by Levi Bradley

Created on: July 02, 2008

Rejected former presidential candidate Wesley Clark's comments about Senator John McCain's military service were about as absurd as they come. That is except for his reiteration of them in refusal to retract them. Here's why:

Clark is loathed universally among former and active duty military. Current military members will call him "Wesley Clark" because he is unworthy to have his name preceded by the term "General". I once heard someone ask a retired General if he planned to read Wesley Clark's book. The response was, "Why would I? He did nothing but lie to me when I was active duty, so I'm not about to buy and waste my time reading something I know will be nothing but lies."

In comparing Senator McCain's military service and experience to Obama's complete lack thereof and thinking that apples and oranges somehow equate is like saying Hillary Clinton would be a good president because she's Bill's wife. McCain has a distinguished military service record, and his simple survival for nearly six years under the worst of possible conditions as a prisoner of war speaks to his mental strength and character. It should also be noted that his time in captivity is approximately double the time Obama has spent in the U.S. Senate, and McCain's 26 years in the Senate is longer than Obama has been out of school (http://varifrank.com). How much time does Obama have in the military? Zero. There is no valid comparison. It attempting to do so, Clark has done nothing more than magnify Obama's own inexperience.

What did Obama do in response to Clark's comments? He praised McCain's military service. The ignorant will look at that as taking the high road, being the better man, and seeming noble and patriotic. But look closer. He never mentioned Clark's name when he supposedly repudiated the comments. There were other Obama staffers who also disparaged the value of McCain's military service. He didn't mention them by name either. It was clearly a staged attempt to make him look honorable to the ignorant. Watch what he does next. Will he fire Clark, or any of the other staffers, as McCain has called for? No way, because they did exactly what Obama wanted. Obama, however, needs to be more careful about what he asks for.

Look closer at Clark's comments. They are the truly revealing eyepiece into his character, and consistent with why he is hated throughout the military. He said the level at which McCain served "isn't the same as having been in the highest levels of the military and having

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