Obama had the chutzpah to send his surrogate military spokesperson, Gen. Wesley Clark, to denigrate McCains military experience. Yeah, you heard me right. The man with no experience, Barack Obama, is saying McCain’s military experience is not enough:
Gen. Wesley Clark, acting as a surrogate for Barack Obama’s campaign, invoked John McCain’s military service against him in one of the more personal attacks on the Republican presidential nominee this election cycle.
Clark said that McCain lacked the executive experience necessary to be president, calling him “untested and untried” on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” And in saying so, he took a few swipes at McCain’s military service.
Of course he leaves out the one term as a Congressman, and the four terms as a Senator for a total of 26 years of experience. To Obama’s year and half.
“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”
And what kind of experience does Obama have that makes him qualified to become President General?
What a pathetic, weaselly attack. Not unexpected from the sort that cavorts with the enemy tho: (via In From The Cold)
Contrast John McCain’s conduct to that of Wesley Clark. During the 1990s, Clark and other Clinton Administration envoys envoys met with notorious Serbian leaders, including General Ratko Mladic, leader of the Bosnia Serb Army, and a wanted war criminal. By various accounts, Mladic was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Muslims and Croat civilians.
During one highly-publicized meeting Mladic and Clark, all smiles, gladly exchanged hats, and posed for photographers. It was a particularly shameful moment, one that General Clark never mentions. Making matters worse (if that’s possible), the infamous “hat-swap” meeting, which occurred in 1994, was not officially authorized. “It’s like cavorting with Hermann Goering” one U.S. official complained at the time.
Spook also makes another valid point:
No one doubts that Clark performed admirably in Vietnam, and suffered for his country. But, it’s worth noting that the young infantry officer had the benefit of a medevac and the finest U.S. medical care after his injuries on the battlefield. John McCain didn’t see an American doctor for almost six years following his ejection and capture in North Vietnam. During that time, he received “medical treatment” that was crude, at best, and almost died from his wounds.
We also recall that Mr. McCain conducted himself with honor under those extraordinarily trying conditions. Offered repatriation when his captors discovered that he was the son of a Navy admiral, McCain declined, demanding that all prisoners captured before him also be released. He also resisted enemy propaganda efforts, though he signed one “confession” of war crimes after months of beatings and other forms of physical abuse.
This is a losing argument for the left and Obama. They have a man with no experience whatsoever telling us that McCain’s courage and bravery while a POW does not qualify him to be President…..classic.
Even more classic is the fact that McCain has never said that his military service is what qualified him for the job. The culmination of his military and political career is what qualifies him.
Clark’s attack is a bit like saying that JFK’s boat getting sunk wasn’t a qualification to become president in 1960.
McQ:
But here’s a question: if the willingness to fight for your country, put your life on the line and suffer the brutality McCain suffered as a POW doesn’t make the cut as far as qualifications go, how far below that does a “community organizer” show up on the list of non-qualifications?
More here.
UPDATE
Who said this?
“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.”
“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.”
And kinda off-topic but Joe Lieberman tells us what kind of disaster Obama would have wrought if he would have got his way in Iraq:
See author page
Wesley Clark left the Army without one friend. Sorta say’s all one needs to know.
Simply the most outrageously stupid comment that has ever been uttered about a Presidential Candidate.
How does Clark reconclie this unimaginably idiotic statement with Obama’s complete lack of any of the background that McCain has as a leader!
I suspect that Clark was jockeying for a Veep spot or SecDef or something. My hope is that this unthinkably moronic statement will work in McCain’s favor just as the NYTimes article about a supposed affair did. I further hope that Obama will come out strongly against Clark and banish him to the lunatic blogs where such drivel is gobbled up.
McCain’s action’s as a POW are cetainly commendable, but not his crashing. If crashing is a virture, then McCain is overqualified, considering he crashed five times. He never would of been let near a flightdeck if not for daddy.
However, as I said, his actions as a POW, most importantly his refusal of special treatment, does speak to his strength of character.
VP. He was on O Reilly last year and said he’d be interested in it. CLEARLY he is.
Sad. Curious, having read both of Clark’s books, I’m left wondering why he thinks that negotiating with rogue regimes works? After all, it never worked with Milosovic and his cabal.
Simply the most outrageously stupid comment that has ever been uttered about a Presidential Candidate.
Actually I think it’s a fair criticism, which would make a lot of sense IF OBAMA HAD ANY EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE WHATSOEVER. If this were McCain vs Romney and someone wanted to point out that McCain had never really run anything or been head of any organization, yeah sure. But why does Obama of all people want to start that conversation?
According to Dick Morris, Obama has actually worked a total of 181 days in the Senate. You understand, of course, that this is actual presence in a working senate, not the time he’s been a senator. He went through the actual work done by the Senate in Jan of 2007 (I think – may have been 2008) and the actual working time was unbelieveable, considering what Senators are paid. I suspect his book “Fleeced” is going to be worth reading. It’s in Costco this month for about $15…
Knowing how Clark’s lofty “Supreme Allied Commander” title has always affected his ego, I suspect he was not cogently thinking of how that comment would obviously further demean BHO, but instead how it would elevate himself.
My opinion, Scott? It’s because Clark is a card carrying citizen of the “int’l community”, and a devotee of the UN.
Fit Fit, are you under the assumption that pilots were a dime a dozen, available on every street corner, in the Vietnam War?
The left displays their utter ignorance again. Seriously… does the left have mental disabilities or something? Or is it the pot smoke that makes them incapable of rational thought?
Crashing? Come on… have you ever flown in bad guy territory? Ever heard of triple-A or SAMs or enemy fighter jets? I have… it ain’t fun.
Have you ever been through flight school? It’s not like journalism school at columbia where they pass everyone. Flight school is competitive and if you don’t make the cut, you off doing something else. (Watch An Officer and a Gentlemen, then multiply it by five… that is how tough flight school is). When I went through… there was a mandatory cut rate. If you were at the bottom, you weren’t allowed to advance through training.
I’m sick of the left and the democrats just making shit up based on nothing more than paranoid delusional conspiracy theories. Put down the mary jane and wake up.
Oh yeah… I worked with a couple of guys that had the misfortune to work on Wesley’s command staff and they didn’t think much of him. I think the direct quote was “he couldn’t find his ass with both hands.”
Does anyone else hear a bus coming?
I think, like the DC rush hour commuter schedules, a bus comes about every 8 minutes in this campaign, Udder… LOL
Obama ’08
At least the
trainsbuses will run on time.I remember some whispers about how, when and why Clark left his post as Commander of NATO forces. Sexual harrassment??? Anybody know?
I wonder what Obamboozler did to Clark to tick him off…hmmm.
Under the bus with you, Mr. Clark! Join the gang!
Oh, and then Obama, in his speech today, has to make a retraction of Clark’s statements about John McCain’s lack of experience by talking about patriotism and how not to question anyone’s patriotism, including John McCain’s. Also, that no one can question his (Obama’s) patriotism, either. I’m beginning to feel uncomfortable with that word being thrown around so loosy goosy. I’m not the judge of Obama’s patriotism, but a definition of patriotism is ‘one who is a proud SUPPORTER and DEFENDER of his/her country and it’s way of life’. Sorry for the capitol letters, but I am a bit miffed. Can anyone tell me when Obama has said anything that closely resembles that definition? I’ve only heard criticisms of this great country. Even in his speech today he seemed obsessed with comments on how “imperfect” the USA is! No one has ever claimed we’re a perfect country, but we have a lot more to be proud about than not!! Who wants a Commander in Chief who is negative about everything and constantly whining??
Obama has no experience with saying his opinions about the war at all. why you ask that is because he never served his country. He is trying to change our religion and the way we live in USA. And it is very difficult to trust someone who changed his church after being a member for 20 years. So I will vote for McCain I like his policies and his back ground he also doesnn’t make up stuff unlike Obama.
That was worth repeating.
Has there been any strong denounciation from Obama of Clark’s remarks? Or is this just another example of the one way civility we can expect in this campaign?
McCain is getting slammed for his tepid response to this. But I’ve always said, McCain is harder on conservatives than he is on his opponents.
Hang, Mike’s A… it bears repeating yet again… AND in bold type. It’s a STELLAR quote from McQ at Quando.net
Indeed. Has BHO ever demonstrated a degree/modicum of this devotion to country?
And another thing….
Wes Clark is a Democrat WHORE!
It wasn’t so long ago that he endorsed Hillary Clinton and claimed her experience as First Lady made her Commander in Chief material.
Come on now, Mike… tell us what ya *really* think! LOL
I thought I was the only one with “the edge” today….
MataH: I got an edge on both sides of the blade.
Lesser men would have realized that Clinton is not the Democratic nominee and that people who want to see a Democrat elected president are now turning their support to Obama.
Not Mike, though; that’s what makes him superior: his utter immunity to logic.
Well, Mike… at least *your* edges are sharp…. :0)
As much as I dislike McCain, I dislike this so-called man (Clark) even more. It amazes me the space people give/allow idiots like this in their lives, and even more frightening, to control their lives.