Source: CNN.com

Barack Obama formally rejected Gen. Wesley Clark's recent comments Monday that questioned whether the John McCain's military experience qualified him to be commander in chief.

"As he's said many times before, Senator Obama honors and respects Senator McCain's service, and of course he rejects yesterday's statement by General Clark," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.

The comments came in an interview on CBS Sunday when Clark suggested McCain's experience as a prisoner of war did not alone provide the necessary experience to set the country's national security policies.

"I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces as a prisoner of war. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility," said Clark, a former NATO commander who campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.

*SNIP*

"We must always express our profound gratitude for the service of our men and women in uniform. Period. Full stop," Obama said.

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/30/obama-rejects-clarks-statement/

---

Obama caving OR Obama putting his foot down?

Obama doing what he has to do to get elected.

I disagree 100% with his statement. Some reall asswads have served. Sorry, its true and their service doesn't change that fact.

But I am not running for president of a country that worships the military. I can say these things. He can not. And I will not be the fool railing against this pronouncement.

Too Much Is At Stake.

EDIT: to add Timothy Mcveigh comes to mind as one who served and I will not respect him for any amount of money. He was a piece of shit.

If people feel like the Democrats are smearing McCain over Vietnam (and the MSM will help them reach such a conclusion with their biased pro-corporate reporting), they will respond by voting for McCain.

It's also possible that Obama already decided Clark is his VP, and is "putting his foot down", as you said, to show who is in charge. Remember, Obama already picked his VP candidate's chief of staff. Since he didn't formally rebuke Clark, I think Clark's still strong in the running for VP. Obama just doesn't want him to go off the reservation.

Thanks for playing, though.

jmo,
Clark couldn't carry McCains seat pan

Obama has been advised to do some damage control of his own

Just checking.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=259

Does that tell you anything about the # of vets that post ?

yeah

some welcome home eh

Exactly what do you mean?

Not only was Clark a four-star general, but he was graduated at the top of his West Point class.

I beg to differ... You hold McCain up higher than Clark.... wow!

Are you serious??

Mr. I Got Shot Down While Dropping Bombs from 35,000 ft.?

Again I say L O L.

yes,
I'm serious;

Wesley Clark 'moving on'

snip
many Democratic insiders think he has already been crossed off the list of Barack Obama’s potential running mates.

snip

“On a scale of 1 to 10, Clark’s words were a 10 in terms of unhelpfulness,” said one Democrat who has helped manage past presidential campaigns.
snip

now Clark is looking to put the remarks behind him. The former NATO supreme allied commander and 2004 Democratic primary candidate is “moving on,” said a close aide, who added that Clark can now “devote his time to the business affairs which pay the bills.”


http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080705/pl_politico/11529

you can stop defending Clark now.
He's been thrown out of the VP race and you can now attack him as he's gone back to work in the "defense industry" .....building seat pans or bed pans.
;)

btw
Now do you understand the statement I made ?


lol

I thought not

hint; his lack of expirence qualifiers comment painted a large target on BHO.

eom

Wesley Clark

Wesley Clark (born December 23, 1944) is a retired four-star general in the U.S. Army. As the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000, Clark commanded Operation Allied Force in the Kosovo War. He had a distinguished career in the Army and the Department of Defense, receiving many military decorations over the course of his career along with several honorary knighthoods and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Clark is a graduate of West Point, and was awarded a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University where he earned a Masters Degree in Economics.

n July 1962, at age 17, Clark entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, beginning his 38 years in the U.S. military. There, Wesley Clark met Gertrude Kingston of Brooklyn, his future wife.

Clark graduated from West Point as valedictorian in June 1966, at the age of 21. As the first in his class, he earned the right to choose his preferred branch of service first. Washington Post military-affairs reporter Rick Atkinson wrote:

Clark's class of 1966 went on to hold the record for most combat casualties at the frontlines of Vietnam.

Clark married "Gert" Kingston, an Irish-American Catholic, and became a Roman Catholic. In August 1968, Clark completed his Rhodes Scholarship studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), earning his Masters Degree at Magdalen College at the University of Oxford.

Clark attended the Armor Officer Basic Course in the Army Armor School at Fort Knox until October 1968, and Ranger School at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning until December. The following year, Clark commanded A Company of the 4th Battalion, 68th Armor, 82d Airborne Division at Fort Riley, Kansas.

Vietnam

In February 1970, then age 25, Clark was shot four times by a Viet Cong sniper. He had injuries to his right shoulder, right hand, right hip and right leg. He managed to shout commands to troops, who launched a counterattack and defeated the enemy force. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Silver Star. The citation for his Silver Star said of the event:

As the friendly force maneuvered through the treacherous region, it was suddenly subjected to an intense small arms fire from a well-concealed insurgent element. Although painfully wounded in the initial volley, Captain Clark immediately directed his men on a counter-assault of the enemy positions. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Captain Clark remained with his unit until the reactionary force arrived and the situation was well in hand. His courageous initiative and exemplary professionalism significantly contributed to the successful outcome of the engagement. Captain Clark's unquestionable valor in close combat against a hostile force is in keeping with the finest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 1st Infantry Division, and the United States Army.

your right

It is time someone went after McCain on this issue. And who better qualified than a general wounded four times in Vietnam?

He is not loved among veterans.

Maybe not your veterans, but the one's I drunk with admired, and still admire Kerry.

I'm sorry. Clark said nothing wrong, and the exact context of the exchange shows that he did not question his military experience.

The proper response from Obama would be to point out that no one experience on the part of any candidate's resume makes them uniquely qualified for the job and that they all bring a lifetime of individual experiences and lessons to the job that would help them govern.

But instead Dems are forced to categorically reject the most innocuous of statements and lie down at the republicans feet and they oblige every time.

Fuck this shit. I hoped this time it would be different and we would have learned our lessons but obviously not.

He said we should not demean mccain's service and no one did.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton

:toast:

Winning at any cost it seems. Just an observation on my part!

And anyone with a brain would understand what he's talking about. I don't see how this would affect his standing with vets, who probably agree with Clark.

Thanks, Wes, for having the guts to state the obvious.

And to think that simply stating that McCain does not have actual executive experience (which I don't even think HE disputes) is somehow tantamount to Clark "shooting himself in the foot." Do we think if we roll over enough we might eventually roll in the front door at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave?

but rather he said that we should all honor and respect Mccains military service and his patriotism. I have no idea if this was an Obama/Clark play, but if it was, it was brilliant. Any play that goes on in the media just over and over brings Clarks words again and again to the public..and as we all know, if it is repeated enough, it becomes "reality". That while we do all honor and respect him for his service and acknowledge the huge price he paid as a POW, this is seperate from having qualifications to be president.

is 7 years as a state senator in Illinois, and not quite one term as a federal senator. No executive experience of any kind in any context.

Compare Obama's experience to that of Dennis Kucinich, whom all the rightwingers around here sneered at because he hadn't been governor. Obama hasn't been governor either, so I guess he must have some compensating qualities that are only visible to those who want to see them. Maybe it's the fact that he's shown no signs of being progressive?

Make Obama's people look "unpatriotic" and the Repugs will win the WH again. :crazy: Keep protesting, loudly, people! :patriot:

Sid

I trust Barak appreciates Clark pulling his hat out of the ring for VP

that's it, senator obama; run to the center-right, don't take a stand for factual statements, don't allow surrogates to attack your opponents "strengths", appease fox news, pander to those who can't listen to an entire sentence.

if not now, when exactly does the general campaign start?

i wanted clark as VP, because he tells it like it is. now he's less likely to be selected.

THIS is what pandering looks like: "He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces as a prisoner of war." Bullshit. you were too young during the war to remember POWs as "heros". please, america: STOP DEFINING DOWN HEROISM.

go back and re-read.

my bad - i guess he was a hero to clark.

POWs weren't heroes to me - i was 11 when the war ended.

I agree that Obama scores major weasel points for his own remarks though. Within context, it basically means that criticism of any kind is not allowed. That's bullshit. Clark honored McCain's service and then said it didn't relate directly to being President (CINC). Obama says he doesn't agree? Says that we must always honor service? What Obama is really saying is that since he didn't serve himelf he's afraid of the subject, so he'll simply concede that McCain's military experience means he's better qualified to be CINC.

Karl Rove is laughing right now.

Furthermore, by implication Obama is accusing Clark of questioning or dishonoring McCain's service, and that's 100% bullshit.

Fuck that.

If Obama feels he had to say what he did in order to placate what he perceives to be
some potential voters, it's his call. I wouldn't back down, but I'm not running, either.

If Obama is so eager to express gratitude for our men and women in uniform, he might
express some gratitude for Wes Clark, too.

One thing that seems to get caught up in the MS spin on this whole incident: Clark did
NOT demean McCain's record as a serviceman (though there is some argument for that). He
only stated the objectively put-together observation that what McCain did while in the
service is insufficient to qualify him to be President of the United States. That's all.
He did not call McCain a traitor. He did not organize the "Navy Fliers for Truth." All
he did was evaluate McCain's service record as a qualification on what is basically a job
application, and he found McCain's qualifications insufficient. No more, no less.

I disagree with Obama's seeming need for damage control here, unless it was intended as
some kind of tactical maneuver (questionable in my eyes, but some will see it as OK). I
don't see where Clark, and by extension, the Democratic Party, needs to either apologize
or disassociate itself from what Wes Clark said, which was no more and no less than the
plain truth.

"One thing that seems to get caught up in the MS spin on this whole incident: Clark did
NOT demean McCain's record as a serviceman (though there is some argument for that). He
only stated the objectively put-together observation that what McCain did while in the
service is insufficient to qualify him to be President of the United States. That's all.
He did not call McCain a traitor. He did not organize the "Navy Fliers for Truth." All
he did was evaluate McCain's service record as a qualification on what is basically a job
application, and he found McCain's qualifications insufficient. No more, no less."
Perfect

That is why i don't understand Mr. Obama's reasoning behind denouncing what Clark said.

clever acting, voice inflections, and name calling to get Dems to cave in, reject accurate observations, and act like wimps who are unwilling to stand behind what they say or what they believe. When are Dems going to figure out how to deal with this clever right wing, evangelical, fundamentalist preacher's tactic?

He just lost his short list plane ticket to the WH.

No?

I don't think he's done himself any damage.

Guess this will play out in Denver soon enough .

I believe you're correct. I wouldn't be surprised if this episode had been scripted and took into account the obvious actions and reactions that have been playing out since...

This campaign is really good. Sophisticated. Not perfect, but damned good. It's the OTHER side who are a big bunch of incompetents. ;)

How is what he said bad at all? All he said was that just because someone served in the military, and became a POW, does not automatically qualify them for the highest office in the land.

That is not bad. That is not offensive. That is Truth at its finest.

Didn't he just open up Barak for a broadside when it comes to credentials and any ....ANY type of foreign relations or experience ?

You think the re thugs will fight fair and dismiss this as bad form?

Lets see how the MSM quotes fall and yes,

I'll wager a gentleman's agreement Clark, like Hillary, is off the short list.

...then you might have a better idea of what Clark was saying. Barack Obama is not running on credentials. He is running on judgment. Clark's response started right out on the judgment issue. Schieffer then took the interview down the McCain road, completely remiss that Clark would dare assert that being a shot down POW does not give somebody national security credentials.

misspelling Obama's name?

Also Clark is right.

RW noise machine would bring up Clarks speech at the last Democratic convention. Limbaugh has been playing sound bites all morning.



Sorry Gen. Clark, can't have it both ways. And Obama has to react the way he did.

Quoting Limbaugh's show? What side are you on?

Where did Clark say that Kerry's military service gave him instant national security credentials? Because that's what we're talking about here, not military service in general or the heroism of it.

Clark said that having POW as a credential does not imply qualification for the job. Period.

Clark had said that Kerry's *leadership* roles in Nam did qualify him for the job.

Having it both ways? No. Reading clearly and for context, one can see critical and relevant differences-- unless of course one's bias does not allow for that.

The game of good cop/bad cop never gets old. ;)

except IMO Clark is too ambitious to play along.

shit.

He minimized McCain's service as "getting shot down."

Imagine, if you would, in 2004 a republican saying "you're not qualified to be president just because you rode around in a motor boat."

With the whole Swift Boating of John Kerry.

And they got away with it.

He doesn't want to rock the boat.

Wesley Clark is well suited to talk about any vet with his great stature among all the services. And McSame didn't have any comeback that I heard of. Obama better take any support he gets from vets like Clark, because the repukes are going to pour it on with their supposed pstriotic bullshit.

:rofl:

That's political cowardice and there's no excuse for it.

Obama needs to stop being such a freaking wuss and stand up and speak out. Kerry was a freaking wuss and look where it got him.

being a POW does not mean the man automatically is qualified for the Presidency as many pundits in the corporate media and right wing radio talk shows imply. Why was this so wrong? Because the Corporate Media says so...

You know, Edwards would be just the man to take on the corporate media...Just throwing it out there. :think:

They've done a good job of making him appear "lightweight" (which is hilarious given that he was the only candidate in '08 who spoke in terms of absolute policy specifics), a rich hypocrite, and a walking vehicle for a $400 haircut.

Clark says, something along the lines of "don't assume McSame has experience just because he was tortured" "he just lacks managerial experience"

What the media says: "clark denigrates McSame's service"

Does anyone remember that the media can't deal with any quote longer than 2 seconds?

Therefore Obama must say: "Bad Clark" else the media will say "Obama denigrates McSame's service"

Clark should know better by now. No one in the media wants substance, they want sound bytes.

certain: I think we can take Clark's name out of potential VP choices after this incident.

being a prisoner does not qualify one to be POTUS.

Some things are beyond the pale...

What Clark said was an embarrassment to Obama, and he said so.

My respect for Barack Obama grows every day.

He was a great general, and a good man.

But, he was not a very good President.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_S_Grant#Presidency_1869.E2.80.931877

Obama should have listened to the entire Wes Clark response to Bob Shieffer's question on CBS before flying off the handle and talking nonsense,

Democrats should learn a lesson or two from Eisenhower, who as President kept the military under tight rein and became alarmed at the power and influence of the arms merchants.