Slate Smears Clark (Must Be Part Of His "Honeymoon" With The Press 1/12)

[KittyWampus]

Note: An entire article taking Clark's words out of context... and does it so obviously that it comes across as a parody.
Why is the author deducing rhetorical questions from Clark's statements that imply something different than what Clark actually says? Is that Journalism? Why not just report clark's "off the cuff comments" and THEN comment on them? Could the author i
simply be trying to prefact Clark's comments with slurs & mischaracterisations?

Wesley Clark's Loose Lips
Six quotes overheard in New Hampshire.
By Chris Suellentrop
Posted Monday, Jan. 12, 2004, at 5:47 PM PT


Whether it's true or not, Gen. Wesley Clark's rise in the polls in New Hampshire is being partly attributed to some voters having "cold feet" about former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, especially Dean's penchant for making statements that are quickly seized upon by Fox News or the Republican Party as evidence of unpatriotic disloyalty. But Clark has the same propensity for speaking imprecisely off the cuff. Here are some statements I heard him make last week during my trip with him in New Hampshire:

Bush was "warned" about 9/11? "President Bush didn't do his job as commander in chief in the early months of his administration. He was warned that the greatest threat to the United States of America was Osama Bin Laden, yet on the 11th of September in 2001, the United States had no plan for dealing with the threat posed by Osama Bin Laden. The ship of state was on autopilot. There were good CIA officers and FBI officers and everybody doing what they'd been taught to do, but the essential leadership process of putting focus on the resources of the United States, and giving these agencies a real target and a mission, it wasn't done. At least, I think that's what the evidence will show if we ever get the results of this presidential commission, and if they've asked the right questions." (Jan. 6, McKelvie Middle School, Bedford.)

Bush "never intended" to get Osama Bin Laden? "We bombed Afghanistan, we missed Osama Bin Laden, partly because the president never intended to put the resources in to get Osama Bin Laden. All along, right after 9/11, they'd made their mind up, I guess, that we were going to go after Saddam Hussein. That's what people in the Pentagon told me. And they capped the resources, stopped the commitment to Afghanistan, and started shifting to prepare to go after Saddam Hussein." (Jan. 6, McKelvie Middle School, Bedford.)

There wasn't a single terrorist in Iraq before the war? "The president was not and has not been held accountable yet for misleading the American people. He is continuing to associate Saddam, Iraq, and the problem of terrorism. Yet the only terrorists that are in Iraq are the people that have come there to attack us." (Jan. 7, Town House, Peterborough.)

Fifty-five million voters are "ill-informed" dupes of the Christian right? "Now, there's one party in America that's made the United Nations the enemy. And I don't know how many of you have ever read that series of books that's published by the Christian right that's called the "Left Behind" series? Probably nobody's read it up here. But don't feel bad, I'm not recommending it to you. I'm just telling you that according to the book cover that I saw in the airport, 55 million copies have been printed. And in it, the Antichrist is the United Nations. And so there's this huge, ill-informed body of sentiment out there that's just grinding away against the United Nations." (Jan. 7, Fuller Elementary School, Keene.)

Does Islam need an Enlightenment or just Match.com? "Young men in an Islamic culture cannot get married until they can support a family. No job, no marriage. No marriage, unhappy young men. They get real angry, they feel real frustrated, they feel real powerless. And a certain number of them are being exploited in the mosques by this recruiting network." (Jan. 8, Havenwoods Heritage Heights senior center, Concord.)

President Bush doesn't even want to find Bin Laden? "Newsweek magazine says he's in the mountains of western Pakistan. And I guess if Newsweek could find him there, we could, too, if we wanted to." (Jan. 8, Havenwoods Heritage Heights senior center, Concord.)


http://slate.msn.com/id/2093825/

[NashVegas]

1. Clark Supporters Wanted Their Man to Catch Up with Dean

Well, there ya go.

I saw and heard Clark, himself, say these things and similar in speeches and interviews, but nothing was being said cause the press were too busy telling us about Dean's anger.

[KittyWampus]

2. Moderators PLEASE LOCK THIS-Can't Edit Too Many Paragraphs

I reposted this in appropriate form

[BootinUp]

3. Just another smear job/lazy ass reporter

Here's my letter to him:

Chris,

Nice SMEAR piece. Clark's positions on every one of those stump speech quotes is clearly laid out on his web-site. I guess you guys aren't getting enough hits lately? It would have been to boring to seek clarification since you were confused. Funny that so many people are not confused by what Clark means.

1. Bush adminstration did not develop an anti-terror plan prior to 9/11 despite briefings by Clinton Admin.

2. Bush did a rush job on Afghanistan while they were planning for Iraq. Hence they missed Bin Laden because of poor planning.

3. There has been zero credible evidence of Iraq operatives involvement in 9/11. But lets spend 100's billions anyways.


4. He points out an organized effort to discredit the UN. AND? SO?

5. He puts pressure on the Administration to get off their ass and find Bin Laden. Seems like a valid point to me.


Obviously you disagree, perhaps you could elaborate on your opnions instead of a smear job.


Regards,

XXXXX