Wesley Clark's Loose Lips [Six Priceless Quotes From Clinton's Pick for the Dem Nomination]

Slate ^ | 1/12/04 | Chris Suellentrop

[TastyManatees]

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.)

...

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.)

[TastyManatees]

Oh, my. Here are six unbelievable quotes from Wesley Clark that pretty much settle the point I made earlier, which is that Clark is seriously not ready for prime time. Funny, but none of these gems have been getting play in major media, even though Clark has been busy calling 55 million voters idiots, saying the President knew in advance about September 11, and other wacky stuff. Here's a sample on Osama bin Laden that speaks for itself:

"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."

I take it back, I really think this guy has proven he is deserving of the Democratic nomination. In fact, it looks to me like a close toss-up between Clark and Dean for the title of "Republican Dream Candidate".

READ THE WHOLE THING!

Tasty Manatees

[EllaMinnow]

Read, bookmarked, and bumped.

Un-freakin-believable.

[gridlock]

Dean is the choice of rabid Bush haters who will do anything to destroy the President.

Clark is the choice of rabid Bush haters who will do anything to win in November.

[TastyManatees]

Ping.

[BigWaveBetty]

but none of these gems have been getting play in major media,

The media want Clark (mho), they know Dean won't win election so why not go for the candidate that will generate the most ink.

Look who's backing Clark, Madonna! Michael Moore! Bill and Hill! What could be more fun?

[Petronski]

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....and the precious bodily essence of our
fighting boys had not been contaminated...
with fluoride...

[cousair]

Just understanding that Clinton is pulling all his strings should be enough for anyone to know. Hillery is standing in the wings and both she and her pervert husband know if Dean wins...they are in peril of losing the power again, which they seek daily..This pair has been a blight on America for a decade. It is time America got smart and put them out to pasture. The damage they have done we will be paying for way beyond the lives of our grand children.

[martin_fierro]

Every once in a while, a string comes loose and Wesley speaks for himself.

[ken5050]

Wes, I believe, is really nuts...he's around the bend..scary how he managed to rise to the top of the military in 8 years of the Clinton administration?..

As an aside...he's gonna be a problem for the Dems..they don't realize it yet...A few weeks ago I was watching a Dem voter focus group on C-span..16 likey Dem voters..in discussing the candidates, 4 or them said that Clark amde them "uneasy" because of his military career....we tend to overlook the obvious..how ant-war, and anti-all things military, a large part of the dem party really is..if Clarke were to get the nomination, and Nader runs..well.....

[Arrowhead1952]

Hillery is standing in the wings and both she and her pervert husband know if Dean wins...they are in peril of losing the power again, which they seek daily..This pair has been a blight on America for a decade. It is time America got smart and put them out to pasture.

Sounds like the Rev. Al Sharpton nailed the clintoons last week. The party lost and the toons won.... Hee!! Hee!!

[martin_fierro]

Dean's penchant for making statements that are quickly seized upon by Fox News or the Republican Party as evidence of unpatriotic disloyalty.

Precisely because CNNABCCBSABCNBCNPR aren't seizing upon it.

[Always Right]

The funny thing is, I really don't think Clark or Dean really hate Bush, they just play Bush-haters on TV. You go back two years and both these candidates had nothing but praise for Bush. The Bush-haters on the left are being duped by these two. After either one locks up the nomination, they will run to the center so fast and distance themselves from the looney left and even stay in the center if they should win. Should one of these two win, the left will not be happy with the final results.

[finnman69]

bump

[finnman69]

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.)

[finnman69]

[highlander_UW]

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.)

And speaking of ill-informed..The UN is not the Anti-Christ in the Left Behind novels, although he uses the UN. And I don't even care for the books and I know that. What a maroon.

[highlander_UW]

Hillery is standing in the wings...

And most recently I heard that the "draft Hillary" group has a set of 110 commercials planned.

[Howlin]

Remember that Clinton is also giving advice to Edwards; I'm thinking that if Clark and/or Dean explodes/implodes, Edwards is "their" go-to-guy.

Listen to the press: they are talking about Edwards being the only candidate NOT to engage in the trashing.

It's worrying me.

[BigWaveBetty]

I was thinking the same thing yesterday.

He must be worrying the dems too because they started digging into his finances, reporting yesterday that he did a little two step with his law firm (all legal of course) and avoided paying something like 500,000 in taxes.