Ok. Now let's investigate the Anthrax attacks against some of our nation's leaders.

He said the right thing.

My father, wounded vietnam Vet = agrees with Clark.
My wife's stepfather shot down twice in horrific helicopter crashes in Vietnam = agrees with Clark.
My Grandfather, marine in WII pacific campaign = agrees with Clark.

All lifelong Democratic voters, all veterans of foreign wars.

Moral of the story: An Allied Supreme NATO commander, shot four times in Vietnam, top of his class (legion of merit, etc, etc) can say what he wants and he should be shown the same level of respect as McBush...

I am really heartened that Clark didn't fall into the same trap the rest of the spineless Dems always do...apologizing for doing nothing wrong.

This video really nailed the situation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRwsk56lN44

"They are so good at it they did all three steps in three hours "

Miss hearing the accent or did he say 12 not 3 ?

This GOP tactic has three main purposes:

(1) stirring up the base, and keeping them focused outward in a perpetual state of outrage at how terrible their adversaries are.

(2) making particular topics so radioactive that there can be no rational or legitiimate discussion of them -- like, say, the President's AWOL status during his National Guard duties.

(3) making the Democrats look weak if and when they eventually run for cover, or temporize, or apologize, in an effort to make the sh!tstorm finally end.

It would be easier to fight this if the mainstream media would stop playing ball. But they won't.

-- Bokonon

Yeah, but it was a clumsy way to make that point, and if you know that the machine is out there, you don't say "inelegant" or clumsy things about a nominee's military record. Unless you work for Karl Rove, in which case you whisper it. Machine aside, this was also caused by Clark's carelessness.

The question NOBODY dared to ask amid the shitstorm of fake, manufactured outrage:

"How exactly DOES getting shot down in a fighter plane qualify one to be President?"

#4 Drilling solves nothing.....

You got it!

really folks, Clark is a DLC hack. if he gives McCain a little lip, it still doesnt change that. please
keep that in mind.

It's getting WORSE.

Right Wing Radio talkers are becoming desparate to hang on to their glory days when the NEO-Cons controlled the White House and the Republican Party controlled the Congress. Clark is right... IT'S A FREAK SHOW.

In George Lucas' classic sci-fi film, THX1138, when the main character escapes from his FREAKSHOW, he does it by crawling up out of the top of a long vertical shaft... and steps out into fresh air, natural landscape, and the bright orb of the sun sitting on the distant horizon. I have this HOPEFULL YEARNING that THAT's what's going to happen in this country at noon, January 20, 2009.

Okonkolo @ 11:

Yeah, but it was a clumsy way to make that point, and if you know that the machine is out there, you don't say "inelegant" or clumsy things about a nominee's military record. Unless you work for Karl Rove, in which case you whisper it. Machine aside, this was also caused by Clark's carelessness.

agreed

clark might be a skilled military leader, but he is not cut out for the vicious world of cable news

McSame thinks that the country owes him the presidency, because he was a POW.

Ya, the country owes McSame a dept of gratitude, and it has paid him back by making him a senator, but I don't know about president

fight the power

General Clark, you got screwed. Thanks for sticking to you guns. You weren't being hateful, you were speaking the truth. I have wondered for some time why being a POW would qualify you for president.

If it wasn't for a guy who goes by (I think) Jedreport on youtube the right might have made Clark look almost as bad at Wright.

As for what Clark said he parroted back a silly claim made by the interviewer and stated that it was wrong.

Seriously what kind of a general would ever say a fighter pilot flying a single person jet was riding in it?

Further more he took issue with McCain's getting shot down not his time as a POW afterwards.

may not be cut out for the cable news culture
nevertheless the guy is a stud four star general
Rhodes Scholar Oxford graduate....smart and accomplished.....i'll have him on my team.
everyones knows what he said he challenged mccain's brand persona. some people will vote for mccain just because of his part military experience....clark had the nads to challenge that...and obama didn't toss clark under the bus

Jerry @ 6:

Saint Augustine @ 2:

The whole country has been the victim of this administration's right-wing freak show!

That would be the world.

Couldn't agree more.

Sorry, wrong link - here is the clip from McLame's BBQ party:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQkYGhmdMig&feature=related

You can see some well known members of the MSM there.

Exotic Blue Lensman @ 32:

Speaking of freak shows, I believe this is footage from one of those "town hall meetings" of McLame's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNneutOGVJ4&feature=related

http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/5990/mccain9fcb98bmw7.jpg

BennyP @ 38:

Another non-issue blown into ridiculousness.

This is not Rome (or Israel, for that matter). ?

or Starship Troopers...."Service guarantees citizenship"

What truly disgusts me about the right-wing freak show is when the Dems often join in, lambasting the good guys. I heard and read almost as many attacks from Dems against Clark as I did from Repugs.

Also seems like a way for the GOP to block a Clarke VP bid.

the loss of the Fairness Doctrine and the talk radio monopoly that resulted has been instrumental for making this kind of swiftboating possible. no other medium allows so much uncontested repetition to so many people over such a wide area.

in all but the most obviously partisan TV and print outlets there has to be some effort at balance or it all looks like fox or worse. the talk radio monopoly has been the difference for the last 20 years. that's why limbaugh's new contract gets him a NINE figure signing bonus- no one will ever get that kind of money for selling radio time.

I believe THIS is the 'right-wing freak show' he's referring to. You should post this along side the youtube video you've got up there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRwsk56lN44

Is there a heart of our bottom?

Drilling solves nothing (aka right wing hater) @ 3:

He said the right thing.

My father, wounded vietnam Vet = agrees with Clark.
My wife's stepfather shot down twice in horrific helicopter crashes in Vietnam = agrees with Clark.
My Grandfather, marine in WII pacific campaign = agrees with Clark.

All lifelong Democratic voters, all veterans of foreign wars.

Moral of the story: An Allied Supreme NATO commander, shot four times in Vietnam, top of his class (legion of merit, etc, etc) can say what he wants and he should be shown the same level of respect as McBush...

Fighting for one's country can be dubbed brave, even heroic. It can be called noble and honourable. And while the media would like people to believe that General Clark devalues the respect of U.S. soldiers (and we won't even discuss how absurd such a notion is when Clark himself has served his country), that's just not true. I'm sad that more Democrats failed to note how Clark was taken out of context, how he several seconds earlier offered considerable praise to McCain isnsofar as his military service is concerned, and so on. Whenever Republicans twist the story, Democrats don't challenge them but rather try to prove that they're also rough-and-tumble Americans through-and-through. It's sickening. Real Americans don't back down when bullied by a manipulative little weasel.

The smears and outright lies could not have reached the voting public without the uncritical support of the MSM. They kept repeating the outlandish smears repeatedly for days and even when they pretended to disagree that ti was all that upsetting they still framed it as if Clark had intended it as a personal attack on McCain.

I remember a few pundits pointing out that there was absolutely nothing to the story (Keith Olbermann led the charge of course), but most of the television talking heads obediently jumped through the hoops just like the right wing has trained them to do.

And I have to point out there were a few liberal bloggers who did not point out the obvious obfuscation either. C&L was certainly not one (and neither was I by the way), but there were a few who did not stand up for General Clark with quite the furor that the situation called for. (As much as it pains me it seems that it was some of my fellow Obama supporters who believed he did it purposefully to draw criticism toward Barack.)

Okonkolo @ 11:

Yeah, but it was a clumsy way to make that point, and if you know that the machine is out there, you don't say "inelegant" or clumsy things about a nominee's military record. Unless you work for Karl Rove, in which case you whisper it. Machine aside, this was also caused by Clark's carelessness.

you cant be careless when telling the truth about a McSham

LockeNessMonster @ 18:

It seems if McCain was such the war-god-hero, the Repubs would have given him the nomination for the 2000 election, no?

The Repugs preferred the boozed coked up draft dodger to the 'war hero' back in 2000.
Its a strange world the Republican dream machine, now they (maybe 70% on a good day) love and adore their 2000 reject.

ferrofluid (Obama 08) @ 56:

General_Rennenkampf @ 54:

BennyP @ 38:

Another non-issue blown into ridiculousness.

This is not Rome (or Israel, for that matter). Citizenship does not depend on military service. Holding elected office does not require having murdered 3rd world brown people first hand ( or second hand in the case of Air Force/Navy bombing). I know a few combat vets whom I would not trust with watering my lawn let alone running the country.

Then again, with the state that this country is in- maybe we do need a pres with experience in crashing?

Even in the Roman Empire (not so sure on Israeli citizenship policies), citizenship didn't depend on military service. It started off as limited only to freeborn males in the City of Seven Hills, expanded to all freeborn males in Italy, and ultimately under Caracalla to all freeborn males in the empire. Service in the Legions was not a prerequisite. If it becomes so in the US, we'll officially have out-Romaned the Romans.

The Republican and reich wing meme is anybody is a nobody unless they have been through the MIC meat grinder,
the big irony is that all the top Repugs are yellow draft dodgers par excellence,
with military experience being the rarity despite their lust for death and destruction.
When you talk to and listen to the average vet, you find somebody who hates warfare and death and destruction,
they been through it, seen their friends die, and all the aftermath of ruined cities and lives, on both sides.

It has always been that veterans are less enthusiastic for war than the leaders, whether the Sapa Inka, the Huey Tlalataoni (not the best at Hispanicized Nahautl), the President of the United States, the Tsar of Russia, the Chancellor of the German Empire, Shaka Zulu, Tecumseh, the Huangdi of China, the Tenno of Japan, any of them, all are usually more enthusiastic than the veterans who have seen what war does.

Ahem....

“I was taken out of context. There is just no other way to say it. Someone said to me ‘This is a playbook operation by the right wing freak machine, the great freak show where they take a statement, distort it, blast it out of context and make it personal. They are so good at it they did all three steps in three hours and you fought back and I’m grateful for you from the bottom of my heart.”

Why did you add this to the piece as a quote? There are words that are the same, but this isn't even CLOSE to what he SAID. See? Even us DFH's can take things out of context. I will just have to assume that the author had FOX on in the background (for truthiness monitoring purposes) and a little Ailes splashed on the keyboard, mixing the words up, dropping some altogether, and coming out as a mash up of what was actually said.

I do love the irony that it should happen to this particular story, though...

The recent controversial New Yorker cover focused little conservative minds on their feelings about Obama - it says what they believe, in spite of evidence otherwise. Like Pavlov's dog - just show the picture and they salivate.

Now we have our Pavlov experiment as well - just say "War Hero" and we will automatically think "Getting shot down in a fighter plane doesn't qualify one to be president."

Thanks Wes.

I got no audio, You've been screwed again, General Clark.

Okonkolo @ 11:

Yeah, but it was a clumsy way to make that point, and if you know that the machine is out there, you don't say "inelegant" or clumsy things about a nominee's military record. Unless you work for Karl Rove, in which case you whisper it. Machine aside, this was also caused by Clark's carelessness.

no it wasn't... he made a legitimate point and instead of addressing it rationally all the reichtoids made such a shit-storm they'd never address it... and they still haven't... meanwhile.... the sleight-of-hand-continues....

When I read the title - right-wing freak show - I thought it was going to be a piece on McCain.

Now that the "right wing freak show" has been outed and identified for what it is, maybe folks in the good 'ole USA and the rest of the world have grown ready to face up to new investigations into the events of 9/11/01 and all ensuing policies put in place by Bushco and it's compliant judiciary and legislative since that day. I refer to the 9/11 Commission Report itself, The Patriot Acts I & II, The Military Commissions Act, The "war" in Iraq/Afghanistan etc., etc., etc.. I think folks are waking up a little after having had some time to "digest" some of what has gone down over these last 7 years, but I also think that most people just can't reconcile information that might indicate that something other than what the 9/11 Commission reported, actually occurred. To think that our government, or at least a sinister faction within our government (See: Neocon, PNAC - Project for the New American Century) could have allowed or worse, planned and coordinated the attacks of 9/11, is UNTHINKABLE. However, of all of the conspiracy "theories" out there - The 9/11 Commission Report is the weakest and most outlandish and wrought with missing and false information. Because this idea is so hard to accept, most will just dismiss me and the millions like me as "nuts". Sorry C&L'ers, I just want folks to take a difficult and critical look at the "core" problem, which is the "right wing freak show". Whenever possible, I want to point out the need for people to consider the fact that many many "truths" have not been disclosed throughout the present administration's time at the helm. You KNOW you have been lied to repeatedly, so why think that the freak show would be beyond lying about the "New Pearl Harbor" (See PNAC) and the ensuing war in Iraq. You KNOW how they twist, distort and pervert real facts and you KNOW how they play the American people like a cheap violin, so why accept the "story" we have been given in the "official" report on the attacks of 9/11. Seek the truth and it shall set you free.

General Clark is a decent, patriotic American.

But what would the mainstream media do for entertainment if they didn't take things out of context or blow them out of all proportion? I'd really like to get back to the League of Women Voters running the debates and leave the networks to their entertainment.