Conffederate
Confederate

June 30, 2008

The Saddest Thing About Barack Obama's Available Military Expertise...

...is that though he has Wes Clark in his corner, the only person he knows with the experience of getting a bomb on target is Bill Ayers.

Posted by Confederate Yankee at June 30, 2008 11:32 AM
Comments

Ba-Zing!

Posted by: BohicaTwentyTwo at June 30, 2008 12:47 PM

Wesley Clark, super genius.

He's going a great job of getting Republicans and others who really don't like McCain all that much to get a chance to really embrace him over an experience for which Obama has no equal.

I'll assume that Wes Clark will be relegated to one of those low level staff positions from which all the Obama gaffes seem to emanate.

Posted by: Neo at June 30, 2008 12:57 PM

BURN!!!


Brilliant, CY, Brilliant!!

Posted by: Huntress at June 30, 2008 12:58 PM

Ohhh, that's gonna leave a mark!

Posted by: Just Askin' at June 30, 2008 01:24 PM

A good one, but not true. General Merrill A. McPeak is a military adviser to the BHO campaign. Whatever you think of his term as AF Chief of Staff, he was one hell of a fighter pilot in his day, and that included Viet Nam.

Posted by: Tregonsee at June 30, 2008 01:33 PM

I added this to the quote rotator on my right sidebar. Very nice!

Posted by: Chuck Simmins at June 30, 2008 01:35 PM

It's official .. an Obama spokesman sent out this brief statement as Obama was speaking:

"As he's said many times before, Senator Obama honors and respects Senator McCain's service, and, of course, he rejects yesterday's statement by General Clark."
.. Wes Clark under the bus.

Posted by: Neo at June 30, 2008 01:35 PM

This is not the Wesley Clark I knew.

Posted by: Gullyborg at June 30, 2008 01:46 PM

OOOOOOOOOOOO........

That was right on target.

Well said!

Posted by: Bill Smith at June 30, 2008 01:48 PM

Yeah, but McPeak tried to give the Air Force those horrid Delta Air Lines uniforms.

Posted by: TRO at June 30, 2008 02:23 PM

It won't be on the American voters this fall that Baroque Obozo needs 'military advisers' since he never served himself....John McCain doesn't need 'military advisors'.....I'm sure that my pointing this out makes me some kind of 'racist'.

Posted by: Robbins Mitchell at June 30, 2008 02:27 PM

Lemme get this straight.

Wes Clark in 2004, praising John Kerry, said that Kerry had served, and therefore knew what the country needed.

Wes Clark in 2008, attacking John McCain, says that even though McCain has served, he does not know what the country needs.

Yep, Wes Clark is a true disciple of the Politics of Change™ (that is, he changes to fit what he thinks will go over best at the moment.)

Posted by: C-C-G at June 30, 2008 02:38 PM

Wes Clark also has some experience in targeting the Chinese....

McCain also commanded a squadron for many years after he was released from POW camp. I suppose this pales in Wesley's post combat experience- CNN colour commentator or John Kerry's - Anti-military conspirator. Not being a military guy, I wouldn't know.

John Mac also didn't make helpful home movies to record his exploits for posterity. Has John K released his records yet?

You know with the Kerry/Clark/Clarke tag team helping out Obama's gonna win.

Posted by: wnmc at June 30, 2008 02:48 PM

I'm glad to hear that Ge. McPeak was a Vietnam Ace, but I'm still not happy that he's a virtual Anti-Semite.

Posted by: Roderick Reilly at June 30, 2008 02:50 PM

If Clark is such a brilliant military advisor, you'd think he would pick a vulnerable point on which to attack his opponent. McCain has not been running on his military record, but if Clark wants to attack him on it, great, throw me in that briar patch (oops, that may be racist). My fear is that the dems will eventually awaken and attack McCain on the immigration issue. His record in that regard is abysmal and most Republicans part company with him on it. Nothing will rally the Republicans and many non-Republicans behind McCain better than an attack on his military service. Here's hoping they keep doing it.

Posted by: willis at June 30, 2008 03:10 PM

But how is Obama going to run to the right of McCain's immigration policies? Obama favors drivers licenses for illegal immigrants, something that even most pro amnesty politicians (McCain included) have rejected.

Posted by: Sean P at June 30, 2008 03:34 PM

My fear is that the dems will eventually awaken and attack McCain on the immigration issue. His record in that regard is abysmal and most Republicans part company with him on it.

The Dems cannot touch the immigration issue without being stung themselves - and badly. Many people, left and right, want a wall and - let's face it - deportation. Esp since the economy's bad. If the Dems try that scheme it will blow back in their faces like it did the Reps back in 2006.

Posted by: Rachel at June 30, 2008 03:47 PM

R. Reilly, McPeak was never an "ace". He flew as a Forward Air Controller, in other words he spotted ground targets for the fighter-bombers and attack planes.

This is not to denigrate McPeak's service, it took no small amount of courage to be an effectic FAC, but he was not in the business of shooting down enemy aircraft.

Having said that, McPeak became a very unpopular General. Most of the Zoomies I ever met need to spit when they say his name.

Posted by: Peter at June 30, 2008 03:49 PM

Can someone explain to me exactly how General Clark is this batty?

Is it pure ambition, plain and simple? Or is there a tendency within the military to be like "that guy's a pain, let me promote him so I don't have to deal with him anymore?"

Please feel free to balance my implied assessment - the man must have done something right as a commander, no?

Posted by: ashok at June 30, 2008 04:02 PM

McPeak became a very unpopular General.

Kind of like Wild Wes Clark, then. As Jim Geraghty put it a campaign or two ago, "Apart from his superiors, whom he disrespected, his peers, whom he lied to, and his subordinates, whom he micromanaged, everybody liked him" (my paraphrase).

I second Rod Reilly, who noted that McPeak seems to have an issue with the sons of Zion. Particularly the ones that try to bitterly cling to religion and guns and their tiny little homeland in the middle of the region of the rabid.

Posted by: Kevin R.C. O'Brien at June 30, 2008 04:20 PM

Well, that's not exactly fair, Wes Clark hit the Chinese Embassy, lots of churches and historic sites, muni water works, civilian transport and dropped tons of cluster bombs on civilians.

Clark is also remembered and reviled in Europe for his infamous photo op with Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko Mladic:

"Clark accepted as gifts Mladic's hat, a bottle of brandy, and a pistol inscribed in Cyrillic, U.S. officials said. 'It's like cavorting with Hermann Goering,' one U.S. official complained."

http://www.command-post.org/2004/2_archives/008524.html

The MSM fails to point out that Clark was relieved of his command as long as he is a useful idiot for the left.

Wes Clark should STFU while he's ahead.

Posted by: bjmonte at June 30, 2008 04:38 PM

Clark is an egocentric and embittered mediocrity who found a certain stardom on the left. Suddenly, he wasn't seen as what he was -- a mediocrity. It went to his head.

Posted by: rrpjr at June 30, 2008 04:51 PM

Of course, there is little mention of Clark's violation of Posse Comitatus during the Waco episode, where, as Division Commander of the 1st Cav, he supplied military training, personnel, logistics and technical support and Bradleys and a pair of M-1 Abrams tanks to "help" assault the Branch Dividian compound at the behest of Janet Reno and Governor Ann Richards. For someone who has constantly stated that coercion is never a good option, he has a short memory and so, apparently, do the American people.

His ambition since his earliest days as an officer is recorded and in the memories of those who served with or under him, and by those who commanded him. The last thing anyone wanted to do was to get in his way...he has a mean streak toward anyone who is not fully onboard...regardless of military discipline or rule of law.

Am still trying to find a photo of Mladic and Clark out in Serbia kicking back slivovitz like old college roommates. Seems like most of those on the net disappeared in 2004 after Clark's first foray into presidential politics. Would make a nice ad IF Clark is picked up by Obama as a VP running mate, which a number of Dems have suggested will be a likely paring on the Democrat ticket this Fall.

Clark being from Arkansas, had nothing to do with his rapid rise to upper levels in the military during the Clinton Adminsitration...right? His story parrelled Bill Clinton's...fatherless at an early age, raised by his mother and grandparents, from Little Rock...even a Chicago connection to go hand in hand with Hillary's script...and now, Obama's.

Posted by: coldwarrior415 at June 30, 2008 05:37 PM

Actually, General Clark was able to hit the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade with a bomb, but later claimed it was a mistake.

Posted by: ptg at June 30, 2008 06:25 PM

General Clark also attacked allies (Russian forces) in Kosovo. Even the BBC, hardly a pro-Iraq-war organization, says so.

Posted by: C-C-G at June 30, 2008 07:17 PM

We were 20+ years USAF and had the misfortune to serve under McPeak - an utter idiot more obsessed with uniforms than operations. We were stationed in Europe when Clark was NATO. Even USAF knew what a toad he was.

Posted by: .05Worth at June 30, 2008 07:19 PM

So Wesley Clark and Bill Ayers, have about the same level of accuracy. Almost his entire cell, including the Kent State organizer, Terry Gold, were blown up by Diane Oughton; in the process
of building the bomb for the Ft. Dix dance. The
Pentagon bomb was mostly a dud.

Posted by: narciso at June 30, 2008 08:37 PM

Thank you all for the info! The more specific you are, the more it helps.

Posted by: ashok at June 30, 2008 11:03 PM

Among successful military pilots, the Democrats have elder statesman George McGovern, while the Republicans have convicted felon Duke Cunningham.

Figures.

Posted by: Mike at July 1, 2008 12:24 AM

The largest voting block in this country that no one really pays a attention to is the 25 million Vets, and by the way they also have families.

This sort of attack might in the words of Isoroku Yamamoto

"awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve"

Posted by: Dan Kauffman at July 1, 2008 07:02 AM

In Col.David Hackworth's words, WEEEZLY Clark is a
true Perfume Officer!!!

Posted by: Gator at July 1, 2008 09:42 AM

Awesome. Mind if I quote you?

Posted by: locomotivebreath1901 at July 1, 2008 10:58 AM

"General Merrill A. McPeak is a military adviser to the BHO campaign...

Which makes him in my opinion a man of questionable values at best...

"he was one hell of a fighter pilot in his day, and that included Viet Nam"...

Without a doubt...

I'm NOT a McCain apologist and for what it matters I'm NOT a supporter of R.I.N.O. McCain (or anyone else who buys into the junk science of human induced global warming for instance) but the two men are indeed heros of the finest sort...

I'm confused how people can change so radically over time like these two seem to have...

Well what do I know?...:-(

Posted by: juandos at July 2, 2008 07:46 AM