Confirmed: Wesley Clark is an idiot
If Gen. Wesley Clark had vice presidential aspirations, they went out the window yesterday when he opened his mouth and removed any lingering doubt about his idiocy. Here’s what he said in case you missed it doing something more important than watching windbags deflate on a Sunday morning:
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a key military adviser for Barack Obama, dismissed John McCain’s war record as a qualification for readiness to be president.
Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Clark downplayed the plane crash that led to McCain’s captivity during the Vietnam War, and said the squadron McCain commanded “wasn’t a wartime squadron.”
“He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility,” Clark said.
And Barack Obama’s “executive responsibility” would be…what exactly? Oh, yeah. Conducting leadership training seminars for ACORN shakedown artists!
***
More:
When asked by host Bob Schieffer how he came to describe McCain as “untested and untried,” Clark said it was “because in the matters of national security policy-making, it’s a matter of understanding risk. It’s a matter of gauging your opponents and it’s a matter of being held accountable. John McCain’s never done any of that in his official positions,” adding, “He hasn’t made the calls.”
When Schieffer noted Obama has not had wartime experiences, Clark said: “Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”
Well, it beats riding in…bumper cars and pretending to be Superman.
McQ adds:
A squadron command doesn’t become “executive experience” only if the squadron is in a combat situation. It is either an executive experience or it’s not executive experience whether at war or during peace.
Does commanding NATO not count as executive experience if NATO isn’t at war? And btw, does getting fired from his NATO command negate Clark’s claim to executive experience?
…if the willingness to fight for your country, put your life on the line and suffer the brutality McCain suffered as a POW doesn’t make the cut as far as qualifications go, how far below that does a “community organizer” show up on the list of non-qualifications?
Sister Toldjah weighs in:
Didn’t McQ get the memo? Every move Obama has ever made “took courage” so obviously becoming a community organizer was an act of sheer bravery unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, and therefore ranks high on the list of qualifications people should consider when choosing a president for this country.
Yes, and don’t forget the many, many heroic, personal “sacrifices” the Obamas have made and are willing to make to move in the White House. Why, Michelle Obama gave up her job. Don’t you dare question their patriotism.
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Trackbacks
- Liberty Pundit
- Right Voices » Blog Archive » It’s That Time Of Year Again: Wesley Clark Makes A Donkey Of Himself
- Wesley Clark Throws Obama Under the Bus | Conservative247
- Obama’s surrogate attack McCain on military experience, Obama to give speech on patriotism, typical liberal BS, and more at The Liberty Preservation Alliance
- Obama Camp: Getting Shot Down in a Fighter Jet and Being Tortured for Five Years is Like No Big Deal « Gaffe Nation
- Wes Clark destroys any VP aspirations « Crush Liberalism
- Rhymes With Right
- The Unalienable Right » A new kind of politics...
- BO attacks John McCain’s military credentials | BitsBlog
- Wesley Clark:The Unhelpful Obama Surrogate « The Political Page
- The Wizard, fkap
- The Wide Awake Cafe » Obama Surrogate, Wesley Clark Attacks McCain’s Military Service
- Mr. Patriotic, Barack Obama « Axis of Right
- Obama has a Problem; His Supporters Keep Talking | The Daily Conservative
- Acephalous
- Reverse Torture Porn « The Edge of the American West
- Wes Clark Is No General David Petraeus : BigMouthFrog
- Clark Misfires (Errónea estrategia de Clark atacar a McCain) « Observatorio de Medios UIA/elecciones en EU
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They are really trying very hard to justify this guy running for President and it’s getting ridiculous more and more every day. Of course, if all else fails, they’ll put up the race card…their “ace in the hole”. Since when does being a community organizer rate more bravery than being shot at, shot down, and imprisoned? When he’s a liberal, of course.
With respect to Gen Clark’s accomplished military rank, I definitely agree with your assessment, MM! It was actually painful to watch a retired General to squirm his way through an interview. It appeared as if he was speaking from scripted talking points. I don’t believe he thought that he would be challenged on any of his assertions. Once challenged, he left the script and put his foot ever deeper down his throat. A shame, really, for a man that has dedicated so much of his life to service of our nation to be carrying water for this Presidential candidate. Gen Clark, prepare yourself for the Obama bus…
Just his years of being alive qualify McCain more for president than Obama. Good Grief !! And I’m not a McCain lover, I just know Obama doesn’t have the common sense most 7 year olds do.
Obama’s bus should have hippy dippy flowers painted all over it, his make love not war attitude should have died on 9/11, but he didn’t learn a thing from that tragedy .
Here we always called him General Wesley Crusher Clark. Thwe two had a lot in common - except that Wesley Crusher would sometimes save the day.
Boy, this took a while, I already knew Lark was an idiot every time he opened his mouth in 2004. Obama has no executive experience either, nothing he has done in the past or present could be construed as leadership in my opinion. A good solid leader does’nt have a firestorm of idiots working and following him around.
When I hear Wesley Clark’s name, General George B. McClellan comes to mind.
At least McClellan was a great organizer. That was his forte. As a fighter, he was very timid. McClellan had a good shot at the WH, at the start of his campaign. Clark needs to be put someplace quiet, where he can’t make an fool out of himself anymore.
Wasn’t Clark the one who directed the Clinton-ordered killing of Christians as the UN ran point for the Muslim invasion of Europe in the ’90s?
What we really want to know is…How is this helping Michelle Obama’s kids?
OK, we’ve waited long enough, these people backing Odumbo must be from a different planet. time to call the boys.
M.I.B.
especially like the tag line
The disastrous over promotion of Wesley Clark calls for a serious and thorough analysis. On paper he was far more qualified than Obama is but both represent the triumph of elitist politics over accomplishment. Here was a man who had all the right academic qualifications and who had punched all the right tickets, including a perfectly good record apparently as a combat junior officer in Vietnam. The fact is that the system completely broke down in his case. Clark was a disaster. His colleagues knew he was just no good and he kept getting pushed up. Hope that a real pro writes a good book on Clark.
The picture of Clark yucking it up with an oversized cream puff like Moore should be enough of a confirmation for the idiot club.
Wes Clark was relieved of his post with NATO for approving the target list that resulted in the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Sarayevo with numerous casualties.
In short, he was incompetent at his highest post and was forced to retire.
He rose to that post based upon political consideration, Thanks Bill Clinton!
Wes Clark should not comment upon anyones Leadership capability based on his OWN INCOMPETENCE!
Can you believe this guy actually held a command?
A General who was fired from his leadership position is now critiquing another mans leadership qualities?
Isn’t that sorta like Col. Custer telling someone how to fight Indians?
General Hugh Shelton, Chairman JCS and Clark’s boss, said Clark was taken out of Europe early because of “character issues.” He declined to be specific. And Clark was taken out by a president who also had character issues. So I for one dont give Clark much credibility.
Didn’t Shelton say something about “Integrity … issues that are very near and dear to my heart?”
no, and Odumbo as CIC would be 1000 times more dangerous.
Isnt that the Peter Principal? Being promoted to a higher level of incompetence.
He did - in just those words.
*YAWN
Obama camp. Nothing to see here but more of the same.
Move along.
In other words the conversation went something like this:
Shelton: Well General, what happened?
Clark: Weasley self serving passing of blame to subordinates or Intelligence commands.
Shelton: You lying sack of shit, You’re Fired.
Oh to have been a fly on the wall.
Wesley Clark is incredibly stupid to disrespect McCain’s “executive experience” when the Obama Messiah has none whatsoever.
I really just don’t know what to say. It does prove that all the stars in the world won’t make you competent.
Winning elections (for Obama) doesn’t make you a leader nor does being a community organizer.
Most enlisted members with more than four years in the military have more leadership experience than Obama. To keep eligible for promotion multiple leadership course have to attended. You are given increasing levels of responsibilty and have to excell to keep going up.
As they word an article 32 charge, “Or words to that effect.”
Wonder if a small waste basket was kicked against the wall for dramatic impact? It is traditional.
When you surround yourself with idiots, yes men (and women), traitors, chalatans, the inept, racists, people who should be guilty of bank fraud, and continually lie about it, what does that make you?
Obama is the lipstick on the pig.
Anyone see the cover of Rolling Stone with Obama on a white background?
Notice how they cropped his ears? LOL!
I just keep wondering when Obama is gong to hire lgm…
Wesley Clark wouldn’t know loyalty and integrity if they walked up, saluted, and then bit him on the nose. Obama needs to pull the plug on this loose nerf gun before it derails his campaign.
But then again, perhaps he should stay right where he is.
Having served in different Marine Corps Fighter Squadrons, I can say that the CO and XO of the units were executive to the core — with an uncanny ability to fly the Phantom Phighters as a bonus. I may not like McCain, but I refuse to believe he has no “executive experience.”
General, please save your folly for someone who thinks your still credible.
the fold outs on each side wouldnt have been eco friendly, they were just saving paper.
Wesley Clark is a moron and to top it off he’s got to have the softest hands I’ve ever shaken. Idiot’s never done any hard labor or picked up a tool in his life. Worthless in my book.
Can we assumme that Clark bombed the Sarajevo Chinese embassy as a result of “faulty intelligence” from some of the same intelligence people that advised President Bush … after all … wasn’t Richard Clarke running things both times … just wondering …
Clark isn’t competent enough to shine McCain’s shoes. He wouldn’t know where to put the polish. I quit watching the MSM long time ago because of people like him.
This is not the Wesley Clark I knew… oh wait.
Goldwater Knight
Did you count your fingers afterwards? Met him once myself. Possibly the only unimpressive flag officer I’ve ever met.
Wesley Clark is the poster child for the saying we all rise to our own level of incompetence. In Mr. Clark’s defense he has risen at least five levels above his own level of incompetence. This shows how desperate the Democrats are to have people with miltary experience to put out in front of the American public. They seem to attract the Lt. Cmdr Queeg and Captain Binghamton types.
I am soooo glad this topic came up. This Clark character is just despicable.
I have a friend who served with him when they were officers of equal rank. NO ONE trusted him! He was sneaky and undependable. People should rise by standing on the shoulders of their colleagues and predecessors. This guy rose by standing on their necks.
It just shows you that an idiot can run for POTUS, even Clark.
Wesley Clark is now part of the, “throw those military medals over the fence” crowd. Just because a soldier risks his life in combat, is a POW for years, IS ACTUALLY TORTURED as compared to Gitmo lap dances, this means nothing to General Halfwit Clark. Clark would have broken under torture and asked for his mommy and a diaper. Next we’ll hear Clark explain how McCain shot himself down and tortured himself. Just when ya think Clark can’t get any lower, the little @sshole goes and limbos further into the slime. McCain is and has done a lot of things I don’t like, but he is not a leftist coward, and he is a tough SOB who took it on the chin day after day while Jane Fonda and John Kerry partied, got high, and climbed the leftist social ladder by calling our soldiers murderers. BO is a mammas boy and it shows big time. Lets see BO drive an M1A!
Now that isn’t fair to Captain Binghamton. I’m confident he turned out to be a pillar of yacht club society. No doubt he mixed a good martini too. Clark on the other hand is as Dr Johnson put it, “a most unclubable man.”
The first time I saw and heard Clark years ago I thought, “what a weasel that guy is”. I hit it dead on.
Not sure of Obama has any room left under that bus.
Anyone know? Getting pretty crowded.
BAL,
Grandma has been given a reprieve from her stint under the bus. But one false move back under she goes….
As insane as Clark’s comments were, the Obama camp is going to immediately distance themselves from him. The same story we have been hearing for the last year - throw Clark under the Obama bus. Obama is operating more and more like the Clintons everyday. Obama is showing himself; not as the artist of change, but as the average liberal Clintonistic, Carteristic politician that we have seen countless times.
Which scenario is better?
1) Obama uses and discards every element of the democratic coalition, ensuring that they are all so angry at him that he goes down in flames.
2) Obama ties himself to a shameless suck up incompetent like Clark, allowing McCain to demolish him so he goes down in flames?
Commanding ANY military unit is executive exprience. If this guy doesn’t know that then he clearly spent his entire time in the military with his head squarely up his, well you can guess where. A squadron is about the same as a mid-sized business.
So now, you have to be not only the right kind of African-American, you have to be the right kind of Veteran to be able to be Commander in Chief?
It is my belief that McCain was a success as a squadron CO. Readiness etc. dramatically improved under his command. Finances were straightened out. Also he has shown a fine sense of how to lead the troops in other ways. The story is that when he first ran for Congress he went up to the warehouse workers at his Father in Law’s beer business and said, (once again “Or words to that effect.”) “Either help get me elected or I will work here and I will be such a sonofabitch that you will all be sorry.” It worked, they helped, he got elected.
Just imagine for a moment that Obama wins in November …
Are you ready for the following?
Wesley Clark - Secretary of Defense
Nancy Pelosi - Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton - Supreme Court Justice
John Kerry - Supreme Court Justice
Bill Clinton - UN Ambassador
John Murtha - Homeland Security
Chris Dodd - Secretary of the Treasury
Not sure I can handle all that …
OMG DesertLover, I may have to go on a drunk after that post. AND I DON’T DRINK. Note to self: Take up alcohol.
What a nasty way to start the day. Folks here in flyover country have feelings too you know.
“Ahh, but the strawberries that’s… that’s where I had them.”
Queeg was insane, Clark is just an ambitious, officious little …
Well, you fill it in from there. But no more insulting weasels, they serve a purpose.
I have many things that I disagree with John McCain on but, his military service to this country alone puts him so far ahead of Obambi’s pathetic qualifications it’s laughable. What is scary is that almost half of the country agrees with Wesley Clark.
Gen. Clark did not get the message when he was at the Point:
Duty HONOR Country
A Cadet may neither lie-cheat —-
Wesley Clark sounds like a ground pounder that has a bad case of pilot envy!
Obambi’s campaign said this morning that W.C. doesn’t speak for the campaign but, they would not condemn what he said. What!?!?
I can’t handle any of it. Not even ONE of those choices.
Moving to the Caymans is looking better each day.
Exactly correct!!! The two Generals that were rewarded for being butt kissing liberals of the Clinton administration, Shinseki & Clark, are a disgrace! Not to forget that fool Zinni, who set up the Cole for an attack that cost 19 American Sailors their lives!
Wesley Clark-I think he wants the Veep slot but he’s not going to get it.
Goldwater Knight, my husband had the mistfortune to be assigned to his staff once. He thought he was an incompetent clown who only got by on what the others who were below him did, always scurrying to cy his arse.
His second trip to Kosovo involved a man who is now a two star that had been a LTC with my husband during their tenure with Clark. He hated him too and thought he was the most incompetent officer he had ever served with and wondered what he had on somebody to keep rising in rank. For the then Col’s birthday they all gave him a dart board with Clark’s picture on it on one side and just a regular dart board on the other. When this particular man was stationed at the Pentagon, my husband came through DC and visited with him. On his wall was the dart board.
Corkie, you may be on to something!
I wonder:
If Wes Clark were to challenge McCain’s war record on Chris Matthews’ little-watched TV show, will Matthews go apoplectic and throw Clark off the set like he did to Michelle in 2004 when she had the temerity to question Kerry’s service?
My dentist was a classmate of Clark’s at West Point. Clark was not well thought of by his classmates in general. While graduating 1st in his class, he only achieved the rank of cadet sgt. by graduation. That exemplifies what his classmates thought of his leadership abilities.
McCain, while being a bit of a scoundrel at the Navel Academy, was well thought of by classmates and looked upon as a leader.
#51, Corkie, I think you nailed it! BTW, I ran a fighter squadron in the mid-90s: $500 million in assets, 400 “employees”, dozens of decisions daily that affected scores of lives… but no executive “credit” for me either I guess!
The post turtle is barely qualified to sit on the post, he is just there because he can’t figure out how to get down.
swmbo and BAL
sorry to ruin your breakfasts … but it is something we need to think about with the coming elections … who will the next preseident put in charge of things …
terrig
Coincidentally Clark’s meteoric rise in rank and assignments seemed to escalate when Clinton got in in office … Clark grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas … you can draw your own conclusions from there …
What a piece of garbage! McCain could have been released early from the Hanoi Hilton but chose to stay and Obama didn’t have the guts to get up and walk out of a church spewing crap for 20 years. Obama, the crap magnet, isn’t qualified to be POTUS.
Wiki
Ok, Clark how hard is it to stand up and get you dumb ass shot four times by an enemy AK.
The same Wesley Clark who was fired quietly for nearly starting a war at a certain airport with Russia due to gross incompetence during the Kosovo conflict?
Oh yes, he really knows what he is talking about. /sarc
If you really want to lose your lunch, google Wesley Clark and find the digg article today where supposedly “Clarks rips McCain a new one” and read all the comments. All the thumbs up are the people praising Clark and all the hidden comments for thumbs down are the ones who call out Clark for what he really is.
Clark is an idiot. He couldn’t carry McCains jock strap!
Cap’n Ed’s take on this over at HotAir is definitive.
Conspiracy theorists will have a field day pondering why a Clintonoid like Clark would attack McCain’s military service — while simultaneously opening Senator Hopenchane up to even worse review under the same criteria Clark uses to dismiss McCain’s experience.
Pretty amazing; there aren’t many possible explanations. Incredible political tone-deafness sounds most likely: remember his comment about supporting a “woman’s right to choose” right up to the moment of birth? Yeah, that Wes Clark.
Clark was a “political general” under the Clinton Administration; what’s more, he knew it. But he had a habit of making the wrong enemies (like bypassing the Joint Chiefs and going straight to the White House during the Kosovo conflict), and that cost him in the end.
What’s more, although touted as a Rhodes Scholar/Philosopher he showed an alarming lack of diplomatic judgment and even common sense during the Kosovo conflict: this led directly to a British unit’s refusal to obey orders from NATO’s commanding general — orders that the British commander believed would’ve started a war with Russia.
With “friends” like these… Obama’s next couple of actions are:
(1) Cue the “Queen” music from “Another One Bites the Dust:”
And another one down,
And another one down,
Another one under-the-bus!
– and –
(2) “This isn’t the Wes Clark I knew.”
Having retired as a senior officer after 27 years in the Navy, including tours in 3 different aviation squadrons, I can say with experience and authority that Wesley Clark is a complete idiot. For a landlubber who has probably only viewed aircraft carriers from afar or on tv, he is not even the least bit qualified to render opinions about Naval Aviation. I noticed his idiocy quite some time ago when he first came upon the political scene, yapping away like some kind of liberal puppy nipping at your trouser legs wanting constant attention. Wesley, you are a disgrace to the miliary that you once served and a foppish fool for your obvious glory-hunting political aspirations. Of course, with these credentials, you are eminently qualified to serve as Obama’s secretary of defense.
Wesley Clark, thank you for accentuating number 43 for why McCain should just go back to Arizona, vacation and wait until election day and he might win! This is the third or fourth election cycle where the democrats should win, but they are masters of shooting themselves in the foot (and to think, they hate the 2nd amendment). It is not that I mind, just a little humorous.
I guess we should all be happy that every now and then they tell the truth on how they really feel and what they really plan on doing. I guess it would be difficult to be a deceiver 24/7.
Wesley Clark was removed from command. For an officer in the military, that is an extreme measure and generally dooms any future the officer has.
It is high time General Meyers went public with the reasons for Clark’s removal and expanded on Clark’s “character and integrity” issues he eluded to a few years back. If Clark is being considered for a position in an Obama administration, the voters have every right to know.
prendad
Wish I could get back on active duty. Be happy to go in as an Ensign even or CWO, hate to think I might miss the show at Abadan when the balloon finally goes up.
Cue claims of “Swiftboating” from Clark
1…2…3…?
As McSwish has explained so many times his life experience qualify him as the best alternative regardless of the requirements. And let us not forget that’s 497 dog years. What does that have to do with it, well just another way to look at the value of McSwish’s vast life experience.
On June 30th, 2008 at 11:06 am, Lifeofthemind said:
Hey, save a seat for me brother.
The general is a pants-down shill for liberal causes. The war in Bosnia was a high-altitude sham from a presidency of the same character.
Squadron command at war, which is what McCain did, was full-on executive experience. What in the hell is the general talking about? And, wasn’t McC. the ranking POW in his area? That is the kind of executive experience immortalized by too many WW II movies and TV shows to mention. Hello? Earth to Gen. Clark!
KCK … Clark is currently unavailable for comment … he is on the UFO with Kucinich …
I didn’t realize there was still a question about that status.
And did anyone mention that when McCain was shot down he hit his target as he was going in?
The comment about him “making the tape” after being tortured–was Hanoi Jane tortured?
B. Hussein Obama provides us with innumerable examples of his ignorance on major issues on a near daily basis.
That being said, I don’t think a photo of a dad enjoying a bumper cart ride with his daughter, or striking a pose in front of Superman, which I’m sure many, many, many other people have done, should be held up for a ridicule.
He is a dangerously misguided person, but a person nonetheless. No need to pick on a guy caught in an unflattering pose while enjoying life.
If I was a retired 4-Star Army General, George Soros wouldn’t have enough money to pay me to say those things about a military hero like John McCain.
OK, I guess this does technically make me a John McCain supporter, but I promise I am not seeking the goofy blog brownie points his web site offers.
Barr says he’s no Nader
His stated reason sounds Kos like. But also in the story- he lost the GOP primary after redistricting.
I think he is seeking to Nader-ize 2008 and put Obama in the White House because he is bitter. He feels screwed.
I still don’t think McCain deserves to win this Fall, because of his record of cooperation with the DWI Killer on the amnesty bill, but I am sort of supporting him because Obama is worse.
I might even donate some money to the campaign. I have already sent $25 to Ogonowski, the former general and brother of a 9-11 victim who is challenging the very French looking
John KerryJean Francois QerieJon Cary for his Senate seat. I guess I’ll probably also send a little money to my senator, Cornyn. He voted for Dodd’s bank bailout, but he is generally one of the more conservative members in the Senate, and the Dems are pushing his opponents service in the National Guard pretty hard.Not to quibble, but I believe that dubious distinction went to (later)Admiral James B. Stockdale.
Ouch. That’s going to leave a mark! Good comment.
/s/
jose
Room for one more….
Confirmed: Wesley Clark is a
nuseful idiotI gotta tell ya i’m with the hot air people on this. As much as i hate old H.C. she is a master at stuff like this. I still think her comment about B.O.’s religion got the msm to look at old Wright. I think some people are waking up today saying ” hell i didn’t know he commanded a squadron” And the rest of us are starting to get some of our enthusiasm back for ole jonny mac I know he got my blood boiling. He’s not trying for veep this year hes running for veep in 2012. I wouldn’t be a bit suprised to see bill richardson reminding all his spanish friends about mccains immigration policies. Just my thoughts
I know DesertLover, you didn’t plan to ruin the day. It was all just toooooo real all of a sudden. It could really happen just the way you say. What will we do then?
<>
I believe Hussein and his wife are very patriotic. WHERE that patriotism is directed is the problem, because it surely isn’t the USA.
GEN Clark is and was widely known in the Army for having climbed to his four stars using the daggers implanted in the backs of his peers and subordinates.
OK, I will throw myself on this grenade. Gen Clark is not an idiot. I had the opportunity to serve with him and observe him in both public and private over an extended period of time. While I almost never agree with his positions on the issues, I would never make the mistake of calling him stupid. He and I disagree because we start with different world views.
For example, I once saw him get into an argument with the Chief of Naval Operations of another country. The issue was whether the US should have intervened in the Rwanda situation. Gen Clark passionately argued that the US had a moral responsibility to insert ourselves into that situation and do our best to protect innocent people from harm, even if it’s from their own government. The Adm argued that the US had no business sticking its nose into the affairs of other countries and we have no authority to do so. The argument was so heated that the Adm lost his command of English (and he was a fluent English speaker).
My own opinion is that there was no overriding American national interest in Rwanda and consequently we were best to leave that nasty situation alone. To intervene there would put us on one side or the other and we would by default have become participants in the war. But, while disagreeing with Gen Clark, I understood his argument and there was no mistaking the depth of his conviction.
His point with Sen McCain seems to be that conventional wisdom is portraying him as head and shoulders above Sen Obama in leadership experience. He points out that while Sen McCain is undoubtedly a hero, his experience as a responsible executive (the one with the “buck” on his desk) is somewhat limited. Basically, he’s trying to bring Sen McCain down to Sen Obama’s level. I saw no argument put forth that Sen Obama has more leadership experience than Sen McCain, only that Sen McCain’s is limited. And, Gen Clark has a point. It was inartfully done and probably conterproductive, but there is a logical point.
As some have pointed out, Gen Clark made some poor decisions during the Balkan conficts. He was intent on seeing the US more involved than we were. Once again, I think it reflects his world view.
A couple of other things;
1. Gen Clark was a very political general. His true combat experience is limited and he was never known as a tactical or operational guy. His experience was in management, staff and strategy. But, his lack of real experience of making things happen on the ground limited his ability to create resonable strategies that could be effectively implemented.
2. Anyone who does not believe that there is politics at the general officer, and particulary the 3&4 star level has not been around too many generals. They are almost all political.
3. Gen Clark is an incredibly hard worker. While he is very concious of his perks, he constantly drove himself and put in innumerable hours.
4. Gen Clark listens. I had occasion to watch him take input and incorporate it into his position on a regular basis. He is not inflexible and will take others opinions into account. (This is a quality not all GOs have)
5. Gen Clark is not abusive to juniors. While he works his staff hard, he does not abuse people for his own amusement or just because he can. And, there are too many generals that do exactly that. Gen Clark is almost invariably polite to all. I rarely saw him lose his temper in public, he used curse words very sparingly and almost never in public.
SoonerMarine: I think the problem with people like Wesley Clark isn’t that they are stupid or lazy, etc., but that the “depth of conviction” they have on where they want this country to go and what they want us to become is nothing more than a socialist, even borderline Marxist, world view. The Democrat party compares to the people and government that the first Americans left in Europe, and for good reason. Unfortunately, those same people (and their ideas of government) followed and have ever since been trying to change this country. General Clark is one of those people and if there was a piece of continent the rest of us could immigrate to to escape his ilk once again, I’d be on the first boat, since they have no intention of leaving.
I’ve never thought that was a mistake. I think they put one right through the window they intended…
Sorry #88, your points are fine, and sure, being a nice guy General is ok, but his attempt to make McCain looked inexperienced when Obama is a complete rookie was pretty dopey…
SoonerMarine:
Have you spoken to Air Force personnel who had to work with this joker? He was the MOST inflexible person that many of these folks had to deal with in their long careers. I know a few Air Force folks who participated in the Bosnian air campaign and a lot of these folks imparted to both me and my military husband how incompetent this man was. He was abusive, he wasn’t easy to work for, and he generally made life difficult for the Air Force command who had to deal with him.
In general, this man is an example of how not to be as a general. He is not well thought of in the Air Force because of how he dealt with not only junior officers but those who were in the general ranks.
There is a reason he was removed after 3 months with NATO, make no mistake.
#89, You have it backward, they need to leave. This is my country, and I believe in the Constitution. If someone else wants a different kind of government, LET THEM LEAVE.
Sooner Marine, my husband served with him too in Bosnia and he thought he was an idiot. There is room for opinions on this but my husband thought he was the most incompetent clown around. He would abuse those junior to him (which was everybody) when he couldn’t “find” things and there were other situations he told me about.
If you believe that Obama has more experience than McCain-again everyone has an opinion on this as well. I can just tell you that those I know who served with Wesley Clark thought little of him and of that group 12/16 were also West Point alums one who like JT was in the same class had nothing nice to say about him. Yes, one doesn’t get to the rank of General or Admiral without some politicing on the side. In fact, I know a LTCDR who didn’t make CAPT in the Navy because he went to the “tailhook” convention and Pat Schroeder of CO, blocked his confirmation.
I’m glad you had a good time with him, you seem to be one of the few who did.
Thump, bump, bump - another one under the bus.
W. Clark hits the asphalt.
Thump, bump, bump - another one under the bus.
W. Clark hits the asphalt.
Why do we allow people who have retired from public life to retain the titles they had when they were serving? We often complain about the disconnect between us and “elites,” and I feel calling someone a Senator when they aren’t a Senator anymore, or General when they aren’t a General anymore, or Ambassador when they aren’t an Ambassador anymore, etc, only serves to further distance us from our political ruling class. Really, what purpose does it serve other than to continue to make them feel special? They are citizen representatives, and nothing more. When they return to private life, they return (in theory) to the status of the rest of us.
I’ll make an exception for ex-Presidents, but that’s it.
Sorry if this is off-topic, but it’s been burning me up for a while now.
If the media had any credibility at all, they’d report the real reason why Wesley Clark was relieved of command (and they know why). If the media reported why, Clark would disappear far faster from the Obama campaign than the wrong Reverend Wright. Hugh Shelter’s later language is the give away. It was not over Clark’s implied threat to take over the airport the Russians announced they would land at; Clark is more reckless than that.
Ha ha. Yup, there was no war in the mid-1990’s therefore you get no executive credit! The formula is simple.
BTW, who’s gonna tell all our current squadron commanders that they aren’t getting any executive experience?
Terrig, emjem24, AlohaGuy and nhpatriot. Appreciate your comments. I can only repeat what I said above. I served with this man on a daily basis for an extended period of time observing him in periods of intense pressure and also in leisure time. He is neither incompetent or a fool. Despite this I disagreed with him on most important points. Because of that deep philosophical disagreement it’s hard not to jump on the bash Clark bandwagon. But, while I deplore his political stance since his retirement, I won’t say things, or be silent while things are said, that from personal experience I do not believe to be true.
I never said that he was an easy man to work for. He’s not. He is a demanding task master and is as hard on his staff as he is on himself. He’s just not abusive about it. In smaller groups he can be personable, but he’s not a hail fellow, well met type of guy. He can come off as cold and impersonal. (and elitist) I certainly did not have a “good time” with him. I owe him nothing and we don’t exchange Christmas cards. There are several general officers, current and retired, that I could go on and on about with personal criticisms. Gen Clark just does not happen to be among them. Now if you want to talk about Gert Clark, that’s a whole nother story. But, I won’t go there.