Wes Clark: We Owe it to Our Troops to Return to the Real Issue of the Election

[CarolNYC]

Wes Clark posted this on Huffington Post. He's right. Can we stop talking about Kerry and start talking about Iraq and the men and women who are running in THIS year's eelction??

Poor Wes was on Fox this morning, trying so hard to talk about the downwardly spiraling situation in Iraq and all the stupid Fox hosts could say was "Kerry...", "But Kerry....", "Shouldn't Kerry..." and Wes just kept on talking about the mess in Iraq, bless him....

Here's some of the huffpost blog:

The American public should simply accept no distractions. In our democracy, it is our duty to hold our elected leaders accountable. We do it at the ballot box. And we should do it not on the basis of personalities or stereotypes, but on the basis of results. Our men and women fighting in Iraq are held accountable for their performance and their conduct.

On duty and off, twenty-four hours a day. They're fighting for us, for our safety, our rights, and our freedoms. Surely, we owe it to them to push aside the distractions and bring the focus back to the essence of this election:
Iraq.

In my short time in politics, I have learned many new clichés. One of them surely is that quote, "This is a critical election." In this case, it is dramatically true. The incumbent administration seemingly can not, or will not, make hard choices about the most important issue ever to face government officials: war and peace. The only hope for a national change of course is a Congress far more willing to play it's constitutionally required role of counter balance to a misguided executive. If citizens allow this great debate to be derailed by a momentary fracas over a mistake in a speech (by a man who has actually served in combat and does support the troops), we will have tragically missed a rare opportunity.

(snip)

But by early September and through October, a combination of leaked intelligence and briefing documents and mounting American casualties has kept Iraq front and center in the minds of voters. Neither a record fall in gasoline prices at the pump nor a record rise in the DOW Industrials index seemed significant enough to distract the eye of the electorate. Even the spectacle of a Republican Congressman soliciting underage Congressional pages vanished quickly from the airwaves., to be replaced by reports of daily American casualties in Iraq, and a leaked preview of the dismal policy alternatives to be submitted by James Baker's bipartisan Iraq Study Group.

Polls show a distinct and steady decline in public support for the war effort, and, more ominously, increasingly the American public has begun to doubt that the invasion of Iraq is in any way connected to winning the war on terror. Sitting Congressmen began to distance themselves from the President, the White House signalled that its "Stay the Course" motto was being refined, and more and more Republicans began to call for Rumsfeld's resignation. The vast majority of Americans wanted to see America succeed in its mission in Iraq, and now that seems increasingly unlikely. Democrats offered a more realistic, accurate appraisal of the situation, but there are no panaceas at this point. To many, every alternative seemed simplistic, wrong-headed, or even more prone to failure.

In such a forbidding public dialogue, is it any wonder that John Kerry's blunder is being used to distract us? But how frightening and sad for America if we let this continue. How much easier to attack personalities and resurrect stereotypes than to deal with the grim realities of the Administration's national security predicament! The truth is that America's armed forces are badly overcommitted, the situation in Iraq has deteriorated beyond the ability of our best generals and bravest troops to correct, Afghanistan is sliding into a long-term insurgency which spells failure for the minimalist US commitment there, and both North Korea and Iran are ratcheting tensions. For a political party that fancies itself as the national security party, their cup runneth over with problems, many of their own making.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gen-wesley-clark/we-owe-it-to-our-troops-t_b_33048.html

[Totallybushed]

1. I just wonder

if anyone else is getting maybe a little nervous about this election.

OK, full disclosure, I'm not just getting nervous, I've been nervous. I don't believe the polls. There is no way the Dems are going to pick up 30 seats in the House, for example. My best case scenario: 17-18 seats in the House and some pickup in the Senate. I think this is possible, if the Dems don't manage to blow it in the last few days. And assuming honest elections, of course. Can we assume that? I think there will be some cheating.

Which brings me to the point. With Dems like Kerry spouting off, do the Repukes need to cheat? I can't believe this man was our nominee. If Chimpy had made a gaffe like this, we would never have let it go, and deservedly so. The repukes won't either.

Yes, it takes away from the serious issues of the campaign, but it is an issue, as is anything that might influence votes. Why hand such a gift to the opponents.

Well, I hope I'm wrong about the margin of victory, but frankly I'm like the coach who would take a 1-point win right now than the chance for a 40-point blowout on the field if he could do it. Too much chance of fumbles and interceptions. John Kerry and his jokes. I rest my case.

BE SURE TO VOTE

[Jai4WKC08]

5. PLEASE! ENOUGH about John Kerry, ok?

Watch this vid of Clark on Fox this morning for a lesson on how to stay on message. :)

http://securingamerica.com/node/1866

[Totallybushed]

9. No. Not enough.

The Repukes aren't going to drop it. So it has to be answered, not ignored.

This man was our Presidential candidate, and he disappointed in so many ways, probably the worse was his failure to fight the fraudulent election results.

But also, their was his tendency to shoot himself in the foot, and the Democratic chances with him. But now, he's not running for anything, and he continues to blow it for other Democrats. Perhaps you haven't noticed how they are distancing themselves from him?

[Pithy Cherub]

12. Taking the yellow Chicken Little approach to a botched

joke isn't the smartest tool. Follow Wes's lead - talk about what matters. Kerry is not on the ballot. The Fighting Dem's are and there is not a Chicken Little among them.:patriot:

Go Wes!

[Totallybushed]

13. Well, I'm a big Clark fan.

But ignoring this boil on the Democratic butt isn't going to make it go away. And you can do both. But Kerry and his "joke" must be repudiated.

[blm]

17. Thank you for concerning yourself - but we anti-corruption Democrats

need people like Kerry around to counter all the establishment Democrats who insist on covering up for BushInc year after year.

[Totallybushed]

20. Fair enough.

Ain't America great!!

[blm]

14. Kerry handed them NOTHING - they made up a LIE and anyone who sides with

that lie is doing exactly what BushInc wants.

It would have been ANYBODY they lied about, but it was Kerry because they KNEW Hillary Clinton would go along with them in hopes to strengthen her own position.

The GOP put out the lie bait and it was HIllary who proved she was craven enough to BITE IT.

[Totallybushed]

15. They may have interpreted

Kerry's remarks in a way that he did not mean them. But he said them. And a literal interpretation of what he said corresponds pretty well with the Repuke version.

If it had been anybody but Kerry, an apology would have been accepted, I think. But Kerry has a history of trashing the troops, justified or unjustified. I'm thinking specifically of calling them "war criminals". Now maybe they were and are, but most Americans don't think so, IMO.

So Kerry should have watched what he said a little more closely. This election is too damn important to let mistakes like this trip us up so close to success. Failing that, he should have apologized profusely, without trying to attack the Rs, who after all were responding to something that he said. Then disappeared until after the election was safely locked up.

I wish it could be ignored. And I'm not saying any more comments should be made by other Democrats. Enough damage has been done. But it cannot be ignored. This incident must be the end of Kerry's ambitions to be President. We cannot allow him to run, again, for President.

[blm]

16. YOU are spreading a RW talking point - otherwise known as a lie.

Kerry has NO HISTORY of trashing the troops. His detractors have a history of EDITTING AND CHOPPING His remarks to make them fit a storyline they crafted years ago.

There isn't a lawmaker in DC with a better record of supporting the wellbeings of the troops.

NONE.

And if you knew anything about the military over the last 35 years, you would know that by now, and not depend on RW smear machine to inform you about Kerry.

[Totallybushed]

18. Spreading a RW lie?

On DU?

Sorry, but you are full of beans. I am discussing strategy and tactics with fellow political junkies and activists. I think Kerry should withdraw from politics for a while to let the furor die down.

What you don't seem to realize is that the perception of what Kerry is is what matters. And the perception, right now, is that he has trashed the troops.

That's a fact. Ignore at the peril of Democratic candidates.

[blm]

21. Except YOU said he has a history of trashing the troops - when you ACCEPT

a RW lie and spread it further you do this nation the same disservice as any RW talking head who created the perception.

I suppose Hillary is an evil WITCH because RW created that perception? I suppose Clinton was the most corrupt administration in history because RW created that perception for so long?

You can BUY and spread RW lies. I EXPECT them and FIGHT to EXPOSE them.

[Totallybushed]

23. When Kerry came

back from Vietnam, did he, or did he not, accuse US troops of war crimes? I'm not asking about the validity of the charges.

If he did, then you must realize that the majority of American citizens at the time (and even today) considered that he was trashing the troops. This is a perception that he will have to live with all his life.

There is often a price to be paid for courage, and part of the price for John Kerry is that he must never let anything fall out of his mouth that can be construed as trashing the troops. If he does, he can expect to be trashed in turn. Unfair? Maybe, but everything has its consequences, and often courage has to pay the highest price of all.

[blm]

24. Kerry repeated TESTIMONY he heard at wintersoldier - that was the EDITTED

portion that GOP didn't want you to hear.

Get real. This GOP would edit the words of Jesus to attack him today.

They would edit and misinterpret CHURCHILL if he was opposing them politically today.

They edit and misinterpret Kennedy and MLK constantly to advance their own spin or storyline.

They editted Clinton and EVERY Dem to fit their storyline. There isn't ANY ONE person who will escape that treatment now that GOP controls most broadcast newsrooms.

Now I suggest you heed what Clark is doing and every other good Dem and USE the OPPORTUNITY in this event to REFOCUS attention on Bush's FAILED WAR STRATEGIES.

[Totallybushed]

27. There's nothing wrong

with Clark's advice.

And lt's assume that every word that you say about "editing" is true. So what? Is the GOP turning this into an issue, or are they not? If they are, it must be countered. How? By ignoring it?? Not good enough to be effective, IMO.

Still, that's just my opinion, and yours could be correct.

In the meantime, my more important point is that Kerry should disappear. They do not have to edit what he said this time. They can take it as it came out of his clumsy mouth. Yeah, he didn't mean it the way it sounded, but it sounded pretty much like the GOP said. He should have apologized profusely, explained himself once, not tried to blame the Rs for taking him literally, and disappeared till November 8.

Why isn't Foley a big issue now? Think about it. He resigned and the furor died down. It took a few days, but suppose he hadn't. It would still be an issue. Kerry waited a couple of days and the flames had time to grow.

Democrats can make mistakes. When they do, they should acknowledge them, not try to defend them, and then move on. That way the public will forget about them. Keeping them stirred up by defending the mistakes is how elections get lost.

[CarolNYC]

25. Ummm....

There are like 7,340,564,762,567,234,240,001 other Kerry threads on the board right now...Do you think, I kindly ask, that you can do this in one of those rather than in this "it's not about Kerry" thread?

Thanks!

[Totallybushed]

28. Sorry.

My original post on this thread was seeking a little support and reinforcement. I didn't really intend for it to be a Kerry thread, at all. That is, I didn't actually realize what I had done. It was just one of a number of things I'm worried about. Thanks for calling this to my attention.

However, when I was attacked, I felt a need to defend myself.

[Donna Zen]

2. The latest polls

I've just been reviewing the latest polls. There is a mixed bag of news; a little bad, a little good, and some unchanged. I guess what I want to see is Democrats with double digit leads in every race in the country. You see, I don't understand anyone voting for any republican anywhere. It is that unbelievable idea, that someone would vote for these people, that keeps me awake at night.

It is certainly good to know that Wes Clark is here with us on the web, encouraging our efforts. We cannot let the MSM distract or dissuade us from our goal: putting a halt to the destruction of our country.

[Clark2008]

3. I've found lots of info that the latest CNN poll was actually

more of an outlier as it relates to the Ford/Corker race.

Apparently, they roto-dialed and didn't even call registered voters... necessarily. They just called numbers and relied on the trustworthiness of the respondents to tell them the truth about their voting status.

Weird stuff like that.

From what I'm hearing, the Ford/Corker race is still a dead-heat. BOTH their internal polling shows that.

I wonder if Clark's campaiging for Ford in military towns in Tennessee today and the Big Dawg's appearance with Ford in Memphis (also today) will help inch up those polling numbers?

I can only hope. I want Tennessee to go blue so bad that I'm turing blue.

[Tom Rinaldo]

6. Clark said this in New Hampshire 10 Days Ago

"This (the Republicans) is a party that made up it's mind right after 2001 that George W. Bush was going to be a War President, and that they would run on a platform of Patriotism, supporting the troops, and War. Well they've got a War. Nice thing about the War on Terror is it never ends. It's gone on longer than World War II right now and no end in sight.

There's 50,000 people out there who want to hurt America, we've now got law passed that suspends the right of habeas corpus for people designated illegal combatants, allows the United States government to use information obtained by torture and coercion in trials, and basically exempts the President of the United States from Judicial review. This is a terrible failure of our Democracy.

And that's why I think this election of 2006 is so critical. It's not 2008 Ladies and Gentlemen, it's 2006. This country is at risk from forces abroad, and from forces at home. And it can only be saved by the American people. Us who speak out, us who vote. We have to save it."

[democrank]

4. Every time Wes Clark opens his mouth

I let out a big cheer. He consistently hits the nail on the head.

[Donna Zen]

7. This election has me terrorized

We just have to win something...

Yes, Wes Clark not only says what I would say into a mic; he says it better.

[Infinite Hope]

8. Amen...

It's nice seeing him be more aggressive in the media and his message and, in general, seeing the Democrats have more balls since Dean held up the mirror and made them realize they had some.

[Tom Rinaldo]

10. When we talk about the truth about what is happening to our country

...and especially when we talk about what is happening in Iraq, Republican voters get depressed and discouraged. When we talk about what this or that Democrat meant when they made this or that comment, we feed into Republican efforts to put the focus on those terrible anti troops liberal Democrats. It's such a worn out lie, why do they keep trying it?

Because it is all that they have left. They are going down on Tuesday but they want to salvage a few more previously safe Republican seats. They will do whatever they can to excite and rile up the the Limbaugh "Ditto Head" base right now. Truth, the issues, none of that matters because none of that can help the Republicans now. Do they look like idiots to most Americans blathering away about Kerry while our troops are dying in their disaster of a war? I think so, but they aren't talking to most Americans, they are talking to an element of their base that emotionally relates to politics like professional football. Those people won't buy tickets to go see losing teams lose. They stay home instead, unless you give them fireworks as a distraction.

Kerry bashing is fireworks for ditto heads to get them to the polls on Tuesday. They feel better about their Republican team if they see Democrats all tied up in side issues rather than pounding Republicans about the failure in Iraq. We have to stay on message.

[Auntie Bush]

11. We can always depend on Clark to set the

record straight, make some sense out of chaos, and take command aka
known as leadership! Go Clark Go! :bounce:

[CarolNYC]

19. Geez....

I guess we can't stop talking about Kerry, even in this "It's not fucking about John Kerry!" thread. Forget this year's elections and all of the good men and women running as Democrats in them. It's all about John Kerry...I get it. :(

[blm]

22. Which is why it needed rebutting when yet again someone did exactly the

opposite of what Clark and other good Dems chose to do - use the OPPORTUNITY of the debate to refocus on Iraq .

[CarolNYC]

26. blm, you're OK

and I understand your need to defend Kerry against charges. I'm just tired of the 'all Kerry all the time and screw the folks who are actually running' mentality of the media and, it seems, the majority of this board. This thread was not supposed to be another rehash of the shit on the 3 million other Kerry threads...Whatever. I give up. :(

[blm]

29. Believe me, I wish there was a way to stop the intrusions whenever they rear

up and seems they are doing it way more than usual the last few days.