A few days ago I posted a diary suggesting that Clark should turn the tables on Bush and tell him that since he couldn't find anyone qualified to accept the war czar position, he, Wes, would like to take it. My premise is that Bush can't turn him down because of his party affiliation since he's got to keep up the charade that he doesn't politicize the war.
I've heard all of the reasons why Wes shouldn't request the position. None of them were reasons I hadn't thought of myself first. I'll repeat those reasons in a minute, but first say that the reason this diary is not just a repeat is because another Clarkie told me today, as others had: "I do not want Wes to be the War Czar. And I don’t think he’d want it. He is about peace, not war." So to doubly turn the tables on Bush, when he gives notice that he'd like to take the war czar position, he'll qualify it by saying that he would only do so if the title was changed to diplomacy czar.
Half the beauty is that the law forbids him from being the secretary of defense for the time being. So Bush created the loophole for us.
not done...
MeanBoneII made my case for me best:
"The point would be to use the media platform to say something like, 'I hereby offer to accept the job of war czar from the president -- who obviously has finally recognized that he's simply not up to the job of commander-in-chief -- because the disastrous strategies of this administration have utterly failed our nation and our brave men and women in uniform. Apparently they can't find anyone else who will touch this job with a 10-foot pole, and I can't say that I blame them. But I have proven that I am up to the job of implementing an entirely new strategy, and if I am guaranteed that I will be allowed free rein to do so, I will accept the position of war czar.'
Then sit back and watch Girl Scotty try to deal with that."
It didn't surprise me on Saturday when Wes said on Fox News that those generals turned down the position because, for one thing, they would merely just be used as spokesman and would be out of the chain of command; lacking any authority. But just like he can stipulate the title change Wes can state outright that he'll only take the job if actually given authority or at least honestly listened to. And then he can just quit later if he sees they're acting in bad faith. No matter how Buchco plays it they'll look bad and Wes gets more of an MSM platform. ....Or best case scenario they let hiim do his thing to save their ass--and of course, more to the point, the soldiers' lives.
I've heard the arguments that...
- "Clark shouldn't be Bush's scapegoat." I'm sure Wes wouldn't care about such a thing if it meant more troops come home alive.
- "Wes Clark needs to be President. Period. He is no one's puppet. To suggest that he would be is an insult. Period." Of course he needs to be president, but, in the meantime, if we can get him to, in effect, be the commander-in-chief by proxy NOW, obviously that's better than 09. ...Refresh my memory on what part of this plan leaves Wes without the ability to speak his mind.
For those of you not Clarkies already, here's a compilation I put together of all of Wes' most pertinent article and speeches
"Averting the Next Gulf War" is the most pertinent article of his and best proves that if anyone should be on the world stage right now it's Wes Clark.