General Clark's endorsement…

Once again, this retired Army officer suffers from hoof in mouth disease!

The following article was published on the Shreveport Times Web site (shreveporttimes.com) on July 1, 2008. The author is a retired army officer, who has little if any regard for General Wesley Clark, an inept and pompous ego who achieved his rank because of his political ties rather than his military prowess. 

A Soldier's Blog on Wesley Clark' Comments

by LTCOL Charles Revie USAR retired

As an officer serving in America's uniformed services, I maintain a strict personal code of nonpartisan politics. Of course I have my opinions about politics and favorite local, state and national candidates, but only my immediate family knows my thoughts and opinions on politics. I do not openly or publically endorse nor campaign for any particular politician or political party, nor will I ever do so for as long as I wear the uniform. I firmly believe officers serving the nation must remain apolitical in all that we say, write and do. But I feel compelled to share with you gentle readers the simultaneous reaction of hundreds of military personnel yesterday when retired General Wes Clark-Senator Barak Obama's military advisor-publically questioned Senator John McCain's ability to make decisions and serve as Commander-in-Chief.

First, I will be upfront and candidly inform you I am equally indifferent toward the two candidates. This post isn't to compare or contrast either in a more or less favorable light; but I absolutely detest retired General Wes Clark. I have loathed him (as I suspect do most of his former subordinates) since I had the unfortunate experience of serving under his command in the Balkans in the 1990s. That being frankly disclosed, allow me to paint a picture for you. Imagine several hundred hungry men and women representing all the armed services, from new privates to crusty old Colonels, sitting in a dining facility about the size of a school gymnasium in hot, dusty Afghanistan. The big screen televisions in the corners are all tuned to CNN and retired General Wesley Clark appears on the screen. The text underneath read in bold red letters "Clark questions McCain's ability to lead the military" The gist of Clark's interview was that McCain is a war hero, but "hasn't held executive responsibility, and has no experience making tough military decisions". Surely retired General Clark can't really expect the American people to buy the load of manure he's shoveling, but he's well-known throughout the military as one extremely accomplished and gifted manure-shoveling S.O.B.

The only other time I've heard a military dining facility suddenly become so eerily quiet was at Camp Comanche, Bosnia on September 11, 2001 when we all watched the live CNN feed of the second airliner crashing into the WTC.

Within seconds the "He really didn't just say what we all heard him just say, did he?" chuckles of disbelief became a roar of laughter. Even die hard Obama fans in the room were shaking their heads in disbelief someone would be foolish enough to compare John McCain's military abilities or experience on any level with the first term Senator from Illinois.

McCain and Obama-the first name belongs to a decorated combat veteran with Silver Stars, Distinguished Flying Crosses, Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars...a War College graduate with a masters Degree in National Security Strategy...the guy who served 22 years in the military and declined promotion to Rear Admiral to retire as a disabled Navy Captain (Colonel), and who has since served over a quarter century in the U.S. Congress and Senate-including 21 years as a member on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The second name is a man with a sound education, an accomplished lawyer, a community leader and state legislator, and someone who has never served a single day in the U.S. military, and who has absolutely no working concept about how the military or national strategic policy works, and hasn't even finished his first term as a U.S. Senator. I'm not saying either candidate is "better" than the other based just on those facts. I am merely pointing out that retired General Clark obviously thinks we Americans are either too stupid, or too lazy to bother thinking for ourselves. His vanity and pomposity remains just the same as a civilian as when he wore a uniform.

For retired General Clark to compare these two men using the words "military", "leadership" and "experience" indicates one of two things: he's suffering from a traumatic brain embolism and should seek immediate emergency attention by skilled doctors; or he feels toward the American people the same condescension and narcissistic intellectual superiority he did toward his subordinates and peers while he served on active duty. He sure looks healthy-it must be the latter.

Does retired General Clark really regard the American population to be so incredibly stupid they would for a moment believe Senator Obama somehow has better military and leadership experience than Senator McCain? Apparently, yes, he does. Sad, isn't it?

As I explained, I don't pretend to respect, much less like retired General Clark. I despise him. I have personally experienced his vain, self-centered, arrogance, his famous egotistical personality and intolerable, hateful style of command-not to mention his lack of integrity and character flaws that got him removed early from his assignment as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe during the Kosovo Campaign. Those like retired General Clark only worry about their own welfare and career progression, and thus earn little respect by their peers and subordinates alike. His attempt to sling a little mud by somehow insinuating Senator Obama would make a better "military leader" and "decision maker" than Senator McCain is about par for his usual exalted and self-centered hypocrisy.

If I might offer a brief word of advice to the good Senator from Illinois, "Sir, do not associate yourself with retired General Wes Clark if you desire respect from military voters. You had the intuitiveness and correct sense to distance yourself from Reverend Wright-do the same with General Clark" But alas, Presidential candidates rarely listen to crusty old officers from the old school.

I will be looking to see what "spin" band aid the Senator's (Obama) campaign staff applies to the General Clark hemorrhage in today's news.

Finally, in contrast to retired General Clark, I have sincere and interminable faith my fellow citizens will use their intellect to study the facts and make a well-informed and fair decision on their own before they walk into the voting booths this coming November. We certainly do not require a conniving fraud like retired general Clark to shape our opinions and try to herd us like sheep. His only interest is his own career aspirations. He cared little for his country and even less for the US service members under his command while he wore a uniform; and I don't believe he cares anymore about America or her citizens now that he has traded his Army greens for a Brooks Brothers suit.

I don't believe America is the herd of dumb sheep he conceitedly thinks we are.

More Recent Events…My View

Candidate Obama has been on a world tour that has the liberal-leaning press fawning at his feet. Several points have seemingly gone un-noticed. There was the disrespectful act of posting an Obama presidential campaign poster in front of the wailing wall in Jerusalem – a place sacred to members of the Hebrew religion and many others. Would he or his staff post one of these campaign posters in the Sistine Chapel? I have occasionally thought that Mr. Obama's ego has him believing that he is running for leader of the entire world. His staff's mounting of presidential campaign posters in countries outside the United States have me worried that his apparent desire to be the leader of the world – at the expense of the American people – might be more fact than fiction.

By the way, did the press reveal the fact that the large crowd that Obama spoke to in Berlin was ostensibly an audience that had assembled for a rock concert?

I must say that there were a number of things about Obama's Berlin trip that truly irritated me. He spoke of the post World War II Berlin air-lift in a manner that seemed to imply that America did nothing more than assist in that endeavor. Mr. Obama, I was alive during that era and know the facts. Post-war Europe was in ruins and in no shape to do much of anything. America, empowered by the generous spirit of its citizens was the essential ingredient in the reconstruction of Europe. The air-lift was an American response (aided by the British) to provide food, heating fuel, and other commodities to the people of West Berlin after the Soviet Union blockaded (cut-off over-land access to) West Berlin. Mr. Obama, you need to familiarize yourself with the basics of American history as well as the courage and generosity of our country's citizens; you seem to know little about either and this is not fitting for a presidential candidate.

Mr. Obama, why are you willing to meet with leaders of terrorist states yet are unwilling to meet with the men and women who serve honorably in our military? Is it that you know these people deal in life and death situations and need to make decisions in crucial situations without the benefit of opinion polls and that these skills imbue them with the ability to quickly recognize a phony?

Mr. Obama, you can wear your fine suits, you can make your flowery speeches, and you can attempt to be all things to all people. What you are not fit to be, is the leader of the free-world. You vacillate and make excuses for everything that you have been involved with … your failure to recognize the racism of your pastor of many years, your refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin, your failure to meet with American troops, etc. In the last twenty-four hours, you and your staff have published three different excuses for not visiting the troops. If you keep at it, you might come up with an excuse that even you believe.

Mouthing the word change does not make you capable. Mesmerizing rhetoric does not address the crises facing our nation – actions do. Your speeches speak of dreams and end results yet lack any definitive description of your plans for making your promises a reality. A point for the American people to ponder, is that all con men are generally believable and well-liked, that is until their lies and misrepresentations are unearthed and their victims realize the true costs of having been taken in because of their naiveté.

Mr. Obama, should you become President – and I pray that you don't – you cannot restore this nation's economic stability, you cannot achieve energy independence, you cannot restore our nation's security, simply with public appearances. Some of the more severe problems under-mining our nation include those of wasteful and arrogant spending by the U.S. Congress, unabated illegal immigration, the lack of border security, the need to develop our own sources of oil for heating and transportation, the need to develop alternative energy sources. These problems, as well as many others, need to be addressed with well though-out plans, which are subsequently put into action in an expeditious and cost effective manner. 

Bottom line, Mr. Obama, I do not want you to be elected so that you can be ruler of the world at the expense of the American people. It is not that I fear the impact that this will have on me and others of my age group, as I am growing older and have a limited number of years left before I answer to my God. What I fear is the decaying state of America that my children and grandchildren will have to endure because of your ego.