African Americans Should Support General Wesley Clark..article

[in_cog_ni_to]

Here's a great article by Regina A. Mullen, Director od AADL.

African Americans Should Support General Wesley Clark

By Regina A. Mullen - Director, AADL

<snip>

African Americans for Democratic Leadership (AADL) urges all African Americans to support General Wesley Clark in the Democratic primary and the 2004 presidential election. We believe that General Clark’s candidacy could not have come at a better time.

Just as Americans are waking up and realizing that the war in Iraq has become a $100 billion Never Land, diverting us from the war on terror, General Clark has stepped forward and launched his campaign to help get us out of the messes that George W. Bush & Co. have gotten us into. AADL believes that General Clark is the Best Thing -- and that none of the other candidates who claim to be the “Next-to-Blackest Thing” can pack the punch needed to win the White House in 2004.

Even conservatives understand that Iraq was an elective war. But now that our troops are committed and dying daily for Iraqi independence, we need someone who is capable of creating a viable exit strategy. Leaving the foxes in the henhouse simply isn't an option; it's dangerous for our place in the world and it's dangerous for our civil rights and economic well-being at home.

But as we face historic challenges overseas and at home, something in the African-American approach for choosing our candidates has begun to change. It is no longer be good enough for candidates to invoke their involvement in the Civil Rights Movements of the 1950s and 1960s as a proxy for present day action on issues vital to the well-being of our culture, our children and extended-family overseas. African Americans demand more. We know that while Mississippi is alive and well in 2004, we also have an educated black population, media outlets which reflect African-American concerns, as well as the internet. There is no excuse for pretending that African Americans aren't paying attention to social and political details.<snip>


http://www.democrats.us/editorial/aadl092203.shtml

[BeyondGeography]

1. Great article

Clarkie's: READ THIS! The military is our most integrated institution and Wes Clark, who came from humble origins to go very far indeed, has consistently demonstrated an impeccable commitment to equal opportunity.

Thanks for the post.

[eyesroll]

2. Just keep in mind that the AADL is a Clark group

>We expect to register as an unaffiliated political action committee and/or think tank, as an organization supporting candidates who espouse the leadership ideals and political agenda of the Wesley K. Clark presidential campaign by early 2004. Donations are currently being accepted on our web site through Pay Pal.
http://www.aadl.us/aadl.php?id=2

and Regina Mullen was a high-level Clark volunteer or staffer (not sure whether she was paid) in Michigan.

So while this is a good position letter, it's not from an independent, pre-existing think tank that came to support Clark.

[HFishbine]

3. It's not even a group

Their web site lists no board. There is no information about membership (if there is any). There is only one name listed, Regina Mullen, who is described as the "director." The stated goal of the organization is to advance the "political agenda of the Wesley K. Clark." (http://www.aadl.us/aadl.php?id=2)

The AADL is an organization with no history of serving the African American community. It came into existance only for the purpose of supporting the Clark campaign. Furthermore, it is a front for one women's opinion -- a woman who is a staffer on the Clark campaign and is attempting to garner support for him under the pretense of an "organization" that has as it's primary purpose, not AA issues, but Clark's "political agenda."

Ms. Mullen, is the African American Outreach Cordinator for the Michigan for Clark Campaign. (You'll have to use Google's cache to see this info, it's been removed from the live web page: http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:NHFfB_Pr4NAJ:womenforclark.com/hookup.htm+director%40aadl.us&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)