Reply #48: I Disagree, But Good Points, Eloriel

[LoneStarLiberal]

While I do not concur, you raise good points.

Yesterday with Wolf Blitzer, he blatantly insisted that we need a military man -- a CINC -- to protect us in this day and age. I frankly reject that. We need to DEmilitarize this nation.

I would like to point out here at anyone who becomes President is also CINC. Any President is going to have the role of CINC regardless of his or her views.

Not only that, but it sinks to the level of demagoguery: playing on people's fears to gain support. That's what Bush has done, and it's unsettling in the extreme to find it in a Dem candidate.

With all due respect, I really don't see this in Clark's rhetoric. One of the reasons I've always been in Clark's corner is that his message consistently has a message of hope to it; that's fundamentally what the whole platform of "A New American Patriotism" rests upon.

Finally, if he's sincere -- that is, if he himself believes that -- then I'm all the more unsettled and would worry about someone who (a) sees the world thru a military lens and (b) believes only a military person can handle things right now and (c) is that fearful himself (which would certainly make him prone to all those military solutions at his disposal).

I do believe that there is a very subtle but grossly ignored difference in leadership and military leadership. Wes Clark has exhibited both, both during his time in the military and since his military career ended. There is a very important component to leadership that does not consist of following orders by rote from higher up, a component that urges you to take care of your people, be they your troopers or your fellow citizens. It's very possible to have both of these and exhibit both of these in the military.

No, even aside from his questionable ties, Clark is not the man for the job.

I understand and appreciate your reasoning because I arrive at the same conclusion about Howard Dean, John Kerry, Richard Gephardt, Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton, Caroline Mosely-Braun, John Edwards, and Joe Lieberman when I look at each of them and apply my criteria to them.

With defeating George Bush in 2004 as the ultimate litmus test of the Democratic nominee, I sincerely believe that Wes Clark is the best candidate to do that not simply because "he can beat Bush," but because he offers a better alternative to Bush that I simply do not see the other candidates offering.