A truly inspiring evening once again with our General.

[Note: As you may have learned to expect from me,. .this will be one of those "to be continued later" blogs. I got back a little late and wanted to share a few photos and comments with y'all. ;)]

Part I: The Teaser:

Clark has never failed to lead.

After these past few days, I honestly wasn't sure whether I should attend Clark's book signing and even questioned whether it would really mean anything in the end. Like you, my primary motive and efforts these past 4 years have always been to support his run for POTUS, and certainly to share his message and its value to all of you here at CCN. I've been fortunate. Each time I've been inspired by his message and leadership; and this was no exception. Once again, I needed direction to resolve my own self doubts - it's a time for leadership,.. I suppose. I had to be there for him and for all of you, regardless.

The venue: Baileys Crossroads, VA intersects some of the most developed communities and congested highways in Virginia, and it took a while during rush hour to reach here. No Metro access, yet ~8 miles south of DC. Iow, only those who had a car or get a ride could get there, presuming that there was the patience to do so at this busy time of the day. In other words, only the most dedicated Clarkies and supporters were present, which I approximated to number about 80-100 in attendance. On a Tuesday -- that ain't all bad. Inside, I recognized many faces that Clark recognzied, bloggers like Florence and VADem, as well as Greg, Allen, Laura and Ilana, all of whom were some of the most dedicated Clark'04 supporters in Northern VA.

Clark arrived ON TIME! =:o And yes, ladies, he looked great! Check out his suit and tie! ;) Yep,.. photos right here below, donchaknow. ;)

Wes Clark’s - "A Time to Lead" Book Tour 9.18.07

Clark briefly shared why he wrote the biography, encouraged by a classmate at the Academy; and soon opened up the forum to the audience members for comments, concerns and questions.

Part II: Q&A with General Clark

Clearly, as we know, Q&A's has always been Clark's greatest strength in communication,.. one-on-one. I'll only share quick points by Clark that I felt were especially important, which I caught on audio tape ...

**** When a questioner argued that our nation at this time of war had a desire for leadership, especially military leadership, Clark expressed that he had a great time in 03/04, but running for the first time, is not the same as running the second time, more effort, more money and strategic planning would be involved this time. And although he totally enjoyed the experience, it was also extremely exhausting -- up at 7am, 7 days a week. Preconditions that he set for himself were not met, but he did not want to articulate in detail what those were.

**** Clark also addressed a concern from someone who reasoned if our military can't solve the problems in Iraq; and can only be done politically and diplomatically, as Petreaus concluded, then the why were we still there? Clark quickly charged that "Unfortunately, the Commander-in-Chief can't confront the imminence of strategic failure. It is a strategic failure. And the only thing to make it worse, .. is to admit it. ...He can't admit it!".

But Clark also warned that "We shouldn't be under any illusion that our reputation and image in the world will be diminished. ... We (our troops) will not be out in 6 months, ...similar to what Richardson has proposed. It shouldn't be, ...it's not logical. It will hurt America's ability to deal with the Chinese, ...to work deals in South America, ...to reduce nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, ... to help Hamid Kharzai."

"Everything! ...Everything will be affected by this!"

"We're in real trouble in Iraq. And to be clear, Iran is seeking regional dominance in Iraq. ..."

**** Another person had asked (with measurable frustration), how we could get more Americans to participate in the political process and pay more attention to the issues. Clark argued that our culture is simply too busy in our everyday lives. -- such as the work, kids, the food; and then proposed the need for a national holiday on election day.

**** He further added that our political system for President, in particular, needed greater change, and criticized that it shouldn't take 4 years. He noted that it was clear the Presidential campaigns for 2008 had already started immediately the next day after Kerry lost in November,...(ie 'And you know who I'm talking about...'). This approach drained resources away from more productive pursuits, as well as message. Instead, Clark favored only a 6 - 9month election cycle, which was necessary to level the playing field and one that may permit most Americans to focus on the issues.

**** Towards the close, Clark shared a very important perspective. When someone had asked why the US should bother supporting Saudi Arabia, when it was clear most of the 9/11 highjackers were from there, Clark immediately reversed the reasoning on us and asked, "Well, first of all, do you think it was an accident that over half of the 9/11 highjackers were from Saudi Arabia? Or, do you think Osama bin Laden wanted to make sure that he sent a message to America that S.A. wasn't our friend? Osama bin Laden hates the Saudi govenrment and he deliberately sought to ruin their reputation in our eyes," Clark stated. He then said that in his opinion, the Saudis are our friends and and allies in the region, who have worked diligently to fight against terrorism and to help us succeed in Iraq.

Part III: Ok.. thanks to Florence and VADem... this portion is covered ;)

Good night all!

I honestly walked away feeling that Clark is leading the way! He's clearly a political force now. And I also believe that he understands that we each played a major hand towards how he has engaged the Democratic Party,... and for that - I am grateful to him for his service,... once again.

[Pics Updated 9.19.07 (11pm)]