SPEAKER: MR. BRANDON FRIEDMAN

MR. FRIEDMAN: Hi. Did you guys see that Terrorist Fist Jab?

I'm so happy to be here. I tell you -- this is funny. We were actually driving down the road here from Dallas today and I get a call from John Soltz, who is the chair of votevets.org. And he --

(Audience applauding)

MR. FRIEDMAN: -- yeah. And he -- and he said, "Brandon, I've got good news and I've got bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" And I said, "Okay. What's the bad news?" And he said, "Well, I can't get down there until 8:30." And I said, "Okay. What's the good news?" And John said, "Well, you get to introduce General Clark."

(Audience applauding)

MR. FRIEDMAN: And I tell you, I couldn't be more honored. As a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan myself and as a member of votevets.org --

(Audience applauding)

MR. FRIEDMAN: I know I speak for thousands of other veterans when I say that General Clark has truly led the way in the Democratic Party and in this country when it comes to not only issues of defense and foreign policy, but also when it comes to bridging the gap between the military and political worlds and between the military and bloggers like everybody in here, like every one of you.

As many of you know, General Clark has a long distinguished record of service, from his time in Vietnam where he was wounded as a company commander and came home on a stretcher, to his time as NATO Supreme Allied Commander during the Kosovo campaign, General Clark can go toe-to-toe with anyone -- anyone -- when it come to foreign policy, the needs of our military; and, frankly, the direction in which this country needs to go. And as we've seen -- all seen recently, he's not afraid to back down from anybody on that.

(Audience applauding)

MR. FRIEDMAN: So, with that, it is my absolute pleasure to give you a NetRoots hero, General Wesley K. Clark.

(Audience applauding)

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: GENERAL WESLEY CLARK

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: It is so good to see you here.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you for that warm welcome. Thank you.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you very much.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you. All right ladies and gentlemen, this is it, Netroots Nation. We tell it straight. That's the -- that's the truth. And that's why I'm here.

You-all have been -- you've been a major force in my life. And I know when Howard Dean comes, he's going to say exactly the same thing to you.

I was -- I'll tell you my story. It's a long sad story of -- of saying things that get taken and used by other people.

So I was down at CNN. I was -- I don't call it a "pundit." I was a military analyst, and I wasn't on the Pentagon's payroll. In fact, Don Rumsfeld hadn't figured this out at that point.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: And -- and I was talking about what was going on in Afghanistan. I was doing military commentary. I was talking about the possibility of the United States going to war with Iraq in 2002 and The Times of London called and they asked me to write an op-ed piece that could be published in the Times of London about whether Suddam Hussein was a threat and if he was, what we should do about it. And this was August of 2002.

And so I was at home and working in my -- in my study and my wife came in and said, "Honey, what are you doing?" I said, "Well, I'm writing this op-ed for The Times of London." She said, Oh, please," she said, "don't do this." She said, "You're going to disagree with the Pentagon." And she said, "When you do, the Democrats will use it. And you'll be drawn into electoral politics, partisan politics." She said, "Please, do you have to do this?" And, of course, I said, "Yes." And --

(Audience applauding/cheering)

GENERAL CLARK: And you-all drew me in.

I -- I did speak out. I was called in front of the Senate and I testified in September of 2002, and I testified in front of the House, and I warned about the dangers of going to war. I warned about the wording of the Iraq War Resolution.

At the time I was in front of the Senate. The White House had proposed that the Iraq War Resolution would say they had the authority to use force anywhere in the region at any time, undefined. So at least we got that taken out of the Resolution. And Ted Kennedy did use my words. And before I knew it, all kinds of stuff was happening.

One of the people I was in business with actually called me and he said, you know, he said, "If you stay here, we won't get any more business deals." And I said, "Gee, I'm -- I'm really sorry about that," and I left. And a lot of people talked to me about running for office and I would never have done it, except for 70,000 people on the Internet, who demanded that I show myself.

(Audience applauding)

You did, and I thank you for that.

GENERAL CLARK: You've given me hope and inspiration in this complex and difficult American political system. You've done that. You made it possible for me to run for office. And I'm not saying that it was the greatest run anybody has ever made for the presidency, but we did win a state. And -- and not even the state that I live in. And we did raise 20-some-odd million dollars, including several million dollars from you-all on-line. And after that campaign you did give me a chance to continue to have a voice in America. And together we've actually accomplished something.

You know, we started along -- started with VoteVets, we started StopIranWar.com. And you know what, it's still there. And George Bush's government today has a representative in a meeting in Europe with the Iranians.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: You can take some credit for that, because your voices were part of that.

And one time some blogger was trying to make an issue -- I don't know exactly why he picked on me, but he found my cell phone records, and he published them on-line. And there was this huge torrent of outpouring and outrage and you-all did that and you helped people protect their privacy on-line. You did that. And that's important.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: When Darcy Burner, who's a candidate for Congress --

(Audience applauding/cheering)

GENERAL CLARK: You know when her house burned down about three weeks ago and you-all helped us raise tens of thousands of dollars for Darcy Burner, and I thank you for that.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: And I hate to say this, but I was taken out of context on Meet The Press -- or on Face The Nation. I mean, there's just no other way to say it. But someone came to me last night, they said, "You weren't taken out of context, General Clark." He said, "This was a playbook operation by the 'right-wing freak machine.' It's the great freak show." And what they do is they take a statement, then they either take it out of context or distort it, then they blast it, then they criticize and then it becomes personal.

They're getting so good at it, that they did all three steps in less than 12 hours, and you fought back, and I'm grateful to you from the bottom of my heart.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Several years ago I was at Washington dinner with James Carville and we were just having a casual conversation.

I said, "James, how are we" -- "how are we going to convince the American people that just because we're in a time of war, that they don't have to vote Republican? How are we going to get them to understand that Democrats have a pretty good national security record?"

He said, "You'll never get the American people to believe that Democrats will defend them until Democrats stand up and defend each other."

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you, because you did that. Now this is a great community, this Netroots Nation. It is a great community, because it stands for principles. You-all are people who are from all walks of life, from all -- every spectrum, from every state, from every profession, from every background imaginable, but you're united by your passion for good government that takes America in the direction we must go.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: I think you know what those directions are. I think in foreign policy it's clear. We have to make more friends and fewer enemies in the world.

I think it's clear that if we're going to succeed in our efforts in Iraq, and in Afghanistan that we've got to have more non-military capabilities to go along and compliment and support and re-enforce the incredible courage and ability of the men and woman in uniform.

I think you understand that in the economy, that it can't be all about giving more pay and more perks to CEOs. That we've got to take care of the people in this economy who do the work day in and day out.

I think you understand that when it means to -- what it means to make America more globally competitive in the world. It doesn't mean giving an 18-billion-dollar tax subsidy to the world's largest corporation.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: But it does mean having a real apology -- a real policy on energy. Working toward energy independence, supporting alternative energy and renewable energy. It means really digging in on education and making sure our youngsters have preschool education, great secondary schooling and that every single American who has the desire and the ability to go to college or university can afford to do so.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: I think you understand it means that we've got to have a real healthcare reform in this country.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Every American should be covered by meaningful health care, not just an insurance policy that can be canceled, but every American has a right to health care. And we're united in demanding it be provided.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: And I think you understand that when you're talking about the non-military and non-economic factors of National Power, you understand that the most powerful elements of America are what we believe in our values as a nation and that we can't succeed in the world if we compromise our own values on things like human rights and the treatment and abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: These are some of the principals that pull us together as a Netroots Nation. But if you want to see how significant we are, look at people amongst us who are not only members of this community but who are standing for office. And could I ask all those who are running for elected office this year, this cycle, whether it's state or local or federal office, please stand up right now.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you for giving them a big round of applause. And I want to add my personal thanks to our candidates, because I think it takes a lot of sacrifice and it takes a lot of courage to run for public office in America and I salute them for doing so. Thank you.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: But I think another value that pulls us all together here in America is that we're people who believe in public service, in general. And I'd like to recognize all those who are in public service professions. I'd like to see our teachers stand up. Would you stand up if you're a school teacher?

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: All right. Thank you.

How about our health care workers, our nurses and doctors, and medical profession?

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you.

How about our public service lawyers our defenders?

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you.

How about our police and fire fighters?

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: How about our community volunteers, our development, our organizers who go out there and bring people together, would you stand up?

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: And I want to recognize our active duty military and our veterans. Can I ask you to stand up if you have served or did serve this country in uniform?

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you. I don't know if I -- did I miss any professional group? If I did, I apologize. But there's one other group that is doing a very important public service that I do want to recognize.

You see, beyond all the issues that we have, beyond all the great members of this group, individually, and what you bring to your communities, running for office, serving in public service professions, beyond all of that, you're doing something else, you're like -- you're like the keel on the ship of state. You're like the compass on the bridge. You keep America going in the right direction. You bring passion. You bring commitment. You bring your ideas. And you bring your energy to American politics. We've needed you for so long in this country, and we need you desperately right now.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: I know it's -- it's a little hard to applaud for yourself, and you're the kind of people who don't take self-praise and self-congratulation easily. But I want to say it very seriously, because I want -- I want you to understand how important you are to this country.

The fact is that lots of people in America have ideas about politics -- most of them do. You can meet them anywhere. You can even here them on FOX News.

(Laughter)

GENERAL CLARK: And some of the ideas are well-informed and some of the ideas aren't very well-informed, or aren't very articulated, some of them are just sort of gut feelings.

There's a political scientist, Drew Weston, who has done some very important research down at Emery University. And he's shown that once people get firm, fixed political ideas in their heads, they stop processing information as information, because it conflicts with their ideas and they process it emotionally as a sort of accept or reject. And I think that's sadly the case with a lot of political dialogue today. It degenerates into name calling, personality spats, accusations of lack of parenthood, in some cases. And as a great nation we can do so much better than this.

Read the great political oratory of the past. Go back and look at the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Go back and read Theodore Roosevelt's speeches or Woodrow Wilson's. It's not about partisanship and it's not about personal attacks. It really is about getting it right for the United States of America. And you have been given voices. You're on the Internet and -- I know, because you're here you're not on the Internet; but you'll be on the Internet again very shortly, and what you say is very important. Lots of people read it. And believe it or not people read it across party lines.

I was in -- I was up here at a fundraiser for Rick Noriega last night, and a member --

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Rick is going to be our next Democratic Senator.

(Audience applauding/cheering)

GENERAL CLARK: And he's from Texas. Rick, where are you? Are you here? Right here (indicating).

(Audience applauding/cheering)

GENERAL CLARK: Here he is.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: But a man came up to me and he's -- he's a Texas legislator. And he actually converted from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. And you know why he did it? It wasn't just personality. It wasn't because he got mad at FOX News one day. It was really the collection of ideas and the difference between what one party stands for and what another party stands for. And it shows you that despite all the emotionalism of politics, that ideas -- real ideas can still move people.

You are the guiding compass for America. It's a very serious responsibility. You're committed to the world of ideas. You spew them forth in great volume.

(Laughter)

GENERAL CLARK: I know. And I read a lot of it. And if it's entertaining, that's wonderful; but it's also a very serious process. Our country needs you, needs you now more probably than in any other time in recent history. We need change in America.

I think we've got a candidate for the presidency who can bring that change if we put him in office.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: But to bring that change he's got to bring the American people along with him. And believe it or not, it's not just a matter of donations or votes, it's a matter of ideas, and the power of ideas, and you speak with that power.

You're going to be here for a couple of three days. You're going to be greatly entertained. You're going to entertain each other. I love Rafiq and his jokes. And he'll be out here in a second, and I hope he'll do a fist bump with each and every one of you.

(Laughter)

GENERAL CLARK: But we're in a serious business. This country needs leadership and you're leaders. So let's move America forward together. Netroots Nation, you can do it. Let's do it.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you.

(Audience applauding)

GENERAL CLARK: Thank you very much. Thank you. Rafiq, come up here, man. Hey, you owe a fist bump.

(Rafiq laughing)

(Audience applauding and cheering)

GENERAL CLARK: All right. My brother here. Now listen, you've got some work to do, Netroots Nation. Let's get to it.

BARATUNDE THURSTON: All right. Thank you. Thank you. General Wesley Clark. Let him know. Let him know.

(Keynote Speaker General Wesley Clark concluded)