Former Army Gen. Wesley Clark Bashes Bush

[JI7]

<Little Rock (AP) - Former presidential candidate Wesley Clark said Monday that Arkansans should hold the Bush administration accountable for sending thousands of its soldiers to fight and die in an unnecessary war in Iraq.

Clark is campaigning for nominee John Kerry. He also accused the administration of reneging on promises to create jobs and of making the nation less secure.

Clark made the statements the day before Vice President Dick Cheney (website/newsbio) is to make his fourth visit to Arkansas. Cheney is due in Blytheville Tuesday morning to attend a Republican National Committee fund-raiser.

But Clark, a former Army general, said the Bush administration has a lot of making up to do to ordinary people across America, including Arkansans. Clark lamented the deployment of thousands of Arkansans to fight In Iraq and said the war hasn't made us any safer.

Clark also charged that the Bush administration did too little to protect the country against terrorism before the September 11th attacks. He said they ignored warnings that international terrorism posed the greatest threat to national security and rushed to war in Iraq rather than staying focused on terrorism and al-Quaida leader
Osama bin Laden. >

http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0904/172726.html

[BootinUp]

1. Clark's on a mission.

:nuke:

[Ruffhowse]

2. Take it to 'em Wes!!!

[knight_of_the_star]

21. Go Wes go!

Wes, you are the man! I bet that even though you are not on the ticket you are STILL making Rove lose sleep over you!!!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Clark has a lot of respect in Arkansas

Our state has sent a disproportionate number of troops to Iraq-I think second or third of all the numbers of troops. The disgraceful way in which Bush has treated the military and vets (and there are a lot of vets in Arkansas as well) has ticked a lot of folks off. The General needs to keep pouring it on!

[Jacobin]

4. Go Wes. At least SOMEBODY is telling the fucking truth about IraqNam

[zaj]

15. Indeed... or is it Viet-raq?

[FrenchieCat]

5. Those Democrats

that questioned Clark's party affiliations and were so scared of "a General". They should be hung out to dry. How dare they ruin our chances to have truly kicked the chimp's ass!

[GOPBasher]

7. I wanted Clark too.

I definitely think Clark would have given us a better chance to win. But Kerry's our guy now, I'm going to do everything in my power to help him into the White House.

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. It's only the ones who lied who have me angry, Frenchie...

...the ones who knew damn well that Clark was the real thing, a man of honor who chooses to serve his country and strongly defends the ideals of the Democratic Party, yet still tore into Clark for being a war mongering Republican so as to help some rival Democratic candidate. Those people can be hung out to dry with my full approval. As for the rest of Clark's early skeptics, I only wish they had looked closer at the man and his ideas sooner. In our society I can never get too upset with anyone who is disillusioned and prone to believe the worst about anyone running for public office. At this point though, in my opinion, no genuine Democrat can remain skeptical about Wes Clark's motivations.

[mbali]

13. Clark as a surrogate is very different than he would be as a candidate . .

Everyone is. He has nothing to lose by coming out swinging the way he is. If he were the nominee, HE'd be the one getting dragged through the mud for everything he ever did in his life and he'd also have to be a lot more careful in his campaigning than he is now.

I think Clark is great. But we shouldn't assume that the way a person behaves as a surrogate is the way they'd behave as the nominee. It's a night and day difference.

If Clark were the nominee, with Kerry as a surrogate, plenty of people would be bitching about how he was campaigning and would be raving about how effective Kerry was, why wasn't HE the nominee, etc.

[Donna Zen]

14. Each election is different

but the one thing that stays the same is that the majority of voters rely on their perceptions rather than the hardcore policy differences. Why? Because in the end, what you see is what you get.

Wes Clark always tells the truth, even though the media assured you otherwise, he always told the truth. He is still telling the truth in language that is both precise and elegant and strangely "down-home."

Clark had a more universal appeal, fewer negatives, and a clearer message than the others. That is why I chose to support him; I saw someone who could beat bush, although I never expected the DNC/media hit squad.

That of course is not why I still follow him. I follow him because he tells the truth.

He is an amazing human being.

[Leilani]

18. Thank you Donna Zen!

A very eloquent post about Wes Clark, with some very good reasons as to why many of us supported him.

Clark was & is still a truth teller, which is why he was attacked from both sides.

As a non-politician, he was a breath of fresh air; such a rare bird among career pols, where every utterance has been poll tested.

And here is a man, who can just stand there, as an example of duty, honor, country. He has no need to prove his credentials to anyone.

In my opinion, the Dems passed up an amazing opportunity.

[knight_of_the_star]

22. Exactly!

Even if he were the candidate right now (don't remind me that he isn't!) he would STILL be doing the same thing.

[Spiffarino]

23. I think it would have been an old-fashioned ass kicking

Wes wouldn't have taken the Chimp's slime for two weeks before firing back. He'd have just kicked him in the 'nads first chance he got.

[benddem]

6. Just a note

he isn't a former General...he is a General. You can say retired but not former. Just General is fine.

[JI7]

16. yeah, i noticed it also, and only put it in because it was in the title

of the article. but you are right, it should just be "general" .

[FrenchieCat]

9. You can write in comments too!

I did....it's there! I'm C. McClendon

[Leilani]

10. Thanks J17 for posting the Wes story!

Glad Wes is campaigning in Arkansas.

[sandersadu]

11. Clark

Whether Kerry wins or loses, I'd like to see some combination of Clark and Edwards as our ticket in 2012 and beyond. Clark is still relatively young and wouldn't even be McCain's age when he runs.

[krkaufman]

20. 2008 would work for me. n/t

[kodi]

12. wes clark is the best america can produce, and i am damned proud of him

i hope clark chews bush/cheney a new asshole.

[Rockygabriel]

17. Clark Sets Up The One Two Punch

As someone who met Clark, I think he has quite a bit of gravitas.

I'm glad he is setting up a strike force for Kerry/Edwards and all of us Americans. Clark needs a pair of boxing gloves.

Remember, Kerry is smart. Heck, he is a former Prosecutor. He is gonna set up shrub for a real deflating.

Remember 1996, in his Senate re-election bid against William Weld, a popular sitting governor, Kerry ended up in an old-fashioned dogfight.

Though the polls sometimes showed the race in a dead heat or with Kerry even trailing, Kerry eventually won by a seven-point margin, with fifty-two percent of the vote.

With the help of Clark and other surrogates, Kerry is gonna put up the fight of his life and knock out the shrub.

FYI, check out http://www.votebushout.biz/animation.asp

Thanks,
Leslie Gabriel aka Rocky :headbang:

[krkaufman]

19. Of all sad words of tongue or pen.....