 Gen. Weasley Wesley Clark, acting as a disreputable surrogate for Barack ObamaÂ’s campaign, invoked John McCainÂ’s military service against him in one of the more personal attacks on the Republican presidential nominee this election cycle.
| For some strange reason Obama and Axelrod think they can do a reverse-Swift-Boat on John McCain. It's not going to work, and it's just going to drive the center away from them. |
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. After saying, "I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war," he added that these experiences in no way qualify McCain to be president in his view:
| Being a goof-ball general doesn't qualify you to be president, either ... |
“He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn't a wartime squadron,” Clark said.
| It's hard to hold executive responsibility in preparation to be president. Being a governor is being an executive, but Bill Clinton proved it wasn't sufficient. Being a big-city mayor likewise isn't the same. There's really no one job that prepares you to be president other than the job of life. Say what you want about McCain, he's done a number of things in his life, and added together pro'ly make him ready to do the job. At least compared to someone who was a 'community organizer', lawyer, state senator, and partial-one-term US senator. |
“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”
| I wonder if he says that around other military people. It was McCain's bad luck to be shot down, just as for every other fellow who was wounded or killed. You'd think a general would understand that and not impugn the sacrifice of another military person. You'd think. |
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