Karl Rove & L'affaire Plame

Atrios links to a Guardian online story, which states that some of the reporters have privately identified Karl Rove as the source of the Valerie Plame / CIA leak. Someone call Ann Coulter quick - this is treason. I think that Plamegate/Wilsongate will spell the defeat of Bush in 2004, no matter who the Dem candidate is. Furthermore, I think this underscores that it's really the TEENAGERS who are in charge - not the "grownups", as has been alleged. This underscores why the US needs a President like Wesley Clark - someone who served his country valiantly for 34 years - someone who understands what operational secrecy and national security are all about. To the Bushies, National Security means shredding the Bill of Rights and invading troublesome countries with no exit strategy. To the Bushies, National Security means "outing" a covert CIA operative because her husband had the audacity publicly to criticize government policies. The leaking of Plame's secret identity was done solely to get revenge against her husband, and to send a message to others who might dare criticize the Administration's wrongheaded neocon plan for world domination.

Meetups

I know that Spot Coffee on Elmwood is winning the meetup tally, but I think that the sheer number of people might overwhelm that relatively small venue. I would urge people to consider choosing the Brounschidle Post for the next Meetup Oct. 13th. Our attendance there has been scheduled and confirmed, and there would be no issue regarding the size of the venue or the number of people.

Official Clark '04 Campaign Blog: Generally Speaking...

The Clark campaign has its own official blog. Campaign blogs are de rigeur nowadays, but this one has calls to action every so often - for instance, anyone in the DC area is invited to participate in a handout of Clark bars and letters to uncommitted members of Congress.

Hackworth revises his opinion of Clark

The guy who called Clark a "perfumed prince" now respects him, unexpectedly.

With Clark on Fire, Calls of Liar, Liar

Absolute must-read from Joshua Micah Marshall of www.talkingpointsmemo.com in the LA Times about the right's rabid attacks on Clark. And This article from Spinsanity is the definitive word on the 9/11 phone call issue.

According to Meetup.com

Buffalo has broken the top 100 cities with Clark supporters! Check it out here. Given that only seven people showed up at the September meetup, things are looking up for October. Please note that the meetup date has been changed to October 13th due to Yom Kippur. It appears that Spot Coffee on Elmwood is winning the vote for the meetup location, which is fine, although the Brounschidle post would be more large-group friendly.

Deadline approaching to register for Democratic Primary in NY!

* * * * IMPORTANT NOTICE * * * * VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE For New York State Primary A reminder to the Clark supporters currently registered in the following parties: Independence, Republican, Conservative, Liberal, Green, Working Family or Undeclared In order to vote in the New York State primary you must be registered as a Democrat. The deadline is fast approaching -- Friday, October 10, 2003. If you do not meet this deadline, you will not be able to vote for General Clark in the primary! And if you are not a registered Democrat, you will not be able to help the campaign with the crucial petitioning process. Remember pass this information on to your friends and family. Urge them to register (or re-register) as a Democrat, And encourage them to vote for General Clark in the primary. HOW TO REGISTER OR CHANGE PARTY AFFILIATION … You can register in person at your county board of elections or at any New York State Agency-Based voter registration center. … You can call our 1-800-FOR-VOTE hotline to request a voter application. … You can download a PDF version of the New York State Voter Registration Form in Spanish and English. Once you print the form, complete and sign it. Then mail it to your county board of elections. Go to http://www.elections.state.ny.us/voting/voting.htm for more information. * ACT QUICKLY * The deadline is October 10, 2003 There is not much time left!

Clark and Mladic

I have received several gloating e-mails from non-Clark supporters, parroting last week's reports from Drudge and Robert Novak, regarding Clark's meeting with indicted war criminal Ratko Mladic. There's one problem. Novak says that Clark met General Ratko Mladic on Aug. 26, 1994. Yet the first indictment against Mladic wasn't handled down until July 1995. The second one came on November 14, 1995. Was Mladic a nice guy? Absolutely not and he was indicted for crimes that took place between 1992 and 1995, which means many occurred prior to his meeting with Clark. He was also on a State Department "watch" list, as a suspected war criminal. At the time Clark met with Mladic, Clark was director of strategy, plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. According to a 1999 Newsweek article, those who knew the general chalked it up to a last bid for a diplomatic solution when the international plan to divide Bosnia appeared destined to fail. Despite Clark's meeting with Mladic, the plan did fail. Yet the US continued to negotiate with Milosevic and, at Milosevic's insistence, Mladic. Clark was a key player in negotiating the Dayton Peace Accords, and it should be noted that no amnesty was afforded to either Milosevic or Mladic for their role in atrocities against Muslims.

Chickenhawks must go.

From the General's first Iowa campaign stop: "'I'm a soldier. I know what war is like.'" That kind of sums up why the Bush crew of chickenhawks should go.

Supporters Mob Gen. Clark on First Campaign Stop

I love any candidate who can get 26-year old kids to drive 9 hours just to see him. "Bush has the whole national security aura, but he does not have that over Gen. Clark,' said Aaron Dickerson, 26, who drove 500 miles from his Tallahassee home to meet Clark. "

Clark in Dem Debate next Thursday

According to this, Clark will be participating in a Dem debate next Thursday in NYC. It will be his first opportunity to go up against the competition. Should be good. Otherwise, light blogging this week. Out of town.

Transcript of Clark's Announcement

Click here to see the Wesley Clark Weblog's transcript of General Clark's announcement speech. He is the first candidate to express that this country is in the midst of a serious crisis. A crisis of leadership. He is the candidate to address the crisis and act upon it.

Rush Limbaugh: Draft Dodger

Someone remind Rush Limbaugh that it's bad form for him to smear and lie about a true soldier, given that he got a pass from serving in Vietnam due to a boil on his bum.

If anyone knows anything about html, please let me know why the blog only scrolls down as far as the bottom of the sidebar? This only happens in IE running on Windows. Netscape works just fine. Anyone? Thanks.

My name is Wes Clark...

Standard issue wire report on the General's announcement, but I love this quote: ''My name is Wes Clark. I am from Little Rock, Arkansas. And I am here to announce that I intend to seek the presidency of the United States of America.'' This campaign is looking more and more like McCain 2000 redux. "Straight Talk" and all. And that's a good thing. I particularly like this line: "Clark immediately took aim at Bush, saying his economic policies ''have cost us more jobs than our economy has had the energy to create.''

The smears begin in earnest

Check out Scoobie Davis Online: "Yesterday, I mentioned how Sean Hannity was spreading rumors about Wesley Clark (scroll down to read them).Counterspin listed some possible points of sliming that the GOP and Bush campaign will take against Wesley Clark. The following were touched upon by Rush Limbaugh in the first ten minutes of his radio show today: 1) He's just a front for Hillary and Bill Clinton; 2) He's an unstable hothead who 'almost started World War III.' 3) He was involved in the Waco disaster. In fact, Limbaugh went further and tried to blame the entire thing on Clark." Limbaugh's meme for the next 5 years has already been established, and Clark doesn't officially announce for another 20 minutes.

The word from New Hampshire

Clark's background could boost him to political foreground: "'Wesley Clark comes in as a bit of hand grenade, and nobody knows who's going to get hit by the fragments,' said Steffen Schmidt, a political science professor at Iowa State University. 'He's not a typical candidate - he's not a politician. You don't have four-star generals running very often, and this year, with Iraq, foreign policy is an issue of much greater importance.'" That's what they're saying in New Hampshire. The NH primary is only 18 weeks away. January 27, 2004.

Why I switched to the Democratic Party

Used to be the Republican party was the party of fiscal responsibility. Now it’s the party of rampant deficit spending. Sure, they cut taxes, but spending rises without control or concern. The Democratic Party has shown in the last decade that it has become the more "conservative" party when it comes to handling the people's money. The GOP hands out programs & pork like it’s Christmas, and puts it all on the Visa. The GOP also has the audacity to accuse anyone opposed to it of being unpatriotic. It’s only a matter of time before the GOP just comes right out and advocates a one-party system. With John Ashcroft as Minister of the Interior. Oh, happy day. . "Those who are ready to sacrifice freedom for security ultimately will lose both" - Abraham Lincoln Everything Bush has touched has, sooner or later, turned into horse manure. Everything. His original overriding agenda was to do the opposite of whatever Clinton did. What that brought us was escalated warfare in Israel, the brink of nuclear war with North Korea, the bitterness of allies left disrespected and unappreciated, and the list goes on. Bush offers no hope, no vision for a better America. Sure, he talks a good game, saying he supports Americorps, “leave no child behind”, better schools, but when it comes down to dollars and cents, Bush has nothing and reveals his hypocrisy. Bush’s vision is his personal post-administration enrichment, and the enrichment of his cronies. Woo hoo. Halliburton got no-bid contracts in Iraq. So did Bechtel. Big surprise. Ultimately, if Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein aren’t in US custody or verifiably dead come November 2004, Bush loses. If gas prices are still north of $1.50/gallon, Bush loses. If unemployment continues its spiral into the 7% range or higher, Bush loses. Are you better off now than you were in 2000?

See General Clark's special message to the Draft movement

General Clark recorded a special message for the members of the Draft Clark movement. You can view it here as an AVI file, or here as a Quicktime file. The General accepts our draft! He asks that those of us who were active in the Draft movement do two things:

1. Get at least one other person involved in or supporting General Clark for President; and

2. Contribute to his campaign

If you made a pledge at www.draftwesleyclark.com, please make good on that pledge as soon as possible. The General is late to the race. His main competition - Howard Dean - has raised upwards of $20 million. This primary race is going to be Dean vs. the most electable alternative to Dean. It's going to be quite a show.

Candidate Clark's Official Website is now up!

America For Clark is the name of the site. It's quite nicely done. Please contribute, sign up to volunteer, join the meetup - do whatever you feel is necessary to help General Clark win the nomination and the General Election in 2004.

CLARK TO ANNOUNCE CANDIDACY ON WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 17th

Breaking now! Click here for story. Also being reported at draftwesleyclark.com and draftclark2004.com. Drudge links to the WaPo.

We now offer comments thanks to Blogspeak.com

National Review columnist Rich Lowry brings us the latest hit piece on General Clark.

The reason I post hit pieces is that it is crucial that we be alert and able to respond to the types of lies and misinformation that will meet a Clark candidacy. These guys are legitimately scared, and will stop at nothing to discredit Clark - politically first, then personally.

I find it striking that conservative columnists' opinions regarding the Kosovo campaign tend to support a different Clark - Ramsey. The same folks who would have you believe that protesters against the Iraq war are Ramsey Clark stooges who hate America, are the first to criticize Clinton's Kosovo campaign in the most "America-hating" tones. Just check this article out detailing the 1999 Republican lack of support for the campaign, and the troops fighting it.

In any event, Lowry heaps disdain on the Kosovo war because of its supposed misguided belief that Milosevic would back down "immediately." OK, it wasn't immediate - it took thirty (that's 30) days.

Milosevic is now on trial in the ICTY in the Hague for genocide and war crimes.

Osama bin Laden - who was Enemy #1 2001-2002 - is still on the run.

Saddam Hussein - who is Enemy #1 2002-2003 - is also on the run.

In 1999, Clinton and NATO at least told the truth about why we were bombing Kosovo - to stop a ten-year-long genocidal war started by Milosevic. The West's military action in the Balkans showed that we took seriously the injunction "Never Again" to holocaust and genocide.

In the former Yugoslavia, halting a brutal regime was job #1. In Iraq, regime change was sold as necessary to halt a non-existent WMD program. Halting Saddam's brutality was an ancillary benefit.

Announcement this week!

Clark summons political team to Arkansas as supporters brace for race We're getting there, folks. Looks like this effort will be a full-fledged campaign by the end of this week.

Vote now for the Brounschidle Post for the next Meetup Oct. 6th!

Meetup voting is now active! Please visit the meetup website and be sure to vote for the Brounschidle American Legion post in Kenmore. Terry Wegler from Assemblyman Robin Schimminger's office has been good enough to reserve the hall for us, and it would be a great location.

Star Telegram | 09/14/2003 | Wesley Clark could brighten an otherwise lackluster campaign: "During that TV appearance, Clark was articulate, precise, confident and clearly knowledgeable, all traits that the nine announced Democratic candidates had not exhibited up to that time." Or since. Nice overview article on the Clark movement.

It's quite interesting to watch those who would be opposed to a Clark candidacy - particulary the right-wing - ramp up the anti-Clark smear campaign. Here are their talking points so far:

1. Clark is Dangerous. This stems from an incident that took place at Prishtina Airport in Kosovo in 1999. This is reminiscent of Karl Rove's character assassination of John McCain in the 2000 election. The same crowd that accused McCain of being a "Manchurian Candidate" and "unstable" because of his time as a POW is floating the same trial balloon for Clark. It won't fly. This issue is handled quite nicely here.

2. Clark lied about the White House asking him to link September 11th to Iraq. This, too, is false and is handled quite nicely here.

As Clark's announcement comes closer, expect the smears to get ever more obnoxious and misleading. Given that candidate Clark will be going up against Karl Rove's propaganda machine, it is crucial that Clark supporters be prepared for, and respond to the smears.

The cafepress store is UP! Stickers, T-shirt, tote bag available now. Click here to visit the shop.

This from Knoxville, TN where Clark gave a speech yesterday: "Clark, whose calendar includes a speech in Iowa late next week, said he will announce his intentions within 'the next few days probably,' most likely in his home state of Arkansas. 'It just seemed to me if I was going to go to Iowa, I probably ought to know what I was doing before I went there,' he said. " Well, it looks like he'll declare before the speech in Iowa, not at that speech. Tick...tick...tick.

Michael Moore, practically begs Clark to run. Look for more people who would otherwise gravitate to Dean come over to Clark in DROVES.

I've set up a WNY for Clark Cafepress shop to sell bumper stickers and the like. The only problem is, I don't have any designs at this time. If anyone would like to submit some, e-mail me at wny4clark@adelphia.net.

Well, the location of the next meetup is already set, thanks to Terry Wegler at Assemblyman Robin Schimminger's office. The October 6th meetup has been confirmed for this location: AM LEGION BROUNSHIDLE POST 205 3354 DELAWARE AVENUE KENMORE, NY 14217 877-9279 The DiTommasso Memorial VFW #66 is also located at that same address. This location is located about 5-6 streets South from Sheridan Drive in Kenmore.
Map of 3354 Delaware Ave
Kenmore, NY 14217-1425

Here's a picture from our September 8, 2003 meetup at Kahunaville. Please click on the picture to go to our Meetup notebook, and don't forget to sign up for the meetups! Kahunaville was nice & empty, but not a great environment for this meeting. I would recommend that a future site be arcade-free.

According to CNN, Dean met with Clark and offered him the VP slot. If I was Howard Dean, I'd be worried, too.

Here is an article in today's Washington Post quoting Clark insiders, who say that Clark has already decided to run. His announcement should come very shortly.

Welcome to the new Blog created to support the Western New York effort to elect General (Ret.) Wesley Clark President of the United States. This blog will be updated periodically from time to time to provide news, links, etc. that is relevant to the General's candidacy/draft, and that may be of interest to his WNY supporters. So, here goes ...