It's well known that there are people in the military who just hate Clark. That's not an indictment of Clark by itself -- we need to know why they hate him to know on whom the hatred reflects badly. Do they hate him (as his mom no doubt believes) only because they are jealous of his superior abilities and success? Or do they have legitimate grievances? Shelton's critique can be read either way. But yeah, it does make me wonder what happened, and why Clark lost his post in Europe.
In terms of truth and fairness, you're right, of course. I don't assume Clark is a bad guy based on Shelton's remark. But many people will. And, in this case, that's not really an indictment of those people: we likely won't ever know precisely what happened, and it makes sense to think that if lots of people are saying the same thing (he's arrogant, he's a priss), there's some truth to the charges (I'm not saying there must be some truth to them, just that it's not an unreasonable thing to believe).
It's well known that there are people in the military who just hate Clark. That's not an indictment of Clark by itself -- we need to know why they hate him to know on whom the hatred reflects badly. Do they hate him (as his mom no doubt believes) only because they are jealous of his superior abilities and success? Or do they have legitimate grievances? Shelton's critique can be read either way. But yeah, it does make me wonder what happened, and why Clark lost his post in Europe.
Posted by jhp | Link to this comment | 09-24-03 1:04 PM
In terms of truth and fairness, you're right, of course. I don't assume Clark is a bad guy based on Shelton's remark. But many people will. And, in this case, that's not really an indictment of those people: we likely won't ever know precisely what happened, and it makes sense to think that if lots of people are saying the same thing (he's arrogant, he's a priss), there's some truth to the charges (I'm not saying there must be some truth to them, just that it's not an unreasonable thing to believe).
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-24-03 1:16 PM