“One of the clearest, most innovative approaches to energy that has been written. A superb combination of policy and politics, cast in highly readable government policy and memo format. Every American should read David Sandalow's book.” -General Wesley Clark

Book Description

“I plan to deliver an address from the Oval Office one month from today. The topic will be oil dependence.”

With these opening words, Freedom from Oil takes the reader to the highest levels of government, as Cabinet members and White House aides debate how to break our addiction to oil. In a fast-moving narrative, David Sandalow shows how to solve this problem while offering a unique window into the White House at work.

A White House veteran, Sandalow explores what would happen if the next President made breaking the United States' addiction to oil a top priority. In crisp and clear prose, Sandalow explains the size of the challenge and then offers a powerful message of hope. “This issue unites Americans,” he writes. “Game-changing technologies are at hand.” Plug-in cars, biofuels and measures to improve traffic are all part of the solution.

Throughout the book, profiles of fascinating individuals help bring serious policy dialogue to life. From the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq to a grandmother in northern Alaska to an electric car entrepreneur to the winner of the Indianapolis 500, Freedom from Oil is filled with stories of people whose lives have been touched by oil dependence-and are working to find solutions.

Drawing on both his government experience and energy expertise, Sandalow depicts the President's top advisers as they explore options, shape solutions and create national policy, culminating in an inspiring speech by the President to the nation.

Also recommended by:

“When David Sandalow writes about energy and the environment, we should all pay close attention.”-Al Gore

“Freedom from Oil is a compelling analysis of one of the great challenges of our time. David Sandalow draws upon his extensive White House experience and offers a powerful vision of a clean energy future.”-William J. Clinton, 42nd President of the United States

“David Sandalow's Freedom from Oil should be required reading for all concerned citizens and elected officials.”-U.S. Senator Richard G. Lugar(R-IN), from the Foreword

“Superb analysis and recommendations that show how we can break our dependence on oil without further dithering. The next Administration, or this one, could do no better than to go with Sandalow's package.” -R. James Woolsey, Vice President Booz Allen Hamilton; former director, Central Intelligence Agency

“Freedom from Oil should be at the top of the reading list for America's next president . . . This is an important book for anyone concerned about the most pressing threat to our security, our economy and our environment.” -Frances Beinecke, President, Natural Resources Defense Council

Buy at Amazon

Posted by awcd at 7:16 AM | Permalink

Stephen Colbert: My guest tonight says we should never have gone into Iraq. I guess he's here tonight to promote the concept of hindsight. Please welcome General Wesley Clark.

General, thank you so much. At ease.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.

Stephen Colbert: Is it tough when you get to be a general and no one gets to say that to you, you have to say that to other people?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: There's always someone in charge no matter how big a general you are, there's always someone up there.

Stephen Colbert: Really? You're a 4-star general, right?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: That's right. I was a 4-star general. I'm retired now.

Stephen Colbert: You were a 4-star general.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I'm a retired 4-star general.

Stephen Colbert: A retired 4-star general. Do you think if you'd put a little more effort into your career, you could have made 5-stars and really made something of yourself?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Every young cadet sees those statues of Eisenhower and MacArthur at West Point, but they don't make 5-stars anymore.

Stephen Colbert: They don't?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: They don't. No, they don't do it.

Stephen Colbert: Can't they make an exception?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: It was a mistake, I think, in hindsight. You were talking about hindsight. You know, the thing about a 5-star was they stayed on duty forever.

Stephen Colbert: Are you saying 5-stars is inflation? That we've got to keep it at 4-stars to keep the value of each star up?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Actually, that's exactly what happened.

Stephen Colbert: Really?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: It did. Because we went to 5-stars because the Europeans went to 5-stars and we have to keep up

Stephen Colbert: We don't care what they do.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Really. This started in World War I.

Stephen Colbert: They went to 5-étoiles.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Exactly. It was the French.

Stephen Colbert: It's always the French!

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: It is. That's the way it works.

Continue reading "Almost 5-star general Wesley Clark with Stephen Colbert" »

Posted by awcd at 11:09 AM | Permalink

Before that, he attended a small reception with his supporters. Here is a young man's first meeting with General Clark:

This Tuesday I got out of class at 9:30 am. I had nothing to do until 3:15 pm, when I was to be picked up and brought to the private reception being put on for General Clark in Seattle. He was in town for a book singing at Third Place Books later that night. I was nervous after class and got absolutely nothing done at all from the time I was released from class to the time I got dressed and ready to go – I didn’t even eat lunch. It was that bad.

I had never been to any kind of “private reception” so I had no idea what to wear. Being a clueless male, I enlisted the help of my girlfriend Mara to decide on my wardrobe. Not only am I a male, but I am also a college student. That means that my only two choices are jeans and t-shirt, or “church clothes.” I decided I’d better go with the fancy stuff.

I was dropped off at the house and was very nervous. I was greeted by Laura, who told me to head inside and informed me that she would be looking better in a few minutes. A strapping young fellow opened the door and immediately asked “Are you Jordans11? I’m Stan Davis.” He was wearing a 4 star pin, a Draft Clark 04 Founder pin and also a Wes Clark Democrat pin. Later he handed out “Wes Clark: American Hero” chains and pins to the twenty or so people in attendance. It was clear who Stan had come to see.

My nervous feeling continued as I met a few more people, including Kelly, Allison, and E.J. I kept on glancing over to the door, wondering when Wes would walk in. Pretty soon somebody said “He’s here!” and several people made their way into the reception. I looked to my left and into the room came Wesley Clark. I was a bit frozen as he came right up to me, and shook my hand as I said, or at least intended to say, “I’m Chris, it’s great to meet you!” He replied, “Chris, thank you so much for your support.” It seemed like he didn’t know what to say to me except “Thanks” but I knew it was genuine. He didn’t go around the entire room greeting people and saying, “Thanks for your support,” to everyone. If I was him, what would I say to me? Probably “Thanks so much for your support.”

Continue reading "General Clark drops in on "Drinking Liberally" Seattle" »

Posted by awcd at 12:50 PM | Permalink

RADIO ALERT: 10/1/07 - KPAM-AM 860, Monday, Oct 1, 2007 at 9:05 AM EDT / 8:05 AM CDT

Start: 08:05 CDT

description:
General Clark will appear live on "Bob Miller in the Morning" from Portland, OR on KPAM-AM 860, Monday, Oct 1, 2007

9:05 AM EDT | 8:05 AM CDT | 7:05 AM MDT | 6:05 AM PDT

Listen live here: http://www.kpam.com/programming/bob_miller.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RADIO ALERT: 10/1/07 - KPOJ-AM, Monday, Oct 1, 2007 at 10:00 AM EDT / 9:00 AM CDT

Start: 09:00 CDT

description:
General Clark will appear live on KPOJ-AM from Portland, OR Monday, Oct 1, 2007

10:00 AM EDT | 9:00 AM CDT | 8:00 AM MDT | 7:00 AM PDT

Listen live here: http://www.620kpoj.com/main.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RADIO ALERT: 10/1/07 - KKZN-AM760 in Denver CO, Monday, Oct 1, 2007 at 10:15 AM EDT / 9:15 AM CDT

Start: 09:15 CDT

description:
General Clark will appear live on KKZN-AM760 from Denver, CO Monday, Oct 1, 2007

10:15 AM EDT | 9:15 AM CDT | 8:15 AM MDT | 7:15 AM PDT

Listen live here: http://www.am760.net/main.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RADIO ALERT: 10/1/07 - KFNX-FX in Phoenix AZ, Monday, Oct 1, 2007 at 10:30 AM EDT / 9:30 AM CDT

Start: 09:30 CDT

description:
General Clark will call in to "The Charles Goyette Show" on KFNX-FX in Phoenix AZ, Monday, Oct 1, 2007

10:30 AM EDT | 9:30 AM CDT | 8:30 AM MDT | 7:30 AM PDT

Listen live here: http://www.1100kfnx.com/goyette.php

more info

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RADIO ALERT: 10/1/07 - Wisconsin Public Radio in Milwaukee, WI, Monday, Oct 1, 2007 at 11:00 AM EDT / 10:00 AM CDT

Start: 10:00 CDT

description:
General Clark will call in to "Kathleen Dunn Show" on Wisconsin Public Radio in Milwaukee, WI, Monday, Oct 1, 2007

11:00 AM EDT | 10:00 AM CDT | 9:00 AM MDT | 8:00 AM PDT

Listen live here: http://www.wpr.org/kathleendunn/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MEDIA ALERT: 10/1/07 - TV Interview KATU Portland, OR, Monday October 1 @ 12:00 PM EDT / 11:00 AM CDT

Start: 11:00 CDT

description:
TV Interview KATU Portland, OR, Monday October 1

12:00 PM EDT | 11:00 AM CDT | 10:00 AM MDT | 9:00 AM PDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RADIO ALERT: 10/1/07 - KGO-FM in San Francisco, CA, Monday, Oct 1, 2007 at 12:30 PM EDT / 11:30 AM CDT

Start: 11:30 CDT

description:
General Clark will call in to "The Ronn Owens Show" on KGO-FM in San Francisco, CA Monday, Oct 1, 2007

12:30 PM EDT | 11:30 AM CDT | 10:30 AM MDT | 9:30 AM PDT

Listen live here: http://www.kgoam810.com/listenlive.asp

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RADIO ALERT: 10/1/07 - Air America's "Thom Hartmann Program", Portland OR, Monday, Oct 1, 2007 at 1:00 PM EDT / 12:00 PM CDT

Start: 13:00 CDT

description:
General Clark will call in to Air America's "The Thom Hartmann Program" in Portland, OR Monday, Oct 1, 2007

1:00 PM EDT | 12:00 PM CDT | 11:00 AM MDT | 10:00 AM PDT

Listen live here: http://www.thomhartmann.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RADIO ALERT: 10/1/07 - KINK-FM with Sheila Hamilton, Portland OR, Monday, Oct 1, 2007 at 2:00 PM EDT / 1:00 PM CDT

Start: 13:00 CDT

description:
General Clark will be live in the studio with Sheila Hamilton on KINK-FM in Portland, OR Monday, Oct 1, 2007

2:00 PM EDT | 1:00 PM CDT | 12:00 PM MDT | 11:00 AM PDT

Listen live here: http://www.kink.fm/pages/416484.php

Posted by awcd at 8:05 AM | Permalink

Marc Ambinder had an interesting post yesterday looking at members of Wes Clark's online community who are disgruntled by his support for Hillary Clinton. This, though, is precisely what makes his endorsement significant -- he's built up a political profile, especially among online political activists interested in national security issues, that's substantially different from Clinton's image in that universe. Thus, of course, some Clark fans are going to be upset at his actions. But by the same token, his words have some chance of changing people's thinking. People in the know realize that this wasn't a particularly surprising turn of events, since Clark's long been in Clintonish circles, but anything that reaffirms that status still helps her, blurring the idea that Team Clinton is composed of people who got Iraq wrong while Team Obama is full of people who got it right (there's also Sandy Berger who had an Yglesian too little, too late position but he presumably nobody would appoint him to a job in light of his legal issues).

Be that as it may, yesterday afternoon General Clark's book, A Time to Lead arrived at my house, and I have blurb envy. We've got Bill Clinton on the cover, and the back features Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Javier Solana, and Al Gore. Plus Walter Isaacson, Mario Cuomo, Douglas Brinkley, and Donna Brazile, which actually struck me as overkill.

Continue reading "Yglesias on "A Time to Lead"" »

Posted by awcd at 12:21 PM | Permalink

Leonard Lopate of WNYC in New York conducted a splendid interview with Clark. The General has been making the rounds on the release of his new book, A Time To Lead.

Here is a taste:

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I always wanted to- I-I wanted a career of service, and I, I-I'd, I wanted to be an engineer. I wanted to be i-in space or aeronautics in some way, and I had a, had a National Honor Society scholarship to Georgia Tech, and I had a, a National Merit Society scholarship, I think it was to Duke, and- But I wasn't satisfied. I couldn't see that, and I was at American Legion Boys State at Camp Robinson in the summer of 1961. It was after the eleventh grade. And they always encouraged us, there were 20 or 30 of us who were obviously college-bound they encouraged to go to Boys State and spend five days with the American Legion learning citizenship and how to be elected and leadership and all that. And a West Point cadet came and spoke to us, and I was just totally moved by the vision of the Military Academy. I walked out. I told my friends, "That's it. I'm going to West Point."

Leonard Lopate: And it was a hard school to get into, and it's a hard school to survive in.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: It's a challenge, and it was tougher then, I think, to get in, because the school was a little bit smaller than it is today, and the nomination process was strictly political. I wrote to the - the most prominent Senator in the state I thought was Senator Bill Fulbright - and I wrote to, to Senator Fulbright, and I got back a postcard that was, in essence said, 'Thanks for your interest in national security, but there's no vacancies.' It didn't say, 'Apply again.' It said, you know, 'That's it.' I got interviewed by Senator McClellan, and it was one of those funny moments that you remember a long time. You knock on the door. You report in. I'd been at this military high school. So, I kind of knew how to deal with senior people, and so, I knocked on the door and said, "Sir, this is Wesley Clark." And he was sitting behind this huge desk, and McClellan wasn't a big man. He was like four, five-four or five-five I guess, but I didn't know that then. I just saw an older man behind a desk, and he looked me up and down. And it was September of my senior year in high school. And he looked at me, and I was, I was wearing chinos and a, and a short-sleeved shirt. He say, "Boy," he said, "How old are you?" I said, "Well, Sir, I'm 16 years old." He said, "How much do you weigh?" I said, "Sir, I weigh 137 and a half pounds. I, I'd weighed myself at the Boy's Club the night before, and I don't know why I said that, but- He said- So, he put, put on his best investigatory stance. He said, "So, I guess you make good grades, huh?" And he gave me one of these hard looks that you'd give one of his witnesses before his racketeering committee in the Senate. And, and I said, "Yes, Sir." And he said, "All A's?" And (laughs), and, and I said, "Yes, Sir." And then I realized well, not exactly and I tried to explain that I'd taken Honors Math and in my junior year, and it was pre-calculus, and it was a, one of these first advance placement courses. So you got five points for an A and that, even though an A was only four points. So, if you got a B, it counted as an A, and the guidance councillor said it would count as an A. And I'm, and I'm trying to explain all this, and he's looking at me just sort of, you know, watching me shrivel under his, under his intense prosecutorial gaze. And he just, he finally just said, he said, "Son," he said, "you're not old enough, and you're not big enough, and you're not smart enough to go to West Point. So, if you still want it next year, you come back and see me then." And (laughs) that was all.

Leonard Lopate: And you did.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: No, I didn't go back and see him. I found one other way.

Leonard Lopate: (laughs)

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: We had a Congressman. (laughs) I wrote the Congressman. The Congressman had several other people who'd wanted it, and he let us take a test. So, I took the U.S. Civil Service Test in December, and I got the highest score, and I got the test- I got the appointment to West Point.

Leonard Lopate: And you call West Point an 'achievement training factory.' So, obviously you think that it was, it really was a good education.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Tremendous education. It was like, it was like-

Leonard Lopate: Would you like to see all of our schools teach that way?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: If you had the right faculty, and you could teach that way, I think it does some remarkable things. I was lucky though, because I balanced it with Oxford later. West Point was a, it was recitation every day, we called it - six days a week of math plebe year for an hour and 15 minutes. You roared through the math book. And they didn't teach in class. When you went into class, they said, they took attendance. There were 15 of us in the class. And then they said, "Gentlemen, take boards." And you left your seat. You stood up, faced a blackboard. And they hand out a little mimeographed list of problems, normally three or four problems. You took a ruler and chalk. You marked off your blackboard. You solved each problem. And after 20 minutes or thirty minutes, the professor would say, "Cease work," and you'd face about. If you looked to the side during the time you were supposed to be facing that blackboard, that was an honor violation, you'd be kicked out. And then you had to give the recitation, how you solved the problem.

Leonard Lopate: Well, I'm not s-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And that was the end of the class.

Leonard Lopate: I'm not sure that's the best preparation for life.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: (laughs)

Leonard Lopate: But it did get you-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: That's a good one.

But be sure to read the entire transcript.

And buy the book: A Time To Lead.

Posted by awcd at 8:43 AM | Permalink

Q-As a decorated leader yourself who served as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander during the war in Kosovo, how would you assess the threat that Al Qaeda poses to this country?

A-Al Qaeda is not an existential threat to the United States the way the Soviet Union was. You have to understand that the Soviet Union was a country of more than 200 million people. Al Qaeda is maybe 50,000 angry and destructive individuals.

Q-You make Al Qaeda sound as unthreatening as a schoolyard gang.

A-Al Qaeda is unpredictable and dangerous and has an unknown number of sympathizers. But the Soviets had thousands of nuclear warheads, nuclear bombs, biological and chemical warheads and specially trained assassination teams aimed at us, and all of it was on a hair-trigger status that could have been set off by accident or miscalculation.

Q-Neoconservatives generally argue just the opposite, claiming that the fight against terrorism is no less daunting than the cold war and in fact constitutes “World War IV,” to borrow the title of Norman Podhoretz’s forthcoming book.

A-Thus far, we don’t have an opposing superpower against us, no matter how much the neoconservatives long for this. Perhaps the neoconservatives believe that we can only be defined by having an enemy.

New York Times Magazine

Posted by awcd at 12:33 PM | Permalink

A Time To Lead: For Duty, Honor and Country will be released on September 4 by Palgrave MacMillan. In time for an announcement? My lips to God's ears...

Here is what Mario Cuomo says:

"General Clark has produced a clear and compelling description of what we need to do to defeat terrorism, rebuild our economy and restore our global leadership role. In so doing, this war hero, successful diplomat and brilliant Rhodes Scholar demonstrates exactly the kind of skills, experience and leadership we need to show us the way." -- Mario Cuomo, former Governor of New York

And Douglas Brinkley:

"Four-star General Wesley Clark is a true-blue American hero and natural-born military strategist. In his thoughtful new book, A Time to Lead, Clark combines personal anecdote with sharp policy ideas to issue a sensible and uplifting blueprint for our nation's future. A real gem of a book." -- Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History, The Baker Institute; Fellow, Rice University and author of The Great Deluge and The Reagan Diaries

Amazon

Posted by awcd at 9:28 AM | Permalink

A Clark Community Network Book Club review by CarolNYC.

Warheads: Cable News And the Fog of War
Author: Kenneth Allard

I picked up this book by MSNBC military analyst Ken Allard at a NYC book sale because I expected that there would be some Wes references...and, of course, there were. I also thought it would be interesting to read Allard’s take on cable news and how it works. It’s a pretty interesting book overall. I really don’t know anything about Mr. Allard’s commentary not having seen him enough to even recognize him so I wondered how I’d react to him from his writing. Having now read the book, I think I actually sort of liked him.

I did find him to have a snarky tone toward Clinton throughout, writing things like “every time the president got in trouble, it seemed like he launched cruise missiles at places most Americans couldn’t find on the map.” But he throws some snark in there about Bush too so it kind of balances things out.

He talks about NPR as if the staff were a bunch of hippies “Beards and earth shoes were everywhere---and these were only the women”...but also gives them props for being one of few outlets doing a good job on dealing with news stories in great depth.

I found him pretty fair on the whole.

Continue reading "Warheads" »

Posted by awcd at 7:30 AM | Permalink

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark writing book to be released in '07

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas: Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark said he is writing a book to be published next year but said political observers should not read too much into that.

Clark, who lives in Arkansas, has said he is considering running for president. But he said his book announcement is not evidence that he will run.

"I just want to participate in the American dialogue about where we are as a nation," Clark said Wednesday.

Clark, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination in 2004, said his untitled book will be published next year.

"It's going to be about different aspects of America that I've lived through," Clark told The Associated Press. "I'm going to talk about growing up in the South. I'm going to talk about Vietnam and the Army. I'm going to talk about rebuilding the Army, and I'm going to talk about the post Cold War world."

-more

Posted by awcd at 4:35 PM | Permalink

The media needs to wake up to what America is saying about Wes Clark. Here is a nice little personal report from South Carolina.

WantMyCountryBack on Clark Community Network

The buzz on Clark, fresh from a Red State Barnes and Noble.

I'm just in from my weekly jaunt to the large Barnes and Noble here in town (Yes, I do mean weekly - I'm a bookworm of the rabid hardcore variety), and thought I'd pass along a little anecdotal observation.

I had already grabbed two new books to buy, and was looking for General Clark's Waging Modern Wars, as I've read his second book but not the first. Unable to find it, I went to the help desk, where 7 or 8 people were milling about.

Continue reading "Listen to what America is saying about Wes Clark" »

Posted by awcd at 11:26 AM | Permalink

Retired Col. Ken Allard examines his (and Clark's) experiences with SecDef Rumsfeld, as military commentators on CNN leading up to the war. Allard's book is called "Warheads: Cable News And the Fog of War," available at Amazon.

San Antonio Express-News, 11/15/06

-snip

Some of us got an up-close and personal view of all this.

As "Warheads," my term for the principal military analysts of cable TV networks, we were granted unprecedented access to Rumsfeld and his inner circle

Tactfully termed "retired military advisers to the secretary of defense," the group, started in late 2002, included generals such as Wes Clark, Barry McCaffrey, Don Shepperd and Dave Grange, men with a profound understanding of war. Given the slightest chance, they might have offered Rumsfeld some usefully independent views.

We were, after all, doing precisely that every night on your TV. As the networks struggled to cater to an audience with few personal connections to war, the Warheads were hastily recruited to stand before the cameras and put things into context — hopefully in three minutes or less.

The Pentagon quickly grasped these new realities, reasoning it was senseless to cajole the press corps while making no effort to have the party line uttered from our lips.

During our sessions with him — 17 in all — it was difficult not to like Rumsfeld or admire his razor-sharp wit. But I didn't have to work for him or bear personal responsibility for his decisions. It became progressively clearer that the Warheads would never make the slightest dent in his mental defenses. From my humble seat at the far end of his conference table, I recalled one of the oldest jests in academe: That Rumsfeld was using the Warheads the same way a drunk uses a lamppost — for support rather than illumination.

-more

Posted by awcd at 10:31 AM | Permalink

Amarillo College Ranger, 11/2/06

Gen. Wesley Clark to speak in Amarillo

Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Gen. Wesley Clark will speak and sign books at the Globe-News Center at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9. A private reception will precede the event at 6 p.m.

The speech will be part of the AC Distinguished Lecture Series. For ticket information and prices, call 371-5322.

Posted by awcd at 11:40 AM | Permalink

Paul Rieckhoff has a book out on the Iraq War called Chasing Ghosts: A Soldier's Fight for America from Baghdad to Washington. I haven't read the book although I plan to buy it soon. But twice I've read Rieckhoff blogging, on Clark Community Network on August 29 and yesterday on dKos. Both times he's talked a bit about his time on the Kerry campaign and when Kerry chose his running mate. I'm always interested in getting inside stuff on the question of how Kerry made the choice he made. I never wanted the VP seat for Clark, and I didn't think he wanted it, but I could never understand how Kerry could have chosen Edwards. Rieckhoff doesn't answer my question, but here's the inside stuff, which forms part of his book.

CCN 8/29/06

As many of you may know, I tried in 2004 to work with Kerry Campaign when I first got home from Iraq. That didnt work out--for a number of reasons that I write about in the book. Many folks have asked me about what really happened inside the Kerry Campaign. Here is an exclusive for CCN from Chapter 26 of Chasing Ghosts that gives you a little taste:

At one point Kerry asked us all who we thought he should choose as his running mate. A few in the room mentioned John McCain. Rumors had circulated in the press for weeks about secret meetings between Kerry and McCain. Getting McCain to abandon Bush to run as Kerry’s VP would change history. Together they could beat Bush. But Kerry made it clear the McCain option was not on the table.

One vet suggested Senator Cleland. Max is a hero and role model to every veteran. After losing three limbs in Vietnam from a grenade explosion, he ran for and won a seat in the Georgia state senate, and then became the youngest head of Veterans Affairs (VA) in history. An incredibly effective advocate for veterans, Max introduced America’s first Vet Centers, revolutionizing VA care by providing vets with peer-to-peer counseling led by older combat vets. Max went on to be elected to the U.S. Senate. He was a guy with the most mojo I had ever been around.

But Max wouldn’t be Kerry’s choice either. Instead, Kerry asked us about Dick Gephardt. Everyone reacted tepidly. Then I proposed Wes Clark, arguing that in times of war, Americans trust a General. Generals project strength, which Democrats seriously needed. And Clark would bring in the most Independents and Republicans.

Continue reading ""Chasing Ghosts" 2004" »

Posted by awcd at 4:12 AM | Permalink

When General Wesley Clark decided to run for the Democratic nomination in 2003 he was the Chairman and CEO of WaveCrest, a developer of hydrogen engines and electric bicycles. His supporters sometimes regret having pushed him out of a job he loved into primary hell, but as is shown by the book excerpts below, he did it for his country.

From Wesley K. Clark: A Biography by Antonia Felix:

Setting and some of the participants participants: Allen Andersson-MIT math; Boris Maslov-Moscow Institute, PH. D. electronics engineering; Joe Perry-Duquesne U, physicist; Wes Clark. lab at WaveCrest.

Subject: electromagnetic cores, battery chemistries, algorithms, power-to-energy ratios, and electric drivelines

The first meeting of the minds between Clark and WaveCrest was informal but intense. “I remember that day very clearly,” said Perry. “Our company was very small, we had this dream, and Wes said, ‘I’d like to just come out and the engineers and have you guys explain what you’re doing.’ So people sat around on the floor and we had pizza and a couple of beers and did equations on the whiteboard. And Wes was at home. He immediately connected with the science and the engineers.”

Allen Andersson, the principal investor and cofounder of WaveCrest, was astonished at the mathematical prowess and quick grasp of the new technology that Clark exhibited during that first meeting. “When it came to explaining what our company was doing, he understood it a lot better than I did,” Andersson said. “He thought that I was just being modest; but no, he understood it and I didn’t . I felt embarrassed because he went to West Point and learned how to march while I went to MIT and learned mathematics. He’s a guy that does all the practical things, he knows how to move vehicles from one place to another and make sure they have good drivers and fuel and the right number of rest stops; but he’s also right there on the theoretical science end of it.”

...Perry remarked that Clark had a down-to-earth relationship with everyone at the company. “He would walk around building and talk to the janitor and people running the switchboard; everybody was equally important to him. He has that genuine connection that only a few people could make.” ...According to Perry and other officers of the company, Clark had the ability to rally everyone and make morale soar. “Wes was really, in many respects, an inspirational leader,” said Perry.

...”Towards the end he was becoming really distracted,” said Joe Perry. “It was one thing to read in the papers about the rumors of him entering the race, but it was another thing to sit in the next office to him see what was going on. You could just see that it was tearing him up; he just thought that what we were doing was bad for the country.” To his coworkers, Clark’s ambition was not about politics but about problem solving. In their day-to-day talks with him about the war on terrorism and the bush administration’s environmental policies, they witnessed a genuine concern that was personal. “You read that he’s just another politician,” said Perry. “He’s kind of everything but.”

(excerpts from: Wesley K. Clark: A Biography, A. Felix, 177-88)

Posted by awcd at 5:29 AM | Permalink

WaPo's "Reliable Source" notes a book party Wes Clark co-hosted last night with GQ. General Clark wrote the foreword to This Is Our War: A Soldiers' Portfolio by David Friedman & the Editors of GQ, a collection of battlefield photos taken by soldiers in Iraq. This was a pretty fun publishing do, according to Wonkette, who I imagine might have gained a fresh appreciation of gentlemen soldiers in an encounter with a 4-Star General at the party. Too funny. Nice aim, Wonkette.

Starpower rating: Good. The party was hosted by GQ editor Jim Nelson and General Wesley Clark, both of whom are slender, boyishly handsome men. General Clark was much smaller than we expected — since, you know, he’s a general and all. Terry McAuliffe was present, looking very well-preserved. Also attending were Jack Kemp and Rep. Michael Conaway (R-Texas). Pollster Cornell Belcher was styling in a dark, pin-striped suit, which he paired with Converse sneakers (John Varvatos, natch).

Our brush with celebrity: General Clark’s hand grazed our groin area! It was totally accidental, and totally our fault. We were crossing the room a little too quickly, perhaps chasing after a tray of miniature crab cakes, when an errant hand gesture from the General resulted in the groin-graze. It was entirely our fault, due to our sudden movement across a crowded room.

Even though we're to blame, General Clark graciously apologized — just like a military man to accept full responsibility. But really, General, no apologies necessary! It’s not every day that we get quasi-frottage from a former presidential candidate.

-snip

(But it was pretty entertaining watching Terry McAuliffe cheer lustily for himself — to the snickering of other attendees — when Gen. Clark mentioned him during his speech. And did we mention that General Clark’s hand briefly touched our crotch?)

Posted by awcd at 11:36 AM | Permalink

Alan Axelrod, author of a previous book about General Patton, Patton on Leadership, and now Patton: A Biography, was at a Manhattan Barnes & Noble tonight for a book signing and discussion with General Wesley Clark. Clark edits Palgrave MacMillan's Great General Series of which Axelrod's newest Patton book is one. The event was shown on C-Span, BookTV's "Public Lives," and can be watched here. Palgrave will also be coming out with The Battle for Peace : A Frontline Vision of America's Power and Purpose by General Anthony Zinni next week.

Posted by awcd at 5:34 PM | Permalink

I missed this last Sunday when Wes reviewed To Dare and to Conquer: Special Operations and the Destiny of Nations, from Achilles to Al Qaeda by Derek Leebaert in WaPo. Here's a clip:

Leebaert scores some solid hits here. What actually was achieved by U.S. special ops in Eastern Europe, Korea and Vietnam? Very little, he argues. For years during the Cold War, the United States dispatched teams (including not just fighters but also ammunition and communication tools) behind the Iron Curtain to assist East European freedom fighters; without exception, the teams seem to have been compromised, whereupon they were captured and eliminated. Washington got no better results against North Vietnam, either.

What happens when government agencies fight over the policy direction and control of commando forces? Inevitable failure, according to Leebaert. He also encourages readers not to see more commandos as a panacea, which is an obvious temptation; after all, since Leebaert convincingly argues that daring, adaptable special forces are essential to modern warfare and defense, why not pump in resources and build them up quickly? Because it takes special people, patient years of preparation and a particular culture. And even then, Leebaert notes, the effort to build a sizable force of special operators is likely to weed out the very qualities -- like recklessness and a certain disdain for conventional thinking -- that most successful special operations have in common.

A few warnings to the reader are probably in order. To Dare and to Conquer has a truly broad scope, and it often involves a lot more "telling" than "showing." It's largely Western-oriented, so there's no Sun Tzu, Genghis Khan or Tamerlane here. There's also little on the Soviet Union's spetsnaz ("special purpose") forces, beyond Leebaert's assertion that they were among the best in the world. The reader is left wondering whether the Soviets were really any good -- especially since the seven spetsnaz units of around 250 men each deployed to Afghanistan in the 1980s to fight the anti-Soviet mujaheddin "found themselves bayoneting smoke."

That raises a painful question: Even now, with the most modern technology, are U.S. special forces any better? Has the dismal record of U.S. efforts in Korea and Vietnam really been replaced by brilliant commando successes in the war on terrorism? In fact, despite Leebaert's obvious -- indeed, almost fawning -- admiration for the cunning, skill and daring of special operators throughout history, his is a cautionary tale for the United States: Don't look for cheap, easy solutions; don't think that cowboy tactics like torturing opponents will work; don't assume that you can build up the right capabilities overnight; and above all, don't believe that a few daring men (or women) at the cutting edge can resolve the contradictions and dilemmas associated with faulty policies and poor decision-making at the top.

To Dare and to Conquer by Derek Leebaert at Amazon.

Posted by awcd at 7:37 PM | Permalink

General Clark has written the foreword to a new collection of Iraq War photographs taken by soldiers in the field. The photos were collected by Devin Friedman, senior writer for GQ.

The book was reviewed on Riehl World View.

From General Clark's foreword:

These are the men and women who patrol, fly and sail to serve our country, and who, when called upon, fight for it. They are young. And they bring with them all the vitality of their youth ... There are heros here ... They are the reservoir of our strength.

This is Our War by Devin Friedman can be purchased here.

Posted by awcd at 4:15 PM | Permalink

Washington Monthly April 2006

Backseat Strategists

Do the Democratic Party's harshest internal critics finally have a plan for building a political majority?

By Mark Schmitt

What's most provocative in this year's crop of books about renewing the Democratic Party is what's missing. The old sectarian fights about ideology, between the Democratic Leadership Council and labor-left factions, seem to have disappeared. None of the four books reviewed here makes the argument that the Democratic Party is in a substantive way out of line ideologically. None argues that the party needs to move as a bloc to the left, right, or center. The prevailing tone, particularly in James Carville and Paul Begala's Take It Back, is more along the lines of, “Pick something and stand for it!”

Even for the most outspokenly liberal author represented here, David Sirota, it is the passion, clarity, and narrative coherence of a liberal message that makes it appealing, more than its content. One suspects that if a moderately conservative message didn't sound so damn wishy-washy, it would be unobjectionable.

-snip

But if Democrats can win anywhere, do they do it as Democrats, or as individuals who separate themselves from the damaged brand of the national Democratic Party? And if the latter, how does that build a party? All four of these books urge Democrats to speak for themselves with more passion, more outrage, to fight back when challenged, and not to accept the conservative frame on issues. But that can mean many things. If personal authenticity is the primary value, then one has to acknowledge that Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks for himself every bit as much as Schweitzer does. While none of these authors has a good thing to say about Lieberman, most speak favorably of former senator Bob Kerrey, who supports both the Iraq war and Social Security privatization, not out of trepidatious calculation, but as a happy warrior with a mind of his own. There is a theory of a political party implicit here, but in only one of these books—Crashing the Gate by Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga—does it really become clear.

-more

Posted by awcd at 10:50 AM | Permalink

Conservative Bruce Bartlett was fired last October by the National Center for Policy Analysis for his upcoming book critical of the George W. Bush presidency.

Critical? Even the title's a bash:

Impostor: Why George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy

From today's Times "White House Letter":

Although "Impostor" is flamboyant in its anti-Bush sentiments — on the first page Mr. Bartlett calls Mr. Bush a "pretend conservative" and compares him to Richard Nixon, "a man who used the right to pursue his agenda" — its basic message reflects the frustration of many conservatives who say that Mr. Bush has been on a five-year federal spending binge. Like them, Mr. Bartlett is particularly upset about Mr. Bush's Medicare prescription drug plan, which is expected to cost more than $700 billion over the next decade.

He is unhappy, too, with the president's education and campaign finance bills and his proposal to overhaul the nation's immigration laws, which many Republicans call a dressed-up amnesty plan. The book, to be published by Doubleday on Feb. 28, also criticizes the White House for "an anti-intellectual distrust of facts and analysis" and an obsession with secrecy.

"The Clinton people were vastly more open and easier to deal with and, quite frankly, a lot better on the issues," Mr. Bartlett said in the interview, in the kitchen of his pared-down modern house on a street of big new homes in Great Falls. Mr. Bartlett hastened to add that although he admired Mr. Clinton's economic policies, that did not mean he had changed sides.

"I haven't switched to the Democratic Party," he said. "I wrote this for Republicans."

Bartlett's next project may be written for Democrats: a history of the Democratic Party. Can't wait.

Posted by awcd at 1:44 PM | Permalink

Barbara O'Brien of Mahablog is reveling in her newfound celebrity after her appearance on "Washington Journal" on Friday. Way to go, Maha! And a plug for her book, "Blogging America."

Watch Maha on C-Span, February 10.

Washington Post article from last July, "Fighting Words."

Just think, a few years ago, she was just another Clarkie doing battle on Democratic Underground.

Posted by awcd at 3:16 PM | Permalink

General Clark will host "After Words" on Book TV this weekend. Saturday, February 11 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, February 12 at 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm on C-Span2.

This week on After Words, journalist David Rieff explains the history of interventionism and how it has influenced U.S. foreign policy in his book, "At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention." Mr. Rieff was a supporter of intervening militarily during both the Rwandan and Bosnian Genocide, until the war in Iraq changed his opinion. He now believes that intervention should only be used as a last resort. He is interviewed by Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.) Former NATO Allied Supreme Commander, who led the military operation in Kosovo.

Posted by awcd at 8:02 AM | Permalink

On Monsters and Critics

Book Review: Patton by Alan Axelrod

Axelrod (Patton on Leadership, 2001, etc.) kicks off editor General Wesley Clark's 'Great Generals Series' with a compact but insightful volume on one of the most controversial military leaders in American history, a man who, in his own mind, was born and bred to be a warrior. Descended from a long line of military men on his father`s side, Patton decided at a young age to make war his business. Accolades and controversy followed him in equal measure from the moment he arrived at West Point in 1904. For every brilliant tactical maneuver he conceived and executed, he managed to alienate those around him, whether by cheating on his wife, offending his fellow officers or being too hard on his men.

-more

Washington Whispers had the story the other day. Clark has joined the international academic publisher Palgrave Macmillan as editor of their new "Great Generals Series." Patton will be available February 2; Ulysses S. Grant coming in June.

Posted by awcd at 9:52 PM | Permalink

I've written before about Orhan Pamuk, the prize-winning Turkish author who is facing trial this Friday for "insulting Turkishness" or naming the Armenian Genocide a genocide. Pamuk is but one of 60 Turkish writers and editors charged with what the EU calls, "non-violent expression of opinion," a situation that challenges Turkey's suitability for entry into Europe.

Pamuk sees it for what it is:

"I think the bureaucracy is resisting Turkey's entry to the EU," Pamuk explains.

"The right-wing, highly-conservative bureaucracy is upset by the freedom of speech that Turkey, the nation, is granting itself. I think in the long run Turkey will continue its road to the EU but it's getting to be a big trouble these days."

Posted by awcd at 11:31 AM | Permalink

One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd
ISBN: 0312199430
St. Martin's Griffin (1999)

The story is based on an approach by the Cheyenne to the U.S. government during a peace conference in Texas. The Cheyenne thought to save themselves by assimilating into United States society through fathering children on white women. They would have traded, in 1854, when this proposal was made, beautiful horses for the thousand white women.

The government turned the offer down, of course, being both racist and puritanical, but Fergus's fiction permits the Episcopal Church to take it up as an "unofficial" mission to civilize the savages, (so what's old?), and establishes the scheme as clandestine U.S. policy under Ulysses S. Grant in 1876.

The women are a bunch of social misfits, lunatics, drunks, spinsters, con artists, unwed mothers, all of child-bearing age. This includes one ex-slave, despite the book's title. Euphemia Washington is drawn as a self-possessed and gorgeous creature who can run and ride like a Cheyenne, and barebreasted. The Cheyenne name her "Black White Woman." They bestow on her the unheard of title, for a woman, "Warrior."

Continue reading "Weekend Read: One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus" »

Posted by awcd at 6:03 AM | Permalink

Writing novels is hard enough without becoming a conductor for the static surrounding Turkey's entry into the EU. Writing novels is hard enough without catching yourself between conservatism and liberalism, isolation and modernity in Turkey. It's a damned dangerous place to be, in fact. But that's where Orhan Pamuk, author of the beautiful My Name Is Red and the acclaimed Snow, recent winner of the German Peace Prize, is living these days. If he lives long enough to face prosecution December 16 on charges of "publicly humiliating" Turkey, the results would affect negatively the already shaky European view of Turkey's suitability for membership.

As Serbia until recently denied its genocide against Bosnians, Turkey, for far longer, has denied there ever was a genocide against Armenians. 'We are confronted with an immense human tragedy and immense human suffering we did not learn about at school. So it is a fragile subject,' Pamuk acknowledges. Even he didn't call it "genocide." He said last February to a Swiss newspaper, "30,000 Kurds and a million Armenians were killed in these lands."

In the context of EU entry, the Turks' tone deafness in bringing Pamuk to court is doubly perverse.

Continue reading "Orhan Pamuk, the words he dared say" »

Posted by awcd at 3:43 PM | Permalink

Some days it seems people are paying attention.

Arthur Martori, ASU WebDevil, 11/4/05

And when the smoke cleared, we emerged victorious to find ...

... that Bush had his fingers crossed behind his back the entire time. Actually, the real reason that we invaded Iraq was to stop terrorism.

In his 2003 book Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism and the American Empire former Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley K. Clark claims that "the war in Iraq has weakened, not strengthened, the fight against terrorism."

Clark wrote that the war increases the threat of terrorism "by diverting attention, resources and leadership, alienating allied supporters and serving as a rallying point for anyone wishing to do harm to the U.S. and Americans."

Continue reading "Two corners of a lying mouth" »

Posted by awcd at 1:24 PM | Permalink