Philadelphia Inquirer Editor: Obama Disgracing Those Who Suffered or Died Wearing Uniform

This Sunday morning, Philadelphia Inquirer Assistant Editor, Kevin Ferris, once again went talk radio all over the Philadelphia Inquirer opinion pages, able to spin Gen. Wesley Clark's response to a question concerning John McCain's readiness as president into a hyperbolic hit piece surmising that Clark "denigrated the uniform" and that Barack Obama will "use the uniform as needed, disgracing those who suffered or died wearing it."

Wow. Might as well pen Ferris in as Bill O'Reilly's fill in.

What Ferris chose to leave out was the context of Clark's response where Face The Nation host, Bob Schieffer noted that Obama had not "ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down." Clark said, ""Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president."

Nor did he include Clark's preface to his response, including: "I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war."

Wow #2. Disgrace, thy name be honor. Or visa versa.

The Constitution is a wacky, kinda living, kinda not, document that explains just what we Americans can get away with. It also frames the conditions within which one can run for the position where one American can get away with the most -- President of the United States of America. And Clark's comments were not a denigration of the uniform, but a reflection of the document that our troops have fought and died to protect for over 200 years.

See: It's The Constitution, Stupid!

Steve Young is author of "Great Failures of the Extremely Successful" www.greatfailure.com and blogs at steveyoungonpolitics.com

Comments

[WilliamGossett]

Betcha he never served

[Scarabus]

Whoa! I just read the editorial. That guy is either incompetent or unethical...or both. The categories are by no means mutually exclusive. I wrote to him. The email is too long for here, but I'll share the opening. The rest of my comment is on my blog (www.agrippinaminor.com/wp/).

"We all recognize that an editorial, unlike, say, a legal or academic document, need not provide evidence to support the accusations it makes. But surely even an editorial writer should accept the ethical obligation to do so.

"You say, "Of course, retired Army Gen. Wes Clark has a right to oh-so-subtly denigrate the service of junior officers he deems unprepared for the office he failed to achieve." Did you not actually read the transcript of Gen. Clark's comments, sir? Or did you do so long enough ago that you had forgotten them in writing your editorial?"

[lisakaz2]

I just thought of something: I wonder what's keeping Ferris from claiming that anyone who doesn't vote for McSame dishonors the uniform?

[OttoMann]

Wow, the Right is really desperate. The ultimate one who "denigrated the uniform' was Bush appearing in the flight suit, pretending to be a soldier, pretending to identify with the troops, and declaring that "major combat operations are over" before escalating the War and dragging it out for five more years and counting.

Meanwhile, Kevin Ferris is denigrating the reputation of the Inquirer, which -- during the days when it was owned by Knight-Ridder -- was one one of the few national voices against the Bush administration before it became safe (and all-too easy) to criticize.

[MadJeffersonian]

So "use the uniform as needed, disgracing those who suffered or died wearing it." doesn't apply to the current occupants of the White House and their Repug successor?

[LittleBrother]

I understand that the Philadelphia Inquirer, traditionally the "middle-class" rag, is combining operations with the traditionally "blue-collar" Daily News.

The Daily News letters page is largely given over to semi-literate screeds by reactionary lumpenproles, including crackpot regulars, defending Law & Order and Traditional Amerikan values. Not one in a thousand would turn down a chance to be part of a Mumia abu-Jamal lynching party.

So it's not too surprising that the Inky is starting to whistle their tune. Apparently from a cost/benefit perspective, the only way to save the life of the newspaper is by spreading it underneath troglodytes who make Archie Bunker seem like Noam Chomsky.

[FullChat]

1. Obama didn't ask the question - Clark did (and Obama immediately disowned it).
2. McCain is a vet and a POW - not a 4 star general who has planned or executed large operations. What's wrong with asking how this makes him a good CNC? I don't think that being a Capitan (equivalent to a Colonel) passes the CNC bar.

[lisakaz2]

Wow is right. How is it that being in the military automatically is a qualification? What about th general then? Isn't he qualified to speak? And can my dad run? He was in the National Guard AND the Navy. Or does he not count because he wasn't an officer?

[mulegino]

This neo-con myopia is mind boggling!
This is either plain stupidity or Goebellian propaganda of the first magnitude. How does saying: "well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president", the equivalent of disgracing the uniform or dishonoring military service?
That having been said, America is in the grip of a paralyzing, collective delusion, i.e., the worship of martial glory and military force. It is the American civic religion, and holds more sway in public opinion that any other creed or set of beliefs.
Eisenhower's prescience in this regard is amazing. The military industrial complex has not only invaded "the councils of government", but through the media's constant trumpeting of militaristic propaganda, has wormed its way deep into the national psyche.
Such a situation would have horrified the nation's founders, who warned repeatedly against large standing armies as mortal threats to liberty.
The armed forces have their place and their purpose. The former is subordinate to civilian government, and the latter is the common defense of the United States and her citizens.

[bgregs]

Everyone, please go look at the post, and send an email to Kevin Ferris. I've already done so, asking why he's insulting a decorated flag officer like Gen Clark, who after all merely pointed out what ALL of us who served already know, that being in the military is NOT a unique qualifier for President, although it does NOT disqualify you!