"That makes me feel awfully good and I haven't even announced yet." -- Former General Wesley Clark
When Clark entered the place went wild, thus the statement above. He was kidding.
Wesley Clark unloaded both barrels today and gave a tremendously powerful keynote speech this morning. This man has learned a lot since his 2004 presidential run. The way he speaks and delivers his message is nothing short of exhilarating and inspiring. Hope to have the full audio a bit later.
Clark spoke widely of U.S. foreign policy. One of the subjects he touched more than once is the importance of negotiating between the Israelis and the Palestinians and getting a settlement between them.
When it came to Iraq, Clark didn't mince words.
"We are not questioning the generals. Mr. President, we are questioning you! Stop hiding behind Dave Petraeus." - Wesley Clark
That rally brought a standing ovation from the entire room, with cheers from front to the back of the grand ballroom.
Clark also didn't miss a moment to go at one of the '08 contenders.
"It seems everything reminds Rudy Giuliani of 9/11." -- Wesley Clark
One of the common threads I'm hearing from a lot of military men and veterans, all Democrats, is that we need to get out of Iraq, but we have to careful about how we do it. To paraphrase Clark, history doesn't stop when the last soldier walks down the road to Basra. We will still have interests in the region after Iraq. I'll be addressing this discussion, which is opening out on the most important aspect of what we're about to face in Iraq, how we redeploy when Republican support for this disaster crumbles in the fall, a bit later today on my blog.
Clark also talked about the argument against Iraq and how to mount our debate against what Bush is doing. He advised us to not play on Bush's turf, because it's not about the troop force. The troops have done an amazing job. It's about putting the intelligence back in our policy.
"Bush always listens to the generals. When he gets tired of listening to them he replaces them. ... " -- Wesley Clark.
Clark also mentioned Edelman and Cheney and how they treat Democratic arguments, as well as their response to anyone pushing back against the failed policies of Bush-Cheney. Obviously, the Edelman comment was directly pointed at his letter to Clinton, accusing her of helping the enemy by doing her job.
After his speech, Clark took questions. One was about the '08 candidates and who he supported. He hasn't endorsed anyone yet.
by Taylor Marsh
- Taylor Marsh LIVE! can be heard from 3-4 pm eastern - 12-1 p.m pacific, Mon.-Thurs, with podcasts available. Next show is August 6th, after YearlyKos. Taylor Marsh is serving as a volunteer advisory committee to the convention's leadership forum.