(applause)

I know, it's, it's a little hard to applaud for yourself. (laughter) And you're the kind of people who don't take s-self-praise and self-congratulation easily. But I want to say it very seriously, because I want to, I want you to understand how important you are to this country. The fact is that lot's of people in America have ideas about politics. Most of them do. You can meet them anywhere. You can even hear them on Fox News. (laughter) And some of the ideas are well informed, and some of the ideas aren't very well informed or aren't very articulated. Some of them are just sort of gut feelings.

And there's a political scientist, Drew Westen, who has done some very important research down at Emory University, and he's shown that once people get firm, fixed political ideas in their heads, they stop processing information as information because it conflicts with their ideas and they process it emotionally as a sort of accept or reject. And I think that's sadly the case with a lot of political dialog today. It degenerates into name calling, personality spats, accusations of lack of parenthood in some cases. And as a great nation, we can do so much better than this.

Read the great political oratory of the past. Go back and look at the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Go back and read Theodore Roosevelt's speeches or Woodrow Wilson's. It's not about partisanship, and it's not about personal attacks. It really is about getting it right for the United States of America, and you have been given voices. You're on the internet. And I know because you're here, you're not on the internet, but you'll be on the internet again very shortly. (laughter) And what you say is very important. Lots of people read it, and believe it or not, people read it across party lines.

I was in, I was up doing a fundraiser for Rick Noriega last night, and remember-

(interrupting cheering)

Rick's going to be our next Democratic Senator.

(cheering)

And he's from Texas! Rick, where are you? Are you here? Where are you? (cuts out)

(cheering and applause)

But a man came up to me and he's, he's a Texas legislator. And he actually converted from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. (applause) And you know why he did it? It wasn't just personality. It wasn't because he got mad at Fox News one day. It was really the collection of ideas and the difference between what one party stands for and what another party stands for. And it shows you that despite all the emotionalism of politics that ideas, real ideas can still move people.

You are the guiding compass for America. It's a very serious responsibility. You're committed to the world of ideas. You spew them forth in great volume. (laughter) I know, and I read a lot of it. And if it's entertaining, that's wonderful, but it's also a very serious process. Our country needs you, needs you now more probably than at any other time in recent history.

We need change in America. I think we've got a candidate for the Presidency who can bring that change if we put him in office.

(applause)

But to bring that change, he's got to bring the American people along with him. And believe it or not, it's not just a matter of donations or votes. It's a matter of ideas and the power of ideas, and you speak with that power. You're going to be here for a couple or three days. You're going to be greatly entertained. You're going to entertain each other. I love Rafiq and his jokes, and he'll be out here in a second. And I hope he'll do a fist bump with each and every one of you. (laughs)

But we're in a serious business. This country needs leadership, and you're leaders. So, let's move America forward together. Netroots Nation, you can do it. Let's do it.

(applause)

Thank you.

(applause)

Thank you very much. Thank you.

(applause)

Rafiq, come up here, man.

(applause)

Hey, you owe me a fist bump!
(Rafiq laughs)

Alright! It's my brother here. Now listen, you got some work to do, Netroots Nation. Let's get to it!
(Continuing applause)