A Display of Asian/Pacific Islander Solidarity for Clark

[DoveTurnedHawk]

Today, I had the distinct pleasure of attending a town hall meeting in Koreatown, with General Wesley K. Clark. The focus: issues of particular interest to the Asian/Pacific Islander community.

The host committee was a multicultural "who's who" of influential Los Angeles Asian/Pacific Islanders, including:

Assemblymember George Nakano
Assemblymember Dario Frommer
Mayor of Monterey Park David Lau
Former Mayor of Monterey Park Lily Chen
Mayor of Southgate Hector De La Torre
Mayor Pro Tem of Torrance Ted Lieu
Councilmember of Cerritos Laura Lee
Councilmember of Carson Elito Santarina
President of "Southeast Asian Vote" Waqar Ali Khan
Community Service Commissioner of Irvine Mariam Khosravani
Civil Rights Attorney Angela Oh
and about 40 other notables.

We packed the venue with over *500* interested citizens, from the aged halmonis tugging on their younger family members' sleeves for translation, to the slick, young, trendy American-born, to the respected, dignified elders of the community, to the Filipino military veterans in their smart, beige uniforms.

This was GRASS. ROOTS.

The word from the organizers was that the event was the LARGEST multicultural Asian/Pacific Islander gathering for an American political campaign/issue EVER, and based on my 15+ years in the area, I think that's about right. The Asian/Pacific Islander media was out in force, with about a dozen camera crews set up and even more reporters.

General Clark walked into the venue to the strains of U2's "It's a Beautiful Day," and the place went wild. I counted seven standing ovations during the course of the afternoon, and one spontaneous, "We Want Clark" chant that lasted for over a minute.

General Clark gave his standard stump speech, before taking questions from the Moderator and my old friend, civil rights attorney Angela Oh. The questions had been formulated beforehand by the host committee, representing all of the diverse communities (South Asian (including Pakistan), Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Persian, Filipino, Southeast Asian, and others).

I wish I had written the questions down, because in all of the excitement, I just plain forgot some of them. But he did well on all of them, particularly knocking one question on the Patriot Act out-of-the-park by basically saying immediately and without hesitation that he would change it, that he would stop the racist enforcement of all laws, and that racial profiling was the typical resort of law enforcement agents who just didn't know where else to start, and that that needed to be stopped as well.

He favored immediate dialogue with North Korea, and lambasted the administration for its utter failure to engage. But he also stood by South Korea and vowed to maintain its security; he merely rejected the notion that we were somehow made more secure by this administration's disengagement from North Korea. He then gave a strong line about how the Bush administration's "Axis of Evil" speech was perhaps the most counter-productive foreign policy statement in the last 50 years.

He also supported small business owners, and pointed to his job creation tax credit plan, which dedicates $20 billion to small businesses that create new full-time positions. He supported fair immigration policies that did not discriminate against countries just because they might be of color, or Islamic, and he indicated his belief that immigrants have made this country great, and what it is today. And of course, he reiterated his STRONG support for affirmative action, and the concepts of diversity and multiculturalism that have made this country great.

General Clark's appearance today was nothing short of incredible. I have never seen the Asian/Pacific Islander community appear THIS excited about ANY candidate for political office! At the end, as is typical for General Clark, he stuck around for quite a while, greeting people, talking with supporters, and he made a point of taking the time to speak and take many pictures with the veterans, who were clearly moved to meet him.

As a final word to Clark supporters, please note that General Clark is an INCREDIBLY EASY SELL to many people in the Asian/Pacific Islander community, especially if you concentrate on three things:

1) His incredible educational background. By focusing on how he finished FIRST in his class at West Point, and was a Rhodes Scholar with a masters in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and was a Professor at West Point in Economics, you will probably win over the significant majority of Asian/Pacific Islander listeners! Practically EVERY Asian/Pacific Islander family I know values EDUCATION and SUCCESS in education to an almost extreme degree. General Clark wins IMMEDIATE respect when you tell people this.

2) His support for small businesses. The $20 billion job creation tax credit for for small businesses was a HUGE hit today, because many in the Asian/Pacific Islander community are small business owners.

3) His 38-year service to this country in the military. This, too, is an indicator of tremendous respect for many in the Asian/Pacific Islander community.

General Clark will win California with the help and support of the Asian/Pacific Islander community, and I am proud of both his appearance today, and of the incredible showing by members of our community.

DTH

[Ambassador Hope]

1. I live in Hawaii and no one has heard of him or those that do

think he is bush light. Dean will win Hawaii big time.

We are throwing out all the old has beens here. Check out the new young not has been dcer's we are bringing in like Dem Ed Case who took Patsy Minks seat.

Dean is a lot like Ed.

I hear on here all the time how sick things are. We need a doctor, not a lawyer or dcer.

[Julien Sorel]

4. What exactly is a doctor going to do?

Operate? From the irrationality of his followers, I can see that Dean already prescribes lots and lots of drugs, but they don't seem to heal anything. What does being a doctor have to do with reality?

[Ambassador Hope]

7. At least he is a democrat

Why do we want a military guy who has been praising bush?

We need to grow our own. When is the last time we went to the repubs to get a military guy and it worked? Last two dem presidents were from small states and served as gov. Think we could try something that wins.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

8. The Last Two Democratic Presidents Were Governors From SOUTHERN States

And Georgia is hardly small.

I love how positive threads on the General bring out the haters. :-) You might want to try not to piss in the pool, it just makes you look bad among polite company.

Clark is a Democrat. If you believe otherwise, you probably haven't been paying attention.

DTH

[Ambassador Hope]

10. Georgia is consider a smaller state, why all the hate

I said nothing that was hate. Has he register as a dem yet?

Why do we need a general? I would rather have a doctor.

How long has he been a dem?

You must be ex-military the way you scream haters. If facts are presented, it is not hate.

[FrenchieCat]

11. What was he praising Bush about????

DO you know?

[Ambassador Hope]

26. I live on a Pacific Island and no one here cares about clark

That is a fact.

Never see his name in the news here.

[FrenchieCat]

30. You sure know a lot of people.....

Wow, I am impressed. What is the population of "no one wants clark" land?

And how many newspapers do you have there, and what are their names?

[Ambassador Hope]

32. Depends on the island

It sounds like the rich lib dems who want clark are trying to tell me a dem who lives in the Pacific what we should know.

I just have not heard anything about Clark.

I want to vote for a dem at least.

[roguevalley]

44. I'm pleased as peas over this meeting.

as for the immediate dissing that accompanies it, I am just going to ignore it from now on. I want to enjoy my candidate and the pleasure he gives to people who meet him. I want to enjoy the hope he inspires. I am going to mentally delete the cold water throwers that just HAVE to come out whenever his name is mentioned.

Thank you for the lovely good news on the General.

[FrenchieCat]

9. What was he praising Bush about????

Do you know?

[Ambassador Hope]

12. If your on here they are listed all the time

If he had the follow the rules on here to be a dem, he could not post or run because he was too new.

No one has heard of him over here in Hawaii. We are changing in hawaii. Have a women gov. Ed Case is a great new breath of fresh air and we need people like Ed and Dr. Dean not military guys who are baby dems.

[Julien Sorel]

14. LOL

You have a Republican woman governor. You are indeed changing.

[Ambassador Hope]

16. We have a women at least

How about ed case?

We need to get the Ed's, Dean's and other young blood in to our party leadership. Get rid of the has been dcer's. I do not understand why anyone needs to go get a friend of Bush from the Military to be our leader when we have several good people who have been with the party.

[Julien Sorel]

17. Your definition of 'good people' and mine

are obviously different. Just as your definition and mine of an honest argument are different.

[roguevalley]

47. No one has.

Really, dissing everyone else to boost your boy never works. There are smart and passionate people on this board that support everyone. It gets INCREDIBLY tiresome to hear someone try to boost their boy by tearing down everyone else's. I don't care who wins as long as it isn't Bush. But bashing Clark won't get Dean support from me. I will
not support him unless he is the candidate. But I respect everyone else who does because they have the same passion for him that I have
for Clark.

You really should consider that in your comments.

PS I live in the other former territory, Alaska and the news is always slow getting here too. I just know as it heats up that Clark and the rest will become known and given the right alignment of the gods, Wesley Clark will be given a fair and intelligent lookover by my fellow ALaskans. Being far away is not an excuse for anything.

[FrenchieCat]

19. You mean this speech?

The one where he uses DIPLOMACY to get his point across to Republicans as a non partisan about foreign policy?

You mean the one they keep showing on TV over and over again...where the Mediawhores leave off the last line of the sentence?

Have you ever read that speech...or do you just jump onto bandwagons?

Because if I were you, which I am not, I would do my own reading and analysis. If not, we will see Bush for another 4 years, as Dean as not a chance in hell of winning the Presidency. He has no foreign policy experience at all! and the governor of a state 600,000 strong ain't exactly small....it's tiny...there are 600,000 Puerto Ricans in New York alone!

See for yourself. Please read closely the May 2001 Lincoln Day speech:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110004065
here is the full paragraph of contention:
------------------
You see, in the Cold War we were defensive. We were trying to protect our country from communism. Well guess what, it's over. Communism lost. Now we've got to go out there and finish the job and help people live the way they want to live. We've got to let them be all they can be. They want what we have. We've got some challenges ahead in that kind of strategy. We're going to be active, we're going to be forward engaged. But if you look around the world, there's a lot of work to be done. And I'm very glad we've got the great team in office: men like Colin Powell, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condolzeezza Rice, Paul O'Neill--people I know very well--our president, George W. Bush. We need them there, because we've got some tough challenges ahead in Europe.
----------------------
notice he says he is glad to have them in office for the challenges ahead in EUROPE!

Furthermore, if anyone bothered to really quote what he said and the context you would find that Clark was saying things to the Bush Administration that they truly didn't want to hear. Clark, always the diplomat threw in quite a few jabs at that dinner....
Please note the two paragraphs up from the maligned "praise":
------------------------
But we're also extremely vulnerable. Our economy--we're using three times--we've got three times as much foreign investment as we're investing--capital flow--as we're putting out there. They're investing here because they believe in us. We're using energy like it's going out of style. We're using five to eight times as much energy per capita as people in the rest of the world, twice as much as even the Europeans. We're vulnerable to security threats--everything from terrorism to the developing missiles that are--we know rogue states are developing to aim at us.

And so I think we have to have a new strategy, and we have to have a consensus on the strategy, and we have to have a bipartisan consensus, and politics has to stop in America at the water's edge. We've got to reach out, and we've got to find those people in the world and share our values and beliefs--and we've got to reinforce them. We've got to bring them here and let them experience the kind of life that we have. They've got to get an education here. They've got to be able to send their children here. They they've got to go home. And they've got to carry the burdens in their own lands, and to some extent we have to help them.
----------------------------
notice that in the first paragraph clark talks enviromentalism to a republican audience.
also note the warning about terrorism pre-9/11.
notice in the second paragraph he talks about bipartisanship, and reaching out to the world community. two traits that he shares spot on with his positions today.

in the next two paragraphs he further defines the european challenges:
-------------------------
We've got a NATO that's drifting right now. I don't know what's happened to it. But the situation in the Balkans where we've still got thousands of American troops, it's in trouble. It's going downhill on us as we're watching it. Our allies haven't quite picked up the load on that. But our allies say they're going to build a European security and defense program with a rival army to NATO. Well, I think it's a political imperative that they do more for defense, but I think we have to understand that that linkage between the United Sates and Europe, that bond on security, that's in our interest.
Look, in politics they told me--I don't know anything about politics now, I want to make that clear. But they told me--I read, do my reading in Time magazine and so forth. And they said in politics you've always got to protect your base. Well, for the United States, our base is Europe. We've got to be there, and we've got to be engaged in Europe. And that means we've got to take care of NATO, we've got to make sure the Europeans stay in it, and we've got to stay with the problem in the Balkans, even though we don't like it. We will get it resolved, and we'll help bring democracy and Westernization to those countries there.

[Ambassador Hope]

23. Has he registered as a dem yet?

He just seems like a great repub not are type.

We have a lot of men and women who have served this party for many years and they should get a chance.

We do know that the last 2 dem presidents were gov's not military people.

What was FDR before he went in to office?

[FrenchieCat]

29. YEP.....

He did. He Switch from Independent to Democrat. As a non partisan, and the fact that Arkansas does not require that one claims a party affiliation, he just didn't rush it.

But answer me this, Why is Dean pandering to Republican Right Wing Confederate Flag flying bigots for their votes?....since his supporters find that a person that may have voted Republican before is so objectionable?

Dean wants the votes of those who voted for Bush 3 years ago....But Clark, who has been voting Democratic for the last 11 years still gets questioned about his party affiliation? Sounds like there is no consistency here.

[Ambassador Hope]

35. He is trying to get the Clintons to vote for him as they flew the flag

at their home. Bill as gov attend services honoring it and never took it down and black did not care.

Dean is trying to get all the votes he can. Maybe he is trying to also get Clintons and all their types in the south.

Gore's dad flew the flag proudly.

I would not fly the flag, but it does not mean much to the last two dem presidents who both had it flying when they were gov's.

[Pastiche423]

27. He was praising whistle ass et al for being such a great team

"And I'm very glad we've got the great team in office: men like Colin Powell, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condolzeezza Rice, Paul O'Neill--people I know very well--our president, George W. Bush."

On edit: spellin

[FrenchieCat]

31. PASTISHE423 SHOULD GO WORK FOR FAUX NEWS!

Pastishe423 said that Clark Said "And I'm very glad we've got the great team in office: men like Colin Powell, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condolzeezza Rice, Paul O'Neill--people I know very well--our president, George W. Bush."

However, what Clark actually said was "And I'm very glad we've got the great team in office: men like Colin Powell, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condolzeezza Rice, Paul O'Neill--people I know very well--our president, George W. Bush. We need them there, because we've got some tough challenges ahead in Europe.
----------------------
notice he says he is glad to have them in office for the challenges ahead in EUROPE!

[Pastiche423]

34. NOTICE THAT HE WAS PRAISING REPUGS!

[Ambassador Hope]

37. Why are we going outside of the party for a military guy?

We have people loyal to the party that have the track record that has won before. Small state gov seems to work. It worked for Clinton and Carter.

When was the last military guy elected president that was a dem?

To me, this is a decision made in a smoke filled room to go over the heads of dems but dean with the internet will stop it.

[Pastiche423]

38. Going outside of the party is called outsourcing

I think outsourcing sucks.

[Ambassador Hope]

39. Same guys complain about americans and jobs

But they could careless about all the hard working dems that have served for years. No they go out and get someone from the military that is not even a dem and his resume has him praising the bush team.

Makes no sense.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

41. Just For You, Michael Moore on Wesley Clark

It demonstrates exactly why your position is counter-productive and, well, lame.

DTH

--

And then people say, well (in a mocking voice): "But Mike, but Mike, he voted for Reagan, Clark voted for Reagan!"

Yeah? So? So did most of America! You know? Do you wanna win? I mean, the only way you win, you see, is if you get most of America on your side. And if someone who voted for Reagan now says, "I'm joining your team, I don't believe in that any more," we have to open up our arms! This is why people don't like the left! This is why people don't like liberals! You know?

(In a mocking voice): "No, no, no, no, no, he, he voted for Reagan, no, no, not pure, not pure, don't like him, no, no!"

That's why nobody wants to join our side, we're so, like, up on our high horse! You know? What do you say to working class America, there's all these people who voted for Reagan, that now realize, they were duped! They were had! They're worse off now after 20 years of Republicanism!

You know? You, what do you say (in a mocking voice): "Nope, can't come to our side, you voted for Reagan!"

Jeez! I mean, come on, folks! You know? I don't know.

(In a mocking voice): "He was the Butcher of Kosovo!" That's the other one. (In a mocking voice): "He was the Butcher…Clark was the butcher of Kosovo!"

I've heard, I've heard an alternate version of the story, that was in the New York Times and the Washington Post last week. About why he was fired. Because he was trying to stop the genocide in Kosovo, in a way that would cost, even, that would cost, that would result in fewer civilian losses. I'd like to hear the story, I don't know, I mean, I'm just saying, I don't know, that's why I'm waiting to see, you know, what's being said here. I'd like to know.

But I'll tell you this much, folks. We're not fighting the Kosovo war right now. Don't let the professional left drag you into an argument that is a sideshow. We are fighting the Iraq war right now, that's the war we've gotta stop, and that's the war he says he will stop! That's the war he says he'll tell the American people the truth about how Bush has fought an immoral war! And that's what we need, we need that on our side.

www.liberalresurgent.com/mooreclark.mp3

[The Magistrate]

56. Mr. Moore Makes Sound Points Here, My Friend

Political victory is the result of addition, not subtraction.

[FrenchieCat]

42. Same reason Dean is going after the Racist Vote....

Guess will all want Bush out...

Guess that when you have a 9/11 and 2 wars going on, we might need someone with a little foreign policy experience to get you back on track.

Since Bush and his Repugs are holding the Convention in New York and the last day of the convention is 9/11/04....when he will give a big speech...having a "Doctor" from a state that has 600,000 (same number of Puerto Ricans that live in New York)....will really look, really, really, really, really good. And make Deans Right Wing Confederate Flag waving racists want to vote "DEAN"??

It must be Global warming!

[Ambassador Hope]

45. You sound like Perot on Clinton

Said to make Clinton president a small state gov was like promoting a 7/11 manager to run wal-mart.

Did Bill small state gov win twice?

[FrenchieCat]

40. I won't call you a

Desperate fool...

[Julien Sorel]

13. And what's your prescription?

Who 'went to the repubs to get a military guy?' As a matter of fact, when was the last time the democrats even had a 'military guy' in any capacity?

Think we could try something that wins.


Michael Dukakis, where are you?

[Ambassador Hope]

18. When is the last time a military guy won for the repubs?

Ike.

They do real good with actors, Ronnie and Arnold.

We are the party support by hollywood, let us get one but never a pro bush military guy.

I have been leaning for dean, your pushing me into the camp.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ambassador Hope]

21. You cannot take the truth - why not pick a dem

I want someone that is a dem. You did not answer me if he has register yet as a dem.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

24. You Haven't Heard?

Clark registered as a Dem over a month ago, despite the fact that Arkansas doesn't really have party registration (it was implemented as an option only recently, and it's an option fewer than 5% of Arkansans have taken).

DTH

[DoveTurnedHawk]

22. You're Obviously For Dean

And you were obviously for Dean from your first, Clark-hating post in this thread.

I'm not interested in trying to woo purists like you. The cost-benefit analysis just isn't favorable; I'd rather spend my time generating support among the truly open-minded.

Destructive purists are going to be vastly outnumbered by the sensible, pragmatic voters who want to see Bush out of the White House anyway. I can't wait to see Clark win, and in so doing completely marginalize the one-percenters in this party.

The most ironic thing is that Clark will govern in a manner more liberal than practically any other Democratic candidate in the field. The one-percenters will be pleasantly surprised, despite their inevitable threats to withhold support.

DTH

[Ambassador Hope]

25. I have said on here I am leaning toward dean

I answer you because I live in Hawaii and he is never mention here. The only two people who are running for president who have been here are Bush and Dennis K.

Clark is never in the news.

Dean will pull off what Jesse V did with the internet and grass root and upset the smoke filled room decisions to bring in a man who was not even a democrat.

[FrenchieCat]

33. what are the name of the newspaper you read?

Just want to know......

[Ambassador Hope]

36. Maui, Lahaina News and the two Honolulu papers

Also read the smaller papers on the Big Island, Lanai, Kauai and Molokai when I am there.

Again, the only two running who have been here are Dennis K and Bush that I know of.

[FrenchieCat]

43. Hey, I stay at Papakea when i visit Maui,

couple times a year.

[Ambassador Hope]

46. Just talk with someone from Ft Worth staying there today

Small world

[Skwmom]

53. Haven't you gotten the word?

Dean is a Rockefeller Republican.

[Skwmom]

52. Which candidate really is Bush Lite?

If you looked at Dean's record on many issues you might be surprised to find out that Dean is the candidate who is "Bush Lite." I thought the corporate business world was full of scams and deception. Now I think the political arena really deserves top honors.

[Diego360]

2. Great Post!

I'm liking Clark even more after reading your report.

[dobak]

6. Welcome Dygger!

I apologize if I am reading your avatar incorrectly, but I am assuming that you are disabled in some way.

You appear to have a positive view of Clark so I wanted to alert you to a website.

Disabled Americans for Clark

I don't know much about the group, but wanted to pass it along.

[Diego360]

28. Thanks for the link

I saw that town hall meeting where Clark backed the ADA. Thought it was great, especially with reports of so many soldiers returning from Iraq with major disabilities.

I agree with the Americans with Disabilities Act and I think it is great legislation. I have seen the impact of it across the nation and we need to establish a level playing field for people with disabilities. I will work with you Senator Harkin to make the act stronger! They are like anyone else that has a lot to contributed and just needs to be given a chance to do so. - General Clark

[newyawker99]

50. Hi dygger!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[dobak]

3. Great News!

Thanks for the news!

[FrenchieCat]

5. This is great news...

My daughter attends a Chinese Christian School in the Bay Area. Although she is not Chinese, she wanted to learn Mandarin. She had been attending a French/english bilingual school since Kindergarden...and pow! all of a sudden, she decided to change school (eight grade)....anyway, I have my Clark Bumper Sticker on my car.....it's a pretty conservative school.....and most parents, as we get into the drop off and/or pick up line see my sticker everyday. It's a pretty large school....elementary thru high school, so I am hoping that at least doing what I can by reinforcing some name recognition for our guy everyday that I drive my kid to school:kick:

[La_Serpiente]

15. Hmmm

the new poster is probably an avid Dean fan.

Anyhow, I think any candidate would do well in the Asian American community.

Although our former governor and representative have endorsed him, Dean would do pretty OK here in Hawaii.

[RandomUser]

48. Thank you for this account

I always enjoy reading firsthand experiences with Clark.
:toast:

[jumptheshadow]

49. Great report

You wrote it well. And it is very inspiring.

Good work!

[Donna Zen]

51. Question

Did you get to ask him a question?

I agree with all who have complimented you for your reporting from the field. These posts are always the best way of keeping up with the campaign.

In a newspaper account of the General's appearance, one reporter asked him if he was courting the the Asian vote. Clark's answer was that he does not "do" labels, and that he speaks to the American people.

Now while some may try to twist that remark, I suggest that he has been consistent in his repudiation of labeling which is meant to stop all discourse.

Good for him...

And thanks DTH.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

55. Didn't Get the Opportunity to Ask a Question

At either the morning fundraiser or the town hall meeting.

:-(

Still, he did great, both times!

DTH

[bicentennial_baby]

54. Great story DTH

and everyone else who jacked this thread, you suck.

[Kamika]

57. korean american here

Im south korean heritage, im a Deanie but reading this makes me tingle :D

"2) His support for small businesses. The $20 billion job creation tax credit for for small businesses was a HUGE hit today, because many in the Asian/Pacific Islander community are small business owners."

Ourfamily got a restaurant..ill show this to dad.. maybe hell stop being a repub:)

Dean better shape up or Clark has a new supporter