A Man among Men: General Wesley Clark

By Eddie G. Griffin

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

If this election was won on the basis of the biggest cry baby, consider Senator John McCain’s reaction to an off-handed comment by General Wesley Clark on CBS Face The Nation.

Was John McCain’s honor so slighted that he would give General Clark a white glove slap in the fact?

General Wesley Clark said what he meant and meant what he said. Suck up it, McCain, and keep marching. Suck it up, Captain McCain. You’re outranked.

General Clark has won my admiration.

Let’s look at the context of this fiasco, Wednesday, July 02, 2008.

A BRIEF: What did Gen. Clark say to provoke McCain’s ire?

[Excerpts from "FACE THE NATION"]

BOB SCHIEFFER, "FACE THE NATION": Well -- well, General, maybe -- could I just interrupt you?

CLARK: Sure.

SCHIEFFER: I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences, either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down. I mean...

CLARK: Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.

Ouch!

Everyone should know that one experience does not a president make. But the puppet and the puppeteer would rather use the occasion to cry foul.

John McCain, apparently sensitive about both his age and his military record, lashed back, not at General Clark but his opponent Senator Barack Obama. “I think the time has come to not just repudiate Gen. Clark, but to cut him loose,” McCain said.

WOW! How extreme! How can a little qualified criticism (which was not actually criticism)… how could such a small statement set of McCain’s internal nuclear reaction?

Obama’s initial reaction was that Clark’s statement was “un-artful”. But no, Barack would never questioned McCain’s patriotism or heroism. In fact, Obama lauds McCain’s service record and military service.

But does that appease the mind of a political strategist like Karl Rove:

I mean, General Clark was outrageous. It just was -- it was -- you know, this was -- this was beyond -- this was beyond the pale for General Clark to smear Senator McCain in this manner… So the question tomorrow is going to be… Are they going to stop smearing Senator McCain? Karl Rove, former Bush aide, FOX Contributor, speaking to Van Susteren

Stop Smearing Senator Mccain?

McCain appears to be manipulated by strategist Karl Rove. Their allegation is totally disingenuous. But the objective is not so much to make the allegation stick, but drive a wedge betweem Obama and Clark.

General Clark stands by his word

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark rejected suggestions he apologize Tuesday for saying John McCain's medal-winning military service does not qualify him for the White House. Elaborating, Clark said a president must have judgment, not merely courage and character.

At last a real military man stands up against all the fake whining to gain a sympathetic political edge.

WIKI Footnote

Wesley Kanne Clark (born December 23, 1944) is a retired General of the United States Army. Clark was 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.

Clark commanded Operation Allied Force in the Kosovo War during his term as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000.

Now compare John McCain’s bio. Which is more qualified?

Eddie Griffin’s Commentary

General Wesley Clark is a military hero in his own right, so how can Senator John McCain “repudiate him” and “cut him off”. Imagine a captain repudiating a general. How insulting, like a white glove slap in the face.

Now here is a man more qualified to be president making a simple qualified statement, and McCain and Rove take it and run out in left field with it.

Post Note

"I think that you can always cite a candidate's service in the armed forces as a testimony to his character and his courage. But I don't think early service justifies moving away from looking at a candidate's judgment," Clark said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., rebutted Clark's claim by arguing that McCain's years as a prisoner of war and the mistreatment he endured made him uniquely qualified to lead the campaign in the Senate to ban the use of torture in the interrogation of detainees in the war on terror.

"I don't think that Gen. Clark had the same intent as the Swift Boat ads of four years ago. I reject that analogy," Obama said. He said McCain "deserves the utmost honor and respect for his service to our country."