Obama campaign to Wesley Clark: We don’t need you at the convention

The ‘roots are just a little bit upset  with the Obama campaign (just as they were upset when Obama surrogate (and VP contender, perhaps?) John Kerry momentarily threw Clark under the bus earlier this month) as word has leaked out via Clark’s Little Rock, Ark. office that the higher ups in Team Obama have basically told him to hit the pavement.  The Washington Note’s Steve Clemons writes:

General Wesley Clark is not attending the Democratic National Convention. I was told by General Clark’s personal office in Little Rock that he would not be attending.

Clark was informed by Barack Obama’s people that there was no reason to come.

General Clark has been given no role of any kind at the convention.

And, there’s even more reason for the left to fume over the decision:

Rubbing salt in the wound even more, the “theme” of Wednesday’s Democratic convention agenda is “Securing America.”

Wesley Clark’s PAC also happens to be called SECURING AMERICA.

Surely Clemons can’t be surprised that Obama would actually ‘borrow’ someone else’s words, right?  Right?

Open Left’s Matt Stoller huffs:

 I do want to point out how deeply we respect John McCain’s service to his country, though of course, Wes Clark’s 34 years in the military and near fatal wounds in Vietnam are kind of yawners.

Ironically, apparently Stoller doesn’t adhere to the same the philosophy Clark does regarding the war wounds of others in gauging their worthiness for either political office and/or their crediblity when it comes to commenting on a particular issue.  Oh yes, what is that philosophy again? Here’s a refresher from a June interview Clark did on CBS’ Face The Nation:

After saying, “I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war,” he added that these experiences in no way qualify McCain to be president in his view:

“He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn’t a wartime squadron” Clark said.

“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”

I should note for the record that Clark has not apologized for his remarks, nor was he rebuked by Senator Obama – something I believed initially that he did do.  Obama admitted as much when asked about it by a reporter.

I honestly don’t blame the Obama campaign for telling him he wasn’t needed at the convention.  As I’ve written before, Wesley Clark – 4 Star General or not – is Stuck on Stupid, big time, and there’s plenty of evidence to prove it.   I wouldn’t want him speaking at the GOP convention, either, even if he was a Democrat who had decided to support McCain. 

But the bottom line here is that one of two things are happening: Either Clark is throwing out a smokescreen and really will have a role at the convention - the VP role – and is just trying to throw everyone off, or he really has been dumped.  My money’s on the latter.  He, like Cindy Sheehan was to the far left anti-war brigade, has done the dirty work Obama himself wants to appear to be ‘above’ (we’ve seen this before, haven’t we?) and has probably outlived his usefulness.

We’ll find out for sure in a couple of weeks if he, too, has been thrown underneath that crowded bus. 

Stay tuned …