"Well, now the President's popularity's way down, and Republicans are worried about can they run effectively as members of the President's Party. And so, what are they doing? Under Karl Rove's leadership, they're ratcheting up the risk that America faces. You can see it in their rhetoric, and you can see it in their approach to the, to the news cycle and how they're dealing with the issues in the country. You can even see it in the actions of the government.
So, let's just take stock in just the last few days, what have we had? We've had the issue with the Miami bombers, who were going to blow things up in Chicago, even though they had no plan and no explosives. And a lot of people wondered whether that was real or not, but it sure made headlines and reminded us all that there's a terrorist threat out there.
And then the problem of North Korea and the North Korean missile launches, yes, North Korea's a problem that's why I've been saying, along with other Democrats for five years that we should be talking to North Korea. This administration's totally mishandled the North Korean issue, attacking the North Korean leader personally. President Bush called Kin Jong Il loathsome. This administration cut off the discussions and dialog between North and South Korea, and instead branded Korea as a member of the Axis of Evil. This administration, instead of having dialog with North Korea and trying to advance toward a solution to the challenge of North Korean problems, this administration stalled, putting off the North Korea problem so it could deal with the war it wanted to fight in Iraq, and then hiding behind the six-party talks and China rather than directly confront a regime which it doesn't want to deal with. Now the rhetoric's up on North Korea."
This is all taken directly from Wes Clark's latest Clarkcast: ClarkCast 016 - The Importance of 2006. I don't post a thread every time Clark releases a Clarkcast, but this time, this one, deserves all of our attention. Please go listen to it yourself, or read the transcript if you don't want to download the audio. Here is another key snippet (used with the permission of WesPAC):
"The point is we don't have to be afraid. What we have to have is a competent government that looks to the future with resolve, with purpose, with a understanding that it's not about rhetoric. It's about pragmatic problem-solving, and that's why I believe the 2006 mid-term elections are critical. It's our chance to vote and prove that America believes enough is enough. My focus over the next four months is to make sure we elect good Democrats to take office and to help take back the Congress.
But to do this, we have to understand what the Republican ploy is and then how to beat it.
You see, already it's clear to me that what the Republicans are doing is making the case that the country is in danger and that only Republicans can understand the threat and deal with it. It's a familiar argument. They've played it in one way or another in election after election after election.
They used it in 2002 with the drum beat to go into Iraq. And in that election, the Democrats in office, many of them believed that the best thing to do was to sort of go along with the President and just then try to sort out the domestic issues and draw a difference with the President on domestic issues, ceding the national security debate to the Republican Party and the President. It didn't work, and the Republicans took back control of the Senate and strengthened control in the house..."
Please go check it out. The theme is an important one for all of us to grapple with, regardless of where we each stand on how best to get out of Iraq for instance. You can leave your responses to Clark's pod cast directly at Clark's web site if you want. Wes Clark reads everything people write in response to the broadcasts he posts at Securing America and the Clark Community Network.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7408
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