Clark will bury the BFEE

[chookie]

Gee -- if you think the Clark bashing at DU is bad, you should hear what the Republican Right are saying about him! Yikes -- I know that Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Bay Buchanon, etc are all barking mad, and have no other source of income or interest apart from their hateful ideological outpourings, but the way they carry on about General Wesley Clark! You'd think he was Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Kim Il Jong and Satan all rolled into one! Gee, what do they say about *those* guys -- or do their heads just explode? Isn't it a bit bizarre that they are levelling this viciousness against a man with such a distinguished record, decades of service to his country, and who, uh, is hardly what you could call a lefty? Let's see -- Max Cleland leaves 3 limbs behind in Viet Nam, John McCain is checked into the Hanoi Hilton for a few years, Wesley Clark serves with distinction for 25 years, and it is okay to attack them as treasonous scum, but smirky the AWOL chimp only sees "action" in Tiajuana during the Viet Nam War, and plays dress up in a baggy flight suit on an aircraft carrier, and he is considered untouchable as a military leader? I just can't wrap my brain around that one....

Wesley Clark may not be the candidate of your ideological dreams, but he is a fine man with an excellent record of service and accomplishment. Denouncing this distinguished American in public will, I predict, backfire on these bastards, and may be a key element in exposing the Right for the lunatics that they are, and returning them to the backwater obscurity they oozed from, dismantling the extremist ideology that motivates and propels them.

I admire and respect all of the candidates that are running for the presidency -- but Clark may be the guy who can defuse the BFEE, and that's the most important thing out there.

If he handles this bizarre vituperation well -- and I believe he can -- he is going to be their worse nightmare....and our best hope.

[DemExpat]

1. Ya know, he is the FIRST candidate I feel might have a teflon

coating for all of this putrid venom....the first one I'm confident will not be butchered by these creeps.

That inspires hope!

:kick:
DemEx

[Kahuna]

14. If Clark survives the severe smear campaign by the..

lefties, righties and media whores over the next couple of months, they will have to move on to Plan B. I wonder what Plan B is.

[oneighty]

2. Nice post Chookie

180

[barbaraann]

3. I do think Clark can win an election against Bush. However,

that alone will not bury the BFEE. They are a vast, criminal war-profiteering outfit and unless someone goes after the entire gang and all of its operations, they will not be defeated, only slightly wounded. I am not convinced that Clark is the man to pull out the BFEE by its roots and send it to the compost pile AND to do something to release the grip the MIC has on our federal budget.

[chookie]

7. Will MIC buy the election for smirky?

You are quite clear-minded in your analysis that it is naive to dream that Wes Clark will dismantle the MIC.

I *do* hope that we can count on him, or some other American leader, to at least beat it back a bit and expose it's agenda and its negative effects on our nation and the rest of the world, and defuse the atmosphere of militarism and the aesthetic of aggression and domination that has flourished in our culture and which has channeled our national treasure into their bank accounts and our serving men and women into Arlington National Cemetary.

However, I think there has been a Rove strategy to release money into the hands of the MIC, whether in gigantic contracts, or tax breaks -- with the understanding that smirky expects to get some of it back on the collection plate to add to his war chest so he can keep the favors coming. He is counting on them to buy the election for him. He is *hoping* California will fall, so his operatives can steal the election there for him, as they did in FL.

That being said, I believe the strongest strategy is to run a Real Soldier against The One Who Plays a Soldier on TV. Bush thinks he can win by pretending to steal Democratic issues -- well, we can play that game right back, and clearly, Wes Clark is the man to do it. It's not going to be enough to denounce His Chimperial Highness -- the successful candidate has got to demonstrate how he will step in and fix the mess he created - Clark, I feel, can do that.

[MoonRiver]

21. There's no ONE person who can defeat the fascist power brokers.

If, and it's a very big if, American votes are actually counted, I believe Dems will not only sweep the WH, but take control of the Senate, and maybe even the House. But the bottom line is that no president, regardless of how great he/she is, can do much under partisan gridlock.

[AntiCoup2K4]

4. Don't be so sure....

Clark has no experience. Granted, Bush Jr's experience pre 2000 could have fit into a Barbie sized thimble, but the corporate media's on his side, and they will play this "lack of experience" thing for all it's worth.

Clark supporters will bring up the Eisenhower comparisons, but Ike was a World War II hero running for election 6 years after the war while it was still fresh in most people's minds. That's a better selling point than being NATO commander during the not so popular Kosovo mess.

Clark's military experience would better serve the Democratic ticket by complimenting a candidate who doesn't have that on his own resume, but DOES have experience in the executive branch. That's why I predicted that the Dean/Clark ticket would be the one to bury Junior.

[poskonig]

5. Kerry, Dean, Lieberman, & Geppy are polling well against Bush-Cheney too.

Hence, I agree with the premise of the lead post.

[buff2]

6. No he won't.......he's one of them

My problem with Clark is the fact he praised all those scumbags in that video. I think he is running against the idiot on the dem ticket out of spite because Rove and hinchmen didn't give him the attention he wanted from them. I don't trust Clark,and we sure as hell don't need another repuke in office. I feel he is a repuke in dem's clothing and it scares me.

[Bertrand]

8. No

Anyone could easily muddy other main candidates like Howard Dean, John Kerry, etc. for some of their nice words for Republicans and Republican Policies. You have no proof to your assertion, just speculation based on an already debunked rumour so lets drop it already.

[chookie]

10. Maybe so, but come on....

Maybe you and I think differently about the Democratic/Republican divide.

I am a Democrat, but have respect for the ideas of *traditional* Republicans and conservatives, and welcome their presence and their valuable input into national policy, and their representation of an important group in our country. I yearn for the days of "We agree to disagree" -- rather than the current clime of polarization. I don't have to get everything I want -- as long as the country is safe, sane, and secure. I think it takes a consensus to achieve true stability. I *accept* diversity of ideas.

That being said, let me go on to say that I do not consider the present administration and the movement they represent as "traditionally" Republican or conservative -- they are, in fact, extremists and radicals. I do not *accept* authoritarianism and intolerance -- which is clearly part of the agenda they are forcing on us.

Wes Clark very well may have been involved with the Republican Party. And I don't care. I don't believe that affiliation with the Republican Party "contaminates" him. There are a lot of decent Republicans and conservatives out there (I think the Divide in our nation is more properly between the Sane and Insane, rather than Dem and Repub!), many of which are alarmed about the the course our nation is on -- and we need to embrace them to join us in the struggle against the extremists in power.

I believe that it is highly unlikely that Wes Clark is intentionally misrepresenting his views and that he is running *just* to continue governing in the manner that Bush and the extreme Right have done, as you seem to be suggesting. Come on.... You may be afraid of Wesley Clark, but you NEED to be a hell of a lot more afraid of George W Bush, dear. I am a progressive, but at this critical time (i.e. Countdown to Doomsday), we need to think of winning the battle of wresting our country back from the hands of the extremists that have hijacked our government - and if a centrist or even a sane Republican can do that -- that is plenty groovy with me.

[Classical_Liberal]

9. He may win the nomination and the Presidency

I will vote for him if he does, but he probably won't bury the BFEE. His campaign staff are establishment Washington and and so are the BFEE.

[myomy]

11. Well said chookie.

Give my anyone or his dog who can beat this threat to our country.

[leesa]

12. Unless he's part of the BFEE

[Kahuna]

13. By touting Clark as a former republican they are making..

moderate repukes disenchanted with bush feel comfortable about voting for Clark.

They depended on Dems shunning a military man. They said dems didn't like the military and would never support a general. Now they see (by the polls) that dems are so desperate to get rid of bush that we will support a general if he can achieve that goal. They have used national security as their signature issue and Clark has already effectively taken that issue away from them. It's just too delicious.

On top of all of this, no matter how much they try to smear Clark, when people actually see and hear him, their rants are exposed as fear of the inevitable. Clark is the president we were promised as kids. Bush is a idiot who has bungled (to put it nicely) everything he has ever touched. And because bush is the top guy he has nobody to turn to to bail him out.

[Justice]

17. They'll Be Talking About "Clark Republicans"

Great Post! My thoughts exactly.

Let's face it....there are 30-35% out there that will likely vote for bush no matter what (the "christians" (in quotes because they ain't always christian in my book) and the neocons) - we need to reach the 10-15% of the swing vote - the moderate republicans, even the traditional republicans (fiscally conservative but not wingnuts). Clark appeals to that swing group, particularly white men, men and women over 50 who remember why the united nations was created, and who remember that WE created it. These "Clark Republicans" are going to cross over and vote for Clark.

This strategy by Drudge and Rush is gonna backfire.

[bluestateguy]

15. The General can win

Given the right political Perfect Storm I can see Clark scoring a sweep of the South, minus Texas--and even giving * a scare in that state.

[Kahuna]

16. The next two months are critical and will be ..

nail biters for Wes Wingers. The onslaughts of attacks are ferocious and escalating daily. If Clark survives these, he's in. :7

[Toucano]

19. But don't forget...

He picks up supporters everyday too!

[devinsgram]

18. Don't you get it

they are scared shitless, pardon my french, and they don't know how to handle this. I agree this will backfire on them and show everyone what they really are. ASSHOLES

[PA-DEM]

20. Thats because

They know Clark is the ONE. And that scares the crap out of them. No disrespect for Dean, but they want Dean and not Clark.