The following is from MyDD's Todd Beeton, which I noticed just moments after I wrote my previous post chastising Barack Obama for giving into Republicans on everything. Someone who's not doing that: General Wesley Clark. Here's how Mr. Beeton summed it up:
"Usually when Democrats get in hot water with the media, whether mis-interpreted or not, the instinct is to immediately apologize and slink away. Sometimes that is called for. In Wesley Clark's case, it is not, and I am thrilled to see him sticking to his guns.(...)
(...)A friend I spoke with last night said he wished Clark would shut it as he feared it was only playing into McCain's hands by raising an issue that treads on McCain-friendly terrain. Personally, I'm glad Clark has taken on what is widely considered hallowed ground and the third rail (choose your metaphor...) Clark was uniquely equipped to deliver this message and while people's instinct may be to shirk away from the suggestion that McCain's service is anything but perfect preparation to be commander in chief, the conversation that Clark has initiated has allowed people to really think about the validity of the premise for the first time and actually question it.
Way to go, General. Continue to stand strong. We have your back."
I'll second that "way to go, General". Wesley Clark has nothing to apologize for and is right to not apologize. Apologizing would only play into the Republican's hands (as Obama did on this very issue) and would continue to allow them to censor Democrats, out of fear of being called un-patriotic or un-American, from saying things that are true and need to be said.
I hope Barack Obama takes note of Gen. Clark's behavior and begins to challenge John McCain and the Republicans. On a side note, it's very ironic, that in the process of McCain and his team comparing Gen. Clark's comments to a "swift-boating" of McCain, that they actually question Gen. Clark's patriotism. Indeed, in this instance, it wasn't John McCain being swift-boated, it was Gen. Wesley Clark.
