Monday, September 15, 2003

Will The General Run? QUOTE OF THE DAY "If you are the type of person who likes assault weapons, there is a place for you -- the United States Army. We have them." - -  General Wesley Clark (When asked his position on gun control) KNOW YOUR HISTORY - SEPTEMBER 15th 1981 -- A blockade begins at the construction site of Pacific Gas & Electric's planned Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant near San Luis Obispo, California. In the coming  2 weeks, 1,901 are arrested in the largest occupation of a nuclear power site in U.S. history. 1996 -- 6,000 rally & 1,033 are arrested near the Headwaters Grove in rural Carlotta, Calif., in a protest against the logging of one of the last large unlogged redwood stands in the world. RHINO HERE: Statistics have shown that since the Kennedy-Johnson 1960 presidential ticket, no Democrat has won the White House without a Southerner on the ticket who's himself been clear that he had presidential qualifications & ambitions himself. There's a lot of chatter on the internet these days about who Governor Dean will choose as his running mate. The "Who's the best VP for Dean?" discussion among Dean supporters is representative in many "Dean & VP 2004" yahoo groups, most of which have over a thousand members already. To check the chatter, check out: General Wesley Clark from Arkansas at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DeanClark2004 Sen. + Fmr. Gov. Bob Graham of Florida at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DeanGraham2004 Senator John Edwards of South Carolina at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DeanEdwards2004 On Friday, documentarian/activist Michael Moore sent out a letter he wrote to General Wesley Clark, but meaning for it to be read by as many people as possible. In it Michael urges readers to email Clark to urge him to run for President. Here's 2 excerpts & a link: A Citizen's Appeal to a General in a Time of War (at Home) September 12, 2003 Dear General Wesley Clark, I've been meaning to write to you for some time. Two days after the Oscars, when I felt very alone and somewhat frightened by the level of hatred toward me for daring to suggest that we were being led into war for "fictitious reasons," one person stuck his neck out and came to my defense on national television. And that person was you. Aaron Brown had just finished interviewing me by satellite on CNN, and I had made a crack about me being "the only non-general allowed on CNN all week." He ended the interview and then turned to you, as you were sitting at the desk with him. He asked you what you thought of this crazy guy, Michael Moore. And, although we were still in Week One of the war, you boldly said that my dissent was necessary and welcome, and you pointed out that I was against Bush and his "policies," not the kids in the service. I sat in Flint with the earpiece still in my ear and I was floored -- a GENERAL standing up for me and, in effect, for all the millions who were opposed to the war but had been bullied into silence. Since that night, I have spent a lot of time checking you out. And what I've learned about you corresponds to my experience with you back in March. You seem to be a man of integrity. You seem not afraid to speak the truth... ... I am asking everyone I know to send an email to you now to encourage you to run, even if they aren't sure they would vote for you. (Wesley Clark's email address is: mailto:info@leadershipforamerica.org) . None of us truly know how we will vote five months from now or a year from now. But we do know that this race needs a jolt -- and Bush needs to know that there is one person he won't be able to Dukakisize... READ IT ALL AT: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE comes from the weblog of Katrina vanden Heuvel, the Editor of The Nation. Her blog is entitled, "Editor's Cut" and sports the prolog, "Expect no major manifestos or sweeping pronouncements. This weblog will be more of a running journal recording thoughts on politics, reporting on events, and offering riffs and reflections on what's in the news and what's not (but should be)." Her 9/12 entry excerpted & linked below is a telling story of General Wesley Clark's record as Supreme Commander of NATO. Worth the read for anyone wondering if he's a viable candidate for President. 8:23:32 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Wesley Clark's "High Noon" Wesley Clark's "High Noon" by Katrina Vanden Heuvel, The Nation, 9/12/2003 Will he or won't he? Will retired four-star General, ardent critic of Bush's national security policies, telegenic TV commentator, and recently declared Democrat Wesley Clark enter the crowded presidential race?  As a former military officer, Democrats believe Clark could make the party more viable on foreign affairs than it's been since a general named George Marshall was containing Communism under the command of a president named Harry Truman. (That's the conventional wisdom, though the staggering cost of the badly bungled Iraqi occupation has diminished the Republican advantage on defense no matter who runs against Bush.) While media commentary on Clark's prospective candidacy has been almost entirely favorable--even adulatory--it's worth looking back at a forgotten chapter in his military biography that occurred when Clark was Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and Commander In Chief for the US European Command. Call it Clark's "High Noon" showdown. It's an incident that deserves scrutiny because Clark's claim to be an experienced leader in national security matters is tied, in significant part, to his record in the Balkans. On June 12, 1999, in the immediate aftermath of NATO's air war against Yugoslavia, a small contingent of Russian troops dashed to occupy the Pristina airfield in Kosovo. Clark was so anxious to stop the Russians that he ordered an airborne assault to confront these units--an order which could have unleashed the most frightening showdown with Moscow since the end of the Cold War. Hyperbole? You can decide... READ IT ALL AT: http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?bid=7 "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 6:53:00 AM    comment

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