Jun 30 2008
Wimping out
If the Democrats expect to win this year’s presidential election, they really need to stop wimping out all the time. I’m not kidding around here, folks. My party needs to grow a pair.
Yesterday, during an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation, General Wesley Clark, in response to a question from moderator Bob Schieffer, said:
“Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”
That is a true statement and I have said it before right here on this weblog. However, the rabid right wingers saw it as an attack on the frail old man they have chosen begrudgingly accepted as their 2008 presidential nominee. They objected and the Obama campaign immediately capitulated…
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, “As he’s said many times before, Sen. Obama honors and respects Senator McCain’s service, and of course he rejects yesterday’s statement by Gen. Clark.”
Sen. Obama rejects yesterday’s statement by Gen. Clark.
The correct answer would have been:
General Wesley K. Clark
“General Wesley Clark is a retired General of the United States Army. He graduated as valedictorian of his class at West Point, was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford where he obtained a degree in PPE (Philosophy, Politics & Economics), and later graduated from the Command and General Staff College with a master’s degree in military science. He spent 34 years in the Army and the Department of Defense, receiving many military decorations, several honorary knighthoods, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. His latest assignment was as Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000. [source]
We honor the service of General Wesley Clark, value his opinions and are grateful to have his support and his advice in this all-important campaign for the Presidency of the United States of America.
We will put the service of General Wesley Clark up against that of John Sidney McCain III any day of the week. That is a debate we will be glad to have.”
That is what they should have said. Instead, they sent the candidate out to make a speech about how nobody’s patriotism should ever be challenged (Sen. McCain’s patriotism was not challenged; his qualifications for the presidency were) and then they issue a statement in which they “reject yesterday’s statement by Gen. Wesley Clark.”
Wimpy, wimpy, wimpy.
I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me that Barack Obama may have blown it today. He seems to believe that if he plays nice, so will the Republicans. They won’t.
UDPATE: Watch the video…
(Could Schieffer possibly be more biased? One could almost believe he works for Fox News rather than CBS.)
10 Responses to “Wimping out”
Yeah, I was watching that yesterday morning, and I really didn’t see anything wrong with his comments.
Right on! There was absolutely nothing about Gen. Clark’s statement which needed to be “rejected”. This whole campaign is getting ridiculous with all the “political correctness” crap. Let people say what they want to say. Geez.
Wes Clark ought to observe the adage about throwing stones and living in glass houses. His tenure in Kosovo was marred by his micromanagement of operations to the detriment of the mission and against the advice of his subordinates. Plus this
But the saddest thing about Obama’s military “expert” is “even though he has Wes Clark in his corner, the only person he knows with the experience of getting a bomb on target is Bill Ayers.”
@Chris: Gotta love your “experts…” Jim Geraghty and Confederate Yankee. But thanks for dropping by, anyway. You got their links posted. Mission accomplished.
As I said in my post, I’ll put Wes Clark’s military service up against Johnny McCain’s any day of the week. (Or perhaps you are of the opinion that only those who call themselves Republicans deserve to have their military service honored?)
There are 2 issues here. The military service of both General Clark and Senator McCain should be lauded. They stood up for their country and fought the good fight. When our men and women don the uniform they are not Republicans or Democrats, they are Americans.
General Clark disparaged Senator McCain’s service. I then noted that more than a few people would have some not-so-nice things to say about General Clark in return. That is, the mud-slinging can go both ways.
I’d much rather emphasize the positive aspects of their military service. It would behoove Senator Obama to take the high road with regard to that issue.
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“Mission accomplished”. Heh! I like that one. Maybe the Obama campaign can find a way to work it into a speech…
Democrats are not as good as Republicans in swiftboating. It also seems that Republicans exhibit one trait that should have been used by Kerry four years ago….slam it down hard and fast.
@Chris: I don’t see where General Clark was disparaging John McCain’s military service. Quite the contrary, he seemed to go out of his way to honor it. He did raise a legitimate question, however. How does riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down qualify a person for the presidency? Amidst all the screaming and fainting over General Clark’s supposedly dishonoring the great little man, I have yet to hear anybody attempt to answer that question.
General Clark also said that McCain’s military experience is not pertinent to his quest for the presidency because he hadn’t been a squadron commander in a time of war. Together both of Clark’s statements call in to question McCain’s military record in an attempt to discredit him. The implication is that his service was no big deal and his experiences are not relevant to the campaign.
Obviously being a veteran is not in and of itself an immediate qualifier to be president. Otherwise John Kerry or George McGovern would have been in the Oval Office. But McCain’s experiences as a veteran and a POW are a part of who he is. It goes to his character (but not necessarily to his leadership skills). Character is an important trait to consider when evaluating a candidate for president.
It’s also disingenuous to compare McCain and Clark’s military records. General Clark is not running for the presidency (he is running a one-man campaign for Obama’s VP slot but I don’t think anyone takes him seriously, except perhaps himself). But by bringing up the military service issue, Clark has focused attention on the fact that Senator Obama did not serve in the military at all. It’s 2004 all over again, with “reporting for duty” and National Guard memos and all the associated rubbish.
I think that’s why Obama distanced himself from Clark’s remarks. He didn’t want to go there again!
I watched the entire program on Sunday morning, and at the time I watched it didn’t think it was going to become such a brouhaha. General Clark also said that McCain was a hero. No one is going ballistic over that.
I agree with Clark - I don’t think getting shot down in a fighter jet is a qualification to be president.
Certainly Dubya was never shot down in a fighter jet.
(pause while I fantasize about that….)
I think this whole issue highlights how the media can take one line of a speech or interview and spin it how they want, depending upon their own bias.
@Chris: We’ve had lots of presidents who never served in the military. Military service has never been a prerequisite for the presidency (unless someone changed the Constitution while I wasn’t looking). However, I agree that John McCain’s military service is relevant to the campaign. He graduated at or near the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy, crashed (as I understand it) several fighter jets, managed to get himself shot down over North Vietnam and spent the war in a POW camp. (It seems to me that his military service would be the last thing Sen. McCain would want to emphasize in his campaign, but then I’m not one of his advisers. Shoot, I’m not even one of his supporters!)
Judgment, charisma, leadership, trustworthiness… to name a few… are characteristics I think Americans are looking for in a president (this time around, anyway). In my opinion, Barack Obama has John McCain beat hands down in all of them. You, of course, are entitled to disagree. That’s what makes democracy great, right? Nobody, most especially me, is going to hunt you down and shoot you just because you happen to vote for the wrong guy.