Gotta Wonder
Posted By Russ Emerson on September 24, 2003 at 8:57 pm
I’m a bit late to this party…. but as everyone seems to have noticed today, General Hugh Shelton, US Army (retired), former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (the highest-ranked uniformed member of the armed forces) seems to have a less-than-stellar opinion of the newest Democrat candidate for the presidency, General Wesley Clark (retired):
“What do you think of General Wesley Clark and would you support him as a presidential candidate,” was the question put to him by moderator Dick Henning, assuming that all military men stood in support of each other. General Shelton took a drink of water and Henning said, “I noticed you took a drink on that one!”
“That question makes me wish it were vodka,” said Shelton. “I’ve known Wes for a long time. I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. I’m not going to say whether I’m a Republican or a Democrat. I’ll just say Wes won’t get my vote.”
As everyone from Donald Sensing to Matt Kennicott to SGT Hook has opined, this sort of muted criticism from a fellow member of the 4-star club is the rhetorical equivalent of a Daisy-Cutter. Generals just do not criticize each other in public.
Personal anecdote time: once, long ago, I attended a Sergent Major’s retirement ceremony, and everyone – enlisted, NCOs and officers, including the 2-star Division commander – showed up. But as has been rumored around the ‘sphere [anyone with more info, please comment], no one of note even bothered to attend Clark’s retirement ceremony. This is absolutely stunning.
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A question that arises from all this is, what exactly could Clark have done that earned such a level of disrespect from his fellow officers – not to mention what appears to have been an involuntary early retirement?
“integrity and character issues”
I mean, come on, people – what could it have taken for the Clinton administration to fire someone for “integrity and character issues”?
If Clark were running under a GOP banner, the press would be on him like, well, like ugly on me. Four words for the news media: Freedom of Information Act.
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Shelton on Clark
General Hugh Shelton, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had this to say about Wesley Clark: Gen. Shelton then explained: “I’ve known Wes for a long time. I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe…