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