Reply #81: Not to worry. If you don't, others will & I will have said my piece

[Tinoire]

They'll also see past the current meme from your previous post that Clark was only praising Bush in 2001 and 2002 implying that in 2003 he did so much soul searching that he began to hate Bush so much he thought he'd run against him and save the country. I've noticed this with Clark supporters. Anytime people want to talk about Clark's praise of Bush, there's a reluctant admission that he did so in 2001 and 2002 but never, ever any mention of 2003. Why is that? That's the part that really gets my goat.

You vote Clark if you want and I'll respect your right to do so and even believe that you sincerely believe he's a great Democratic candidate but I can't let that misrepresentation stand. It needs to be clear to all Democrats that as late as March 2003, when he was already considering a run on the Democratic ticket, Clark was still lavishing praise on the Bushistas.

Why does this need to be clear? Because it shows that during all the hoopla of drafting the greatest liberal since sliced bread, Clark was no such thing. It shows what a smoke and mirror show the entire "Draft Clark" movement was, regardless of how many innocent people got sucked in. That of course is my opinion but I didn't just wake up one morning and decide that out of the blue. There was too much leading into it- too many strange things going on.

I know of NO Liberal who ever praised Bush, let alone still praising him in 2003 saying that he hoped Bush succeeded because the mission was that important. You may be a very forgiving person; I unfortunately do not have it in my heart to forgive so much that I can overlook all the baggage as Clark has. And it's not just old baggage- he's still dragging much of it around as we speak.

Bush, with the help of the National Endowment for Democracy, has already tried at least twice to get Chavez out of Venezuela (since after all the supply the US with more oil than the entire Middle East). What the hell is Clark still doing sitting on their board? With Evan Bayh, Frank Carlucci (Carlyle fame) and Morton Abramowitz? All of this fueled by the Soros money crowd that goes through countries with resources we want and topples progressive governments to replace them with more US/corporate friendly "democratic" ones?

Here's the info on the NED... I am going to sleep now. Tomorrow I'll come back and give you the info on the American Enterprise Institute. Leave it to say that CSIS, Markle, Heritage Foundation, Brookings Institute, Saban Fund, Acxiom, NED, etc don't sit well with me.

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April 25, 2002

National Endowment for Democracy Funded Venezuelan Coup Perpetrators

Someone should tell the NED that a coup is the opposite of democracy
In a stunning revelation the New York Times reported on April 24, 2002 that the US-government funded nonprofit agency called the National Endowment for Democracy - whose board chairman is former Republican Congressman/Super Lobbyist Vin Weber, had funnelled more than $877,000 into Venezuela opposition groups in the weeks and months before the recently aborted coup attempt.
Specifically, the New York Times point to $154,000 given by the endowment to a Venezuelan labor union that led the opposition work stoppages and worked closely with Pedro Carmona Estanga, the businessman who led the coup.
The endowment also gave money to the US Republican and Democratic political parties for work in Venezuela (!) The International Republican Institute, apparently an arm of the US Republican party that has an office in Venezuela, recieved a grant of $339,998 for "political party building." On the day of the coup, this group that received money from the US government to promote democracy, hailed the takeover. The former president of the Institute has close ties to the Bush administration, and is now the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor! The Institute itself also embraced the coup.
The NED's senior endowment officer, Chris Sabatini, said it had hurriedly funnelled money to Venezuelan opposition groups in the past year as "Mr Chavez and his supporters restricted press freedoms and sought to suppress growing dissent against his leftist policies." Which is a completely ludicrous statement, given that the Venezuelan media led the campaign against Chavez!

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http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipients/ned.htm

U.S. Bankrolling Is Under Scrutiny for Ties to Chávez Ouster

By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS (NYT) 885 words
Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 6 , Column 1
ABSTRACT - United States channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to American and Venezuelan groups opposed to Pres Hugo Chavez of Venezuela in last year, including labor group whose protests led to Chavez's brief ouster this month; funds were provided by National Endowment for Democracy, nonprofit agency created and financed by Congress; endowment quadrupled its budget for Venezuela to more than $877,000 as conditions deteriorated in Venezuela and Chavez clashed with various business, labor and media groups; State Dept's human rights bureau is now examining whether one or more recipients of money may have actively plotted against Chavez; $1 million grant to endowment has been put on hold pending that review (M)

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http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F0091FFA3F5A0C768EDDAD0894DA404482
http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipients/ned.htm