Posted on 10/18/2006 9:08:23 PM PDT by DakotaRed
October 18, 2006
A hat tip of thanks to my friend Jeremiah at Jeremayakovka for forwarding me an email from Wesley Clark’s WESPAC-Securing America.
In an article titled Fight Back Against Swift boating, we read Wes Clark’s opening salvo of “I live by a simple rule. If you wore the uniform, if you served your nation with honor, and especially if you fought and were wounded in battle, then you have earned the right to be treated with respect.” Neither I nor any Red Blooded American can argue with these words. However, since it appears Wes Clark has taken a page right out of John ‘F’in Kerry’s campaign strategy book, reading either of them saying these words is absurd.
To begin with, simply having worn the uniform of our Brave Military does not automatically qualify one for Public Office. If Military Service is to be considered a prerequisite for being elected we have to wonder why World War Two Veterans, George H.W. Bush and Robert Dole were so heavily opposed in 1992 and 1996 by the Democratic Party in favor of Viet Nam era Draft Dodger, B.J. Clinton.
If Military Service and being Veterans were actually all that important to Democrats we also have to ask why the Gore campaign, in the 2000 debacle of the Florida recounts, worked so diligently to deny Military Absentee ballots over mere technicalities, when it was Al Gore stating, “Every single vote must be counted.” Maybe to them, that doesn’t apply to our Brave Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines serving overseas?
Clark goes on to say, “That's why I am so outraged that the Republican party has systematically attacked the wartime service and patriotism of veterans who are running for office as Democrats. It is despicable -- the sign of a party more concerned about hanging onto power by any means possible than with giving veterans the respect they have earned.”
If Mr. Clark really finds attacking Veterans as so “despicable,” how does he, Kerry and the rest of the Democrat Party justify their derogatory usage of the term, “Swift Boating?” The Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth, that openly opposed John Kerry’s 2004 campaign for President, have been under constant assault ever since they were noticed. They have been called “hacks,” “a Republican Front Group,” and "dishonest and dishonorable" by RINO Arizona Senator and long time friend of John Kerry, John McCain. In reality they are a group of some 250 highly decorated Viet Nam Combat Veterans, many of whom served with Kerry and felt he was unfit for the highest office in the land.
The Republican Party did not fund them nor direct them; they were a true grassroots movement, solely to oppose the election of Kerry. While it is true that a wealthy Republican from Texas made a generous initial donation to get them started, once the public started taking notice of the group, who else would we expect to make donations to them? Surely George Soros or Michael Moore wouldn’t be expected to donate money to an anti-Kerry group.
After the initial donation, they were funded by hundreds of people, maybe even more, like me. Those of us that were active on their discussion board answered the call and gave what we could.
I ask you, Mr. Clark, where is the respect you claim all Veterans are due for this group of highly decorated and honorable Veterans? Why is it that Veterans who oppose yours and Kerry’s small band of Veterans are attacked, denigrated and ridiculed for voicing their “freedom of speech?” Did we not also earn the right to support or oppose those we see fit?
Since the candidates Clark is supporting in this email are not from my state, I see no need to address their suitability for Public office that is best left to the voters in their states. I do not see a need to identify just who Wesley Clark is and what he has stood for before anyone donates money to him under what could possibly be a false pretense.
Wesley Clark, failed hopeful candidate for the Presidency in 2004, is a retired four star General, having served in the United States Army. Under the Clinton administration, he was NATO Commander when President Clinton intervened in Bosnia and Kosovo. A long time friend of fellow Little Rock, Arkansas resident, B.J. Clinton, Clark has been referred to as “a horse’s ass” by an unidentified pentagon official. While serving as the Supreme Allied Commander in the Kosovo Bombings, Mr. Clark is reported to have attempted bombing the CNN bureau in Belgrade and ordered the British General Michael Jackson to engage Russian troops in combat at the end of the war, leading to the reply of, "I'm not going to start World War III for you." During this time the Chinese embassy was bombed, accidentally of course. It is possible that this could have contributed to his being fired from his Command by the Clinton administration.
Retired General Hugh Shelton, when asked about the firing of Clark, replied in part, “I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. . . ."
Returning to Clark’s emailing, “If there is one lesson we learned from the 2004 presidential race, it is that when the Republicans question your patriotism, you have to hit back -- hard.” “That's why I'm asking you to support four candidates who have become the latest victims of the Republican "Swift Boat" tactics.”
Clark, like Kerry and other Democrats, think stating “Swift Boating” as a despicable act might exonerate their own lack of integrity or Service, even if once in uniform. In reality, “Swift Boating” refers to “revealing a truth a politician would prefer remain hidden.” What they also try to hide in claiming the Swifties are a “Republican Front Group,” is that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth spokesman during the campaign, John O’Neill, is a lifelong Democrat!
Receiving this email and several others from the likes of Kerry, Pelosi, Murtha and more, it is clearly apparent to me that the Democrats have no regard for Veterans, other than the small handful running for Democrat seats. “Hitting back hard” at Veterans while crying that your “Veterans” are being “attacked,” and stating, ”If you wore the uniform … then you have earned the right to be treated with respect,” is the epitome of hypocrisy.
Americans, especially us Veterans, have every right to "question any candidates Patriotism," Mr. Clark. Redefining the word to fit the leftist agenda of "surrender at all costs," does not make one Patriotic.
Former Military have equal rights in running for office as we all do, but running based on the wearing of a uniform is not what the majority of America wants. We want to hear and see what you stand for, not how you can exaggerate Military Service.
I am left with a final question for Mr. Clark. What it is like to be the only General officer in the history of our country to be fired by the only Draft Dodger to be elected in the history of our country?
"Wes Clark’s opening salvo of “I live by a simple rule. If you wore the uniform, if you served your nation with honor, and especially if you fought and were wounded in battle, then you have earned the right to be treated with respect.”"
Here's my rule: You get that respect if you don't disrespect it afterwards like the traitorous Kerry did.
Besides, Kerry threw those medals away.
former Sgt US Army
I just heard Wesley Clark say that John Kerry isn't in charge of anything on Fox News with Brit Hume. Isn't he a Senator? I mean I know he rarely attends, but still.
I didn't hear it, but maybe he meant that Kerry isn't in any leadership positions. Of course, with Clark, who knows?
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