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Some have expressed reservations about the term "New American Patriotism." I believe it to be strategically brilliant, because it takes the wind out of Bush's sails, and makes dissenting patriotic. An old Esquire article from August illustrates what I believe to be Clark's thought trail to framing this as a key plank on his platform. And it reaffirms in me that this man has what it takes to bring Bush down and do it in a landslide. He's able to internalize his opponent's thought patterns and then attack the weaknesses in them. That was how he beat Milosevic, by understanding Milosevic's thought patterns and knowing he would collapse from a ground attack. And that is how he will beat Bush, by understanding the way Bush thinks, and taking Bush's ace in the hole away from him. He's the thinking man's General. ------- In the general's rendering, O'Reilly is interviewing a liberal judge who has lifted restrictions on the movement of homeless people in his community. " ‘Judge,' " the general begins, in perfect O'Reilly rhythm, " ‘do you have any children?' ‘Yes, I do. I have a daughter.' ‘Judge, what would you do if a homeless man came to your house and started defecating in front of your nine-year-old daughter?' ‘That's never happened.' ‘But let's say it did happen, judge. What would you do?' ‘I'd probably ask if he needed to use the bathroom.' ‘Oh, c'mon, judge. Get off it. There's a homeless man right on your front lawn. And he's taking a dump in front of your nine-year-old daughter! What are you gonna do about it?' "
This is what the general does. He internalizes his opponents—those on the other side of an issue or a battle—so that he may prevail over them. As an unintended consequence, he is a gifted mimic, whether of O'Reilly, Slobodan Milosevic ("General Clark, he obeys orders; he is like dog"), or, on one afternoon at WaveCrest, George W. Bush. His mimicry does not amount, in the case of our president, to mockery. It is simply his way of judging what Bush may have on the Democratic field so that he may judge what the Democratic field might possibly have on Bush. He is sitting in his office, eating lunch, talking about what might convince him to join the field or stay away. He is talking about running for president and saying that the mistake he does not want to make is the one that's most common: the mistake of finding the reason to run not in oneself but rather in one's opinion of the guy already holding office. "They look at him and say, ‘Hey, I'm smarter than that guy. If that guy can do it, it must not be that hard.' Well, they're wrong. It's hard. It's the hardest thing in the world. So you better have another reason." It's not the lure of power. He's had power. He was arguably the most powerful man in Europe and definitely one of the most powerful men in the world, and so he is not lusting for power so much as he is weighing his desire to "make a contribution" against what he believes is the ultimate consideration for anyone running for president against George Bush: "how much pain you can bear."
And there will be pain. You get the sense, talking to the general, that he has thought it through and decided that the only way to beat Bush is to go to war against him. You get that sense because suddenly, as you are talking to the general, he stands up from his peaceful lunch, and suddenly he is doing Bush. Suddenly he is the warrior president, addressing the delegates at the Republican convention in New York in September 2004, saying that on behalf of the American people, he has fought terrorists at home and abroad, saying that he has fought and won two wars against states that sponsor terrorism, saying that because of his efforts, the American people are safer than they were three years ago and that—and here he finds the resonating Dubyan chord—"there is sunshine ahead."
Then he stops and, reverting back to himself, says, "Now tell me. What Democrat can go up against that?" August Esquire article http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2003/030801_mfe_clark_1.html------- The New American Patriotism title is a stroke of genius. Now let's see Bush go on tv and say he's against a New American Patriotism. If he does that, the patriotic south will fall into the democratic column. Well done, Wes! You've outmanuevered Bush without even winning the primary first. Clark -- the thinking man's General. :) |
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