By:
John Amato on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 7:00 AM - PDT
Gen. Wesley Clark went on MSNBC’s The Verdict to respond to the criticism he has received for his opinion of John McCain during his visit to Face the Nation on CBS Sunday morning.
Download | Play 
Download | Play 5 min…(h/t Heather)
He didn’t back down and stood by what he said while never making much of a comment about Obama’s response. (I don’t think it was included in this clip) Good for him….
Please tell me where he was out of line. He said he honored and respected McCain’s service and said he was one of his heroes, but didn’t think getting shot down was a prerequisite for the White House. Media Matters has the full transcript posted of FTN here.
No Trackbacks To “Wesley Clark Responds“
248 Responses for “Wesley Clark Responds”
Foist Pendejos!
Good for him!!!!
The man is right - and General Clark is also a hero.
Please don’t move toward “the center” if kowtowing “the center” led us to this mess.
What will happen next?
“No bastard ever won a war by “getting shot down” for his country.
He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.”
- Attributed to General George Patton Jr
(from “A Genius for War” by Carlo d’Este)
Again, it’s the press making more of this than they should, but then anything to sell copy. he was criticizing McCain not attacking him, and certainly not swift-boating him. and McCain is presuming to be President of the United States, so therefore any issue that any single voter wants to form an opinion on about any candidate is fair to be discussed and considered. voters should be as informed as possible before selecting a candidate. emotion shouldn’t run the day. and that of course goes as well for Barack Obama: any issue about him that any voter wants to consider before voting is important, as long as that voter determines it to be. even for Barr or Nader or whomever.
Clark said nothing wrong and this entire “scandal” was created by the rightwing and given play by their media enablers. I was very happy that he did not back down when repeatedly pressed. With Obama moving to the “center” (he now supports expanding government funded faith-based intitiatives!) I kinda wish Clark was the nominee.
Being shot down in a fighter plane should not be a requisite to being POTUS. Nor should being in the armed services be a requisite to being POTUS. Never has been. Clark was exactly right except for one detail. He said that McShame had been a hero to him and millions of others. Beg to differ General. I don’t believe you really, deep down, believe that McShame is a hero but God forbid! you would ever say that!!! So I will say it for you: John McCain is no hero.
theWalrus @ 6:
Yeah…I hear that…Obama is not making me happy lately….I don’t want to think that my time and money spent supporting him were wasted…
theWalrus @ 6:
Sorry, but Obama has always been a centrist. In fact, if you look at his policy record… like most of the Dems he is a moderate conservative.
There is nothing even close to left in the mainstream American politics.
I think his comment was correct. In fact, I don’t think service in uniform is a prerequisite for executive political service either. They are not transferable skills. Certainly, fighting a war does not qualify one to decide to start a war, and, as we see with GWB, not fighting doesn’t either. The two criterial have nothing to do with the talent needed to make such determinations. Eisenhower was very clear that the war machine was something to fear, not sanctify, and he HAD military executive experience.
Where was he out of line?
He questioned the qualifications of a Republican. Not his patriotism or penchant for taking airplanes up in the sky and bringing them down in several pieces or his ability to be a POW but his bonefides to run the country. Everybody knows the last thing we need is a qualified President. It would fly in the face of tradition.
I am inclined to agree with Gen. Clark. He said nothing wrong. In fact, he is doing the media’s job buy looking at McCain’s service instead of blindly accepting the meme that McCain and the GOP are pushing.
What kind of country are we where you can’t question a person’s qualifications for our MOST IMPORTANT JOB, because he was POW?
I was in a car wreck once. I guess that makes me qualified to run General Motors. (Oh, wait, GM’s another car wreck. Oops, poor analogy.)
See. Here we go again. Who’s more patriotic. Next will be who smoked pot, who’s more religious, etc. etc. etc. Why is this crap important?!?!
Meanwhile, pentagon source says Israel is poised to attack Iran. Little coverage by the MSM. Coincidence? C’mon
As a result, scared ignorant Americans will vote for the “tough-guy” party, the Supreme Court will become dominated by conservatives, and the American Fascist state wil continue to cater to the Cheney’s, the Bush’s, and the rest of the power eliets as the U.S.A. continues its decline into the abyss…
This is so frustrating. I just want Clark to say, “Hey Bob Schieffer YOU tell me how getting shot down qualifies one to be president. Explain it to me. Eisenhower was high commander of Allied forces in Europe. That’s arguably a bigger responsibility that POTUS. That surely qualified him. Kennedy and Bush I also served with distinction but never made that a big part of their campaign, instead emphasizing their real executive service. This is such a no brainer I can’t believe it. I can’t believe Obama jumped on the diss Clark bandwagon.
O/T (sorry)
Obama now says he’s going to expand Bush’s “faith based” initiatives:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....bama_faith
Meet the new boss…
I have yet to figure out just why McCain is a “hero”. What exactly did he do that others didn’t, who were in his situtation? What does being a POW have to do with anything, but being a POW? And the same for being a military person? What does leadign a squadron have to do with the presidency? That would mean that even Mr. Bush had some great qualifications for being President from being in the military, which is oh-so evidently not true.
It’s too bad that the term hero has been so devalued that simply existing seems reason to deem someone that.
So, many reich-wingers, who never served, attacking a General…..how amusing and a tad bit ironic.
Calling McCain a hero is like giving the quarterback that threw the interception that cost him the game a MVP.
breakspear @ 5:
I don’t think it’s only the press that’s making a mountain out of this molehill. I’m looking at you left-wing blog comments sections…
andrea @ 16:
He’s not a hero. The reich-wing GOPigs have perverted the very meaning of the word.
General Clark is right. Anyone flying a fighter plane during wartime can get shot down. This is not a prerequisite for anything in my book. In fact, if you really want to get technical, McCain has brought down more American planes himself by crashing them than probably every North Vietnamese missile or anti aircraft battery combined.
The Media Industrial Complex has made Clark’s comments into “Clark trashes McCain’s military service”.
Complete and utter bullshit.
Bob Schieffer, whom I really respected until Sunday’s show, came at Clark with “Well, Obama never got shot down and spent five years as a POW” — and Clark simply threw it back in his face.
WTF is “Barry O” up to these past few days? Throwing Clark under the proverbial bus; now he wants to EXPAND gov’t funding for faith-based programs. What’s next Senator?
If getting shot down and being a POW qualifies an individual to be president, why wasn’t McCain nominated by his party in 2000 over Bush?
What General Clark said was literally true.
It is undeniable that McCain’s POW status in Vietnam does not qualify him for the presidency. Those who disagree bear the burden of explaining exactly in what way McCain’s POW status makes him uniquely qualified to serve as Commander in Chief. It’s like saying that surviving a plane crash makes me qualified to pilot a 747.
andrea @ 16:
Yes, there were many POW’s in Vietnam. This particular POW was not just the son of an Admiral, but also the grandson of an Admiral. So you can see the distinction right there. His Royal lineage…
Sorry that is so pre 1776 thinking on my part.
Obama is one big disappointment. This latest cave to the repugs over Clark’s statement is just another proof of Democratic weakness. Obama is no better than Pelosi and Reid in giving in to the whining of Bush and McShame. IF Obama is elected in November will we see more of the same, giving in to the repugs on every issue and not standing up for anything? What is worse, a president who leads the country in the wrong direction or a president who doesn’t lead only follows.
ringworm @ 19:
Really? Well thanks for stopping by. Hopefully you will pick up a fact or two for a change.
I like Ballonjuice’s perspective that by McCain’s criteria Randy “Duke”Cunningham, who is now in prison, would make an excellent presidential choice, since he served heroically in the military.
Unbelievable!! After all the lies and disreputable acts that have characterized the Republican Party’s last three election campaigns, that they and their cowardly surrogate supporters have the gall to criticize Wesley Clark for an honest observation that in no way demeaned McCain. But they are experts at twisting the truth so as to focus the blame on their opponents.
this is such a friggin non-issue. the back and forth over this is pure farce.
oh, to have a msm that actually covers the issues.
and, like others have said, obama doesn’t need to tack to the center, he is of the center. good for some, for others, not so much.
McCain opened himself up to the attack by surrendering to the Viet Cong all those years ago.
crap, i meant to put center in quotes.
as in:
obama is of the “center”
as, today’s notion of the “center” is biased to an extreme.
Of course he wasn’t out of line. About time people in this Nation spoke up. Objectively, just what does being a POW, standing alone, give you to make you more qualified to be President? Nothing. Was it horrible to go through? Absolutely.
Samson- @ 30:
In this country having an MSM that covers the issues would be a disaster. Half of Congress would be looking for work, the President, Vice President and at least one former Attorney General would be behind bars and our tax dollars would be used for things like health care instead of bombs. Surely you can see the dilema that would create.
This is just high drama about an old man who has nothing to offer anyone. This is the neo-con strategy, and Clark fell into it. Better to have kept his mouth shut.
It’s never about issues. It’s always about how we “feel” about candidates.
xoites defends Constituion @ 27:
Really? Well thanks for stopping by. Hopefully you will pick up a fact or two for a change.
Listen, John Amato himself constantly says how this is Obama’s party now. He won the primary and one of the nice things about being the nominee is that you get to decide how your campaign is run. Traditionally that means you get to control the party’s message. Can we agree with that? Good.
People are completely distorting Obama’s “rebuke” of General Clark. He isn’t rejecting the substance of the statements, he is rejecting using that tack in his campaign message entirely. He has decided that attacking McCain’s military service at all is not only a political non-starter, it is also bad form. I don’t know why anyone is surprised by this or thinks that he is in any way altering his position, or moving to the center. It is none of those things. This is the exact sort of thing he’s been saying since he first started running. He wants it to be about the issues. Maybe that’s weak, or soft, or naive, or whatever, but it is entirely consistent with his campaign message to date.
xoites defends Constituion @ 27:
Highly doubt it, the logical dissonance inside the right winger’s brain is so deafening as handicapping them from performing simple exercises in logic.
Who could blame them. Would you be able to pick facts if you had an entire kitchen staff banging their pots and pans as loud as they could for hours inside your head?
how this is Obama’s party now.
PartY ON, MOFOs
Strange.
When the “swiftboaters” first came out, FOX-whatever promoted them as a source of truth.
However, now that Clark has spoke out about his own opinion, he’s now “swiftboating” McCain.
Implying that it’s a smear-job.
Implying that FOX now admits that the “swiftboaters” were smear-jobs against Kerry.
That they promoted.
Isn’t it great when you can gloss over history?
I couldn’t agree with Wesley Clarke more. I’ve been saying the same thing for the last year, and have NEVER heard it mentioined by anyone.
mcBush was a POW. I regrettably respect that five years. I don’t even want to know what he told the enemy at the time. I would have told them anything they wanted to know most likely, considering the treatment that they administered to him (similar to what we NOW administer to our prisoners).
But that in NO WAY makes him a “hero”. He was a POW. He didn’t jump on a grenade, save any of his fellow servicemen, do something “heroic”. Wake up America. You are so screwed up on your thinking.
And being a Navy pilot is to be commended. If you were to go into his personal life back then, I don’t think you would believe he was such a “model citizen”, but he was a young military jock, and I can accept that.
But all this bullshit about “hero”, and “fit to be president because he was a POW” is simply bullshit, twisted logic.
I was in a motorcycle accident 8 months ago. Does that make me qualified to head the Transportation Department? God, the logic this right wing, noecon/fascist party and the media spin is appalling.
Are Americans REALLy this f*cking stupid? Do we have to appear to the rest of the world like we have absolutely NO BRAINS??
We truly are a nation of f*cking morons. We’re #1, we’re #1….
Jay Severin Has A Small Pen1s @ 31:
Speaks volumes that McCain got shot down flying a multi million dollar jet by a farmers, wearing flip flops.
He was out of line because he broke orthodox. It’s that simple. The bias of the press isn’t so much towards the GOP or the Democrats. The bias of the press is to maintain orthodoxy and enforce The Narrative. And questioning how events in McCain’s service are qualifications for President sends McCain Media Love Train completely off the rails.
He was not out of line one bit. The media response is very telling, especially regarding Schieffer. They are equating any questioning of McCain’s leadership experience with questions about Obama’s race as far as “no talk” goes. But the reality is McCain has very limited national security chops, and if you want to gauge his decision making look at Iraq and how Al Qaeda and The Taliban have regrouped. All we have heard from him is crying about protecting Pakistan sovereignty. Despicable to anyone who has friends or family who signed up to do a real mission.
liberAL @ 26:
I tend to agree. Obama’s recent vote on FISA, and now his failure to back Clarke, while it may be smart politics, suggests to me that he is not above abandoning his priciples in order to reach his goals.
Did you see the part on “V” for vendetta w/ Abrams last night where Wes said the media was swiftboating him and Tfucker Carlson said “whatever that means”?
ringworm @ 36:
Listen, John Amato himself constantly says how this is Obama’s party now. He won the primary and one of the nice things about being the nominee is that you get to decide how your campaign is run. Traditionally that means you get to control the party’s message. Can we agree with that? Good.
People are completely distorting Obama’s “rebuke” of General Clark. He isn’t rejecting the substance of the statements, he is rejecting using that tack in his campaign message entirely. He has decided that attacking McCain’s military service at all is not only a political non-starter, it is also bad form. I don’t know why anyone is surprised by this or thinks that he is in any way altering his position, or moving to the center. It is none of those things. This is the exact sort of thing he’s been saying since he first started running. He wants it to be about the issues. Maybe that’s weak, or soft, or naive, or whatever, but it is entirely consistent with his campaign message to date.
Perhaps you are missing the point. I have yet to make a comment on what Obama has said or done in all of this.
The Media, the Monopoly Media has gone Ape Shit over this. As if by questioning McCain’s qualifications was a direct attack against the press. They are highly offended and outraged. They are, in point of fact, McCain’s cheerleaders.
If this is fine with you you missed your era. The Soviet Union collapsed already