Axis of Arkansas

Two quick quotes on Wesley Clark. The first from this article at MSNBC: "When Russian troops seized a Serbian airfield at the end of the war, Clark ordered a British general, Mike Jackson, to take the airfield away from them so Russian planes would not be able to land. "I'm not going to start World War III for you, the British general replied." Second, Hugh Shelton, Clark's boss at the end of his career. The quote appears on the website of the Los Altos Town Crier, in Silicon Valley. Shelton was speaking at a Foothills College Celebrity Forum and was asked this question by an audience member: "What do you think of General Wesley Clark and would you support him as a presidential candidate," was the question put to him by moderator Dick Henning, assuming that all military men stood in support of each other. General Shelton took a drink of water and Henning said, "I noticed you took a drink on that one!" "That question makes me wish it were vodka," said Shelton. "I've known Wes for a long time. I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. I'm not going to say whether I'm a Republican or a Democrat. I'll just say Wes won't get my vote." In the October issue of SI, I call Clark part of the Axis of Arkansas. I believe he's been sent into the field to take out Howard Dean on behalf of Hillary. If he can do so and win the nomination, she runs as the veep. If he displaces Dean but can win the nomination, Hillary jumps in to save the party and be the consensus builder. And on that note, let me make a different version of a point I also make in the October issue. It has been supposedly deficit hawkish presidents like Reagan and George W. Bush who've presided over masses increases in both the size of the federal government and of federal deficits. If you're worried about deficits, the only thing worse in the White House than a liberal democrat is a conservative republican. And when it comes to worries about America becoming a fascist state...I'd say that for lovers of liberty, the only thing scarier than four more years of the Bush Warfare state is four years of the Clinton/Clark Warfare State.