In one segment Kerry can be really good on NBC and then be equally bad the next. On Meet the Press today, Tom Brokaw asked John Kerry about Wesley Clark's Face the Nation segment.  Why that was even on Brokaw's agenda is mind boggling since the news is clearly focused elsewhere, but I guess McCain's Media felt they could help out their guy today. Kerry immediately threw Wes under the bus. Thanks John---for getting the back of a four star general who has been nothing but brilliant for the progressive movement when he gets slimed by the press. This was a subject that Bob Schieffer made into an issue. Clark only talked about judgment qualities, as we all know. Here's the original transcript of Clark on FTN.  

<Sign the petition at Obama/Clark>

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SEN. KERRY: Yeah, I, I don't agree. I don't agree with Wes Clark's comment. I think it was entirely inappropriate. I have nothing but enormous respect for John McCain's service. I had the privilege of standing with John McCain in the, in the cell in Hanoi when we visited there together, when we worked on the issue of Vietnam together. It was an emotional moment. I, I have awe for John McCain's experience as a prisoner of war, and he, and he does understand duty and service. But...

And John Kerry debated SCHIEFFER about McCain's judgment previously when Bob tried to inject the character issue again so he knew what to say yet went out of his way to trash him.

You'll notice how Brokaw calls Bob his friend, as if he was offended because his pal was. Schieffer blew out of proportion what Clark had said and it was Bob that egged on the whole discussion. And Brokaw suddenly forgets that Obama did distance himself from Clark's remarks, but asks Kerry why Obama didn't. Wake up, Tom. Are you that out of it or did you want Kerry to say it again on national TV? He's been horrible filling in on MTP.

I have an idea, why doesn't John Kerry make a campaign ad for John McCain and praise his service? 

Obama's camp has to do a better job at surrogate selection. Not all of them, but most have been just awful either going on the offensive or deflecting a false charge. I'll have another video up on this issue shortly.

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I know it's pretty tough now after the Face the Nation garbage, but there's a new site up called Obama/Clark

Matt Stoller explains....

Wesley Clark is a great man who should be considered.

Speaking at the Netroots Nations conference in Austin, TX, Thursday, General Wesley Clark thanked the audience of Democratic activists for coming to his aid when the "right-wing freak show" launched a smear campaign about him after his "Face the Nation" remarks about John McCain.

"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."

Watching the media react to Gen. Wesley Clark was a sight to be seen. The McCain camp basically just had to sit there and laugh at what was happening. Why bother issuing statements and whatnot when major news analysts like Andrea Mitchell can do their work for them? And this blog post about McCain being a Manchurian Candidate by who else--The Politico---didn't help either.

Andrea furiously threw it in Clark's face as if he wrote it himself. She also accused Clark of being part of a coordinated effort to attack McCain's military record.

Andrea: Well, let me point out that some of the critics from the republican side have pointed out that there seems to be an organized campaign and whether or not you played into this that also on Sunday a liberal blogger...on Americablog wrote...

First of all there's a factual issue because no one has proved that to my satisfaction that John McCain ever did any propaganda for the enemy...

He was an extraordinary man...

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Then she dishonestly brings up the MoveOn ad to link it to McCain's military service. That's just a flat out lie. Shame on you, Andrea. Clark rightfully shot back at Mitchell:

Mitchell: Now, I know that John McCain...

Clark: Andrea, that doesn't say anything about his military career. That asks about John McCain's judgment and I think that's a very legitimate issue...

Andrea, Wesley Clark deserves a little respect, don't you think? You can be sure John never asked Obama's campaign if he should write that post. And Obama's people never asked Webb, MoveOn, Clark or any of us to write or say anything either. The message has been sent, people. Do not mess with McCain. I'm sure John McCain thanks you very much, Andrea. A job well done. McCain's Media strikes again. Here's more on them and Clark....Let's see her or the Villagers step up to defend Obama on anything. Won't happen. Remember how they defended his 100 year in Iraq comment?

Josh Marshall put together a nice compilation on the talking head "Hyperventorama" and outrage against Clark for your enjoyment.

<!--hitembed id="hitembed_1" width="250" height="202" align="none"--> As Digby explains:

Paul Waldman discusses the fact that McCain has successfully exploited his POW status for years with the willing help of his fans in the media. They go so far as to pretend he "never mentions" it, even though it pretty much defines the man...

Here's a perfect example of the phenomenon:

Brian Williams: You know what I thought was unsaid ---they took their position Chris, we're seeing the replay --- they end up in this spot and the sun is coming is just from the side and there in the shadow is John McCain's buckled, concave shoulder. It's a part of his body the suit doesn't fill out because of his war injuries. Again you wouldn't spot it unless you knew to look for it. He doesn't give the same full chested profile as the president standing next to him. Talk about a warrior.

Gen. Wesley Clark went on MSNBC's The Verdict to respond to the criticism he has received for his opinion of John McCain during his visit to Face the Nation on CBS Sunday morning.

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He didn't back down and stood by what he said while never making much of a comment about Obama's response. (I don't think it was included in this clip) Good for him....

Please tell me where he was out of line. He said he honored and respected McCain's service and said he was one of his heroes, but didn't think getting shot down was a prerequisite for the White House. Media Matters has the full transcript posted of FTN here.

So much for McCain's Truth Squad. What a joke. McCain just trotted out a man who was a leading voice from the Swift boaters against John Kerry, Bud Day.

Sen. John McCain's campaign on Monday launched the McCain "Truth Squad" - a group of political and Vietnam contemporaries who would counter attacks on the Senator's military record. In hopes of nipping any criticism in the bud, the campaign brought on board a man quite familiar with how these types of attacks gain legs: Bud Day, a fellow POW who was part of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that worked so hard to defame Sen. John Kerry's own Vietnam record.

On the conference call, Day - in addition to the other participants - decried comments made by Gen. Wesley Clark over the weekend, in which he questioned whether McCain's war experience really qualified him to be commander-in-chief. Defending McCain's service, Day was quick to personalize his remarks, attack.

That Day would politicize Vietnam in his defense of McCain is not surprising. During the 2004 campaign, he said of Kerry: "My view is he basically will go down in history sometime as the Benedict Arnold of 1971." And after appearing in a national advertisement for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign, Day formed the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation, an extension of the Swift Boat effort.

Asked to compare the attacks he helped launched against Kerry in 2004 to those being waged at McCain today, Day said the defining issue was truthfulness.

This only makes Obama’s remarks about Clark all the more regrettable. What a liar that Bud Young is.. At least he could have said "truthiness"....

I understand that Obama is going to move to the center during the general. It's a fairly common practice even if I disagree with it, but to go after MoveOn which supported him so strongly is a bit much.

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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday, in a major speech on patriotism, criticized MoveOn.org for referring to Gen. David Petraeus as General Betray Us last year.
The Illinois senator said politics too often seems "trapped in old, threadbare arguments" that he called "caricatures of left and right." The Democrat argued that "given the enormous challenges that lie before us, we can no longer afford these sorts of divisions."

MoveOn.org, a powerful left-of-center interest group, endorsed Obama in the Democratic presidential race.
"None of us expect that arguments about patriotism will, or should, vanish entirely; after all, when we argue about patriotism, we are arguing about who we are as a country, and more importantly, who we should be," Obama stated in his speech from Independence, Mo. "But surely we can agree that no party or political philosophy has a monopoly on patriotism."
Obama also said that he would "never question the patriotism of others in this campaign." The senator made clear, however, that he would "not stand idly by when I hear others question mine."

I agree completely that he has to stand up strong against the smears that are coming and have been raining down on him by the right so far. And we haven't seen nothin' yet. We all want him to win very badly in the fall, but he's moving much more to the right than I would have thought this early.

And he rebukes Gen. Wesley Clark.

Sure enough, just as I was about to publish this blog post, I got an email from Obama spokesman Bill Burton: "As he's said many times before, Senator Obama honors and respects Senator McCain's service, and of course he rejects yesterday's statement by General Clark." So much for Vice President Clark.

UPDATE: Take our AOL Hot Seat Poll on whether Obama was justified in criticizing MoveOn and Clark below the fold

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(guest blogged by Bill W.)

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On Sunday's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Gen. Wesley Clark reflected on Gen. Petraeus' testimony on Iraq last week, the MoveOn ad controversy, and Clark's recent endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Having served as the NATO Supreme Allied Commander under Clinton from 97-00, during which he had to testify before a Republican led House and Senate about the conflict in Kosovo, Wesley Clark shares a seasoned perspective into last week's pro-surge sales-pitch by the White House, and offers up some real insight into where we are in Iraq today and where he thinks we ought to be headed.

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He then talks candidly about the need for broad diplomatic efforts in the middle east, including Iran. Just as several new reports over the weekend asserted that the White House is considering military strikes against Iran, Clark's sober assessment of the overall picture of the situation really is in Iran and how we ought to be dealing with them couldn't be more different and reassuring. He was also asked about this damning passage in his new book, " A Time to Lead." about the neo-con underpinnings for the Bush administration's war in Iraq:

"Here's the paper from the Office of the Secretary of Defense outlining the strategy. We're going to take out seven countries in five years!' And he named them, starting with Iraq and Syria and ending with Iran. It was straight out of Paul Wolfowitz's 1991 play book, dressed up as the search for weapons of mass destruction and the global war on terror."

Partial transcript below the fold:

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  The Fix:

In the midst of what promises to be an extended back and forth between Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) over the war in Iraq, the Democratic frontrunner rolled out an endorsement from retired General and 2004 presidential candidate Wesley Clark today.

(thanks to Heather for vid)

Gen. Wesley Clark talks with Keith Olbermann about Defense Secretary Robert Gates' response to Sen. Hillary Clinton, the games the Pentagon is playing with Congress's attempts of oversight, ostensibly on the say-so of the White House and the tragic story unfolding surrounding Pat Tillman's death.

(Thanks to Logan for the vids)

Keith Olbermann spoke to Gen. Wes Clark (Ret.) on Thursday's Countdown about the bewildering disconnect between the White House and the reports coming out about Iraq and the strengthening of Al Qaeda.

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CLARK:  ...I think this is an administration that has really walled itself off inside the White House. I think you got a president who fighting for his personal survival. I don't know how he's surviving without a flow of accurate information, but he is. And he continues to say things and deny the obvious. I'm sure there's some heated discussions among his aides, but I think they understand that he desires to be kept insulated and from what I've talked to, members of Congress and others, who have seen him in recent weeks and recent months. He has done everything he can to wall himself off from what we believe is the truth.

Wesley Clark responded to Joe's latest warmongering...

Only someone who never wore the uniform or thought seriously about national security would make threats at this point. What our soldiers need is responsible strategy, not a further escalation of tensions in the region. Senator Lieberman must act more responsibly and tone down his threat machine...read on

  After discussing retired Gen. John Batiste's commercial for VoteVets that is critical of Bush and the Iraq war, (Batiste retired to speak out) O'Reilly veered off into his character assassin mode and said to Clark," I have a bone to pick with you." George Soros donated 75K to WesPAC and Bill just can't stand it. Wesley praises Soros and O'Reilly goes off the deep end again.

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O'Reilly asks him if he'd take David Duke's money. That's how insipid his arguments are. Clark rebukes O'Reilly easily and with class as O'Reilly loses his cool once again. He's been blowing his stack a lot more regularly---have you noticed? As the GOP has sunk---his temper has flared. (rough transcript)

Clark: You're just going after somebody.

O"Reilly: You bet!

Clark: And it's personal and it's wrong.

O"Reilly: It's not personal.

Clark: You outta look at his results.

O"Reilly: ...It's who you associate with that people are gonna judge you by.

Clark: Well, I'm associating with you.

O"Reilly: That's because you're getting paid to do it.---He's dangerous...

It is personal with O'Reilly and he knows it. Just read my "George Soros Rules the World," post and you tell me if it isn't personal. Billo throws in MoveOn and Clark defends them. Newshounds has a good post up on this also...

Gen. Wesley Clark's WesPAC, in conjunction with VoteVets.org, has created a site, StopIranWar.com to be a one-stop resource for all Americans to help stop the looming conflict with Iran. The latest news on Iran will be available as well as online tools to contact President Bush, lobby members of Congress, and write letters to the editor to local and national print media.

All Americans want to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons and interfering on the ground inside Iraq. Yet President Bush's saber rattling gives the US little additional leverage to engage and dissuade Iran, and, more than likely, simply accelerates a dangerous slide into war. The United States can do better than this.

Whatever the pace of Iran's nuclear efforts, in the give and take of the Administration's rhetoric and accusations, we are approaching the last moments to head off looming conflict.

[..]Military force against Iran is not the solution now, and if we adopt the right strategy, perhaps it need never be. Urge him to work with our allies and use every diplomatic, political, and economic option at our disposal to deal with Iran. War is not the answer. 

Go sign the petition to President Bush here.