By now, we've all seen TPM's: Wes Clark Hyperventorama, which was frontpaged by SusanG. Gen Wes Clark (USA, Ret) praises John McCain's military service, but goes on to say his experience falls short of executive level foreign policy experience.
Then, Clark is baited into a glib soundbite originated by an arrogant sounding and overbearing Bob Schieffer, which by and large the corporate media and "shocked and appalled" McCain supporters have joined forces to omit. McCain himself has gone so far as to advise Obama to "cut him [Clark] loose." Why would this innocuous exchange result in such a frenzy?
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...
Gen. CLARK: Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.
SCHIEFFER: Really?
I submit to you the media, with the GOP and John McCain's help, wants to vet Obama's veep candidate for him. And it's not because they want to help his cause. There's no other explanation for such journalistic dishonesty. In the words of the Columbia Journalism Review.
This is the perfect embodiment of the press’s unbelievably destructive habit of assessing every piece of campaign rhetoric for its political acuity, rather than for its validity and accuracy. Clark’s comments may (or may not) have been impolitic. But that has no bearing on their validity or lack thereof—which is how the news media should be evaluating them.
As I see it, this is the same kind of pathetic soundbite reporting that helped bring us the Iraq debacle. Gen Clark has long since fallen out of favor with the media, as is clear by their rewriting of history regarding his political campaign in 2004.
Former VP Al Gore's best-selling book The Assault on Reason was prescient. I'm sure he's somewhere shaking his head, saying "I told that General to stay away from politics!"
General Clark took 4 bullets in Vietnam. He rose to the rank of 4 stars, which anyone who's ever worn the uniform knows ain't easy. He's also is fluent in multiple languages, graduated 1st in his class at West Point, and earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, where he majored in Philosophy, Politics & Economics. He also taught economics at West Point. I'm thoroughly convinced he would never disparage a military member's actual service, and he made a point of praising McCain's. Ironically, McCain's "Truth Squad" went on to disparage Clark's military record in "defense" of McCain. But don't expect to find that at the top of anybody's news. Bashing a combat veteran's record is unacceptable only if they're a Republican (and even when that's not what actually happened), it seems.
An Obama/Clark ticket would not only be the GOP's worst nightmare in terms of neutralizing their perceived "patriotic" advantage in this cycle, but it would be two extraordinary intellects--including a genuine war hero--on the Democratic national ticket--a far cry from the Bush/Cheney duo currently ruining (not a typo!) the country!!!
Bob Dole, Rick Sanitorum, and a slew of right wingers don't want to let that happen. And the press, as they did with Iraq, are more than willing to assist. An Obama/Clark ticket would, in my humble opinion, lead to a genuine political realignment of epic proportions.
Wes Clark was the number-one requested surrogate, especially in red states and swing states during this [2006] cycle. Now it's up to Obama to show some spine, not be too risk-averse. I'm sure he's aware of why the GOP is attacking Clark so vigorously: fear. Obama initially seemed to rush into distancing himself from Clark's comments, but perhaps he's seen the actual exchange since then. Now, he's saying, accurately, Clark's critique was not a Swiftboat
It's pretty clear to me this is the joint ticket the GOP fears most. And they certainly should. Stay strong, Sen Obama, just don't let them pick your veep for you!