General Wesley Clark’s Keynote Speech at Yearly Kos 2007 August 6, 2007
Posted by jenmarie in civil liberties, defense, national goals, speech.comments closed
| On August 3, 2007, General Clark delivered the keynote address at the YearlyKos convention in Chicago, IL. |
 |
Watch the Gen. Wesley Clark Keynote, Courtesy UStream.tv Read more at Taylor Marsh and The Washington Note Additional interviews are available from TalkingPointsMemo and UStream.tv. |
General Wesley Clark’s Keynote Speech at Yearly Kos 2007
August 3, 2007
transcript by Reg NYC
“We are not questioning the generals. Mr. President, we are questioning you! Stop hiding behind Dave Petraeus.” – Wesley Clark
Jon Soltz: …an Iraq war veteran.
(applause)
(laughs) I find that so funny, because whenever you go to a Republican event, they don’t seem to cheer for the troops. So, I (laughs) I, I thank you guys for that applause. I’m also the Chairman of VoteVets.org a group that (cheering) y’all have been so supportive of that without, without the support of the Kos community we would never’ve been where we are today. We obviously penetrated the political system from the outside much like everybody in this room, and for your support I, I thank you.
It’s obviously an honor to be here. I’m here this morning to introduce General Wesley Clark who, who sits on the board of, of VoteVets.
(applause and cheering)
Click here for Jon Soltz’s complete introduction
Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause for General Wesley Clark.
(enthusiastic cheering and applause)
Clark says new U.S. view needed May 9, 2007
Posted by jenmarie in defense, military, national goals, national security, speech.comments closed
Former NATO chief tells Union students military might alone not enough
By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, May 9, 2007
SCHENECTADY — – Military force alone cannot win in Iraq or against terrorism. America also needs a new foreign policy based on values like diplomacy if it is to succeed in the 21st century.
That was the message from retired four-star Gen. Wesley Clark to Union College students on Tuesday.
Clark, who served as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander and led missions in Kosovo and Bosnia during the 1990s, spoke for about an hour in the school’s Memorial Chapel.
The U.S. has lost legitimacy in the world under the Bush Administration, and needs to restore it through traditional American ideals if it is to conquer al-Qaida and other global terror cells, said Clark, a centrist Democrat who hasn’t ruled out another presidential run in 2008.
Toward that end, Clark recommended America move past its fear from the 9/11 attacks and talk without condition to every nation in the Middle East; renounce permanent American bases in Iraq; fully comply with all standards of the Geneva Convention; and do not torture detainees.
“We will never succeed in protecting this country if we become what they are,” Clark told an audience of about 900.
Sandwiched between OBAMA & EDWARDS, WES CLARK soldiers on at the DNC Winter Meeting unfazed. February 8, 2007
Posted by jenmarie in DNC, media, speech.comments closed
From RAPID FIRE – Silver Bullets
I’m giving the General a great big salute. The man has balls the size of Mt. Rushmore, IMO!
The General walked into the DNC Winter Meeting as an undeclared candidate to Johnny Cash’s “I Won’t Back Down” and does the job he came to do against CW calculated odds!
Here’s the set up;
Wes Clark was scheduled to speak in between two of what the media has consistently labeled as the greatest political orators of our current times; Barak Obama and John Edwards.
Sen. Barak Obama educated as an attorney, became a top Presidential contender based on, among other things, a single speech he gave at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. With his rich baritone voice, Barak offers an effective rhythm and cadence reminiscent of a preacher/scholar with an unconventional approach to the subject of politics. Barak is simply a natural.
John Edwards, billed as a politician who can talk owls out of a tree since his single speech the “Two Americas”, was highly touted during the 2004 Primary campaign as a great speaker. On the strength of his one speech describing the state of poverty here in the United states, Edwards became a top 2004 primary contender and was later selected by popular demand as the Vice Presidential candidate by John Kerry, then the nominee.
Edwards is one who can pump a crowd up with his Trial Attorney manner of setting up a jury. He’ll tell his crowd what they want to hear, and in that respect appears to have an innate quality to understand what that something is. Former Sen. Edwards is a trained public speaker, and effective speechifying is one of the major tools that allowed him to earn his personal fortune which in turn provided him with the ability to go forth into politics.
…..and so, we find in the billing of the DNC Winter meeting, sandwiched between two speaking legends, a non politician who the media had quickly labeled “not ready for primetime” during his initial foray into elective politics. It is, in fact, this specific meme that greatly hampered Clark during the 2004 primaries; the media had pre-labeled him and used the tag whenever it wanted to discourage those who might have been curious about the Democratic General. It should be said that Wes Clark still ended up doing rather well in those primaries despite the odds.
