Gen. Wesley Clark Shows His Ignorance

James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal and the hollywoodhalfwits.com website report on an interview of former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Gen. Wesley Clark in which he demonstrates a negligent understanding of US history and the Constitution. It should be noted that the interview was conducted by Tim Russert and seen nationally on Meet the Press. The report of the interview indicates Gen. Clark stated:

"I thought this country was founded on a principle of progressive taxation. In other words, it's not only that the more you make, the more you give, but proportionately more because when you don't have very much money, you need to spend it on the necessities of life."

Gen. Clark's thinking is wrong. Progressive taxation did not become common practice in this country until well into the 20th Century. The founding principle he refers to is not in the US Constitution. It is, however, a founding principle in The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx. Maybe he got his reference documents mixed up.

Besides this erroneous statement, the transcript also displays a few of Gen. Clark's responses which appear jumbled, a seeming mishmash of partial thoughts. I got the feeling that he had great difficulty in formulating coherent answers prior to opening his mouth. And, based upon the transcript, I don't understand how he became a four-star general. One would imagine that clear thinking, as reflected in clear speech, would have been a prerequisite to promotion to that high rank.

Nonetheless, somebody must like him a lot since there appears to be a grass roots effort to draft Gen. Clark to be the Democratic party nominee for President. He says he hasn't decided yet but some pundits have predicted that he will run.