Michael Moore and Democrats deluded over General Wesley Clark

In what some would consider an uncharacteristic lapse of judgement, filmmaker Michael Moore is urging General Wesley Clark to run for president on the Democratic ticket [ story ]. Posters to Portland Indymedia were quick to provide Mr. Moore and Indymedia readers with an education on Clark's abyssmal record, and posted a series of comments (in the same story) exposing Clark for what he is: a war criminal and opportunistic careerist. In response to this investigative work, one commenter wrote: "if the above was true Moore would not be urging Clark to run". But another commenter replies, "...Or... Michael Moore didn't do his homework. Portland Indymedia did."

"epidemic" writes: Yup, when even Michael Moore has been bitten by the "We must beat Bush, nothing else matters" bug, it's clearer to me than ever that it's an virulent epidemic, and it's got to be stopped... Sheesh... about this time Bush, is already beating himself... and even the lap-doggie media polls are saying so... Maybe it'd be smarter to just kick back and watch his karma catch up with some more, than trying to find an ever larger and blurrier selection of Dems to lob at him in sheer blind desperation?

Mitchel Cohen, an activist with the Green Party in New York, wrote an essay that was posted to the wire saying that Clark "is no anti-war candidate, despite what Michael Moore and other misinformed individuals would like to believe". The article also points out that Clark was "tactical consultant" to US military forces present at the Waco, Texas massacre on February 28, 1993, and notes that "[t]hus far, the corporate media have given him a free pass and have not asked him about it" [ story ].

Independent journalist Lloyd Hart posted an article in which he called Clark "Clinton's Wrecking Ball" and wrote: "There's absolutely no possible way General Wesley Clark can unite the Democratic big tent while operating out of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) pup tent that Bill Clinton pitched with his presidency and win the election for the simple fact that this man used the Powell doctrine on Kosovo." Hart also criticizes presidential contender Howard Dean for ignoring the reality of the race as it is being molded by the corporate media: "The corporate media allowed Governor Dean immense amounts of positive media coverage in the set up in which the corporate media plans to knock Governor Dean down to the corporate media's predetermined size, setting up a right wing democratic candidate to lose against Bush." [ story ]

On Sept. 16, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting put out a press release that spells out and documents the corporate media's mischaracterization of Clark: "[W]hile recent coverage of Clark often claims that he opposed the war with Iraq, the various opinions he has expressed on the issue suggest the media's 'anti-war' label is inaccurate." [ story ] (Now if only they would give this much attention to the 9/11 cover-up!)

Weighing in at the radical infoshop.org, Marko takes Michael Moore to task point-by-point. Marko writes: "The Moore argument then becomes this; only Wesley Clark, because he is a "GENERAL", can (supposedly) beat Bush therefore he must be supported. In other words the peace movement must vote for a Bush clone because only the Bush clone can beat Bush... It will be very interesting to see which sectors of the peace movement will fall behind this shameful policy. For instance Michael Albert of Znet has already called for the support of whoever is the Democratic candidate in marginal areas. If it is the objective of the peace movement to oppose and end the unjust occupation of Iraq, then how can it support a candidate that seeks to escalate the occupation?" [ pdx indy post | infoshop post ]

Last, but not least, DJ Shadow writes that Moore only "wants your money", and lists the cost of attending Moore's upcoming speech in Portland: "Individual tickets are just $29, or $20, or $15 for the crappy seats. Tables [for activist groups wanting to table] cost anywhere from $100 to $250." [ story ]

The hyperactive but vacuous coverage of the race for the presidency we have been witnessing lately -- from the artificial elevation of Dean to the breathless speculation around Clark -- reveals once again the shallowness of Democratic Party politics and the uselessness of U.S. corporate media. Presidential politics have become a game to be followed like the World Series or the spring basketball play-offs; at least in sports some honest skill is often required to win.