Wall St. Journal calls Wes Clark "goofball general" for comments on Iraq

[kerry-is-my-prez]

Needless to say - I fired off an e-mail telling them to stop being so naive and to stop drinking the koolaid among other things. What a bunch of morans.....


http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110006650

BY JAMES TARANTO
Thursday, May 5, 2005 12:13 p.m. EDT
Liberalism in Hoc

In the Middle East, things seem to be working out according to President Bush's plan. Before the liberation of Iraq, the president argued that removing Saddam Hussein from power would pave the way for a democratic Iraq and make it possible for democracy to spread throughout the Arab world. The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum totes up the progress:

-snip-

Drum grudgingly acknowledges that the president may deserve some credit for all this, but other Monthly writers are at pains to deny it. Funniest of all is goofball general Wesley Clark, who seems to deny that the liberation of Iraq had anything to do with democracy even in Iraq:

Democracy can't be imposed--it has to be homegrown. In the Middle East, democracy has begun to capture the imagination of the people. For Washington to take credit is not only to disparage courageous leaders throughout the region, but also to undercut their influence at the time it most needs to be augmented. Let's give credit where credit is due--and leave the political spin at the water's edge.

[DanCa]

1. Isn't it unpatriotic

Too call an American Soldier names. What are now back in Jr. High.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

4. The thing is he was absolutely right & the WSJ fell for "Democracy" b.s.

He said we "liberated" Iraq and are "Spreading" Democracy. What a crock!

[Sandpiper]

2. "Democracy has begun to capture the imagination of the People"

At the point of American bayonets.

[jean]

3. Name-calling is one of their fallbacks - we've had it happen in MN

this week, after the Dems proposed a tax increase, the repub governaor (Pawlenty) said (paraphrase) it's the stupiest thing he ever heard of. Stupid.

They call every else (but their own) nasty, evil names and get away with it. If we call them anything they overreact and win the issue - Dems are bad, name-callers.

We should figure this out - it's simple to know when they do this and we should dump on them with a sledge hammer. I hope Gen Clark pushes back at them and makes huge noise about this.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

6. WE need to make a huge noise about this. The freepers would be all over it

n/t

[jean]

11. you're right - the name-calling and hypocrisy - Laura telling filthy jokes

We always hear how hard it is to get our side out because the media is corporate/repub controlled. But we do have masssive power of control through the internet -we should be able to 'grassroots' any issue to the forefront. There are many outlets already established to do this.

[LandOLincoln]

12. Clark has also compared BushCo's crowing about

Iraqi "democracy" to a rooster taking credit for the dawn, in fact IIRC he uses that analogy in the Washington Monthly article.

Maybe some enterprising cartoonist(s) could have good nasty fun with that image? :evilgrin:


edit for italics screwup

[Sparkly]

27. Is "[email protected]" the best address to use?

Let's write!

[Ernesto]

5. What'd ya expect from Wall St.?

They've got their breath held, praying for chimp's Social Security rip-off plans to line their pockets.

[indepat]

7. If General Wesley Clark is a goofball, what does that make the WSJ?

[kerry-is-my-prez]

9. A bunch of koolaid drinking morons.....

n/t

[tabasco]

8. The writer is unfit to shine Clark's shoes.

There was no justification to invade Iraq.

James Taranto is a propagandist and shares blame in the continuing, needless deaths of our servicemen.

Nothing shocks me from these scurrilous traitors after the despicable attacks on John Kerry.

[Nite Owl]

10. Very first line

In the Middle East, things seem to be working out according to President Bush's plan.

What plan? He had no plan. It was supposed to be roses not grenades thrown at the troops!

[onehandle]

13. The plan to get the oil out of the 51st state. nt

[Adelante]

14. A goofball general?

A prophetic goofball general ;)

[phylla]

19. 2008- President goofball-general Clark, sounds about right.

The more that he is maligned, the more that I know that he is the one who will put these crackpot writers in their places.
It will be absolutely delicious.

[Totally Committed]

50. You know,

that's a really great point! I never thought of it that way before.

Thanks!

TC

[spanone]

15. Why doesn't Mr. Toranto go stand in line with Iraqi Police-wannabes

He may find out how wonderful democracy is in Iraq as the wanna-be cop in front of him blows him and himself to smithereens.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. Why Do They Hate America and Its Military?

For him to have risen to the rank of general, he had to be the best of the best in the army's ranks. Or, the military has to be so incompetent that they didn't realize they had promoted and promoted a "goofball" until he was a general with an extremely high position in world military affairs.

So, the only explanation is that he's not a goofball or that he is but the WSJ hates the military and thinks their incompetent.

Well, slimeballs who gave John Fund his job back, which is it?
The Professor

[RAF]

17. lovely, calling a true war hero and patriot a "goofball" while....

doing everything possible to inflate the standing of an admitted coke snorting, pot smoking, Jim Beam drinking, AWOL National Guardist who didn't have the balls to fight himself but seen fit enough to send other young men into war under bogus reasoning.

I am a firm believer that every single one of these corrupt corporate propagandist will see their day of judgment before the public.

[Adelante]

18. Thank you for posting this, kerry-is-my-prez

I saw it earlier but couldn't get in to read it.

And thank you for your email in defense of Gen. Clark, as well. :)

[Pithy Cherub]

20. The WSJ is the financial fundie paper of record.

General Clark directly dismantles their pretensions to understanding foreign policy and national security issues. This paper uses the philosophy of falsely labelling to wrap themselves in some moral cloak of righteousness. A pox on their house! :puke:

General Clark is worthy of more talented and auspicious publications.
Thank you kerry-is-my-prez! :toast:

[Adelante]

21. Do we know if this sonofabitch was ever in the military?

Was that information ever uncovered when he was praising the swiftboat liars?

[Adelante]

25. New York Magazine Profile: Taranto

Taranto’s opinionated life has rather bland suburban origins. He grew up in what he describes as a “not terribly political household” in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks. His father was an engineer during the space-age aeronautics boom in Southern California. Like many children of that era, Taranto was an early adopter of computer technology. He launched a computer bulletin board devoted to gossip, politics, and religion at the age of 17; he sees Best of the Web as an extension of his life as a teenage nerd.

In college, Taranto developed a distinct identity as a conservative provocateur at a time when campus life was overwhelmingly skewed to the left. While studying undergraduate journalism at California State University at Northridge in 1987, he wrote an opinion piece in the university paper, the Daily Sundial, criticizing UCLA for suspending an editor for running a cartoon that mocked affirmative action. He was in turn suspended by CSUN for violating a rule barring publication of “controversial” material without permission.

Convinced that the real reason he was disciplined was because of his conservative views, Taranto persuaded the American Civil Liberties Union to file a First Amendment lawsuit on his behalf that accused the university of violating the freedom of the press. The suit was ultimately settled, but the ACLU and Taranto won a key concession from the Sundial: an agreement to reframe its policy to clarify that the paper was indeed a forum for student expression.

By that time, however, Taranto had left the school and taken a position in public relations at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington. After a little under two years in Washington, he moved to New York, where he cycled through three jobs before landing at the Journal: first as the managing editor of Street News, a newspaper for (and published by) the homeless; then as a culture editor of the now-defunct New York City Tribune, and lastly as a senior editor at the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal. In 1996, the Wall Street Journal came calling.

http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/rnc/9696/index1.html

I guess if he had served, it would say so.

[Hubert Flottz]

22. Force-feeding "Democracy" to the people of Iraq is like...

one pushing a large chain, in a straight line down the sidewalk.(it don't work)

WE should first worry about restoring "Democracy" here in the US, by making sure that everyone who is registered to vote gets a FAIR chance to vote and that his or her vote is counted correctly and honestly at the end of the election day.

What we have here at home now, in the way of honest to GAWD "democracy", is almost as big a joke as the Vietnamish calamity that the neocons have created in Iraq, at such great expense to America in blood and money!

"MORALITY" must be in the eye of the beholder I guess! WE have created neither "Morality" nor Democracy in Iraq, but Bushco has created far more hatred, discontent and destabilization in the entire middle east.

The world has lost FAITH in our "Faith Based" Democracy that forces it's greedy, selfserving will upon other people, the way that communists and fascists once forced their greedy and selfserving will upon other people! You may very well push a chain reaction, but you still can't push a chain!

[Adelante]

24. You remind me, Clark said the biggest threat to national security

is the one party system we are living under at home.

[Hubert Flottz]

23. Kick!!!!!

Looks like those windbag, lilly livered SOBs, would talk more about the shortcomings of the likes of a draft dodging Tom DeLay or Dick Cheney and get off the back of a decorated veteran like the general!

MORALITY? 11. Thou shalt not bad-mouth people who served their country in combat zones!

[Sparkly]

26. This is definitely part of an effort to marginalize people like Clark

They did the same to Kerry, Dean and others, as well as Clark, since the primaries. They use words like "goofball" to make the man into a comical, cartoonish figure, trivialized and dismissed.

Also, of course, they provide no quote from Clark saying anything about the "liberation" or its having nothing to do with democracy in Iraq. Scarborough was spinning like a whirling dervish after Clark was on his show last time, insisting the General was downplaying the soldiers' successes, didn't want the "good news" of elections to be discussed, and was even "providing comfort to the terrorists."

It's all part of the same ploy, and they're working hard at it.

[Sparkly]

28. Please WRITE!!!

One example I happen to have come across:

To James Taranto:

I found it outrageous that you called General Clark a "goofball" in your recent "opinion" journal. Do Republicans only support the troops who share your agenda? Even if you disagree with General Clark's point of view, this level of disrespectful name-calling is over the top.

I'm not sure whether you read his entire article, or only the last paragraph, which you quoted. Let me explain it to you. In full context, General Clark was saying that political humility would help the situation in Iraq to stabilize, which is what all Americans want, isn't it? Strategically, it's important to empower leaders in the region and to be smart about the unpopular American "face" on the continuing military effort. That would go a long way in helping our soldiers succeed. But if the agenda is to help the Bush administration and its sycophants boast for political points here at home, no matter how it adversely effects the situation on the ground in Iraq, then congratulations for doing your part to undermine our troops -- and in the process, undermining a veteran of 34 years' service to this country.

Where to send your emails: [email protected]

[Adelante]

29. Here's another, Sparkly

Jai's:

Mr. Taranto:

If you really think Wesley Clark is some "goofball general," you are so completely out of touch with reality that nothing you write is much worth reading.

But then, I guess being out of touch with reality is what it takes to think that the war in Iraq is going well and bringing democracy in the Middle East.

Do you know how many soldiers died today in Iraq, Mr. Taranto? Do you care?

In any case, thanks for posting the link to General Clark's article in Washington Monthly. Most people are capable of judging the wisdom of his words for themselves, and the additional hits you generate will contribute to his getting published again. It may turn out to be your single greatest contribution to political discourse.

Oh, by the way, the late George Kennan predicted the inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union about the time Ronald Reagan was filming "Bedtime for Bonzo."

Kick ass, Col. :7



Where to send your emails: [email protected]

[Clark2008]

47. I wrote yesterday when I first saw this piece of trash

Dear Mr. Taranto:

Exactly what is in your background that allows you to challenge retired Gen. Wesley Clark on foreign policy? I'm sorry, but I don't remember your having constructed a coalition of 19 nations who banned together, despite monumental differences, to win a war in 78 days, losing no allied lives. I don't recall if you spent the last 34 years immersed in foreign policy and national security, either.

What I do know is that you need to take about an hour out of your day and spend time online reading English versions of newspapers in the Middle East and stop believing the idiotic American media's uninformed meme's on a part of the world it seems to know little about. What you'll soon find is that the biggest hindrance to "democracy" in the Middle East/ *is*/ the Bush Doctrine - unless, of course, you're confusing "democracy" with "corporate capitalism."

Egypt is not authorizing "democratic" elections. Hosni Mubarak is picking the candidates who are allowed to run against his son and challenging the parliament to vote. That is hardly democratic and it is hardly new. The Egyptian Parliament has always been allowed to vote on the president, but the devious structure of this governing body is such that the Nixon Administration would look pure and docile in comparison. In other words, it's a hotbed for dirty tricks to maintain certain political outcomes.

In Lebanon and the West Bank, the deaths of Rafic Hariri and Yasser Arafat, respectively, have led more toward the changes in those two countries than bombs on their brethren in Iraq. In fact, the one point on which the people in each of those countries can agree is that, if the Bush Administration had anything to do with these changes, it was the possible assassination of one or both of those beloved leaders (and they were beloved by their countrymen).

The Bush presidency will be seen by historians as one of failure. If we continue down his ill-informed path, America will be on the decline of greatness. Once thought of as ideal, the theocratic neo-cons have, in five years, destroyed how we are viewed in the world, thus creating more animosity toward us and our people, have wasted budgetary surpluses and driven us into deficits so red that China and Japan may soon own our country and have allowed corporations to run rough-shod over the working-class who, now, have no way of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps due to outsourcing, by yelling that their position is "God's will." Garbage.

Don't tell me that I cannot challenge this administration - for it is my right - and I hardly think of anything going on in the Middle East as "lucky." I hope you continue yelling that phrase when Middle Eastern countries, as a result of a backlash over the ill-advised and poorly-executed Bush Iraqi War, begin "electing" radical leaders who's goal will be to destroy our nation.

Finally, and more to the point, I double dog dare you to call the General a "goofball" to his face. You might actually see how he rose to become one of the nations few four-star generals. He "ain't" all brain, you know.

Regards,
ME

[Maru Kitteh]

30. Nucking Futz

just makes them look less intelligent, really.

[FrenchieCat]

31. Here's mine,

Dear James Taranto,

You may not be informed, but General Wesley K. Clark USA (ret.) is the nation's most highly decorated officer since Dwight Eisenhower.

Among his military decorations are the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (five awards); Distinguished Service Medal (two awards); Silver Star, Legion of Merit (four awards); Bronze Star Medal (two awards); Purple Heart; Meritorious Service Medal (two awards); Army Commendation Medal (two awards); NATO Medal for Service with NATO on Operations in Relation to Kosovo, NATO Medal for Service with NATO on Operations in Relation to the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, Legacy of Leadership and Lady Liberty(TM) Award.

He received the Medal of Freedom in the year 2000.

His Foreign awards include the Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (United Kingdom); Commander of the Legion of Honor (France); Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany; Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Orange-Nassau, with Swords (Netherlands); Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy; Grand Cross of the Medal of Military Merit (Portugal); The Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of Republic of Poland; Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; Grand Medal of Military Merit (White Band) (Spain); The Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (Belgium); Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defense First Class (Czech Republic); Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic; Commander's Cross, The Silver Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia; Madarski Konnik Medal (Bulgaria); Commemorative Medal of the Minister of Defense of the Slovak Republic First Class (Slovakia); First Class Order of Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (Lithuania); Order of the Cross of the Eagle (Estonia); The Skandeberg Medal (Albania); Order of Merit of Morocco; Order of Merit of Argentina; The Grade of Prince Butmir w/Ribbon and Star (Croatia) and the Military Service Cross of Canada.

Since you have taken the liberty of calling a "1st-in his-class- Rhodes Scholar-War winning-medals up the yang-yang-4 star General" a goofball in a newspaper article, I guess that I can certainly call a "chickenhawk-legend in his own mind-pretend Journalist" a sleazeball (that would be you).

Further, I think that you'll find your coke sniffing-awol-non ballot counting-"goofball" currently in the White house crowing about the sunrise.

Now let's see the medals that earned you the right to know more about foreign affairs, war, peace and success .....than the general you are attempting to disparage.


Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXX

And Remember....God don't like ugly.
-----------------

[Sparkly]

32. Oooh, NICE one, Frenchie!! A+++

"You may not be informed..." I love it! :toast:

[FrenchieCat]

33. Thankee....

I'm about to encourage a few more letters.....

This piece of shit of a fiction fabricator ain't gonna worry me!

[Toucano]

34. General Clark is fortunate to have a great supporter like you.

That's a great response.

[Stinky The Clown]

38. Sparkly is under orders ..... If I ever piss you off, she's to shoot me

it would be the kindest thing to do!

:rofl: :yourock: :rofl:

[LTR]

35. Taranto is a hack

He's the one who cherry-picks DU for the wackiest comments. And writes whole columns about it.

I'm sorry, but combing over message boards is amateur journalism. WSJ should know better.

[Sparkly]

36. I guess perusing DU is easier than investigating the White House.

And pays better.

[neuvocat]

37. I'm sure glad the WSJ represents the views of all rich people

including both democrats and republicans.

</sarcasm>

What a sorry sack of shit that guy is. He doesn't deserve to get paid for that kind of crap.

[sundancekid]

39. law of unintented consequences bites taranto's a$$

if you stop to think about it, the VERY FACT that these RW extremists stoop to using an irrational hyperbole such as "goofball" to describe Clark is proof positive of the $cared-$hitless effect Clark has on them;

Comments like this one of taranto's serve to increase exponentially the number of folks that sign up and show up for DraftClark08 movements. We wrote and told him so too!

Here are a few more irrational gems from the same mouth:
http://mediamatters.org/archives/search.html?topic=James%20Taranto

[Adelante]

40. my email

[email protected]

To the Editor:

What have we here? Another war-mongering chickenhawk who is not serving his country while it is at war. Yet, Taranto inexplicably claims the authority to call "goofball general" a man who spent his adult working life in national service, took four bullets for our country, and won a war in which not a single American soldier died.

The notion that Gen. Wesley Clark favors a draft, while he justly recognizes that Bush Administration policies have all but made one inevitable, is fabricated, misleading and absurd; so absurd, I will pass on it.

In his appearance before the House Armed Services Committee in September 2002, GOP congress members dismissed Clark's advice that patience and time for diplomacy toward world-wide legitimacy and inspections for WMD be taken; ignored his expert, now proven, forecast that violence, chaos, and terrorism would result, unless the post-conflict process was carefully laid out in advance of the invasion; and tossed off his counsel that any invasion be as a very last resort and not pre-emptive.

Clark pointed out to the HASC, additionally, the dearth of evidence linking the Iraqi regime to Al Qaeda or the tragic events of 9/11, and how an Iraq invasion would detract from the unfinished war against Al Qaeda underway in Afghanistan.

Richard Perle, who also testified that day, decided Clark was fiddling while "Saddam Hussein is busy perfecting those weapons of mass destruction that he already has." He also said Clark was "hopelessly confused" and Clark's warnings "fuzzy."

Of course, "goofball general" may not have been coined yet in 2002.

Give me, please, a "goofball president," like this "goofball general," in place of the one we now have. Give this country a commander-in-chief who sees the wages of future military action, the cost in lives and treasure and global reputation, with a clear eye.

Sincerely,

[FrenchieCat]

41. Great letter, WesDem!

and so true!

They is skeered of the alleged "goofball" :scared:

.....which is why they is name calling for no apparent reason.

[jmatthan]

42. My post to the Editor of Opinion Journal

"Dear Editor,

After perusing your Opinion Journal Entry "Liberalism in Hoc" by JAMES TARANTO on Thursday, May 5, 2005, the real question is who are the GOOFBALLS?

Other than the Wall Street Journal, the rest of the civilised world would probably plum for the "Goofball US Commander-in-Chief"

I think the real "Absolute Goofball" is the one who wrote

"In the Middle East, things seem to be working out according to President Bush's plan."

What PLAN?

Over 1500 dead US Soldiers, over 100000 dead innocent Iraqis....

Great plan!! (Sarcasm OFF)
--
Jacob Matthan
http://jmpolitics.blogspot.com
http://MoveTheUN.blogspot.com
Oulu, Finland"

[FrenchieCat]

43. Whoop.....

there it is!
chakalaka chakalaka chakalaka chaka BOOM!

Good one!

Goofballs with no plan!

[Totally Committed]

44. Frenchie Cat asked me to post my e-mail...

I wasn't sure about it. I was pretty angry when I wrote it, so it's pretty sarcastic. LOL!

Dear Mr. Taranto,

I remember you! You're the boy I knew in school who stood around the
playground at recess calling the other kids names. You know, the one
who called kids "Pizza-face" or "Metal-mouth" or "Four-eyes". Am I
right? Or, maybe are you the guy who used to sit under the stands at
football games with the other guys who didn't make the football
team, and swill beers while cursing and calling your Mom "the old
broad", or you Dad as "the old man", or having that contest where
you try to come up with the filthiest name for every teacher you
had? Or, maybe you're the guy in college who never had a date on
Friday night, and couldn't figure out it was because young women
didn't like being called "Legs" or "Sweet-cheeks", or if they didn't
measure up to your satisfaction, "Skags". (In your defense, your
sisters probably never told you how insulting your names for them
were, but I'm here to tell you, "Dog-breath" and "Stink-bomb" is not
exactly flattery to the opposite sex.)

That brings us to today. You are now a big shot writer. But, you
still have a problem with appropriate behavior, don't you? This is
America, and the last time I checked, we still enjoyed a modicum of
free speech. But, the tenor of this country, especially post 9-11,
is one where a man who has dedicated his life to the service of his
country is to be venerated and honored. You may not agree with what
General Wesley Clark had to say about Iraq, but in my book, you
should respect him nonetheless. Here's a clue: When you are
disagreeing with someone you respect, the word "goofball" is a
little more than slightly out of place. Why, if I didn't know
better, I would think you were trying to show your disrespect for
this good man! As a journalist, certainly, you are aware that it is
your dispassion that will give your opinions credibilty. And, while
writing anything for the Wall Street Journal, I just know you would
strive to uphold the highest of journalistic standards, but that
little voice inside you ... your Inner Gargage-mouth... slipped, and
you called this good man, this genius on the subject of National
Defense and International Relations, this highest-decorated soldier
since Dwight Eisenhower, this genuine American hero, a "goofball".
Oh... what to do now?

Know what I'd do if I were you? I'd apologize. I'd actually try and
find a way to make this right. Because, right now, with this Op-Ed
hanging in the air out there, you kind of look like a
disprespectful, ill-informed Poop-head.

(My name)


TC

[Adelante]

46. Great work, TC!!

:bounce:

[FrenchieCat]

48. Great to see your letter here....TC!

:sarcasm:= GOOD

[Totally Committed]

49. Thanks,

Coming from kick-ass writers like you and WesDem, it is high praise, indeed! :)

TC

[pkspiegel]

52. I just love this!

Yay, TC. Show this guy a mirror!

[Qanisqineq]

53. I literally laughed out loud at the last line. HA!

:)

[windbreeze]

55. TC

Absolutely love it...I didn't even try to top it...I just wrote..
windbreeze

[Totally Committed]

56. Geez....

thank you all so much. I appreciate it!

TC

[Clark2008]

45. Keith Olbermann once told me that the WSJ editorial page

was written by the Brothers Grimm.

He was only half joking.

:crazy:

[Tactical Progressive]

51. The Wall Street Urinal

is using pejoratives now? Even on someone as honorable as Wesley Clark?

I think it's way past time for the left to start ridiculing and humiliating these slimeballs and their organs of disrepute.

We shouldn't mention the Wall Street Journal without using adjectives like 'disreputable' to describe such right-wing toilet paper, and their writers as 'sleazeball' propagandists. Keep that up for five years and see what kind of effect it has.

Tired of watching the left take it and whine. It's always defensive with us.

Attack.

[windbreeze]

54. My letter

Mr.Taranto:
On what and who's authority do you call the most decorated soldier since Eisenhower, by the name of "goofball"?

"Funniest of all is goofball general Wesley Clark"

In the first place I will remind you that he is Ret.Gen. Wesley K. Clark. That he EARNED that title by laying his life on the line, and obviously has more integrity and knowledge in his little finger, than anyone who has to resort to childish, first grade tactics, by calling him derogatory names in an op ed in the WSJ. Remember that old adage, "It takes one to know one"? I believe it applies here.

I always felt the WSJ was a paper that reeked with integrity. I now hold them in comtempt, because they published your derogatory, and belittling name calling of a highly decorated man and soldier, who was FIRST in his class at West Point, a Rhodes Scholar, SACEUR, spent the greater part of his life fighting for Democracy, (34 years) and has more first hand experience in foreign policy than the current resident of the WH could even dream about.

Shame on your parents for not teaching you something as common as respect for your obvious superiors. How did you manage to become one of those adults that every one of us has suffered, with disdain, at some point in our lives. You know, one of those that feels they are above recrimination, and always right, no matter what.

You may think the current resident of the WH has something to crow about regarding the "Democracy" they still haven't fully achieved in Iraq. Something you seem to have forgotten is this....9/11/2001...Let's give the credit where it's due, for without the disaster that was 9/11/2001 (which also happened on your current hero's watch)...WE WOULDN'T BE IN IRAQ...Perhaps you, he, the WSJ, and future historians could remember to crow about that for a while.
Sincerely,
Sylvia

[Stan Davis]

57. Stan's letter

Re: James Taranto, May 5
OpinionJournal, May 7

In his blog of May 5, James Taranto called Wes Clark a "goofball." You chose to make it one of the best of the blogs.

I'm curious what journalistic standard you used to make that judgment. Personal epithets wasn't part of any journalism classes I attended. The editor should have rejected Taranto's piece out-of-hand.

I know Wes Clark. He was my choice for President. I was one of the thousands who helped draft him into the race. I have met him personally several times. If this principled man who loves his country; who bases his decisions on timeless American and personal values; who knows more about foreign policy, diplomacy, national defense, and international terrorism based on his own experience than any other politician or non-politician around; who is an intellectual giant with the ability to articulate complex issues in straightforward ways; is a "goofball," then I'll take all the goofballs you can find.

Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO

[FrenchieCat]

58. Yeah! I want me some "goofballs" too....then!

:bounce:

[Totally Committed]

59. Anyone heard from Taranto yet?

Has he answered any of his e-mail?

TC

[necso]

60. Suggestion for the publishers:

Use softer paper.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

61. The thing about this "spreading democracy" argument is

that it can't legally stand alone. That's why Bush has never stated publicly that the main reason for invading Iraq was spreading democracy. That excuse has kind of become the unofficial mantra now among Republicans, and Bush now spends a lot of time talking about spreading democracy. But this has never become the official policy to justify the Iraq invasion. Instead, Bush continues to state that he was justified in believing that Iraq posed a threat and that he was misled by bad intelligence. In fact, if you examine Bush's speeches, he has never said that the spreading of democracy was in and of itself a stand-alone justification for invading a country otherwise at peace. He certainly made no mention of this in his State Of The Union address two months before the Iraq war, where the second half was dominated by assertions that Iraq constituted a "grave and gathering threat" to the United States.

The fact is that invading a nation otherwise at peace is a "crime against the peace" under the Geneva Convention, which the U.S. has signed and which has become the supreme law of the land. It is also against UN articles. The idea of a war justified purely by the desire to effect regime change, simply because the invader doesn't like the form of government is not only a violation of international law, but of U.S. law by treaty. Why a group of constitutional scholars doesn't sign a letter to the President and to the press pointing out this fact is something I don't understand.

And if the invasion of Iraq based on the "spreading of democracy" idea cannot stand alone (without the terror or threat angle) then how is it even relevant to anything? It's just an add-on meant to confuse the issue.