Posted on 07/04/2008 10:12:36 PM PDT by Kaslin
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, whose stock as Sen. Barack Obama's possible vice presidential running mate had been rising, may have ruined his chances with his belittling attack on Sen. John McCain's war record.
Clark, along with other Obama surrogates, followed the campaign's line of downgrading McCain's performance as a Vietnam War POW. But Clark was particularly insulting. ("I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.") He also got more attention by appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation," while other surrogates addressed campaign gatherings.
A footnote: Clark had been considered the leading former military officer to compensate for Obama's lack of national security experience because his performance steadily improved during an unsuccessful campaign for the 2004 presidential nomination. Two retired Marine generals also mentioned for vice president, Anthony Zinni and James Jones, lack any political experience.
Romney Rising
Mitt Romney's surge toward the Republican vice presidential nomination was boosted at last month's Texas state party convention in Houston.
Romney, the predominant conservative choice to be Sen. John McCain's running mate, was pleasantly surprised to encounter a paid audience of about 3,500 for a Republican fundraising dinner. He received a standing ovation after delivering a conservative stemwinder.
A footnote: Vice presidential prospects for Bobby Jindal, the 37-year-old first-year governor of Louisiana, suffered when he vetoed a pay raise for state legislators after promising them he would sign it. However, conservative anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, who has boosted Jindal for the ticket, said the veto made him stronger. GAS PRICE POLITICS
When Chairman David Obey announced before the Fourth of July break that he was shutting down his House Appropriations Committee's consideration of money bills, House Republican leaders felt they had the Democratic majority on the run over soaring gas prices.
The committee was considering the Labor-HHS appropriation when ranking Republican Jerry Lewis offered the Interior money bill as an amendment to force a vote on oil drilling. "As far as I'm concerned," Obey said as he adjourned the committee, charging Republican obstructionism, "they've had their shot."
Democrats do not want to vote on increased oil drilling, which gets a high rating from voters as a means of eventually reducing prices at the gas pump. OBAMA'S GOP LOBBYIST
The Republican lobbyist who was solicited for contributions by Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign a month ago has received a second request for money from the Democratic presidential candidate, who has banned lobbyist money from supporting his candidacy. The second try was made after no response to the first attempt. As did the first solicitation, the second letter signed by Obama asked the veteran Republican donor and fundraiser for a contribution "to change the way business is done in Washington."
The lobbyist's only contributions to Democrats have been to two powerful committee chairmen -- John Dingell (Energy and Commerce) and Charlie Rangel (Ways and Means) -- in order to open their doors to his clients. The lobbyist figures that the Obama campaign lifted his name from Dingell and/or Rangel money lists.
"COBURN OMNIBUS"
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may trigger a parliamentary brawl in the Senate late in July if he goes through with his threat to bundle some 100 spending bills being blocked by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn into one "Coburn omnibus."
Coburn has held up the bills to stop the practice of passing legislation without amendments or debates. If Reid uses the same tactics on the combined bill, Coburn is threatening to tie up the Senate with parliamentary tactics. "I'd welcome the opportunity to spend weeks debating wasteful Washington spending and Congress' misplaced priorities," said Coburn.
How much Coburn can do depends on whether Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican colleagues support him to prevent Reid from getting 60 votes needed to close debate on the "Coburn omnibus."
Well, I have to agree with Clark’s conclusion that what McCain endured does not make him a hero. It may very well make him unfit to be the president.
Of course Osama/Obama isn’t qualified to shine McCain’s boots...
What?
McCain is a war hero...there is no doubt about that....and Obama couldn’t run a candy store.
I might slam some of his decisions and policies, but I'll never trash his service to our country.
And even with my general dislike of McCain's politics, there's no comparing him to Obama. Obama is a clueless, arrogant Marxist IMO. I shudder to think of him getting near the White House.
What did McCain do in the military that was heroic? I take it you were never in the military?
Assuming he didn’t spill his guts to his captors, that’s what every PRIVATE is expected to do. That’s not heroic, that’s just following standing orders.
Least you ask, yes I was there...
“There are a lot of things I don’t like about McCain (and I mean a lot), but I admire him for his military service.”
So do I, however that doesn’t make him a hero because he served... Millions served and 50,000 died. Some of those were heros. Most of us were just following orders and doing our jobs.
Imagine the uproar if McCain said that Kerry’s service consisted of “riding in a boat and bumping his head.”
Ditto!
What McCain did while a POW showed tremendous character and loyalty, but there was really nothing heroic about it.
Well, let's see .....
Pressing home low level bombing attacks against heavily defended targets might be considered heroic by some.
"Although his aircraft was severely damaged, he continued his bomb delivery pass and released his bombs on the target. When the aircraft would not recover from the dive, Commander McCain was forced to eject over the target." ..... citation for McCain's Distinguished Flying Cross
But, "you were there". Tell us what that was like to make a low level bombing run against a heavily defended target.
Staying a POW for an additional 5 years of torture because you refused to be released early might be considered heroic by some.
But, "you were there". Tell us what that was like to be tortured as a POW. What was the longest torture session that you endured?
Were you ever a POW of the North Vietnamese?
You must have been because, as you claimed, "you were there".
Bud Day disagrees with you.
Had his teeth knocked out at the gums and his arms broken. I'd like to see anyone NOT give in to torture like that. It just doesn't happen. Everyone has their breaking point.
I seem to hear from you that you are a veteran and you also imply that you are a Vietnam veteran. If so, I'm proud of you but your statement about McCain's service is small-hearted and asinine.
First of all, volunteering during the Vietnam war was noble to begin with - we had a culture during that period that encouraged having a darn good time and avoiding responsibility, so those men that joined to serve in the war were a "cut above" to start with.
Second, serving as an attack pilot that flew from aircraft carriers off the coast of North Vietnam was really dangerous stuff and every flight inland was going against the toughest antiaircraft fire in history. The young men that volunteered for that duty were heroes among heroes.
Third, John McCain was severely injured and nearly died when his plane was hit and he ejected then landed in that Hanoi lake. By all accounts of his fellow prisoners, he served with honor and courage - and refused early return to home and medical treatment ahead of the others. 5 years in those scummy hell-holes under continual mistreatment and even torture requires guts most people can't even guess at. John McCain was and is a hero by any definition.
Now as for us Vietnam veterans just "doing a job" and "following orders", I will differ with you further. For any of us in Vietnam, fear was a daily factor. Even if you were a mess cook at a relatively safe base, you knew that the enemy could hit you anywhere you were and you had to do what you had to do with the possibility of a rocket or mortar round or a sniper's shot wherever you were. Everybody also had to deal with the heat, the bugs, the mystery sicknesses, and the high probability that your wife or girlfriend would be with someone else long before you got back home.
For those of us with the infantry, it was far more than dangerous - it was a daily certainty that you would be killed or mutilated in wild firefights or by the thousands of mines and boobytraps. I never met one Marine infantryman that wasn't wounded at least once during their tour in Vietnam, not one.
Calling Vietnam service "just a job" is deeply insulting and you should know it.
Flying a jet in war, being shot down and spending time in a prisoner of war camp is qualification for being an American hero.
It is not qualification for being president. It might be a sign that the candidate has some of the traits to do a good job, but not automatic qualification.
Still....Clark is a piece fo crap. He didnt do a good job while he was in the military, what makes him qualified to speak about McCain except that they are both assholes.
Most likely not.
“Had his teeth knocked out at the gums and his arms broken. I’d like to see anyone NOT give in to torture like that. It just doesn’t happen. Everyone has their breaking point.”
With 50 thousand dead in the war, getting your teeth knocked out and your arms broken is mild. Not giving in to torture was what was EXPECTED from our armed forces during that era. Every recruit fully understood that.
IMHO, the term “hero” has been watered down to the extent that it is meaningless. Heros go above and beyond the call of duty and put their lives on the line to protect their comrades. There were thousand who did that during the war, and most did not come back.
McCain served and he deserves credit for that. However someone who did what was expected of him does not make him a hero, It makes him a GI. To call him a hero discredits those who were really heros.
Ah Yes Ole Maggot Infected Weasel Clark, the perfumed pink panty wearing pentagon poster boy of the Clintoons, aka the killer of innocent Americans civilians at Waco and innocent Christian civilians in Serbia.
Clark is shown below enjoying a gay happy moment, with no socks while being very light in his loafers!”
I am the real thing, not some poseur that claims to be a Vietnam veteran. Unless you can answer me directly, I would recommend keeping your trap shut about Vietnam service and what "GIs were expected to do".
And grammar school graduates know that the plural of hero is "heroes"..add that to your spell checker, poseur.
You can make all the comments you want about McCain's politics that you want but you cross the line when you attack him based on his time in captivity in Viet Nam.
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