<p>I believed that this Cartoon (link below) sums this whole Gen Clark quote nicely. I don’t believe Sen McCain has ever made the claim that being a POW was the sole reason to vote for him. He does have a 26 year record that you can debate on top of his 25 years in uniform. On the other hand- If I were Barack Obama I would be fleeing any mention of the concept of job qualification based on experience as he has zero (as the cartoon points out - a speech and 3 years in the Senate with nada to show for it is the sum total of his career). Gen Clark is a politician - and not very good at it- one can only wonder why he stepped into this pile of dung and then why he did so again as clearly it’s not an approach that Obama will benefit from. In the Army Clark was the consumate uniformed politician and as someone else pointed out- long before he got to be CINCEUR was known for throwing his subordinates and peers under the bus if it advanced his own career. </p>
<p>BTW - since we just celebrated the 232d anniversary of the Dec of Independence, it might be useful to recall that the singers of the Declaration of Independence : " pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor" to the country. Only one of the two candidates running can make the claim that they too pledged their life to the country in a way that means something- pledging your life when you are getting shot at as opposed to when there is no danger involved are pretty different concepts. Further- the concept of personal honor means something when faced with threats to life and limb if you don’t sell out your compatriots. So perhaps service-while not the only qualifying factor- might be a pretty good discriminator at that, and perhaps a better one than promises with no cost and no record to back them up. </p>
<p>[Editorial</a> Cartoons by Nate Beeler - General Foolishness - Examiner.com](<a href=“Examiner is back - Examiner.com”>Examiner is back - Examiner.com)</p>