Clark, the Four-Star Businessman

Washington Post ^ | 01/28/04 | Ben White and R. Jeffrey Smith

[Pokey78]

Military Background Augmented Success as Lobbyist Who Could Open Doors

Wesley K. Clark could not keep quiet for long. The meeting with Vice President Cheney on July 16, 2002, had started with casual banter. But the retired four-star general quickly cut off the chitchat, grasping his chair and sliding it next to Cheney's.

"Mr. Vice President, we know you only have a short time, and we have some very important matters to discuss," Clark said, according to a person who attended the session. "So if you don't mind, I'd like to just jump into the meeting." Cheney nodded, and Clark raced through a 10-minute summation of what Acxiom, a Little Rock firm that collects and sorts detailed consumer data on virtually every American, could do to aid the war on terrorism.

Cheney digested the presentation, which focused on verifying the identities of airline passengers, then peppered Clark and Acxiom lead executive Charles D. Morgan with questions about how to use the data without infringing on consumer privacy rules.

Seven months later, Acxiom won a Department of Homeland Security subcontract to help create CAPPS II, a passenger-screening database considered one of the largest surveillance programs ever devised. The government has delayed implementing CAPPS II, in part because of privacy concerns, but the contract was Clark's biggest success in his brief career as a Washington lobbyist.

[Pukin Dog]

This article is fiction. Cheney has not been in the same room with Wes Clark.

[FRgal4u]

The Clark-Acxiom-Cheney axis is going to doom this phony. For all the rantings from Clark about the corporate ties of this administration, or the rantings from th eleft about the Patriot Act, and the rantings against Cheney, guess what Wes did for a living immediately after 9/11. LOL

Working for Axciom, who collects and track every single pieces of data on every American - as a lobbyist - and with Cheney...Holy Crapola.

The "I ahve a Scream" thing dooms Dean and now the Clark-Axciom-Cheney axis will sure doom the General who fought the great battle of We Ain't Coming Out..

I wonder what will be next..

maybe a facial compression on Kerry - to Botox or not Botox (Bush fight against Saddam on the fear of Saddam spreading Botox in NYC; Kerry energize his sagging campaign by spreading Botox all over his face) - what a character!

[HAL9000]

"He clearly gave us access that it would have been difficult for us to get otherwise," Acxiom chief Morgan said in an interview.

Acxiom would have gotten the contract anyway, without Clark's involvement.

Stephens made it clear to Clark that he could not stay at the firm and plan a run for the Democratic nomination

The news media finally figures it out. Stephens fired Clark.

[HAL9000]

"The last thing Wes wanted to see happen was for the information to be improperly used," Morgan said. "He was heavily engaged on the issue. He was interested in how to maintain separate repositories of data, walls between data sources, that could be linked on demand when authorized."

If Clark gets the nomination, this assertion is likely to be tested. Do Clark's policy statements square up with cold reality? Stay tuned.

[okie01]

The news media finally figures it out. Stephens fired Clark.

And, in the New Hampshire debate, did not Clark deny knowing how the Acxiom CAPPSII product worked? And did he not contend that he "assumed" the privacy issues had been "worked out"?

Yet, this article contends that he was familiar with and understood the product, brilliantly sensed a market for it and was intensely concerned with the privacy issues.

"The last thing Wes wanted to see happen was for the information to be improperly used," Morgan said. "He was heavily engaged on the issue. He was interested in how to maintain separate repositories of data, walls between data sources, that could be linked on demand when authorized."

The general was lying in the debate. Or the Post is lying now.

To Wesley Clark, facts are like land mines. He seeks to walk through the field without stepping on one...

[okie01]

Ping for Weasley.

Somebody's lying again...

[HAL9000]

And, in the New Hampshire debate, did not Clark deny knowing how the Acxiom CAPPSII product worked? And did he not contend that he "assumed" the privacy issues had been "worked out"?

Clark said he would have insisted that the ACLU "pre-approve" the process.

Oddly, the ACLU has not availed itself of this opportunity.

[Pukin Dog]

In this case, the Post is lying. There are a lot of people who dont want the world to know what fools they were for paying Wes Clark a lot of money for no good reason.

The man knows nothing, has no contacts, but convinced a number of companies that he could open doors in Washington.

He cant, and he didnt, but he took the money anyway.

He is running for President now, because it's the only job where there are enough idiots left who might actually consider hiring him.

[Lawgvr1955]

HERE'S TO WESLEY CLARK (ala SNL's Bill Brasky skits about a man's legendary accomplishments. Of course Clark's are self described, the Brasky bit at least had other drunks singing the man's praises)


Clark's family crest is a picture of a baracudda eating Neil Armstrong.
TO WESLEY CLARK!

You know he jumped off the Empire State Building this one time and he only sprained his ankle.

TO WESLEY CLARK!

He once bathed in a tub of mercury.

He can tame wild gorillas with a mailbox flag.

He invented the chimichanga.

He keeps a stash of WMD's in his glove compartment.

TO WESLEY CLARK!


He uses the Shroud of Turin as a golf towel.
TO WESLEY CLARK!

His sperm is so powerful, they once found a fully developed baby in his sweat sock

TO WESLEY CLARK!

He p!sses farm fresh orange juice.

TO WESLEY CLARK!

[okie01]

As Peggy Noonan so artfully put it, Wesley Clark's sole reason for running for President is that he should be President.

[Lawgvr1955]

Clark = Jack D. Ripper

[dirtboy]

"The last thing Wes wanted to see happen was for the information to be improperly used," Morgan said. "He was heavily engaged on the issue. He was interested in how to maintain separate repositories of data, walls between data sources, that could be linked on demand when authorized."

Recall the Jet Blue incident where Acxiom used live customer data to test their ability to link? It turns out that Acxiom didn't even know what the test was for when it ran it, and treated it like a mundane match/update process like they would run for a marketing campaign.

Some firewall. I will say this - Acxiom is damn good at matching - I've seen the results of their Abilitec product firsthand. However, they aren't worth beans when it comes to developing systems.

[dirtboy]

There are a lot of people who dont want the world to know what fools they were for paying Wes Clark a lot of money for no good reason.

Acxiom believed they were getting their money's worth with Clark. Apparently he opened a lot of governmental doors for them.

[Shermy]

Oddly, the ACLU has not availed itself of this opportunity.

Clark's briefers made up the ACLU lie to throw the scent off Clark for not-to-bright liberals. No way Clark was going to go to the ACLU, or anyone else. Not Acxiom's job.

A complete fabrication. and Clark said it without flinching...