Reply #12: Your OP title threw me off a little

[Tom Rinaldo]

Because it was so straightforward and immediately down to the bottom line. But I think you captured it exactly in your text, and I want to compliment you on how well you articulated that basic underlying difference in the two fundamental world views. I think your second paragraph was a bulls eye to the heart of why so many of Clark's supporters are people who identify ourselves as left of center. The "communitarian" position, as you describe it, is exactly where I see Clark, and I've been paying really close attention to him now for almost three years.

The Clark supporter community is not so large that one can't get to the heart of it if you are committed and earnest about wanting to make a positive difference in the world by doing political work through it. I say that because that is the story of my own slow personal journey, and once one makes that journey one will inevitably get to meet and really know some wonderful people who themselves have personally known Wes and Gert Clark extremely well for years and sometimes decades. I've met Clark on several occasions and heard him speak in person more often than that. Still I will not claim that I personally know Wes Clark, but I do now know great people who do, and they confirm my own impression of Clark which is EXACTLY what you described above.

Clark is a brilliant guy, he could have had anything he wanted in the world, but he devoted himself to the defense of our nation for idealistic reasons, not for money fame or power. And money and power at least were always dangled out in front of Clark by the Military Industrial Complex which was always trying to lure him out of uniform early and into their board rooms and the halls of Congress on their behalf, for very lucrative rewards. Clark is a man of principle. He believes in "Honor Duty Service" just as fervently as Karl Marx believed in "from each according to their ability, to each according to their need". The Arny has always been one of America's least stratified institutions. The differential between the Pay rate of a Private and a General is tiny compared to what is common in private industry. And the reality of Warfare makes a slogan like "leave no man behind" a lot more than empty marketing. Clark was seriously wounded in Viet Nam, he understands team work and the need to take care of each another, and he understands America's diversity.

Anyway, think I'll stop here, but I just want to thank you for expressing your thoughts so clearly.