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June 30, 2008
Go, General Clark!
General Clark is on MSNBC standing his ground.
"This is about requirements to be president."
Right on.
Goddamn, the Republicans and the McBushies are being cry-babies about this thing. General Clark didn't question Senator McCain's service, heroism or the veracity of the senator's record (like the Swift Boaters did to Senator Kerry -- one of those Swift Boaters is now part of the McCain campaign). He honored Senator McCain's service.
But you know, there are hundreds of thousands of military veterans and quite a few POWs -- not all of them are automatically presidential material. It has nothing to do with their service or their sacrifice -- it's just that the presidency requires certain other qualities beyond military experience. I thought that was obvious, but I suppose the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander is totally off base about the military.
UPDATE: General Clark... "I'm not backing away from anything I said." Good. This is a silly, made-up corporate media controversy.
Posted By Bob Cesca | June 30, 2008 08:41 PM | DIGG THIS
Comments
Amen.
Posted by: Paddy
at June 30, 2008 09:44 PM
I seem to remember some of these same wingnuts attacking Clark in 2004. We really need to find those and throw them back in their faces. It's fine for Republicans to attack Democratic veterans, but damn if you state a *fact* about a Republican veteran.
Posted by: IntoxiNation
at June 30, 2008 09:53 PM
And then there was the chick on Abrams who said that she supposed Clark's experience in Vietnam didn't qualify him to be president. Sounded like she had no clue about Clark's history until Abrams brought up the fact that Clark was a general and had some experience with command. Seriously, do they go out and hunt for people who don't know shit about a subject or do the people volunteer??
Posted by: ceu
at June 30, 2008 10:03 PM
This certainly is made up and each story they cover now is either pretty much made up or nothing when it concerns the Presidential election. I am not sure what they intend to do to fill time for the next few months but I am sure I won't be watching. I am recording (so I can fast forward when I want to) Washington Journal,Countdown,Daily Show and Colbert. I think I will see anything worth seeing.
Now all that seems to be happening is people trying to act like Obama has all of these problems that are going to make the election really close. It is pure nonsense.
Posted by: JDS
at June 30, 2008 11:19 PM
Let's examine the inane question by Schieffer:
"Can I just interrupt you? I have to say, Barack Obama hasn't had any of these experiences either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down."
Schieffer is expressing the knee-jerk, unquestioned and uncritically accepted idea that such experiences do make you more qualified to be president. What is Clark supposed to say? "Gee, you're right. I sure wish Obama had been shot down and captured too."
And of course, the obvious point is that Obama is using his own life experiences as qualifications to be president and doesn't need to match McCain's military experiences point by point.
McCain wasn't a brilliant Harvard law student and community organizer either.
Posted by: roberto
at July 1, 2008 03:05 AM
Forget Clark's answer for a moment and let's examine the inane question by Schieffer:
"Can I just interrupt you? I have to say, Barack Obama hasn't had any of these experiences either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down."
Schieffer is expressing the knee-jerk, unquestioned and uncritically accepted idea that such experiences do make you more
qualified to be president. What is Clark supposed to say? "Gee, you're right. I sure wish Obama had been shot down and captured too."
And of course, the obvious point is that Obama is using his own life experiences as qualifications to be president and doesn't need to match McCain's military experiences point by point.
McCain wasn't a brilliant Harvard law student and community organizer either.
Posted by: roberto
at July 1, 2008 03:08 AM
McCain wasn't a brilliant student anywhere. He was mediocre in elementary school, and had a reputation of being a bully. Funny how things never seem to change for some people, isn't it?
Posted by: bajasteve
at July 1, 2008 08:47 AM
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