General Wesley Clark on The Ed Schultz Show

July 1, 2008
transcript by Reg NYC

Ed Schultz: 1-877-934-6833 Good to have you back with us here where America comes to talk, The Ed Schultz Show. Well, it all unfolded on, it all unfolded on Face The Nation with General Wesley Clark and Bob Schieffer. This is the exchange:

(dead air)

We'll get to it here in just a few moments. Let's go to General Wesley Clark joining us here on The Ed Schultz Show. General, good to have you with us.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Ed, thank you, and thank you for being such a stand-up guy yesterday in, in all this controversy.

Ed Schultz: You know, General, I, I don't, I don't know where the controversy is. I thought you were very clear on Meet The Press saying you were talking about experience on the job. That's how I took it.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, that's what I meant, and I think the controversy, someone asked me this morning on the MSNBC show, "Was this an orchestrated by- attack by Democrats." I'd say no.

Ed Schultz: Hm.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: The only orchestration was by the Republicans. I think that since John McCain's hired the, the Swift Boating team to protect his military record, they just decided they would launch a pre-emptive strike.

Ed Schultz: Clearly, they have taken your comments and turned it into an attack on Barack Obama and also of course, you know, I'm independent. I'm not on anybody's payroll but my own Ed Schultz Show payroll. I'm not connected with the Obama camp other than being a reporter and doing my own stuff as a talk show host. I don't have any special line to anybody. I was asked by the Democratic Party back in April to go warm up the crowd for 20 minutes. And we started talking about McCain, and I, I always thought he was a warmonger based on his Iraq policy. And so-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, he's certainly shown bad judgement, because he always sort of jumps and, and calls for the use of military force first, and you know as a military guy (chuckles) I'd like us to be called last after everything else has failed. Don't throw us in first.

Ed Schultz: Alright, here's the exchange you had with Bob Schieffer on Face The Nation:

(on tape)

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in Air- in the Navy that he commanded, it wasn't a wartime squadron. He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall.

Bob Schieffer: I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down. I mean-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be President.

(end tape)

Ed Schultz: Did you go too far, General Clark?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I mean, if someone asked you is the sun is shi- if the sun is shining, you said, 'Yes, the sun is shining,' you wouldn't have HAD to say that. You could've said, 'Well the sky's blue and there are no clouds,' but basically I just answered the question that was asked.

Ed Schultz: I thought you did too. Now-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And you know, that's the way I am. (chuckles) I'm going to answer the question usually the way it's asked, and that's straight talk, and that's what I believe in. And so, this is a manufactured controversy designed to sort of probe- this is like a, in the military sense, a, this is a reconnaissance attack. Someone's going in there to see if, if- how the Democratic Party's going to handle the national security issues. Because, believe me, John McCain's running on national security. He's claiming that having served in the Armed Forces somehow gives him superior judgement over Barack Obama. And what I'm trying to say is that, while I honor his service for having been a fighter pilot and been shot down and a courageous prisoner of war, that does not give him a claim to superior judgement in the Oval Office. In fact, if you look at what he said, his judgement's been pretty bad on some of the major issues.

Ed Schultz: One of them, the most recent, was that of the GI Bill, which was pushed by Freshman Senator from Virginia Jim Webb, signed by the President yesterday. And the President mistakenly gave John McCain credit for working on it when number one - He didn't vote on it. He never supported it. He's on record saying he didn't support it. And it's, it's amazing how they can twist the truth.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Exactly right. And you know, these, these ideas flash back so fast that so many of us in the American public who are working hard, we're taking care and- taking care of our families, we catch bits and snatches of the news., but we don't get it all. And so, it's really hard to keep up with the ebb and flow of this. So, you know, people don't always get the full picture. I think what happened in my exchange is that most people do not watch (chuckle) Face The Nation on Sunday. I mean, a m- million or two million or three million people do, but most people don't. And so, the Republican attack caught a lot of people unaware. People said, 'Well, he said he sh- you know, fighting a fighter plane and getting shot down. What do you mean he said that?' You know, it was just an answer to a question.

Ed Schultz: Sure.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And so, but I hope that the American public will understand the difference between service at a- honorable, courageous service as a soldier, sailor, airman, marine AND the judgement that it takes to be sitting in the Oval Office.

Ed Schultz: And that- i- is that the point you're trying to make that just because someone serves in the military doesn't make them qualified to be President of the United States? Is that-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, it doesn't necessarily mean they're better qualified on those kinds of decisions than someone who hasn't served. Some of our best wartime Presidents were people like Abraham Lincoln and, and Franklin Roosevelt.

Ed Schultz: How do you feel-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Abraham Lincoln served only as- a brief period of time in one of the Indian Wars, and, and Abraham- And, and, and Franklin Roosevelt had been, I think, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for a year or so. But these aren't military men, and yet they were admirable wartime Chiefs.

Ed Scultz: General Wesley Clark with us here on the Ed Schultz Show, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997-2000. How do you feel about being compared to the Swift Boat Vets?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think I got Swift Boated. (chuckles)

Ed Schults: (laughs)

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I mean, there's no- not only did I figuratively get Swift Boated because people took something I said out of context, but I got literally Swift Boated because John McCain hired the Swift Boaters to go after me. I'm told this morning on a press call, they were making more comments about my military record now. I, I just want to say, you know, I, this is not about me. I'm trying to help the country. But I, I'm proud of my military record.

Ed Schultz: (laughs) I would say so! (laughs out loud)

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And, and you know, I'm going to defend it. I hope I don't have to hire a bunch of Swift Boaters to help me defend my military record.

Ed Schultz: I, I, I'm astonished a- I think a lot of it comes from the fact that it's been a rough run the last several months for John McCain. He's not raising any money to speak of comparatively to Barack Obama. He's trailing in red states to Barack Obama. He clearly doesn't have the momentum. And they're, they're looking to manufacture this into a tight race. I thought you were very clear that you were talking about executive responsibility. Not everybody in the military are of, they're not all generals.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Exactly.

Ed Schultz: A-a-and when you talk about judgement, what, you know, where is John McCain? Well, his most recent judgement, his most recent judgement on military issues was to not support the GI Bill.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: But he's also flip-flopped on the torture issue. I-I-I wouldn't have gone into Iraq the way we did. I thought it was an unnecessary war at the time. He was gung-ho for it. I-I always believe you should use all the elements of military power, sorry, of national power before you call on the military. He seems to like to rattle the saber. I think the comments that were made, I think it was in Iowa, where he was singing the ditty about 'bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran,' I think those kind of comments will come back to make it more difficult if he should become Commander in Chief-

Ed Schulz: Well-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -to muster the kind of support around the world we need should we ever have to take that terrible action. So, I think that, I-I-I think that it's a matter of judgement. I think Barack Obama has shown it. I don't think John McCain has.

Ed Schultz: And he also stood up on the stump and said, 'I'll take care of Iran.' Now, How do you take that comment? And he-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well-

Ed Schultz: (huff)

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -I-I'm sure he meant that he, he said it so that the Iranians would tremble and quake and, and be more complacent for diplomacy, but on the other hand without a program for diplomacy that's just sort of saber-rattling.

Ed Schultz: How do you-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And saber-rattling basically it alienates our allies. It doesn't intimidate our enemies. It basically gives strength to some radical like Ahmadinejad. He wants to be threatened, because that raises his stature in Iranian domestic politics.

Ed Schultz: And taking a look at the Obama response, the Obama camp distancing themselves from your comment. Are, are you disappointed in that?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, you know, that's- I- I didn't have anything to do with the Obama camp on anything I said, Ed. They didn't discuss this with me. I been saying this for several different occasions but basically using my experience as a, as a former military guy to assess John McCain's relevancy of his military experience to the Oval Office, and I was asked to defend those remarks. It had nothing to do with the Obama campaign. So, that, that, that's my view on it.

Ed Schultz: In no way you were dissing his military service or his r-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Absolutely not.

Ed Schultz: Yeah.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I mean, i-if I were going to offer an apology, it would be to Barack Obama. I'm really sorry that the Republicans stirred this up in such a way as to try to take away from your speech on patriotism.

Ed Schultz: Sure.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: But, but I didn't call it.

Ed Schultz: General, great to have you on. Any time I'm in the same paragraph with you, I'm in great company. (laughs)

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you. Great to be with you, Ed.

Ed Schultz: You bet.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Bye.

Ed Schultz: General Wesley Clark with us. Here's my response on CNN last night about this whole ordeal:

(on tape)

Ed Schultz: The bottom line is that Wesley Clark, first of all, shouldn't have to clarify what he said. I'm disappointed in the Obama camp distancing themselves from it. This is about experience. This is about judgement. And if John McCain is a war hero, maybe we better ask the question, 'Why isn't he voting like one?' He voted against the GI Bill, which Bush signed today. Think about what happened. We got a Freshman Senator from Virginia Jim Webb getting the President of the United States to sign legislation and John McCain wasn't on board. Now, is that being a war hero? I don't think so.

(end tape)

Ed Schultz: And is it telling the truth from the Oval Office when George Bush yesterday at the signing gave credit to McCain for working on it!?! Cut me some slack!