Reply #89: I have been a Democrat all my life... [View All]

[Totally Committed]

I have never missed voting... not even in a municipal election. I did not vote for Ronald Reagan, but would have if I had felt he was the best person for the job.

The Anti-War crowd here will not give Clark a break even though he was against the Iraq War from the beginning. So, who, you might ask yourselves, did these people vote for in the last election? If they voted for Kerry, they voted for a ticket that had two Senators who voted for the IWR, and never revcanted that vote, never said they would have changed their vote (even in light of no WMD found), and then voted to re-fund the war when it came up in the Senate. So, they voted for men who were in support of the war. If they didn't vote at all, they should have less of a say than I do (I voted. Democratic. This is DEMOCRATIC Underground...) So, what are you all, hypocrites or non-voters?

The Anti-Military crowd here will not give Clark a break even though he has proved time and time again that he is a man of intense compassion and integrity. He would use war as a "Last, last last resort." So, who did they vote for in the last election? If they voted for Kerry, they voted for a man with the military in his background. If they didn't vote, or voted for another candidate, they should also shut up about my candidate. At least my candidate is a Democrat, and this is DEMOCRATIC Underground.

The Anti-Clark crowd here will not give Clark a break for a number of reasons. He's a "DINO", he's DLC, he's a "stalking horse for the Clintons", he's without experience, and on and on... yadda, yadda, yadda. He's a DINO: No, Joseph Lieberman is a DINO, and I don't see any factions building against him here. He's DLC: No, in fact he's not. But, if you look at the membership roster of the DLC at the time of the last election, you will see that both Kerry and Edwards were on the DLC roster as members. He's a "stalking horse for the Clintons": this talk will only stop when she runs and he runs as well, so I'll move on... he's without experience: Just this week, he visited Kazakhstan. He was received by the President of that country. Heads of State think he has enough experience to meet with him. He was a "chief negotiator" for the Dayton Peace Accords. He was Supreme Allied Commander (read: COMMANDER IN CHIEF) of NATO. I repeat -- Commander in Chief. There are may other qualifications he has that add up to "experience" up the wahzoo, but still gets no credit... nah, not from them! Why? He's not their candidate. So, who did they vote for in the last election? If they voted for Kerry, and he was not their candidate, they voted for someone they probably badmouthed as much as they are doing now to Wes. Where I come from, we call people like that trouble-makers, and hypocrite fits here, too. If they didn't vote for Kerry, or they didn't vote at all, they are again, not as entitled to their opinion as I am to mine, because I voted Democratic, and this is DEMOCRATIC Underground.

Now, there are some here that know I am decidedly anti-Kerry. I have my own personal reasons for being so, but I voted for him. I voted for him because he wasn't Bush. I voted for him because Wes Clark asked me to. I voted for him because he was the Democrat, and since this is DEMOCRATIC Underground, that should entitle me to voice my opinion as much as (or frankly, more than) the rest of you whiners. Does voting for Kerry when I'm anti-war, anti-DLC, anti-Kerry make me a hypocrite? I uppose, on some levels it does, but the difference is this: you dont see me going around starting anti-Kerry threads, or spamming the pro-Kerry threads that abound here with my own personal mishugas about the man. I rarely, and mostly only if asked, say a negative word about him or any other candidate at all. Why? Because they are all Democrats. And this is DEMOCRATIC Underground.

For the record, Jean Shaheen, Kerry's National Chair, had to finally admit she voted for Reagan (or Nixon... I can't remember, and who cares, they are both Republican, and she voted for one of them) after she called Wes Clark a "Republican" during the Primaries. And she was in Kerry's Campaign! Ted Kennedy's niece is married to the Republican Governor of California. (Ask her who she voted for... and he's a Republican.) James Carville, "Mr. DNC", himself, goes home and gets into bed every night with a woman who has served in the Bush Cabinet, and whose rhetoric is some of the most anti-Democratic bullshit this side of Ann Coulter. (Ask him how they conceived two beautiful children together. It may not involve voting for a Republican, but we sure do know he's done his bit to procreate with one.) Are any of these people less Democratic because of their dalliances with the RNC? If you can say "no" to even one, it's time to stop the anti-Clark bullshit here and now.

So, for me, it's put-up-or-shut-up time here at DEMOCRATIC Underground. Is it DEMOCRATIC Underground or not? Wes is a Democrat. If you read up on his positions ( www.securingamerica.com ), you will see he's probably as much or more of a Democrat than most of the people you lionize as leaders of this very Party. The likes of Mario Cuomo and George McGovern have both praised him highly as a liberal of the first order. If he doesn't get your support, he should still get your respect. And, threads like this are disrespectful, mean-sprited, and anti-DEMOCRATIC.

Just remember, they could have called this place PROGRESSIVE Underground, or GREEN Underground, or MILITARY-HATERS Underground, or ANTI-WAR Underground, but they DIDN'T! So, as long as it's called DEMOCRATIC Underground, Wes and his supporters have the right to be here, post here, vote in polls here, and demand the respect we all show the rest of you and your candidates. Wes Clark is a proud Democrat. And we are proud of him. END OF STORY.

TC