Clark Worked For Ark. Data Firm, Acxiom Role Part of Surveillance Debate

[Rose Siding]

Acxiom Role Part of Surveillance Debate

Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark helped an Arkansas information company win a contract to assist development of an airline passenger screening system, one of the largest surveillance programs ever devised by the government.

Starting just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Clark sought out dozens of government and industry officials on behalf of Acxiom Corp., a data powerhouse that maintains names, addresses and a wide array of personal details about nearly every adult in the United States and their households, according to interviews and documents.

Clark, a Democrat who declared himself a presidential candidate 10 days ago, joined Acxiom's board of directors in December 2001. He earned $300,000 from Acxiom last year and was set to receive $150,000, plus potential commissions, this year, according to financial disclosure records. He owns several thousand shares of Acxiom stock worth more than $67,000.

Clark's consulting role at Acxiom puts him near the center of a national debate over expanded government authority to use personal data and surveillance technology to fight the war on terrorism and protect homeland security.
snip>

As a consultant, he helped the company win a government contract worth an undisclosed amount to provide data and consulting services to the CAPPS II program.

more...........................

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7380-2003Sep26.html

[eileen_d]

1. eh?

"Clark's consulting role at Acxiom puts him near the center of a national debate over expanded government authority to use personal data and surveillance technology to fight the war on terrorism and protect homeland security."

No, that would be the Washington Post putting Clark near the center of this national debate. It's good to have more information about Clark though.

Edit: I have nothing against the Washington Post, but they are the ones spinning the issue here.

[Cocoa]

44. I'm glad they're covering this

I posted this info here months ago, saying I hoped the press would look into it.

Some other people were concerned too, so it's not spin.

[Must_B_Free]

54. Please pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

.

[Girlfriday]

2. Washington Post....

...enough said!

[Closer]

3. Huh?

Are you even kidding? The Washington Post is a very well-respected mainstream paper.

It's just getting uglier and uglier for Clark. I'm in amazement at the state of denial in which his supporters all find themselves.

[Girlfriday]

11. I just remember the hell....

....the Post put the Clintons through. And Clark admitted he used his connections in the military when he first got out. I don't think Clark supporters are in denial, but I do think we are all falling prey to this insistence by the RW to smear the candidates.

[Andromeda]

20. The WP is not mainstream...

It's turned into a right-wing rag.

I don't happen to think things are getting uglier and uglier for Clark as you put it. He's polling pretty high right now and he has the Rethugs worried. The only ones in denial right now are the Bush supporters who think dim son will be re-elected in 2004.

[Pastiche423]

25. Attacking the messenger

not the message?

[shirlden]

24. Hi Closer

Welcome to DU. Can you back up this statement with some evidence ?
"The Washington Post is a very well-respected mainstream paper"

:eyes:

[peacetalksforall]

62. Boy, are you behind the times...

forget about Woodward and Bradley and any old reputation...they are a right wing rag with a few independent opinions to contribute to the allusion of mainstream. Read a little deeper about them. Sorry if you're little mirage is going to vanish.

[Rose Siding]

5. CAPPS II

The proposed airline profiling program CAPPS II (for Computer Assisted Passenger Profiling System) would make every American a suspect.

This program would give the government a new role unprecedented in American life: running background checks on Americans who fly, and giving them a “risk score.” Secretive, lacking due process protections for people who are unfairly tagged, and yet easy for terrorists to circumvent, this program once put in place will grow into a most un-American system of internal border controls.

http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=13453&c=130


Wednesday's compromise bill, which provides $29.4 billion for Homeland Security, would prohibit the deployment of the system until the GAO study is completed on Feb. 15, 2004.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-West Virginia), who is the ranking member on the appropriations committee, said he was pleased with the recommendation for further study.

"CAPPS II has raised many questions about individuals' privacy rights," Byrd said. "This is an important endeavor for homeland security. But there are many troubling questions raised by such a system, not least of which is what information will the government use to determine threat level."

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,60600,00.html

[roughsatori]

8. Keep those blinders on and keep the "yawns" going

But our Democracy is at stake.

[Romberry]

47. Is that just as valid as when a Republican says...

..."Don't listen, it's just another liberal"?

In both cases you ignore the message because you don't like the messenger. In both cases, it isn't a valid objection.

Like it or not, Clark was a part of the MIC and it's through the MIC (and speaking at fundraisers for some party or another) where he has made the bulk of his living since he left the service. That isn't a smear, that is a fact.

[KoKo]

4. So, retired 4 Star Generals with high up access to Govt, can make $300,000

peddling "start up" electronics company's to government officials.....and they get the access that other folks who are trying to start small businesses with inventions can't even get their foot in the door....no influence and no money!

How is this different from Cheney and the rest of them. I remember a time when "retired Generals" came home and lived off their pensions......maybe doing work with the Veterans associations..

But, if your are a "retired 4 Star" the world is open to you! You get all the goodies....

I just don't think this is right. $300,000 PLUS! Just because he can call up Tom Ridge and the rest of them and say "Hi, this is Wes, and I have got a great company for you!"

This Government in bed with Corporatists has GOT TO STOP!

[trapper914]

31. The key is...

...he wasn't/isn't employed by the government as it relates to his lobbying efforts.

If he were elected and the relationship continued, then you have an ethics problem.

[KoKo]

32. But it was his Knowing the "Right Folks" to contact..that's the conflict!

How is this different from Cheney who was a politician getting the CEO of Halliberton because he'd served in the Bush administration and the Senate....and had influence inside the government.

This is the same think with Clark in my mind. I would rather vote for a candidate who hasn't used their influence in the government to obtain high paying jobs in private industry. How could we trust that Clark wouldn't be like Cheney and be biased towards any Industry pals he has? How can we know he wouldn't do this......is it worth taking a chance.....when we have seen such and abuse of Private and Corporate in our Government......how can we want this to continue?

[ozone_man]

69. It's not much different than Cheney and Haliburton.

Different only in degrees. He was marketing himself as a general. Selling his experience (whoring) to a Homeland security firm. This is not OK with me, and I'm very much against the Ashcroft big brother trend in America. I have an ethics problem with this.

Dean, Kucinich, Byrd (shucks, he's not running), ... , these folks have led the way and have demonstrated the kind of ethics I'm looking for.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

38. Acxiom Is Not a Start-Up

It was founded in the 1960's and has a market cap of over $1.3 Billion.

This salary for being a Director is right in line with other companies of this size.

And while you might think generals should just sit at home and take their pension, I am sure many of them would disagree with you. This is America, there is nothing wrong with the private sector.

DTH

[NashVegas]

63. Look Through Wired Mag Online To See What the Story is About

JetBlue Customers Feel the Pain

Fliers File Suit Against JetBlue

JetBlue 'Fesses Up, Quietly

JetBlue Shared Passenger Data

JetBlue Data to Fuel CAPPS Test


These were not related to Axiom, BTW, but to Torch Concepts, apparently a competitor.

[lostnfound]

55. Then vote for Dennis 'cause he's the only one really pushing that issue..

We need a new relationship between corporations and our society. Just as our founders understood the need for separation of church and state, we need to institutionalize the separation of corporations and the state.
~Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich

Given the snail's pace at which this nation of boob-tubers learns from past experience, he may be about 300 years ahead of his time..(sorry for the negative moment there)..but gee, he's got the right idea, doesn't he?

[photons]

60. Clark's only getting $300K!?

;-)

Geez, Clark is a slacker! Cheney's no longer working at Halliburton and he's still getting paid!? Believe he got about $205,000 in deferred salary in 2001 and $162,000 in 2002, which he donated to charity because he's that kinda guy. He also has about 433,333 unexercised Halliburton stock options.

http://lautenberg.senate.gov/~lautenberg/press/2003/01/2003916801.html

[revcarol]

6. Jet Blue really took the s*** on this one,

when the real evildoers were Clark's Acxiom and the administration's Patriot Act.

Of course, it wouldn't break my heart if Jet Blue got more flack. They are so consistently anti-union and contribute to union-busting.

Sounds like we have a man who either doesn't care about the civil liberties of Americans, or he is just a figurehead who is being used because of his connections and prestige. Either way, not Presidential material, at least for us Democrats.

[Rose Siding]

7. At least we know he has a healthy respect for

Capitalism.

[Tinoire]

9. As usual DU had this first! n/t

[grasswire]

10. there's something wrong with this story

"As a consultant, he helped the company win a government contract worth an undisclosed amount to provide data and consulting services to the CAPPS II program. CAPPS II is the second-generation computer-assisted passenger screening system, a network that Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta once described as "the foundation" on which all other, far more public aviation security measures depend.

A senior executive at Acxiom said Clark began knocking on doors for the company, without pay, out of patriotic impulses shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. Jerry Jones, Acxiom's general counsel and business development leader, said the company also wanted to do its part in the war on terrorism."

Doesn't make sense. Just doesn't make sense.

[Tinoire]

15. He was a Jackson Stephens consultant for Acxiom at the same time

Clark joined the reptiles at Jackson Stephens in 2000 and worked for Acxiom as a Stephens consultant before officially transitioning to Acxiom in December 2001.
---

General Clark is also licensed as an investment banker. He joined Stephens Inc. as a consultant in July of 2000 and was named Managing Director – Merchant Banking of Stephens Group, Inc. from March 2001 through February 2003.
http://www.directmag.com/ar/marketing_wesley_clark_keeps/
--
THE CORPORATE LIBRARY
RELATED PARTY ARCHIVES

From the 2003 Acxiom Corporation Proxy:

<snip>

During the past fiscal year we had an agreement with an affiliate of Stephens Group, Inc. ("Stephens"), whereby we retained the consulting services of a former Stephens employee who is also one of our board members, General Wesley K. Clark, in connection with our pursuit of contracts with various government agencies. Under the agreement, commissions were payable to the Stephens affiliate on revenue from government contracts attributable to Clark's efforts, which commissions were to be offset against an annual consulting fee of $300,000. As of March 1, 2003, General Wesley K. Clark resigned from Stephens and founded Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a business services and development firm. As of that date we replaced the agreement with the Stephens affiliate with an agreement with Wesley K. Clark & Associates for the consulting services of General Clark. Under the terms of the new agreement, Acxiom will pay Clark an annual retainer of $150,000 plus commissions for new business obtained through Clark's efforts, which commissions will be offset against the retainer.

<snip>

http://public.thecorporatelibrary.net/Transactions/rel_ACXM_2003.html

Sep 18 2003

While Clark is maintaining his position on Acxiom’s board of directors, he did terminate his consulting agreement with the company upon announcing his candidacy. That contract was valued at $150,000 per year, said Ingram.

<snip>
http://www.directmag.com/ar/marketing_wesley_clark_keeps/

[Pastiche423]

22. Oh for cripe's sake!

Keep your blinders on.

He did it. It's a fact. Nothing is going to change that.

It doesn't matter which newspaper printed it. It is still a fact that clark could give a shit abot our citizen's civil rights.

[eileen_d]

34. I must have missed something in the article

Please show me where the WP article states that Clark doesn't give a shit about out citizens' civil rights.

I've taken off my blinders; you may want to adjust your lenses.

[KoKo]

65. Grasswire....Correct....Clark's knocking on doors just after 9/11...sounds

like Condi and PNAC who said "Let's Roll on Iraq!" (thats MY Quote....not a Direct quote...but my take on what I've read)........Clark can't wait to go out and "lobby" while the rest of America was in a state of shock over what happened.

An Opportunist/Capitalist.........wouldn't you say?

[Cocoa]

67. people reacted in different ways to Sept. 11

Some people went comatose in front of their TVs, some people renewed ties to their families, some people found religion, and some people helped the corporations they were connected to get a peice of the bonanza of taxpayer cash. It's all good.

[IndianaGreen]

72. Some people called for revenge, and didn't care who died!

As witnessed by some of the posters that are now supporting Clark on this board who after 9/11 were quite open about killing any Muslim, and bombing any country. as long as their thirst for blood was satisfied. One of them even said on a post to me that he was not interested in hearing about "innocent civilians" until after we had killed as many innocents as the hijackers had on 9/11 (we thought that the deathtoll was as high as 10,000 back then--it turned out to be 2,792).

[grasswire]

12. Does Rove know what he's doing here?

By pushing this propaganda about Clark? It all could backfire on Ashcroft -- these are his programs under criticism.

[eileen_d]

13. that theory makes me LOL

not at you, but with you: "Don't vote for Clark, he has ties to the evil Bush administration... wait a minute, that's us! Holy crap, we're evil! Gaaaaaah!"

[Rose Siding]

14. What do you mean?

Do you know that Clark *wasn't* hawking this outrageous program? What makes it "propaganda"?

[jamesinca]

16. Is it possible to just be smear

Get the initial impression out there even if it is wrong. Maybe Clark is that much of a threat to this administration that they need to smear him. After all he is not Dean, the guy they say they want to run against. I think Will Pitt put it nicely the other day, people will hear 4 star general, NATO and immediatly think he knows all about what is best for national security and foreign policy. Bush can't compete with that, so they start the smear now.

It is possible that he had a lot of passions stirred by what happened on 9/11. We all did, for one reason or another. He may have very innocently though this is a good way to help America, call on a few people that he knows, use his connections to help save this country. I think there needs to be a little more digging and a little less finger pointing.

[Cocoa]

46. It's not propaganda

it's a bona fide story. If it doesn't matter to you, fine. But it matters to me.

[SaintLouisBlues]

17. I'll be interested to hear Clark's reaction

Does post 9/11 ferver help explain this?

Is there a system that can identity genuine bad guys at the airport
without government abuse of innocent citizens?

Does this makes Clark Ashcroft reincarnate?

[grasswire]

18. considering his remarks....

....about the Patriot Act in the Rolling Stone interview posted here somewhere, I'm not too concerned about his motives and his designs on our civil liberties.

[seventhson]

29. Clark is Lying IMHO, and is a set up by the Military corporations

OF course they have to ACT like he is the bad guy. He is their bad guy and for this subversion to WORK, they have to come out punching him like they do Kerry. The LimpBall's of the world join the chorus and make Clark look better to the left.

He is a trojan horse.

Look At Clark's case history: he has been prRepublican and been a military man doing business with Bush supporters (the Stephens group) who have ties to BCCI and the Saudis and who financed Arbusto. He was involved with the mercenary military corporations MPRI.

Now, Stephens and MPRI ALSO both had ties to Clinton so you have in Clark a prime time player at the heart of the military industrial complex playing both ends against the middle to maintain the status quo.

To "volunteer" to promote technology which targets ALL citizens and profiles us just like the Nazis did with their IBM technology --- THAT speaks volumes about his true motivations.

Bush is a crybaby. He does not want to withdraw so another repub can come in.

So IMHO Clark is the one (besides Kerry and Lieberman) who will protect Bush from prosecution and maintain the status quo.

[Romberry]

50. As I said in another post...

I don't care what he says near as much as I care about what he does (or has done.)

Actions speak louder than words.

Personally, I want this addressed and cleared up as quickly as possible. I want absolutely nothing hanging over Clark's head that might prevent Howard Dean from offering him the VP slot. If he can't clear it up or more of these types of things continue to surface, Dean will have to look elsewhere and I think the ticket will not be as strong as it might be otherwise.

[Girlfriday]

19. I must say $150,000 is chump change

In chimp and cheney's world.

[LizW]

33. Clark's figured that out, too

so he's putting in for a promotion.

:evilgrin:

[KoKo]

35. It's $300.00 Plus the $150,000 plus! Here's the quote from article:

" He earned $300,000 from Acxiom last year and was set to receive $150,000, plus potential
commissions, this year, according to financial disclosure records. He owns several thousand shares of Acxiom stock
worth more than $67,000".

[DoveTurnedHawk]

37. He Was Also a DIRECTOR of a Large Public Company

Among other things, I am a securities lawyer. Compensation like that is hardly out of line with the norms, especially when you consider the services he provided. I'm actually glad Acxiom has Clark on his board, it's a hell of a lot better than a bunch of company insiders who were born and raised in the company being there.

BTW, Acxiom is based in Little Rock, AR.

DTH

[KoKo]

42. DTH, then I'm assuming you are sorry Dick Grasso was asked to resign?

And, you think that Tyco's Kozlowski and Enron's Ken Lay and the rest of them deserve to make that kind of money because they bring so much value to the Company? :evilgrin:

[DoveTurnedHawk]

43. It's a Question of Degree

Grasso was obviously ridiculous; that's among the highest I've EVER heard in terms of exec comp. Same with Lay, although the bigger problem there was the stock option problem, which is a separate issue in my mind: big option grants to execs directly incentivize them to cook the books, in order to raise stock price.

That's not a problem here. Clark owns a paltry amount of stock, in the grand scheme of things. And while I don't want to claim that $300K is small potatoes, it's certainly not on the order of millions. Lots of board members and execs make that much, hell, lots of generic but experienced LAWYERS make close to that amount.

I don't hold a candidate's earning potential or wealth against him or her. I mean, I'm sure Dean and Kerry both have tons of cash and have earned very good salaries and income (especially if you include investments) over their careers. Good on them!

DTH

[KoKo]

66. DTH! This salary is Quite High for a "Director!" Clark was NOT CEO!

So he wasn't a full time employee at this point......yet.....he got a huge salary for "knocking on doors" after 9/ll (According to WP article) and beyond. If every Board of Directors of a company got this kind of perks...no wonder our economy is in severe trouble.......but, DTH, my sense is from you......that our "economy" is not in trouble.....and that these salaries are not draining money from American Companies......and if you pay a guy 300K-PLUS then it's worth it .....if he brings in the business.

I wonder, what the CEO makes, if Clark made that amount of money for a couple of years....and what did the other Directors on the Board make......less than Clark...more than Clark?

Much money paid for influence with "friends" in Government High places.

[seventhson]

57. That is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard a lawyer say...

It makes no sense:

You said:

"I'm actually glad Acxiom has Clark on his board, it's a hell of a lot better than a bunch of company insiders who were born and raised in the company being there.

BTW, Acxiom is based in Little Rock, AR."

That pretty much puts Clark, an Arkansas insider who worked for the ULTIMATE INSIDER company with financial ties to both the Saudis AND Bush (He was hired as an investment bank MANAGER by Stephens Group), as a company insider born and raised in the company ALMOST.

But the dumb assertion is that CLARK, with you offering no evidence whatsoever, is somehow BETTER because he was a General who had pentagon business contacts with nefarious insider military contractors like MPRI who were plugged into all the same crooked dealers like Bush BEFORE he went to work full time OR as a volunteer for Chrissakes for people who spy on US.

Demented

[StephNW4Clark]

21. Of course this was left out of the post

"Government and industry officials who have attended meetings with Clark described him as thoughtful and persuasive. Jones, the Acxiom official, said Clark repeatedly stressed the need to "properly balance legitimate privacy interests and the need for security." Jones said that was a core theme of Acxiom's effort to win government contracts."

[Tinoire]

27. Yeah... So were his Senate Lobbying Registrations for Acxiom 2002-2003

2002 http://sopr.senate.gov/cgi-win/opr_viewer.exe?20020




*****************************************************





******************************************************
******************************************************

2003 http://sopr.senate.gov/cgi-win/opr_viewer.exe?20030




***************************************************************




**************************************************************

http://sopr.senate.gov/

[barbaraann]

39. The signatures on those documents don't match.

It looks to me like three different people signed those documents.

Also, Wesley even seems to be misspelled in one of them!

[Tinoire]

41. Rush and announce that to the Senate. Those are official documents

Nice spin.

[barbaraann]

45. I wasn't trying to spin. I actually think Clark might be a plant.

But I have dabbled in handwriting analysis and couldn't help but notice that the signatures simply do NOT match. If a person's signature changes that much, it would be a sign that they are highly unstable.

(Do you remember that I started a thread suggesting that Clark would be the GOP candidate for President?)

[Tinoire]

48. My apologies- In a rush or unstable?

I'm sorry... That had slipped my mind since you usually seem to stay out of the fray. The signatures seem quite consistent to me though more indicative of someone in a rush than anything else. But those are official Senate/House Lobbyist Documents taken straight from their official site and he was an admitted Lobbyist.

As far as instability goes, it's kind of unsettling to hear you say that because I've already seen various quotes about that.

Don't you think that could just be someone in a rush?

[barbaraann]

52. I'm not an expert but I've been studying the signatures

and they are very, very different and the difference doesn't appear to me to be one of speed in signing. It appears more fundamental.

Gen. Clark certainly does not appear to me to be unstable but I have heard Madeline Albright say several times that there was more to the story of Clark's firing by Clinton than she could reveal. I really don't know--I am just stating things I have noticed.

If you really wanted me to, I could get out my handwriting analysis book and go a little farther.

Oh, and, no apology needed for not remembering all of my posts. :-)

[Tinoire]

61. Yes. Please.... if it's not too much trouble

I'd be curious as to what you turned up.

Thanks & Peace :)

[barbaraann]

64. Ok - I will do that but it might be tomorrow before I can post

my results. So I might just PM you if this thread has dropped into the archives. Does that make sense???

And you're welcome...

[Tinoire]

68. Yes - either thread or PM is great. Thanks again! n/t

[Romberry]

51. A plant? Well...

...as long as it's cannabis sativa, I say what the heck! Let's party. :)

[barbaraann]

53. Oh, I think if we take back our democracy in 2004, we WILL party.

We can all grab our favorite party supplies/refreshments/whatever and sit here celebrating on DU! :party:

[Rose Siding]

28. Board rules limit posting the whole article

so there is no "of course" about it.

[dkf]

23. The problem is that once you give the Government such

intrusive access into the lives of its citizens, it can be abused by future administrations.

I don't like this. It smacks a little too much of big brother.

Scary.

[annagull]

26. not "Pro" or"Against" Clark, but WTF is this?

I don't want to nominate another piece of the machine,

Dean looks better and better to me.

[seventhson]

30. The more we examine Clark the more he looks like a Republican

and he was.

He also was up to his eyeballs in military covert and corporate shenanigans.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

36. I Trust Norm Mineta, and I Don't Give a Rat's Ass About This

I have known for some time that Clark has lobbied the military and the government on programs that he believes in (including ALTERNATIVE ENERGY BICYCLES, for Pete's sake), and I do not begrudge for one moment the fact that he is paid for his introduction services. He has a valuable commodity and is compensated for it. It is no surprise to anyone that his most valuable commodities are in the military, where he spent his entire career. If he'd wanted to, he could have become a complete whore and lobbied for weapons systems, he could have immersed himself on K Street. But he didn't do that.

As for CAPPS II, the person in charge of the program is LOYAL DEMOCRAT Norm Mineta, the head of the Department of Transportation. As a Japanese American, he was INTERNED in an American concentration camp during WWII, and so I think this is one man who has just a wee bit of knowledge of and concern for the issue of imposing on civil liberties.

Clark obviously believed in this program enough to work FOR FREE on it (something which can be verified easily, I imagine, as Acxiom is a public company), and he obviously took a balanced view of it:

"Government and industry officials who have attended meetings with Clark described him as thoughtful and persuasive. Jones, the Acxiom official, said Clark repeatedly stressed the need to "properly balance legitimate privacy interests and the need for security." Jones said that was a core theme of Acxiom's effort to win government contracts."

If we have to have lobbyists at all, I think that describes exactly the sort of lobbyist we want. I also think that CAPPS II is a potentially important and useful program. With Norm Mineta overseeing the decision, I feel confident that it will be fine.

I also note that people who are in favor of gun registration and background checks also should not have much of a problem with this program in concept, IMO.

Finally, Clark is also a critic of the USA PATRIOT Act, and he has actually read all 1200 pages, apparently three times (unlike all of our legislators, who apparently passed it without even having TIME to read it all, practically). I'm comfortable with his positions here, and I'm not at all fazed by the news that he (gasp) actually used his military connections.

DTH

[Romberry]

49. I understand how you feel but...

...what Clark does in private tells me as much or more about him than what he says for public consumption.

How's that old saw go again? Ethics and morals are defined by what you do when no one is looking...or something like that.

[Khephra]

58. "LOYAL DEMOCRAT"

Don't mean shit these days until the DLC is out of the game.

[neuvocat]

40. Clinton implemented a broad range of security measures

such as scanning phone calls for key words like "bomb". These measures were set into motion after the bombing of the governement building in OK.

As far as this being as issue, I'm skeptical. Clark doesn't seem the sort to just jump in out of convenience and forget about what he's done a few months ago or two years ago.

[KoKo]

71. Whatever Clinton did in the way of security...pales in comparison to Rummy

and now Clark.....runs as a Dem.....when he made MAJOR BIG BUCKS by securing contracts for more intrusion into our lives with Acxiom? What is this........? How much more do we need of this.

Frustrated as I am by having spent the last few months filling out HIPPA forms at Dentist/Doctors offices for every visit!
(Yes, HIPPA is Clinton) but this stuff is getting pretty Creepy......do we need our Dem Nominee to have this baggage?

[lostnfound]

56. Clark fans, if it seems the others of us are grasping at straws..

remember, we need to understand his record -- not his competence, but his ethics and his real-worldview -- and IMO it's awfully difficult to have much to go on since he's never held political office. Nor has he been out there devoting himself to some NGO activity.

[seventhson]

59. He is/was a Military-Industrial (spy) lobbyist. Read the Lobbyist Filings

posted by Tinoire above. READ them carefully.

I agree the signatures are somewhat different.

But what strikes me is his reports on WHO he contacted as a Lobbyist:

The White House AND the CIA!!!!


WHO LOBBIES the CIA???

Former Generals plugged into the military industrial corporate media complex that's who!!!

Clark is the Penultimate Republican insider who is doing what he is told to do by his corporate paymasters IMHO.

Anything to DEFEAT DEAN so that they do not have to risk historica and ultimate exposure by neutralizing him OR get himself or their other surrogate Kerry in place in the VP slot so IF THEY HAVE TO BUMP DEAN OFF - then THEY ARE READY TO STEP BACK FULLY INTO POWER WITHOUT MISSING A BEAT.

THAT is what I believe. THAT is my opinion. I have NO LINKS to prove it other than the sociopolitical networks that are WELL documented here.

The other corporate OUTSIDER in this race is Edwards. He may be a smucky Senator - But he is NOT an ulktimate corporate and political INSIDER like Kerry.

I like Dean/Edwards to beat Bush/Cheney.

That is the very best we can do!!!

[ozone_man]

70. Wow! Dean/Edwards.

This is getting nastier and nastier, and I think your read on the situation is right on.