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The "Return" Of General Wes Clark

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Media
Posted on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 11:43:55 AM EST
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Via Digby - the General returns:

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    The "Return" Of General Wes Clark | 22 comments (22 topical)

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    Great response (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by flyerhawk on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 11:47:32 AM EST
    He really has been impressive to me.  

    Poor campaigner? (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by Demi Moaned on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 12:16:44 PM EST
    This is a fine example of what I love about Clark. He's concise and unapologetic. And he refuses to be trapped by right-wing frames. It's such a contrast to the mealy-mouthed rhetoric that is the default Democratic behavior. I think these qualities were amply on display during the '06 midterm elections.

    Yet somehow there's a received opinion in the left blogosphere that Clark is a poor campaigner. To my mind, he's the very model of what all our candidates should be striving for.

    And the media (5.00 / 2) (#9)
    by BernieO on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 02:10:07 PM EST
    has never taken him seriously which is bizarre when you look at his resume.

    I always thought he was a better choice than Kerry. Even the bad campaigner meme could have been used to his advantage to portray him as not a professional politician. There is something wrong with our society (especially our media) that we prefer guys like Reagan and Bush over Clark.

    Parent

    Actually political campaigning is all (none / 0) (#6)
    by MarkL on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 12:34:38 PM EST
    about being mealy-mouthed---at least for the candidate it is.

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    Back up the bus (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by KeysDan on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 12:17:42 PM EST
    and dust off General Clark.  While Scarborough was looking for trouble, he found only a clear explanation for what is the fundamental responsibility of an effective executive officer.  Every intelligent and strong department head is expected to advocate strongly for his/her position.  It is the role of the "decider"  to consider and balance the various needs in keeping with the larger picture and greater good.  

    Clark is a large man (5.00 / 2) (#4)
    by Dadler on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 12:30:41 PM EST
    He easily could've decided to stop defending Obama after B.O. dismissed his opinion last month.  But he cares about the larger picture.  Good for him.

    Nicely put. (none / 0) (#23)
    by weltec2 on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 10:21:13 PM EST
    I thought his answer was clear and direct. I hope BO has the good sense to use him some capacity and to listen carefully to his advice.

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    Odd, in a way, to see genuine . . . (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by wurman on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 12:34:15 PM EST
    Gravitas from a campaign advisor, political party heavyweight, & "moderately" possible vice-presidential candidate.

    He perhaps singlehandedly obliterated the lame stream media's "fighter pilot hero as commander-in-chief" narrative (plagiarized from the character President Thomas J. Whitmore from Independence Day) & very nearly graven in granite by Bob Schieffer for all of his hacktastic pundit colleagues to reference.  It looks as if that ghost theme took a Wes Clark silver stake in the heart.

    Sort of makes Buckshot Cheney look exactly like the lightweight he always was & is.

    And Gen. Clark brings a dignity to the partisan battles that keeps the issues serious & almost always precludes the trivialization efforts of the media hacks.

    Surge (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by bison on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 12:41:38 PM EST
    On the same show,Wesley Clark gave extensive commentary on Middle East conditions, strategies and the surge.  On the surge, Clark was adamant in his respond that the surge can not be explained in simplistic language, of whether it work or didn't work.  He gave a nuance answer about the surge.  He delineated  several factors that actually helped to make it  possible for the surge or the escalation of US forces to reduce violence in Iraq.   His answer echoed the same sentiment as Obama's.  At the end of the discussion, Joe  tried to accused Clark of demeaning the achievements of US Military forces!  Clark, a flag ranked officer, is not going to put down US Troops.  That was a no brainer.  

    He should be VP (5.00 / 2) (#8)
    by Dr Molly on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 12:55:43 PM EST
    It's a no-brainer. He's the best.

    Although (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by BernieO on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 02:13:01 PM EST
    the contrast with Obama is not flattering for Barack.  Still I think he would be a fabulous choice, which is probably why the right raised such a stink about his comments on McCain's military experience. I think they are really afraid that Obama will pick him.
    Clark as VP would go a long way toward reassuring me, that's for sure.

    Parent
    Me too (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by Dr Molly on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 02:27:16 PM EST
    Actually, I'd much rather Clark for President!

    But it sure would help me pull the lever if he were VP. I think he is such a great combination of smart, decent, and ethical. Plus, he is that rare strong man in politics that doesn't seem afraid of women in power, in fact seems to embrace and respect them.

    Parent

    That is really the bottom line. (none / 0) (#24)
    by weltec2 on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 10:26:53 PM EST
    I don't think BO would be able to handle working with HRC. He would turn it into a power struggle. I think she will be much more effective in the Senate. Clark would be perfect.

    Parent
    Me too, Donald (none / 0) (#22)
    by Dr Molly on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 05:44:20 PM EST
    But I've given up and given in.

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    I'd feel a whole lot better (none / 0) (#21)
    by hairspray on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 04:38:23 PM EST
    if he was the president-elect.  Not only does he have extensive foreign service experience, but he has been an administrator of large army bases as well so he has executive experience.  Why the kingmakers of Obama wouldn't consider Clark is a mystery to me.

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    Technical question on the clip? (none / 0) (#13)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 02:34:51 PM EST
    I'm on slowwww country DSL, which makes watching video clips like this one really painful.

    Is there a way to pause the playing of the video while it loads up so it can be then played without interruption?

    I don't watch a lot of video on line because it's such a hassle with my usually pokey connection, but on some I have played, there's a pause button that allows the video to load fully before trying to play, and I don't see that here.  Am I missing something?

    Don't mean to derail the thread into a technical discussion, but I really can't watch these things at all the way they so often are.

    You should be hoping Obama wins then (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by Alien Abductee on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 03:08:35 PM EST
    on that basis alone. :)

    "As president, I will set a simple goal: Every American should have the highest-speed broadband access--no matter where you live, or how much money you have."
    --6/16/08, Flint, Mich.

    I wonder if McCain would be in favor of that too, once he finds the Internet...

    Parent

    Aaaaargh. 41 seconds (none / 0) (#17)
    by wurman on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 03:10:08 PM EST


    Parent
    LOL (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by Alien Abductee on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 03:12:31 PM EST
    It was too irresistible, was it not...

    Parent
    Total cheap shot (none / 0) (#20)
    by wurman on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 04:32:38 PM EST


    Parent
    Click on the box, start loading & buffering (none / 0) (#16)
    by wurman on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 03:09:16 PM EST
    Then open another window & go do something else: read recipes, memorize MLBaseball batting averages, write a letter to Ted Stevens about getting the tubes open & fast.  Come back about 15 minutes later, click on replay, & watch the video.

    I have DSL & still must wait for video to buffer--about 2 minutes wait for each minute of video.

    This is because the providers don't compress the video files & lower the quality.  It's like shoving motor oil (HDTV) through a hypodermic syringe.

    Then make your plans to vote for Sen. Obama.  Read magnanimous promises in National Journal (link):

    Technology
    Provide every American with broadband access
    "As president, I will set a simple goal: Every American should have the highest-speed broadband access--no matter where you live, or how much money you have."
    --6/16/08, Flint, Mich.


    Parent
    Thanks very much, Wurman (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 04:30:05 PM EST
    That makes sense.

    Everybody's in favor of everybody having high-speed internet access, from Obama to Karl Rove.  I'll be impressed only when I see something actually being done about it.

    I can't complain, though.  It's quite something to have a tiny local rural telco offering good DSL at a reasonable price that reaches all the way to where I am, 5 or 6 miles from the central office.  When they have one of their rare outages, the gal in  the office calls to tell you when it's back on.

    Parent

    The "Return" Of General Wes Clark | 22 comments (22 topical)

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