Reply #128: I strongly suspect the same, ConsAreLiars

[Tom Rinaldo]

Clark is a man who studies the art of getting from here to there, there is no such thing as "should be" in war. Either you find a path to reach your objective or you remain pinned down where you are. I believe that Clark believes summoning up the image of an ideal America is one of the most powerful tools available to bridge the gap between where we find ourselves now and becoming an America that consistently behaves in that manner. That is a call that a braod cross section of Americans instinctively can relate and respond to, a much broader cross section than the anti-American policy critiques which the left tends to produce seems capable of reaching. Clark, in my opinion, seeks the strongest foundation possible to build an American initiative for fundemental change upon, and in regards to foreign policy that is the semi-mythical Jeffersonian "anti-imperialist" ideal rooted in the American sub conscious. So he speaks in that language, and he frames using those ideals.

It is part of the psychological mechanism by which Clark suceeds at being a stealth progressive, able to to win support from mainstream even conservative Americans who don't view him as a radical, because he walks the walk and talks the talk of an American patriot. The fact that the patriots who Clark often conjurs up tend to be men like Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson doesn't trigger any alarms for most Americans because we all have been taught in school to have reverence for men like Thomas Paine and Thomas Jerfferson. Michael Moore does some of this also in his films. Sicko is full of references to a love of America and the generosity of spirit of the American people. It emotionally opens up and hooks in his knee jerk detractors sitting in the theater watching the film. Suddenly Moore isn't against them, he is one of them. Suddenly Moore isn't anti-American, it's those insureance companies who are anti-American

I will quote from some of the writing that I linked to above for 1932 to read because it speaks to the theme you touch on:

"A moment I will never forget took place in, I think, late 1969 (OK, obviously I forget the exact time, lol). I was living on Long Island New York attending College. I was swept up back then in the sense that everything was possible, never doubting: "we can change the world" (anyone remember Thunderclap Newman?). I had watched from afar as old France almost dissolved with the French Student Workers "revolt" in 1968. Woodstock Nation still seemed likely, maybe even inevitable.

For some reason I was in Queens County that day (a part of New York City) in a very gritty urban environment. I stood in the middle of a main commercial district, with swarms of people crossing streets holding shopping bags, not fancy ones mind you, just groceries and the like. Lot's of massive Apartment buildings, buses spewing out black exhaust. No hip clothing in sight, no hippies either, in fact no “youth culture” of any sort, really, to speak of. Just a lot of older folks mostly, a lot of ethnic diversity, and not so much money.

Back on campus students had been discussing for over a year how social and political upheavals had brought us to the brink of a Second American Revolution. But I looked around that day and thought to myself, what kind of Revolution will touch all of this? It was as they say a sobering moment. Looking back on it now, there was no cohesive strategy from the student Left to reach that neighborhood in Queens. “Power to the people”? These were the people, and they weren’t hearing our chants...

...And this is where I diverge from some of my fellow leftists who say; focus on the system, because the system is at fault. I agree with the blame, but not the focus. I say focus on the people, because without the people, the system will never change. It’s that day in Queens that never left me. In some ways old radicals like me look out now on the worst of both worlds. Most people still don’t hear our revolutionary cries, and the fires that blaze threaten to engulf us all. We have to deal with the present, we have to deal with the future, and we need an effective place to start.

I’ve been doing this long enough by now to see that a solution without a strategy solves nothing. To change America, to change the world, requires both a political and psychological strategy that can actually be effective...

...Wes Clark never rails against America, and that puts some leftists off. How can anyone be blind to the sins of our past and present? There is much to attack about America as we know it, and leftists are superb at doing just that. They excelled at that in the 60’s also. I remember, I was them. Its 40 years and thousands of demonstrations later, and big problems remain with how America relates to the world, and injustice at home continues. One thing I know for certain is, that’s not because the more sordid truths about America have not been told and told repeatedly.

I know, I hear it and read it repeatedly, but that's only because I don't change the channel or put down a newspaper when I hear or see it said. I’m looking for that information, I want to know it all, I don’t filter it out, but hundreds of millions of other Americans do. If I wasn’t prepared to see and hear the full truth about today's America, I doubt I would. Speaking the truth isn't enough when ears aren't open to hearing it. Being progressive isn’t enough if being progressive doesn't change what is wrong with America and the world. Lives are lost in practice, not in theory.

No, Wesley Clark doesn’t rail against America. Wes Clark approaches the challenges differently. If you listen to Clark you will hear him summon Americans to greatness by reminding us of what is great about America, and then asking us to live up to that great standard. Martin Luther King Jr. understood that psychological dynamic well. He repeatedly called Whites to greatness while he fought against White oppression. When Wes Clark talks about an idealistic America he is telling a half truth, not an untruth, because Clark summons up a true vision of America, one with roots dating back hundreds of years to Thomas Paine and "Common Sense”, one that has literally inspired millions of true Patriots and idealists for all the many decades ever since.

I think that’s a political and psychological strategy that can actually be effective, and it’s particularly effective coming from a man like General Clark, who is listened to with respect by a very broad range of Americans, and who, in turn, listens back. Most progressives know that Democrats have to retake the White House in 2008. What is wrong in today's world is deadly serious and must be dealt with now. It can not be delayed until some theoretical mass reeducation movement gets through peoples denial and remolds American self awareness to feel sufficient shame and anger for things our government does in the world and to fellow Americans. We can’t wait for a moment when Americans rise up and demand radical change. I already waited 40 years for that to happen. How long have you waited?

In my experience I find it true that the left is excellent at analyzing where we stand today, and visioning where we should be tomorrow. Where the Left gets lost is on the journey from here to there. I believe that electing Wes Clark President in 2008 is a significant and very doable strategic step forward, in getting us from here to there. I can’t explain all my reasons for believing that in a single written piece. If I could I wouldn’t need an ongoing blog, I would just write it once and repost it constantly. But that’s what “A Left Turn FOR CLARK” is all about...
http://www.aleftturnforclark.com/2006/10/more_about_me_and_this_blog.html#more



Thank you for the link to Perkins on Democracy Now. I will watch it.