General Hammond Has Ascended…

Share Button

With sadness, I report that actor Don S. Davis, known to Sci Fi fans as Stagate SG-1’s Gen. George Hammond, has passed away. 🙁

When he left the series in 2003, he concentrated on his artwork, featured here. It’s pretty darned good.

Maverick v. Maverick?

Share Button

    

Would you consider Wesley Clark to be a Maverick? Consider this from a Newsweek article about Clark and his relief of NATO command in 1999:

Since his days at West Point, Clark has been something of a loner…. Clark gloried in being the lone warrior, the take-no-prisoners intellectual. “It’s very difficult to stop this ambitious man,” said one of his European peers during the war. His colleagues might admire and envy Clark, but few actually liked him.

and this:

Clark’s fights with other NATO commanders were legendary. Early in the conflict, he ordered up a task force of Apache tank-busting helicopter gunships, after going to the White House over the protests of the U.S. Army chief of staff, Gen. Dennis Reimer. The Army dragged its feet and took nearly a month just to reach the theater–and never did fire a missile in anger. At the end of the war, Clark was so anxious to stop the Russians from stealing a march to Pristina airport that he ordered an airborne assault to take the field before them. But Gen. Mike Jackson, the British commander on the ground in Kosovo, wouldn’t carry out Clark’s orders. Subsequently, a frustrated Clark asked Adm. James Ellis Jr., the American officer in charge of NATO’s Southern Command, to order helicopters to land on the runways so big Russian Ilyushin transports couldn’t use them. Ellis balked, saying Jackson wouldn’t like it. “I’m not going to start World War III for you,” Jackson later told Clark. Both Jackson and Clark appealed to their political leadership back home for support. Jackson got all the help he needed; Clark didn’t. Effectively, his orders as Supreme Commander were overruled.

Sounds pretty Maverickey to me.

You know how “Conventional Wisdom” says that people who are a lot alike often don’t get along. Concerning failed presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark’s recent statements about McCain; I wonder if there might be just a little bit of jealousy of the fellow Maverick’s political success??? Is the unlikeable maverick jealous of the likeable one???

PS. Thanks to Derek for leading me to the article that inspired the post.

Stupid Politics, Entry 145,386,985,974,100, or The "Foot in Mouth" Award goes to…

Share Button

Obama adviser Gen. Wesley Clark, who Sunday made the following statement:

“In the matters of national security policy making, it’s a matter of understanding risk. It’s a matter of gauging your opponents, and it’s a matter of being held accountable. John McCain’s never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in Armed Forces as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility. That large squadron in Air- in the Navy that he commanded, it wasn’t a wartime squadron. He hasn’t been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn’t seen what it’s like when diplomats come in and say, ‘I don’t know whether we’re going to be able to get this point through or not. Do you want to take the risk? What about your reputation? How do we handle it publicly.’ He hasn’t made those calls, Bob.”

If Wesley Clark was the nominee going against McCain, this statement would be perfectly valid. But he’s not – it’s Barack Obama. While I don’t disagree that being shot down and held as a prisoner of war is a qualification for president, the statement, en toto, by a guy who believes Obama is qualified to be president is just stupid for many reasons:

But he hasn’t held executive responsibility.

 

Has Obama?

 It’s a matter of gauging your opponents, and it’s a matter of being held accountable. John McCain’s never done any of that in his official positions.

Has Obama??

 But he hasn’t held executive responsibility.

 

Has Obama???

He hasn’t been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn’t seen what it’s like when diplomats come in and say, ‘I don’t know whether we’re going to be able to get this point through or not. Do you want to take the risk? What about your reputation? How do we handle it publicly.’

Well, you get the idea.