If the Arizona Senator, and presumptive Republican nominee does not appoint General Wesley Clark to any cabinet post he chooses in a McCain Administration… it won't be because McCain doesn't owe him, as he has given McCain the keys to the White House. General Clark, a surrogate for Senator Barack Obama's campaign, opened a 'huge' Pandora's box with these statements about John McCain, shared recently on Face the Nation:

“I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”

Now them's fighting words to the millions of bitter, flag-waving, gun-loving, bible-clinging U.S. citizens!

And that 18-word statement uttered by Clark... either purposely or not, now places the conversation about "qualifications" smack-dab in the middle of the Oval Office room. The problem is... a conversation about "qualifications" is not one team Obama wants, or needs to have center stage at this juncture in the election process.

Talk about a gift to McCain! Surely Clark, a highly decorated military man, must have understood–– as those fateful words fell from his lips–– that America's fascination with... and love for "heroes", be they fictional or real-life characters, would prompt national rally-'round-the-flagpole support of war hero John "Wayne" McCain... in every small-town across these United States for the remaining 125 days of this election.

Heck, if I were McCain, I'd go on vacation to Mexico for a week too.

www.vberryhill-soulvoice.blogs­pot.com

If you think that comment gave McCain keys to the White House then YOU need a vacation in Mexico. :-)

I saw the whole interview with General Clark. He in no way showed disrespect for McCain, or attacked or besmirched his military service. McCain's people are so desperate for an issue that they'll take an obviously factual statement and inflate it to something they think will work their way. It's ridiculous. McCain's military service in no way qualifies him for the presidency. That's patently obvious. It's a small plus for him, but nothing more. If people would vote for McCain because he was a POW for 6 years, then we truly have a mobocracy of unthinking voters. Haven't they learned anything about the disastrous consequences of voting purely from their emotions? My God, Bush was elected in 2004 to continue his uncritical damage to our country and it's budget and it's military. And why? Because Action-Hero George W. Bush was going to save their asses from the dastardly terrorists, and besides, anyone (including myself) would prefer affable old George as a drinking buddy to Lurch-clone John Kerry, but I voted for Kerry because of policies, not personalities. I was disappointed in my fellow citizens for not paying attention to what Bush and his talking heads were doing when they pushed us into a war of aggression against Iraq, a country that never attacked us and posed no danger to us.

I served in the Army in Germany, and I often wondered how a cultured and civilized people like the Germans could have fallen under the spell of a madman like Hitler. Now that I saw the Republican spin and smear machine in operation for nearly 8 years, I no longer wonder. I saw my country led over a cliff by the Pied Piper from Crawford, with the help of the rightwing chicken-hawks of Fox Scmooz.

Voting is not only a right, it's a solemn privilege, yet so many people either stay home or they go to the polls like they were voting for American Idol instead of government representatives with particular policies.

This flack about Gen. Clark is a load of crap, and we all know it. Give me a break.

From now on we should only elect former pilots who were shot down and captured....

That will be the new yardstick by which we measure our Presidents.....

The last one, semi-articulate former CEO's of bankrupt oil companies coupled with draft dodging VPs, didn't work out so well for us.

middleview:

From now on we should only elect former pilots who were shot down and captured....

That will be the new yardstick by which we measure our Presidents.....

The last one, semi-articulate former CEO's of bankrupt oil companies coupled with draft dodging VPs, didn't work out so well for us.

ok,,,beats rhode scholars ;)

I agree. It was a disgusting and dispicable thing to do. And it only highlights that Obama has absolutely NO knowledge or experience in that area. It was an ignorant thing to say anyway. John McCain is NOT running on his war record. Howerver, he has what he has and Obama has - well, nothing. John McCain has 22 years in senate - Obama has - well, 143 days. Not much to compare, is there?

Not if you count results.

It was despicable to say that being a prisoner does not prepare someone to be president?

McCain's ads definately imply the opposite. Clark was right in expressing his opinion and McCain's response shows how dishonest he has become.

Middleview: Yes it's me again! Serving our country in the armed forces and even being a POW is not, by itself qualification to be POTUS. However factor that in with his 22 years of political experience compared to Obama's 143 DAYS political experience and McCain's additional 26 years of additional life experiences over Obama and things aren't looking quite so bright for you favorite Jr. Senator.

Yes, while McCain's military service does not qualify him to be POTUS, it does remove any doubts as to where his loyalty is based. Lets examine Obama's past: Born in the United States, a good start. Mother U.S. citizen. Father a Radical Muslim?????? OK; lets give him that one because as we all know you can choose where you live, you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family. Went to a Muslim school????? Depends on who you talk to, still up for debate. Obama, of course denies this. As a Illinois State Senator his voting record left something to be desired. That is of course unless you happen to be a juvenile gang member or the loving parent of one.

Qualities: He is young. He is a Democrat and not a Republican, again could be good or bad depending on the readers belief's. He is an African American and if elected POTUS would be the first and don't think for one minute he isn't playing that trump card to the max. He is rich and able to fund his own campaign, or so he would have use believe! He is loyal to his faith, friends (especially his former paster and Gen. Clark).

Face it Middleview. It will all come down to what I have said over and over again: PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT...PERIOD. Whoever can make the majority of voters believe they will be the best POTUS will win the election. It really has nothing to do with actually being the best. it is only important you look like the best. At the moment it is too close and too early to tell.

Oh yes if Obama does have distinction of being the first "African American" POTUS, then I am going to call myself a European American since my ancestors came from Europe! We European Americans will demand our own TV station and college to make sure we truly have equal rights.

I have no doubts about Obama's loyalty. Let me know if you find any evidence of his being disloyal to the USA.

Why is it that McCain lies to us so frequently? He has lied about saying that he needed to be educated about the economy. He lied to us about his stroll through the Baghdad market....He lied about Paxon communications, their lobbyist and his trip to the fund raiser on the Paxon CEO's private yacht (followed by a letter to the FCC on behalf of Paxon). He has lied about his lack of support for GI benefits.

"He is rich and able to fund his own campaign"...where did you get this? McCain has far more money than Obama does (if Cindy will let him have some).....Obama has assets of less than $1m.

Call yourself whatever you want. I am a Dutch-American.

Middleview: Just so there are no misunderstandings: What besides being a Illinois State Senator and a U.S. Senator has Obama done that demonstrates loyalty? Let me know what proof you have that he is loyal beyond question.

So your are saying that McCain is an economics expert and lied when he admitted that he did not know how to fix our economy? So you are admitting that McCain knows how to and will fix the economy? OMG how could I have been so naive to believe McCain was anything else. So McCain never set foot in the Baghdad market? Proof please. Same with the Paxon communications claim; proof please that he lied and did anything illegal. He did not lie about his lack of support for GI benefits. In fact he was open about the fact that he did not support the bill as written with all the Democratic pet riders tacked onto it. As for Obama having assets of less than $1m, check his income tax return and I think you'll find you are mistaken. If Obama is not funding his own campaign then, could it be, that he is accepting funding from the dreaded big businesses? The money has to come from somewhere or do you think he prints it or is able to campaign for free? As for Cindy McCain's money, I believe that McCain made that point very clear as well, or is this just another thing you don't know about McCain?. Face it Middleview: Obama is beginning to show us his "Change" by changing his stand on key issues nearly each day now. He is in over his head and his inexperience is glowing brighter each day. You said in a prior post that you wanted to see McCain pick an issue and take a stand on it. It would appear that the same can be said by the ever transparent Obama.

You be what you want my "Dutch-American" friend I am first and foremost American through and through. Unlike Jr. Senator Obama, my parents and their parents were Americans born here. I am proud of my German, Great, Great, Great grandparents. However, I would never place my German ancestry before America.

What did George W. Bush or Dick Cheney do to demonstrate loyalty to the USA? When did we automatically assume that someone was not loyal? That, all by itself, seems like something right out of Joseph McCarthy's version of democracy. You don't work for Huac do you?

It turns out that Obama has not changed positions on anything. FISA? He has long stated that his priority is FISA court control over eavesdropping programs. The FISA bill does give immunity to the Telco companies from civil suits....not from criminal complaints. Faith Based? He wants to disband the Bush admin version and do his own. I don't like it either way, but not a flip flop.

I don't like Obama dumping on Wes Clark, but can sort of understand it. Wesley Clark was right.

I should have said that I'm a bald-American....that would be more like it. I went to Amsterdam and met some folks. When I told them my Dutch last name they started talking to me in Dutch.....I had to clue them in on how American I am. "Nicht Deutch".

Cindy McCain has invested money with the likes of Charles Keating (who made several appearances before committees that McCain sat on) and asked McCain for help on more than one issue. They pretend to keep their money seperate (which would be smart on Cindy's part since he was cheating on his wife when he took up with her)......but the fact is that Cindy is paying for McCain's "straight talk" plane.

Middleview: Once again you are attempting to use distraction techniques when you refer to Bush and Chaney. They are for the most part the past and not relevant to the question of where Obama's loyalty stands. Didn't work before and won't work now. McCain's loyalty has been proved via his years of service to his country both military and political.

Obama has no military. 143 days as a Senator and (yes I have said it before) while a person can't choose their parents, it does not distract from the facts about Obama's father and I am old school and believe that blood is thicker than water.

You say Obama has not changed his stand on anything? I do believe it was "cut and run and wait and see" to get our troops home from Iraq and now it is Oh perhaps we should maintain a troop presence to deal with the terrorist training camps. No matter how you color it, it is a change and one made for political reasons, because it makes him sound like he knows that he is doing from a military stand point.

You say "the fact is Cindy is paying for McCain's "straight talk." I say "proof please."

I could just as easy say that Hamaas is financing Obama's campaign, but would not do so because while it would not surprise me, I very seriously doubt that it could be proved.

So from one nearly bald-American to a bald-American, political differences aside. Hope you are having a happy and safe 4th and hope that regardless of who our next POTUS is, we can celebrate many more 4ths of July without wondering what next target of a terrorist attack is going to be.

It is not a distraction to point out that you voted for Bush/Cheney using a different yardstick than you are using now.

Obama never knew his father. I know nothing about Cheney's father. I do know that McCain is more of Bush/Cheney policies and we are slowly bankrupting our country based on their 8 years in the White House.

You need to look into campaign finances. Obama is getting far more money in donations of less than $200 than McCain is. Most of McCain's money comes in amounts of greater than $1,000.

McCain is even bypassing his own 2002 campaign finance law to pull in unlimited amounts from donors by legally transferring money from republican party funds, but clearly in violation of the intent of the law.

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McCain called the swiftboat veterans "Dishonest and dishonorable" for their ad campaign against Kerry. He just took in $70k from the leadership of that group and appointed Bud Day to his....heh, heh...."Truth Squad".

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Kind of like appointing Dick Cheney to the "Gun Safety Committee".

McCain has no integrity left.

As far as McCain's use of Cindy's private jet...

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Using Obama's father....a guy he met once in his life, as some kind of implication (without being very clear as to what you mean) is pretty unfair criticism. If you voted for either Bush and ignored the help that their ancestors of both the bush and walker families gave the Nazis is pretty amazing. Could you be a tiny bit consistent? What is the yard stick you'd like to use? Should we ignore politicians who have suddenly become rich and prominent and get selected by their parties with no real credentials....then you should apologize for Bush. Cheney failed to serve when we were at war, then ran a company that did business with enemy countries in spite of embargos that made that pretty much illegal.

I hope your 4th was a good one. I had a good time with friends. Hope to do something productive today.....maybe a long bike ride in the mountains.

I have a solution to both our problems. Lets get Cheney to invite both Obama and McCain to go hunting with him.

Then we can start all over again with different candidates and perhaps better ones that we can find middle ground over.

As for Obama's father to use your reference we should have never had George Washington as our first POTUS after at least some of his ancestors were British.

The yardstick I use is simple, perhaps so simple that the logic escapes most. As our next POTUS I want a time proved, experience leader. I don't want an inexperienced new comer who's only claim to fame is "Change" this sounds all to much like the "New Deal" and history shows how that turned out. Not to mention the fact that Obama goes with the flow and has demonstrated no leadership qualities what so ever. Granted he has made few notable political mistakes to date, but then that is easy to do when in reality he has really done nothing as a Jr. Senator to date. Should we ignore politicians who suddenly become rich and become their party;s candidate? In a word NO. We should not ignore them, We should ask the standard WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN WHY AND HOW questions and not be satisfied with snake oil salesman style charm. If it were up to me a politician would be subjected to a polygraph, voice stress analysis test and injected with truth serum each time they spoke to the public to help us determine when they are lying and when they are telling he truth. However I see several problems with that. (a) They would refuse to talk. (b) The tests results could be rigged. (c) They could both be pathological lier's in which case they'd really believe they were telling the truth and would pass all test with flying colors and the truth serum would have no effect.

As for the campaign funding; never a doubt as to where McCain gets his money. As for Obama; could be all on the up and up or could be from criminal/terrorists laundered through legit channels in such small amounts that none are the wiser. If it is the later it could be that it is happening with or giving him benefit of the doubt, without his knowledge. Bottom line as a retired Law Enforcement Officer I am suspicious until the evidence points one way or the other. At the moment this is a gray area.

As for Cheney I have always failed to see what GWB saw in him and if what you say is true about his illegal activities, WHY IN THE HELL WASN'T HE PROSECUTED????? Mind you when I as this I am not doubting what you say, just at a loss to understand why he is not at Club Fed at the very least.

I also had a great 4th. Had a barbecue with friends then went gold prospecting in the mountains and the in the evening worked in my garden. All in all, a great 4th.

Looking forward to your reply as I do enjoy our debates.