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What’s Gotten Into Bill?

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Posted on Jan 22, 2008

By Eugene Robinson

WASHINGTON—Six months ago, Bill Clinton seemed to be settling comfortably into roles befitting a silver-maned former president: statesman, philanthropist, philosopher-king. Now he has put all that high-mindedness on hold—maybe it was never such a great fit, after all—to costar in his wife Hillary’s campaign as a coldblooded political hit man.

    No, scratch the “coldblooded” part. At times, in his attempt to cut Barack Obama down to size, Bill Clinton has been red-faced with anger; his rhetoric about voter suppression and a great big “fairy tale” has been way over the top. This doesn’t look and sound like mere politics. It seems awfully personal.

    Obama’s candidacy not only threatens to obliterate the dream of a Clinton Restoration. It also fundamentally calls into question the Bill Clinton legacy by making it seem ... not really such a big deal.

    That, I believe, is the unforgivable insult. The Clintons picked up on this slight well before Obama made it explicit with his observation that Ronald Reagan had “changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not.”

    Let’s take a moment to consider that remark. Whether or not it was advisable for Obama to play the role of presidential historian in the midst of a no-holds-barred contest for the Democratic nomination, it’s hard to argue with what he said. I think Bill Clinton was a good president, at times very good. And I wouldn’t have voted for Reagan if you’d held a gun to my head. But even I have to recognize that Reagan—like Margaret Thatcher in Britain and Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union—was a transformational figure, for better or worse.

    Bill Clinton’s brilliance was in the way he surveyed the post-Reagan landscape and figured out how to redefine and reposition the Democratic Party so that it became viable again. All the Democratic candidates who are running this year, including Obama, owe him their gratitude.

    But Obama has set his sights higher, and implicit in his campaign is a promise, or a threat, to eclipse Clinton’s accomplishments. Obama doesn’t just want to piece together a 50-plus-1 coalition, he wants to forge a new post-partisan consensus that includes “Obama Republicans”—the equivalent of the Gipper’s “Reagan Democrats.” You can call that overly ambitious or even naive, but you can’t call it timid. Or deferential.

    Both Clintons have trouble hiding their annoyance at Obama’s impertinence. Bill, especially, gives the impression that Obama has gotten under his skin. His frequent allegations of media bias in Obama’s favor recall the everybody-against-us feeling of the impeachment drama, when the meaning of the word “is” had to be carefully parsed and the Clinton White House was under siege.

    Obama hit back in an interview that aired Monday on “Good Morning America,” saying the former president “has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling” and promising to “directly confront Bill Clinton when he’s not making statements that are factually accurate.”

    For Obama, it’s clearly an added burden to have to fight two Clintons instead of one. But at the same time, there may be benefits in having Bill Clinton take such a high-profile role in his wife’s campaign that the missteps and disappointments of the Clinton years are inevitably recalled along with the successes. Whatever the net impact, there appears to be no plan for Bill Clinton to tone it down—not with the nomination still in doubt. The Clintons don’t much like losing.

    So forget about the Bill Clinton we’ve known for the past eight years—the one who finds friendship and common ground with fellow former President George H.W. Bush (a Republican, last I heard), who dedicates most of his time and energy to the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative, who speaks eloquently about global citizenship, environmental stewardship and economic empowerment. Forget about the statesman who uses appropriately measured language when talking about transient political events, focusing instead on the broad sweep of human history. Forget about the apostle of brotherhood and understanding whose most recent book is titled, simply, “Giving.” That Bill Clinton has left the building.

    There’s a battle to be fought against an upstart challenger who has the audacity to suggest that maybe the Clinton presidency, successful as it was in many ways, didn’t change the world—and that he, given the office, could do better. Some things, I guess, just can’t be allowed. Bill Clinton obviously has decided that history can wait.   

    Eugene Robinson’s e-mail address is eugenerobinson(at)washpost.com.   

    © 2008, Washington Post Writers Group

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By shelle, January 29, 2008 at 12:08 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

“as ROMNEY said the other day…” 

and you think HE would be an improvement????

ROMNEY =“MEET YOUR NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS”

Look, to figure out who the folks who brought you the bush family dyNASTY want to be president (so they can do more of the same shite to us) is simple really—just watch what republican wins in florida-jeb’s little fiefdom.

and for all of our sakes, this time, DON’T vote for that person.

simple.

myself, i’m predicting “mittler” romney..

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By kath cantarella, January 28, 2008 at 4:53 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

and there is some good info on his policies there. He seems like a very good candidate. The pull i feel to like him is very strong, and i generally don’t like politicians. I’m still wary of his charisma and the adulation he’s drawing though, that is hardly ever a good thing.
I don’t know who is who, i’m on the other side of the world from all this, but i know the priority needs to be this: who is more likely to cause or avoid another war?
I really wish McCain would drop out. He seems so hawkish.
i sympathize with everyone who has to choose who to vote for in this very crucial election.

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By troublesum, January 27, 2008 at 4:35 pm #

The Clintons have already offended too many people who usually vote democratic for the nomination to be worth anything to them.  Hillary moved on to Tennesee before the votes were counted in SC and now people are just supposed to forget what she and Bill did there.  Few are going to forget.

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By odlid, January 27, 2008 at 8:11 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

”..the internet, will be toast.”

PatrickH,  Try Tor and Freenet. Use non-US SSL proxies for privacy. The fed is printing funny money daily to cover our debt service. Do you think these uninformed old farts and their non-patriotic underlings have the muscle to derail the web? No way. There are limitless ways around such attempts.

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By Tony Wicher, January 26, 2008 at 6:04 pm #

As far as I am concerned, both Obama and Edwards are Jesus Christ compared to Billary. The Clintons are just sleazy as hell. Even the Republicans are right about that. It’s too bad. I voted for Bill twice and I still think he was a relatively good president. Relative, that is, to Reagan, Bush I and Bush II. But after all, that is not exactly fullsome praise. As Romney said the other day, 1n 1994, after two years, the people elected a Republican congress which he had to work with for the next six years, so his economic successes could be said to be the result of being “Republican lite”. Of course, under Bush II the corruption got so bad that every other presidency looks good by comparison. We Americans are sick of it and are going to put the Democrats back in, I hope. Relying on our human decency, I think political cleanliness is going to be a big factor in the general election. I don’t think the Clintons pass the smell test. They will sell out principle every time for political advantage. “First Black President” Clinton will morph into Lee Atwater when it serves his interests. A lot of honest independents might prefer an honest Republican. So come on, fellow Democrats! Obama and Edwards are both candidates we can be proud of. Let’s support them against the Clinton machine. They are both right that Clinton represents “politics as usual”.  Let’s fight for something better.

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By Conservative Yankee, January 26, 2008 at 2:16 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

By tek, January 23 at 7:12 am

“One thing we saw during the Clinton years, the Clintons want a real democracy in this country, they’ll restore the U. S. to its proper Constitutional balance. Apparently, the Democratic Party just isn’t that into democracy anymore.”

While I am not an Obama supporter; I had to comment on your last paragraph. I did not see the committment to “Constitutional balance” you describe. 

Former FBI Director William Sessions issues a statement to New York Post stating that his termination by President Clinton “compromised” the FBI’s role in the investigation of Vincent Foster’s death.

2/9/94
The Washington Times reports that the Rose Law Firm, Hillary Clinton’s former employer, shredded documents related to the Whitewater investigation.

4/20/94
The House passes an amendment, by a vote of 425 to 3, criticizing the Clinton administration’s proposed loosening of child pornography laws.

Clinton delinks “most favored nation” trade status from human rights.

6/28/94
Clinton, for the first time in the history of the presidency, sets up a legal defense fund to solicit funds to cover his legal fees related to the Whitewater investigation and sexual harassment lawsuit.
Hill-the-buisness-shill’s K Street supporters
(By contrib)

Cory Alexander (Fannie Mae)
Michael Anderson (AndersonTuell)
Matthew Anthes (Van Scoyoc Associates)
Don Auerbach (Investment Company Institute)
Lyndon Boozer (AT&T;)
Susan Brophy (Glover Park Group)
Bill Broydrick (Broydrick & Associates)
Gerry Cassidy (Cassidy & Associates)
Jeff Connaughton (Quinn Gillespie & Associates)
Steve Elmendorf (Elmendorf Strategies)
Janice Enright (Ickes & Enright Group)
Vic Fazio (Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld)
Holly Fechner (Covington & Burling)
Jeff Forbes (Cauthen Forbes & Williams)
Ronna Freiberg (Legislative Strategies)
Adam Gluck (Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal)
Richard Goodstein (Goodstein and Associates)
J. Eric Gould (Tew Cardenas)
Fred Graefe (Law offices of Frederick H. Graefe)
Charles Hansen (Hansen Government Relations)
Tom Hebert (Ogilvy Government Relations)
Regina Hopper (USTelecom)
Harold Ickes (Ickes & Enright Group)
Peter Jacoby (AT&T;)
Joel Johnson (Glover Park Group)
John Jonas (Patton Boggs)
David Jones (Capitol Counsel)
Tim Keating (Honeywell International)
Alison Kutler (Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal)
Reta Jo Lewis (Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge)
Neil MacBride (Business Software Alliance)
Joel Malina (Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates)
David Marchick (Carlyle Group)
Tama Mattocks (Strategic Health Care)
Chris McCannell (Quinn Gillespie & Associates)
Mike McNamara (Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal)
Gwen Mellor (Hogan & Hartson)
John Merrigan (DLA Piper)
Mike Merola (Winning Strategies)
Linda Morgan (Covington & Burling)
Evan Morris (Roche Pharmaceuticals)
Kyle Mulroy (Washington Strategic Consulting)
Ben Noble (Troutman Sanders Public Affairs Group)
Sean O’Shea (Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld)
Steve Palmer (Van Scoyoc Associates)
Peter Pappas (Pappas Telecasting Cos.)
Scott Pastrick (BKSH)
Heather Podesta (Heather Podesta & Partners)
Steve Ricchetti (Ricchetti Inc.)
Alan Roth (Lent Scrivner & Roth)
Marty Russo (Cassidy & Associates)
Jimmy Ryan (Citigroup)
Mark Siegel (Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell)
Sandi Stuart (Clark & Weinstock)
Richard Sullivan (Capitol Counsel)
Dan Tate Jr. (Capitol Solutions)
David Thomas (Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti)
Paul Thornell (Citigroup)
Loretta Tuell (AndersonTuell)
Blair Watters (The Madison Group)
Anne Wexler (Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates)
Marcia Wiss (Hogan & Hartson)

Report this

By PatrickHenry, January 26, 2008 at 12:14 pm #

The tentacles of media censorship continue to grow everywhere.  Soon the last bastion of free media, the internet, will be toast.

http://www.velvetrevolution.us/video/hillary.wmv

Report this

By Douglas Chalmers, January 25, 2008 at 11:01 pm #

By Liza, January 25: ” Get a life, Mr. Chalmers…”

I am happy to say that I have a life without you, Liza, uhh.

Report this

By Tony Wicher, January 25, 2008 at 1:51 pm #

Yeah? I should forgive him for this? Never. To hell with both of them.

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By Liza, January 25, 2008 at 12:35 pm #

Get a life, Mr. Chalmers.

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By kath cantarella, January 25, 2008 at 5:45 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

i don’t actually support McCain.

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By Douglas Chalmers, January 25, 2008 at 5:33 am #

I’M NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, NOW AM I - #By Liza, January 24: ”...at the risk of stating the obvious, here is the obvious answer…”

That must be your dumbest comment on Truthdig yet, Liza, uhh. But now that Kuchinich is withdrawing, you might have a chance.

Don’t forget to visit AIPAC…......

By kath cantarella, January 23: ”...i’d still like to know more about this Obama guy who might be running the world next year…”

How Barack Obama learned to love Israel http://www.electronicintifada.net/v2/article6619.shtml

Check the new logo - a six-pointed star to replace the ring-thing logo….. and check the second pic for Michelle scowling when listening to an Arab man speak.

Reviewing the speech, Ha’aretz Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner concluded that Obama “sounded as strong as Clinton, as supportive as Bush, as friendly as Giuliani. At least rhetorically, Obama passed any test anyone might have wanted him to pass. So, he is pro-Israel. Period.”

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By Liza, January 25, 2008 at 1:41 am #

Douglas,
I think that might your dumbest comment on Truthdig.  Well, at the risk of stating the obvious, here is the obvious answer:

I’M NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, NOW AM I?

BTW, I do not smoke.

Report this

By Tony Wicher, January 24, 2008 at 7:57 pm #

I voted for Bill Clinton twice, and I think he was a fairly good president, with a record of eight years of peace and prosperity.  In the last few weeks, I have seriously begun to despise him. He has played the race card, created wedges between whites and blacks, Latinos and blacks, deliberately and with malice aforethought, because it serves his political interests. For this I will not forgive him, and neither will black people. White liberals shouldn’t either. No one who loves this country should forgive him. This so-called “first black president” turns out to be a motherfucking bubba after all. 

Fuck you, Bill, and your wife too.

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By mary fisher, January 24, 2008 at 1:18 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Bill Clinton’s uncontrolled fury and bad behavior has certainly cancelled any potential vote for Hillary coming from me, as an undecided Democrat.
The divisons he (they) would fuel, the flimsy attacks, the fact that clearly we get him if we get her, make it all too clear to me the Clintons should never be returned to the White House.

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By Expat, January 24, 2008 at 10:57 am #

It seems to me there needs to be a reckoning here, but wait for it; no, because it’s not coming.  Forget “Bill’s” past:  Look at Hillary’s present!  She did vote for this pre-emptive war in Iraq!  She has refused to say it was a wrong choice/vote!  We’re not going to get to pick and choose; these decisions have already been made for us by the media.  Now we have the choice of the lesser of two evils.  Gosh, aren’t we lucky?  Look at the positive side; we don’t have to think too much.  After all, it’s not exactly our strong point.

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By Conservative Yankee, January 24, 2008 at 10:49 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

‘cuse me…. HOW was Walmart “forced” to add a woman?  Many large corporations have no women on their boards.

Oh, yeah,

I remember

Sam wanted to show “diversity, and Hill-the-business-shill tokened his board in return for PAY and contributions to Arkansas-fats Gubernatorial campaigns she quit when Hubby ran for the white house and needed at least some union support to get the nomination. Sounds like a “principled position”  to me.

And the environmental issues Please elaborate how is Walmart “greener” today than it was in 1986? 

Oh, I get it… greener in the USA?  because they moved all their production facilities out of the country?

Actually, My understanding is that Walmart is “greener” (a mild distinction) because the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and several other states including New York and Connecticut sued their ass off for leaving plant-food, fertilizer, and herbicides in their parking lots where the run-off poluted near-by rivers and streams. Of course this was LONG after Hill was gone.
If Hill-the-business-shill actually did TRY to do something to make Wal-mart greener, she failed miserably… hopefully like her attempt to con the people into believing she is something other than a corporate whore.

walmartwatch.com/issues/environment/
http://www.grist.org/topic/Connecticut
http://www.organicconsumers.org/BTC/deathstar081805.cfm
http://www.sprawl-busters.com/search.php?readstory=2804
http://www.tomatopages.com/folsomforum/index.php?showt opic=7002

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By ghostofwatergate, January 24, 2008 at 6:05 am #

Carl Bernstein’s book (A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Random House) details a report that Bill and Hillary had a plan calling for each to support the other for president.

Bill’s just holding up his end of the bargain, which is only fair, considering the crap she had to put up with from him.

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By kath cantarella, January 24, 2008 at 4:09 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

If each candidate needs a hundred million dollars just to compete, the US people will always be voting for bought people. If there’s one grass-roots campaign the US needs to support the most, it is the one to get the big money out of elections and make it a level playing field with a more just criteria for who gets to be frontrunners. I’m sorry i can’t post the link to that campaign, the address has slipped my mind. You probably know it anyway. The USA needs to get behind it in a big way, maybe even more than impeachment.

Report this

By kath cantarella, January 24, 2008 at 3:33 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

if you’re under the impression i back Clinton, you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.

the Clintons are too close to the Bushes. I can’t believe she’d charge Bush Jr for his crimes. So that’s it as far as i’m concerned - the end of the Clinton campaign for me. I’d even prefer McCain, now. At least Mccain is a bit of a maverick.

However, i’d still like to know more about this Obama guy who might be running the world next year.

I see he has high rating amongst Illinois voters. So that’s good.

Report this

By Tony Wicher, January 24, 2008 at 3:25 am #

The Clinton’s basic strategy is to pull Obama down into the mud with them. They are counting on the media and the people not to be able to tell the difference. They may be right. We shall see.

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By mackTN, January 24, 2008 at 2:21 am #

I did watch Obama’s statement, and I found it troubling.  I don’t give Reagan credit for anything positive that affected the country I was living in.  You could say Hitler was a transformative person, too, but you wouldn’t unless you admired him and in doing so appreciated his leadership.  I thought Obama’s viewpoint was more than clear re Reagan.

More and more, Obama troubles me, especially this Republican thing of his.  Many of his campaign leaders are Republicans—and usually they are these young girls who have a crush on Obama.  There are serious, fundamental differences between Republicans and Democrats—or should I say between me and Republicans.  Obama has gone overboard with this.  In states where you are trying to energize your base and get to know your voters, would you appoint Republicans as the organizing leadership?  I have yet to meet any Obama state organizers from working class communities?  Where is the diversity?

And I did not appreciate his Dexter Church address in which he criticized the congregation for being intolerant, anti immigrant, and bad parents.  He didn’t know any of those people personally to accuse them of that. 

I’ve made up my mind. I’m voting for Edwards.  Obama can’t dance.

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By Gusto, January 24, 2008 at 1:40 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

I totally agree with you. The Clintons are of the mentally that no one should oppose them. Go Obama.

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By Maani, January 24, 2008 at 1:17 am #

Although I cannot speak to the Arkansas investment issue, I would like to put the Wal-Mart issue to rest, if I may, since I spent a great deal of time researching it.

Hillary was appointed to the Wal-Mart board when it was forced to add a woman.  And Sam Walton did NOT want her, because she was considered too “activist.”

Within months of taking her seat on the Board, Hillary began working slowly but tirelessly to change Wal-Mart’s environmental policies.  During the time she was there, Wal-Mart’s environmental practices became 50% “greener” than they were, not only increasing environmental friendliness, but actually saving the company money.

As for the union issue, Hillary saw very quickly that this was a “non-starter” (the rest of the board being comprised of Walton loyalists) and “chose her battle” on the environmental issue.

Could she have done more re the union issue?  Should she at least have tried?  Perhaps.  But to suggest that she was openly complicit in the anti-union policies - which long predated her tenure on the board - is simply not the case.

Peace.

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By Maani, January 24, 2008 at 1:09 am #

Tek:

I’m curious how you found out that Obama was illegally campaigning in Florida.  My mother (a Floridian) told me the same thing: that she had seen at least one and possibly two TV ads for Obama - even though Dems are not permitted to do ANY campaigning in the state.  And Obama has the unmitigated gall to accuse Hillary of underhanded practices!!

Peace.

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By odlid, January 23, 2008 at 11:44 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Both Al Gore and John Kerry were unable to defeat a man who has a head full of bad wiring. Where is the math to show it is even conceivable that Hillary can come up with the needed State wins and electoral votes in November? If you know it’s not going to work, why beg for another kick in the ass?

Report this

By Douglas Chalmers, January 23, 2008 at 11:42 pm #

By Liza, January 23: “Hillary’s accomplishments are?????????”

What are YOUR accomplishments, Liza??????

Smoking some good stuff????

Report this

By VicePrez, January 23, 2008 at 8:43 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Just because some raises a person’s name in a statement does not indicate praise. Please read/listen in its entirety. I bet those of you who are saying Obama praised Reagan, soon forgot what Bill(Monica’s Boyfriend) said of Reagan when he died and the fact that Hillary praised Reagan in her book.  But that would just be fair about reporting. 

Bill and Hillary had their turn in office and its time to remove the criminals from government. Bill needs to give it a rest, he has shown slime ball he really is.

I did not see George Bush Sr, on the campaign trail bashing candidates for Chimpy and here you have Bill getting mad because his wife is being called to the carpet. I say the heat needs to be turned up if they do not stop this ridiculous stunt. I say bring up White Water, NAFTA, Norman HSU, Hugh Rodham, Vince Foster, Monica, Arkansas the list gets longer and longer everytime he opens his mouth.

Who’s running Hillary or Bill? Enough of both of them

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By omop, January 23, 2008 at 7:43 pm #

Slick Willie is having a recurring dream of being in a side office in the White House with a desk on which there is telephone that he has used many a time to balance out the acts of a lass by the name of Monica who preferred to work “under the desk” so to speak.

What with Hillary having her own Monica and throwing it in his face every chance she gets and he never having had to pay for it that kind of denial will put any able psuedo-saxophone player in a napping mood in or outside a church service.

As the scripted dude man was always reminding us, “you gotta pity the fool”.

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By Liza, January 23, 2008 at 7:29 pm #

You have a point, Blueshift.  It is not out of the realm of possibility that Bill’s shenanigans could once again become the focus of the “right wing conspiracy” that hates the Clintons.  Besides, Rush needs something to talk about for the next four years.  I definitely think Hillary will be one term, if elected.

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By Liza, January 23, 2008 at 7:24 pm #

Hillary’s accomplishments are?????????

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By Liza, January 23, 2008 at 7:20 pm #

Sharon,
What are you smoking?  Sounds like some good stuff.

Report this

By laughoutloud, January 23, 2008 at 6:17 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

bush, clinton, bush, clinton.  of course bill is fighting for his wife, its all part of the plan that has been in the works for longer than he’s been in politics.

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By Jonas South, January 23, 2008 at 2:13 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Sharon Ash wrote:

’....the hate directed toward his spouse who has devoted 35 years of her life to striving to serve the common good, simply consumes people on these blogs.’

You correctly named ‘a short list’ of all the things that are going wrong. But position on issues is not the only important thing to consider in a candidate; character matters.

Hillary made a one thousand dollar investment with a man who had business pending before her husband, then governor of Arkansas, and the man returned one hundred thousand to her as ‘profit’. Can we really afford another dishonest presidency pulling for the likes of Walmart? (She served on its board of directors as it broke up one unionizing effort after another.)

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By Shirl, January 23, 2008 at 1:04 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I totally agree with you, she needs to lock him in a cellar until after the election.  I was one of his biggest fans until now

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By blueshift, January 23, 2008 at 12:57 pm #

Bill is going to fight like the dickens to get access to the interns of Washington. He had time to fool around while he was president…imagine what he’ll do with time on his hands? And though I have never voted for a ‘conservative,’ and confess to having voted twice for Bill, I will vote against Hillary because of what this demeaned man has become…and is likely to do with all that free time.

Hillary, want me vote? Lose him. Fast.

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By Maani, January 23, 2008 at 12:47 pm #

“Barack-tinted spectacles…”

Brilliant!

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By Jackmurak, January 23, 2008 at 12:29 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

There is one major problem with Clinton’s campaigning on behalf of Hillary: Perhaps it’s been a case of letting sleeping dogs lie(or maybe, letting lying dogs sleep)but Bill has never been taken to task for his own role and responsibility for bringing the current lying dog in chief to power.

If Hillary and Bill are a tag teaming political couple again, then maybe it’s time we reconsider the 500 pound gorilla in the room: That the Clinton’s joint failure to keep his cigars where they belonged has led to this 8 year disaster, not just for US, but for the entire world.

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By tek, January 23, 2008 at 12:12 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

His performance at state level is pathetic. He has ignored his Illinois constituents ever since he got in the Senate because all he’s ever cared about is running for president. He takes months to answer e-mails and then he doesn’t address the issue. He promised that he would not run for president in 2008, but he broke that promise to the people of Illinois, just like he violated the Democratic Party ban on campaigning in Florida. Interesting to me that after Hillary won MI the Obama people complained and said she “played angles” and “campaigned in MI” She DID NOT campaign in MI and there were no angles to play, she was in NV. But now he’s campaigning in Florida, against the rules.

Obama’s people yell fraud every time he loses. He’s using every dirty trick in the book with the blessing of the Democratic leaders. That’s why they’re trying to silence Bill Clinton. They want their own demagogue in the WH to pick up all the expanded power Bush will leave on his way out. That’s why they didn’t impeach Chimpy.

One thing we saw during the Clinton years, the Clintons want a real democracy in this country, they’ll restore the U. S. to its proper Constitutional balance. Apparently, the Democratic Party just isn’t that into democracy anymore.

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By troublesum, January 23, 2008 at 12:08 pm #

What Hillary and Obama are doing is having a non-campaign like they are supposed to.  They are both corporate shills so they don’t want anything of any importance to be discussed.  Otherwise people might start to wonder why the will of the people regarding the war, the economy, and health care is being ignored by the major candidates.  Personal attacks provide the illusion that there is some sort of contest going on.  Hillary and Obama know perfectly well what they are doing.  It’s a hell of a lot easier to verbally bitch slap one another than to try to explain their convoluted, and ultimately empty positions on the war, the economy, and health care.  If Obama were a woman too, we’d be having a hair pull on national tv.  For many people (here) that would be better than a debate.

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By Hollyse, January 23, 2008 at 10:56 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

No masterful spin here just bluntly stating the Clinton team is about NWO.  Call it “Clinton Global Initiative” which thankfully journalist, Eugene Robinson, pointed out in this article, and the three points under CGI bear wittness to the transformation happening even as I write. What a duo Hillary and her ‘standing by her man’s statement is more elite global reality than most people want to know. With Hillary in the White House taking care of western continent unification Bill now has the room to impliment his CGI program directly through the UN.  Laddie Boy hasn’t been sitting idly for eight years following his being kicked off of Air Force 1.  He’s been grooming himself and being groomed for United Nation’s presidency.  Why do global markets and currencies need to tank? Stands to reason GLOBAL CURRENCY giving birth to the AMERO!  Go ask Hillary and Bill and hear what they have to say!
NWO = CGI = Global citizenship + envirnomerntal stewardship + economic empowerment

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By Conservative Yankee, January 23, 2008 at 10:38 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

By Sharon Ash, January 22 at 12:20 pm #

  “With all of this, we are debating Bill Clinton who is not even running for office (How can you tell?) and the hate directed toward his spouse who has devoted 35 years of her life to striving to serve the common good With all of this, we are debating Bill Clinton who is not even running for office and the hate directed toward his spouse who has devoted 35 years of her life to striving to serve the common good”

Gee, “striving to serve the common good” Don’t see it…. I see her striving for money, power, and herself…. Hold on, here’s something…

was that while she was a lawyer for Tyson Chicken helping them change laws so they could dump their waste in the White water river?

Or was it her time as a Walmart board member when she NEVER advocated for that company’s under-paid and uninsured workers?

Maybe it was during her run for the New York Senate when she pushed her hubby to pardon the FALN terrorists who planted 86 bombs (which killed six people, and injured scores more) in and around New York City?

No, that can’t be it…I Can’t find that “striving for the common good” want to elaborate?  Maybe we’re talking about different folks? I assumed you meant Hill-the-business-shill?

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By kath cantarella, January 23, 2008 at 8:33 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

“which she richly deserves.”

She probably does: she’s a long-time politician. But there are others in the race who appear to be getting a free pass in comparison, notably McCain and Obama. If the hate-machine was turned full-force on them, what would come out?

Btw, the only candidate i would support was never really in the race.

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By odlid, January 23, 2008 at 6:06 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Take away a man’s fine cigars and his natural need for female companionship and he turns into a crank. Bill, go back to what makes you happy. Let Hillary run her race.
_________________________________________________
My heartfelt thanks to the thousands who marched Tuesday on the Supreme Court in defense of unborn children. The cruelty needs to stop.

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By Tony Wicher, January 23, 2008 at 5:56 am #

Yeah, let’s all vote for Obama!

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By Douglas Chalmers, January 23, 2008 at 5:44 am #

#Re: clinton bashing - Bill Clinton is brilliant! - By Sue, January 22: ”...he’s bringing in tons of ratings for all media outlets. He’s helping Hillary win. (what’s wrong with that?)...... It’s a tough world out there, Bill and Hillary’s been there done that, Obama has not reached that pinnacle yet. And it shows…”

Nice to know that someone cann see the obvious, Sue. As imperfect as the democratic political system is in the USA, the one thing that it can do is change but that change can only occur within the system.

If that means changing the system, well and good but first you have to have someone intelligent and capable and experienced to make a start. Constantly dividing that up into intelligent OR capable OR experienced is utterly self-defeating.

But that is what the various Democratic candidates’ camps are doing. They have no understanding of the power of unity. In the end, they could still lose against the GOP as a result. It is naivete at its worst.

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By kath cantarella, January 23, 2008 at 5:29 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

‘What urks him now possibly is that Obamma wants to win on the “trust me” platform’

i think you’re right. It kind of urks me, too.

How is his performance at state level? Is Illinois in good shape?

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By Gabir, January 23, 2008 at 4:59 am #

I do not see that Mr. Bill Clinton is that much different from the Mr. Bill of the past . He is just in a different position than he was as President . He legally could not run for a third term and now this is his best and last chance for a third run for the White House .
  I feel that the Average American Voter is so naive or uninformed or just caught up in the entertainment of what we call our political system . Bill and Hillary are PROFESSIONAL politicians . They are married politically , but probably loathe each other in private . Many voters take everything they see and hear at face value , because denial of what is beneath the surface is the only tool left to keep Americans believing that this system and the people running around in it are actually in it for US - US .
    The Clinton Presidency was a good show of keeping the country fairly stable , but who really prospered during that time ? If he was such a great President , how did we arrive at the place we find ourselves in today ? How could anyone with any sanity vote for the piece of garbage ruling this country today .
      If people do not realize very soon that our entire political system is a fraud - they are in for multiple shocks of revelation in the near future . This house of cards we call America is falling down card by card . Where at this crucial point in time are all the so called “heroes” of the Democratic Party ? Howard Dean is running the show from an unknown location . Dennis “the menace” Kucinich seems satisfied to be told by his beloved party to “go lay in the corner boy and don’t get up until we call you ” . Russ Feingold must have fallen into quicksand , probably never to be heard from again . Al Gore is or at least seems to be getting more acomplished outside the political arena . Etc. , Etc. , Etc . .
    We are faced with the prospect of a choice between Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain for the office of President . The only changes we will see are for the worse . This country is going to be populated by two classes - we are almost at the tipping point now - a population of FILTHY RICH and DIRT POOR .
      I pity the Americans who buy into this aborted system . I know what is to be faced in the near future , that being our country sold piece by piece , our young people jobless or starving or fighting in another staged war . The so called elite minority using the rest of us as toilet paper . Many will question how we got to such a low condition . Remember that you can’t win if you don’t play , but also , you can’t LOSE if you don’t play . We need to stop playing their game and create a game of our own , one of fairness, truth , justice , and transparency - all the rules we were promised by the current crop of polluticians , and corrupted nibble by nibble by the party rats and special interests . We need a fresh start if there is still enough time and a few courageous people to get us back on track . Any takers ????????

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By coolrebel, January 23, 2008 at 4:21 am #

bill is hillary’s hitman. his legacy is his wife in the oval office. nothing else matters.

his job is to draw obama, the ‘unifier’ into a gloves off contest that he can’t win, and he’s succeeding. hillary is already seen as contentious and cantankerous (an image leavened by her timely tears). this kind of bickering becomes her, and she’s good at it. it won’t lose her votes, but it will lose obama support, and right now he has to make up a lot of ground by February 5.

obama’s wishful thinking rhetoric has weakened the knees of many a good columnist. perhaps its time to take off the barack-tinted spectacles and get a little reality.

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By Maani, January 23, 2008 at 2:25 am #

MackTN:

Excellent assessment.  Re “If you win the nomination, the Republicans arent going to be nice to you either,” I have been saying this exact thing on these boards for some time.  Also, “And if you win the presidency and attempt to implement those hopes and changes?”  Yup.  A president does not “change” things single-handedly.  He has to work with others, including Congress.  And that is not easy.

Bravo on this post.

Peace.

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By mackTN, January 23, 2008 at 1:49 am #

Neither Obama nor the Clintons have the upper hand on this issue.  Ive watched the Obama statement, and it clearly came off as an admiring remark of a quotel= change Reagan could implement because the country was ready for it. unquote.  What country is he talking about?  I wasnt ready for it: I didnt appreciate it, either.  I didnt admire one thing from the brazen head.

And Ive stated my views about Clinton and his denuding the Dems of progressives with his centering of the party.  He did this to win, not because of some philosophical belief.  He made George Bush possible.

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By Maani, January 23, 2008 at 1:16 am #

Rage said, “It’s not like Hill and Obama are arguing the issues. This is just a bunch of he-said-she-said-he-meant crap. I personally wish they’d get back to lying about what they’re going to do, should we elect either one of these jokers.  After all, Dumya’s leaving quite a large burning bag of crap for the next President to clean up.”

Louise said, “We all know who owns the media. We all know why they drive the issues that define for us who we should vote for.”

Louise’s comment answers Rage’s.  Actually, Rage, Hillary and Obama ARE “arguing the issues,” and did so at the debate - for FAR more time than they spent tit-for-tatting.  Indeed, Hillary DID note (and Obama ditto-ed) that Bush is “leaving quite a large burning bag of crap for the next President to clean up.”

But as Louise implies, you would not know it from the way the media is reporting the debate.  That’s because the media sells CONTROVERSY, not substance.  All the headlines today were variations of “Obama and Hillary Get Personal” or “Clinton and Obama Duke It Out,” etc.  Yet, as noted, as a percentage of the 2-hour debate, they spent very LITTLE time doing that.  A more honest headline might have been “Clinton, Obama and Edwards Square Off on the Issues; Some Fireworks Ensues,” etc.

But as Louise notes, that is NEVER what you are going to hear from the media.  What an absolute travesty.

Peace.

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By mackTN, January 23, 2008 at 1:12 am #

Would people be so uptight about these exchanges?  Personally, I think they are rather exciting because they are pushing these candidates off script into a battle for a very important job.  The more off message they veer, the more we learn about them and the more they have to answer to.  These political skirmishes are relatively mild and between equals.  EQUALS!  Let them work it out.

I for one am tired of and bored with the slick, overrehearsed campaigns of past years where everyone works out every word and every punctuation mark when appearing before voters.  Those yawners were deceptive, and voters learned little about the candidates that they didnt want you to know.  But a few well-placed jabs here and there and people appear, and you get a good long look at who is asking for your vote.

People need to stop complaining about Bill Clinton.  He is doing what he is supposed to be doing—helping his candidate who is also his wife win.  I, who is probably overly sensitive when it comes to racial slights, find absolutely NOTHING that is patronizing in a racial way coming out of the Clintons mouth.  They are trying to devalue their opponents, and this is how competitions are played out.  For Obama to be offended at the hardball paints him as a naive.  He should be flattered that they are fighting him as an EQUAL and as a formidable foe.  RISE TO THE OCCASION BARACK.  Fight back.

My advice to Barack.  Push the college kids and the ivy leaguers to the side, banish Oprah back to Hollywood, and bring on some experienced political leaders who know this terrain and who know how the system works. This only gets worse.  If you win the nomination, the Republicans arent going to be nice to you either.  And if you win the presidency and attempt to implement those hopes and changes?  Good luck, buddy.  You will need the chops, the calluses you are building up on the campaign trail.

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By bc41, January 22, 2008 at 11:50 pm #

I think this is the old Bill.  He was pretty tough in in campaigns and debate and for a time seamingly rude, but he was so sharp on the issues you just had to listen and think.  He once said something like, I felt I was the better man for the job so I spoke up.  What urks him now possibly is that Obamma wants to win on the “trust me” platform, like a candidate would say: I support Mom, apple pie, and the American flag, so says Obamma.  Who is the Illinois senator that time is formost for impressions of Washington. 

People give Reagan credit for winning the cold war, he liked to spend on military true, but I think it was the crazy Brezhneve that drove the Soviets bankrupt, he went bonkers making thousands and thousands of tanks literally putting many of his own people into starvation.  I remember Reagan’s comment to tear down this wall still sounded a little like talking down to Gorbechoff.  Putin has like feeling about it today.

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By Dave in Big Pine, January 22, 2008 at 11:12 pm #

not only elected officials, but how about the supreme court?

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By Dave in Big Pine, January 22, 2008 at 10:53 pm #

Real fish

certainly he did not overtly “praise” reagan; however, merely by invoking his name, by choosing him above all others to illustrate point, is clear demonstration to me that he was reaching out to conservatives and letting them know that he is simpatico. so, yes, he was praising him.
and clinton did not lack the ideas to change the re-direction of reagan. he did not attempt to as he largly staid the course. how do you think he prosecuted a surplus, by taking from the rich to give to the poor? hell no, he like reagan, despised the poor, and it was they, as usual, that felt the brunt of clinton’s economic turn around.
what you don’t understand is that we don’t “elect” anything. we select based on what the powers that be set before us.

we got the clown king because that’s who they wanted. don’t you remember that he lost the popular vote? and that was even after all the vote fraud and corruption.
we select nothing. just ask kucinich.

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By PatrickHenry, January 22, 2008 at 10:12 pm #

Alot could be solved in our government by the states legislatures enacting laws requiring term limits for elected officials in all 50 states. 

Clinton is a package deal like him or not, he has alot of baggage.

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By Maani, January 22, 2008 at 8:25 pm #

Amen!

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By Maani, January 22, 2008 at 8:25 pm #

No prlblem.  However, let’s also forget that Obama is a lifetime member of CFR.  And that Edwards was also “vetted” by the Bilderbergers.

Peace.

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By tek, January 22, 2008 at 7:22 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Cold-blooded political hitman? That takes the cake so far. By all means, let’s protect li’l Obama from any well-deserved criticism. The Democrats have gotten as fried as the Repugs.

If Obama is president what’s he gonna do? Get Rahm & Conyers & Kennedy to tell the opposition to “chill?” What a bunch of crap.

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By shelle, January 22, 2008 at 7:13 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

bill clinton (and hilary) used to get a lot (well, some) of respect from me.  after all she did try to get national health care for all. and he did not run the national debt up beyond human comprehension or get us into whatever that mess in irag is called…

no more.  they (especially bill) are just a little to chummy with papa bush for me not to suspect them of subscribing to the neo fascism of the bush dynasty nastiness.

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By Sharon Ash, January 22, 2008 at 5:20 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

It is easy to see why the United States is in the complete and total mess we now have.  We have ongoing wars, a 9 + trillion dollar national debt, an economy on the brink of tanking, a failing educational system, global warming which threatens our very existence, 45 million Americans with no health insurance, almost 40 million Americans living in poverty, the highest rate of violent crimes in the industrialized world, and this is the short list.  With all of this, we are debating Bill Clinton who is not even running for office and the hate directed toward his spouse who has devoted 35 years of her life to striving to serve the common good, simply consumes people on these blogs.  We have two very qualified people, capable to serve our country in the person of Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.  Could we just focus on the issues which face this country and the person with the best plans for addressing the issues?  Pathetic!

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By rage, January 22, 2008 at 5:10 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

That, or he needs Hill outta the house so he can test the limits of his last heart surgury with some Cialis and his newest honey.

If Big Dog keeps this crap up, though, Hillary is going to wind up back in the Senate, come November. It’s not like Hill and Obama are arguing the issues. This is just a bunch of he-said-she-said-he-meant crap. I personally wish they’d get back to lying about what they’re going to do, should we elect either one of these jokers. After all, Dumya’s leaving quite a large burning bag of crap for the next President to clean up. The Dumya43 successor will have little opportunity to accomplish too many goals beyond putting out as many Chimperor and Cheney Vader fires as possible, now burning hot throughout the charted galaxy. Since the Dolly Maddison china is going to be packed to capacity with Dumya’s left over doo-doo for at least four years, those two should be putting effort into convincing us one of them has the better plan to actually counter the Dumya Dark Ages ALONE! The Clintons are setting up the sort of okey-doke that will have impeachment back on the table for Hillary, thanks to Bill’s flagrant violation of term limits.

For that reason, Bill really ought to back off and let Hillary be the big girl she pretends to be when she’s posturing with Gloria Steinem. No one has a problem with Bill campaigning for Hillary. Bill just needs to get old girl in the habit of peddling herself sans the training wheels, both on the street and off road. He’s made the job look too easy. He now needs to let her know in no uncertain terms that those will be her feet the nation is going to start holding to the flame on the 20th of January 2009, when the combative distaste for her goes deeper than Obama’s blinding charisma and Edwards’ pretty hair, when no one is moved by her tears and the cackling has become a source of national irritation.

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By Vermonter 17032, January 22, 2008 at 4:56 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

The jadedness and the cynicism of the Washington press is in full display in this commentary. Not once does it even occur to Robinson that maybe Bill Clinton loves Hillary, that he truly wants her to win, that he feels he owes her his unwavering and full support in this campaign… Eugene Robinson, you need to get out of Washington to restore your soul, man.

Steve Z.

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By Quasar, January 22, 2008 at 4:09 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Big Bad Bill Ain’t Slick Willy No More.  It is personal because it’s always been about him. Unbelievable.

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By Paracelsus, January 22, 2008 at 3:41 pm #

Try to ignore those Bilderberg meetings Billary has attended in order advance the New Feudalism.

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By Jonas South, January 22, 2008 at 3:39 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Our favorite game: Beggar thy neighbor.

In playing his consort role, Bill Clinton is only being true to himself.

His single-minded push to dominate the South with neo-liberal policies resulted in the improvishment of hundreds of millions in Asia and South America. Clinton’s legacy in the South, no less than Bush league diplomacy, is the current low opinion of the U.S. held by a large majority there.

Democrats would have us cherish the Clinton prosperity at home. Abroad, he is remembered as the purveyor of misery.

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By myiq2xu, January 22, 2008 at 3:00 pm #

When will people get over their irrational hatred of the Clintons?

Okay, they weren’t perfect, but they weren’t evil either.

Where does it say that former Presidents have to STFU and just smile and wave?

I’m sick and tired of the way everything they do is blown out of proportion.  I saw the clip of the Big Dog talking to the reporter.  And just like when he got onto Chris Wallace, he wasn’t unhinged or out of control, he was just assertive.

Hillary didn’t “lose it” in the NH debate and she didn’t break down in tears a few days later.

Start reporting and quit spinning.

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By samosamo, January 22, 2008 at 2:54 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Made the democrats viable again? Seems during his tenure the dems fumbled the ball and became a minority and impotent and today they have morphed into the corporation whores that they are so jealous of the republican’s whoredom. Now, both parties are the same, just playing the political game to make it seem that there is a choice. If obama or hillbilly hillary become the dem presidential nominee, I will vote independent.
I realize that there is starting to be some investigations and some oversight activities but why the wait since 2006? Why is impeachment off the table? Why have the dems pretty much helped w get all he asks for from congress?
No, this country really cannot afford to keep the family dynasties in the government going. The whole legisative and executive branches need to be totally revamped and a whole hell of a lot of accountability meted out. To live though all this corruption and having to see these scoundrels just walk off into the sunset is NOT my idea of progress and moving on.

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By RdV, January 22, 2008 at 2:29 pm #

(Bill Clinton)”...redefine and reposition the Democratic Party so that it became viable again. All the Democratic candidates who are running this year, including Obama, owe him their gratitude.”
 
  The DLC Democrats have triangulated and compromised their reason for existence away. If they aren’t totally irrelevant, they are totally ineffective—when they aren’t openly ENABLING the NeoCon Right by filling the vacuum of formerly moderate Republicans and marginalizing true Democrats as some lunatic Left-wing fringe.  The Bush Administration could’ve never wrought the damages they did without the complicity of Clinton-era DLC Democrats. Time they got tossed in the ash can for good.

  What planet do these pundits live on? Oh yeah, the inside-the-beltway moon orbiting way out in the nether reaches.

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By RdV, January 22, 2008 at 2:20 pm #

and being a sleaze comes natural to him.

  Please make the Clintons go away.

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By Conservative Yankee, January 22, 2008 at 1:54 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

which she richly deserves.

Self-serving
megalomaniac
cheat
lier
corporatist
Bush-enabler
narcissistic
power-hungry
anti citizen-worker
advocate of unlimited H-1b visas
ex-Walmart board member

Clintons are just more of the same mediocre government we seem to Love in these US.  If the voting public got off their sofas and shut off their TV sets long enough to look around (on their own) at the devastation of what was once a proud country, maybe they’d be upset enough to tell the muckity-mucks that this slate of candidates (from both parties) is unacceptable.

AND anyone who says that either Business-shill or Token did will in last night’s debate must have believed they were watching a mud-wrestling event.

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By jackpine savage, January 22, 2008 at 12:53 pm #

One of the narratives that i find so disturbing about this campaign is how the Clinton era gets dressed up.  To be sure, in comparison to what we live with now, the 90’s were indeed halcyon days.  But were they really halcyon days when made to stand without comparison to the Bush administration?

Bill Clinton was the most historically fortunate president in most of American history.  With the end of the Cold War, he had the opportunity to fundamentally shift the direction of America.  The lack of giant bogey man across the ocean also allowed American politics to focus on itself instead of propping up the National Security State.  Have we forgotten that the Clinton WH did everything they could to sabotage the Thompson hearings on campaign finance scandals?  And this was after Thompson offered the Democrats subpoenas to make the effort bi-partisan. (When the Democrats, following the WH lead, turned Thompson down, his own party then pilloried him too.)

Have we forgotten that the foundation for our economic excesses (which look like they are currently crashing down on our heads regardless of emergency rate cuts this morning) were laid and championed by the Clinton administration.  And here-in lies another problem with our ability to remember and analyze.  Economics can be greatly affected by an administration, but it is also greatly affected by previous decisions.  In the 80’s, Reagan sunk massive amounts of money into gee-whiz weapons system; the research on those systems produced the information technology boom as well as Reagan’s deficits.  I’m not defending Reagan’s policies, but that’s the true history of the tech boom.  (It is no coincedence that the tech companies grew up in the same general location as the aero-space defense firms) Clinton and America merely benefited from it.

We’ve all heard how Clinton “decimated” our military, he’s backers even champion the idea.  But military spending did not fall at all under Clinton.  In fact, he kept funding the SDI and other boondoggle programs.

And then we have Russia.  Besides for him consistently championing Yeltsin, who stole every election he won, Clinton backed away from Baker’s pledge that NATO would not move “one inch eastward”.  NATO expanded right up to Russia’s doorstep, and this was a boon for American defense contractors in that the new NATO nations were forced to re-equip.  Strategically, it did permanent damage to our relations with Russia.  There is also the matter of the neo-liberal economic policies that the Clinton administration pushed for Russia.  They wiped out that country in a bad way.  But all the money that was effectively stolen from the Russian people poured into the Western markets at right about the time Clinton gets credit for the markets shattering their history.

Compared to George W. Bush, Bill Clinton is a saint and was a great president.  But my cat could win that comparison too.  The only things he did with his historic opportunity were self-serving; he never provided direction.  Even in his second term, when presidents can concentrate on presiding rather than politicking, he did not.  Why?  I don’t know.  I’ve read that he spent a lot of time researching the campaigns of female leaders…

Remember, CitiBank was “too big to fail”; media conglomeration would increase competition; and neo-liberal free-trade would put an end to the business cycle.  The bridge that Clinton built to the 21st Century has as many structural defects as that bridge in Minnesota.

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By Dave in Big Pine, January 22, 2008 at 12:53 pm #

expat

well i will agree that edwards is the least disagreeable candidate amongst the top 3, but of course that says very little. kucinich is the only one who speaks the truth and has backed it up with his voting record.
it is criminal that he is closed out of the debates. when he is given the opportunity, he makes the others look foolish.
I guess that’s why he is not allowed to play.

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By MrJJ, January 22, 2008 at 12:40 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Former President Clinton stands to reap around $20 million—and will sever a politically sensitive partnership tie to Dubai—by ending his high-profile business relationship with the investment firm of billionaire friend Ron Burkle.

Mr. Clinton is negotiating to end his relationship with Mr. Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos. as part of a broader effort to protect the presidential campaign of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, from potential conflicts of interest. Details of Mr. Clinton’s involvement in Yucaipa and his efforts to unwind it come from documents and interviews with people familiar with the matter

The former president has had links to Yucaipa since early 2002, when Mr. Burkle—a longtime friend and political contributor—offered him a role there.

Mr. Clinton’s association with the firm began at a time when he was looking to earn large amounts of money, partly to pay heavy legal bills accumulated to defend himself and Mrs. Clinton from several investigations during his presidency.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120097424021905843. html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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By Sue, January 22, 2008 at 12:38 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Bill Clinton is brilliant!

They all know it, he’s bringing in tons of ratings for all media outlets.

He’s helping Hillary win. (what’s wrong with that?)

It’s a tough world out there, Bill and Hillary’s been there done that, Obama has not reached that pinnacle yet. And it shows!

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By Louise, January 22, 2008 at 12:22 pm #

The ego as salvation. Personal conceit as policy. Callous indifference to the individual voter as all embracing love. And a Bush-like ability to ignore the hungry and cold, the dead and dying, the bombs bursting in air. And bomb makers, with profits where the human soul should be, deciding who our president will be!

So, lets quit pretending like any of it matters. We all know who owns the media. We all know why they drive the issues that define for us who we should vote for. And we all know it doesn’t matter anyway, because whoever they have already decided the leader will be, will be the leader. And [swallow hard] it may very well be a republican!

And no-one, absolutely no-one can change it! Because we still watch these stupid debates, like they mean anything. We still send dribs and drabs in to support our candidate, like we actually have a spare drib and drab to throw away, and we still, for the most part, have no idea what ANY so-called front runner stands for ... really. But we can be certain if the methodology apparent in the campaigning today continues unabated, they will all implode.

This whole exercise in “campaigning,” this whole wasted year plus has done little to serve the welfare of the nation. Probably nothing! But it has served the masters of empire well. Very well.

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By RealFish, January 22, 2008 at 12:18 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Dave iBP:

It’s very interesting. Of course, a fallacy in your comments reflects the mis-characterization represented by the emerging co-presidential candidate President Clinton’s attack on Obama.

Disclosure: I voted for Clinton twice.

Disclosure: Reagan was probably the worst thing that happened to this democracy since…well…Pat Robertson (since they were working together fist-in-glove to push forward this neocon revolution that has trashed our country and Constitution).

That being acknowledged, what Obama said had nothing to do with actual praise, so much as an acknowledgment of fact.

He didn’t say that anything Reagan did was *good* for our country. He just said that Reagan changed the course of this country and, evidenced by Reagan’s apparent cross-over popularity (Blue Dogs, anyone?), the country was receptive to his corrosive ideas.

Voodoo Economics indeed.

Yes, Obama could have expressed — and likely should have — the idea that regardless whether Reagan changed the course of the country, that the course we are now on is a bad one.

But that would almost have been redundant, since as many as 75-80% of the country now understand what a disaster hath been wrought by this change in course.

However, the once-and-future President Clinton, for all the good things he did, was unable to generate ideas big enough to change the Reagan re-direction to the dark side. If he had been able to do that, we as a country would never have allowed the current Clown King to occupy the oval office.

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By Liza, January 22, 2008 at 12:16 pm #

Bill’s recent behavior is not very hard to explain.  The Clintons are major players in the Democratic Party elite, and Hillary is the pick of the Democratic party establishment.  Obama is a threat who is stronger than expected and he must be exterminated.

Hillary has stood behind Bill for decades.  The GOP did not allow her to play the co-president role planned for her when Bill became president, and her universal health care failure is legendary.

Now it is her turn.  She has waited and worked for this.  She has stood behind Bill and put up with his philandering because he was her key to power.  Now, he owes her and he must pay.  He must get rid of Obama.

So, too bad for you, America.  You do not have a right to pick a presidential candidate.  The party picks the candidate and it is Hillary’s turn.

Got that?  It’s Hillary’s turn.  Just ask ol’Bill.

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By blueshift, January 22, 2008 at 12:01 pm #

I utterly detest this man for what he has become…and I voted for him twice! But I will vote against Hillary, if it comes to that, just to keep him out of Washington. I’d even vote for Huckster-bee.

Hillary, show some principle. You want my vote? Lose him. Fast.

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By Expat, January 22, 2008 at 11:54 am #

I don’t know; guilty as charged.  But he sure “sounded’ good compared to the bullshit bickering between Hill and Bama.  I know, I know, they’re all crap; I know this, I just can’t surpress the glimmer of hope I occasionally see in the one cramned down our throats!  God, it really is hopeless!

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By Dave in Big Pine, January 22, 2008 at 11:43 am #

expat

remember, edwards’ voting record differs little from the other trolls. some of what he says sounds great, but has he ever voted that way? was this is mantra in 2000?

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By Dave in Big Pine, January 22, 2008 at 11:31 am #

kiss

you are so right. the sad truth is that it doesn’t matter who is elected. liberal or conservative is just another word for corporate minion.

they murder, cheat, lie, and steal without batting an eye or losing a second of sleep.

in ancient rome the generals had to be out there on the battle field with their troops facing the arrows. too bad the same is not true today.

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By Conservative Yankee, January 22, 2008 at 11:31 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

KISS, January 22 at 6:00 am

We are sure on the same page.

If Clinton,with NAFTA, murder of Iraqi children, his Walmart board-member, and Tyson Chicken wife, was the “good presidency” and GWB is the bad presidency, neither of them have far to walk when visiting!

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By troublesum, January 22, 2008 at 11:30 am #

It seems that many people haven’t had enough of the Bill and Hillary show like they couldn’t get enough of Nixon before and after his demise.  It’s pathological.  This country rejects or murders its best leaders and champions the corrupt.

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By Expat, January 22, 2008 at 11:08 am #

^did you listen to Edwards in the debate?  He is so far above their petty bickering; they don’t even register on the Richter scale.  Let them fight while Edwards goes for the substance.  WOW!

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By KISS, January 22, 2008 at 11:00 am #

ER is on a different universe from this one: “Bill Clinton’s brilliance was in the way he surveyed the post-Reagan landscape and figured out how to redefine and reposition the Democratic Party” Yup He gave the old blood repugs the new Dimmo party. He build a surplus budget by doing a way with infrastructure, He put millions of people, unable to work, on the streets with his wel-fare reform,. He put thousands and thousands of workers out of their homes with Free-Trade Agreements. As a Blackman, how do you forgive him for Rhodesia? This scoundrel should sit next to Bush for his criminal acts…not a loose zipper.

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By Dave in Big Pine, January 22, 2008 at 9:15 am #

well, well. it seems the clinton bashing is still the sport of the day. the author of this article is simply scraping the bottom of the ceptic tank this time.
why would you object to the fighting? because it exposes obama for what he is? for what h. clinton is? i think it’s great. why wouldn’t you go after obama for bringing up reagan? is shows you where he really stands and what his presidency would be like. why wouldn’t you want that brought up to contrast with his vision of “progress” and “hope”?
and lastly, why would you slam b. clinton presidency on not changing the world? the president is supposed to change the united states, that’s what they are elected to do.
reagan was dangerous, he certainly is not a figure to be admired and praised. he was transformational to be sure, but for the worse. obama deserves every shot taken at him for praising him.

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By Jacks, January 22, 2008 at 8:57 am #

Your bias has been obvious since the Clinton years—and I’m not even a Clinton supporter.  The question should be what’s gotten into you?  You giggled on the Olbermann report about how the press hated Hillary Clinton so much she’d get attacked no matter what she did.  You purposely misinterpreted her absolutely benign comments on MLK/LBJ, choosing to racialize them and inflame tension needlessly, going so far as to even scold her by saying, “We, black America, don’t need to be lectured on the legacy of MLK.”  Unbelievable!

You knew full well she was responding specifically to Obama’s remarks on MLK and said that the civil rights movement needed a potent political partner to make the power of his dream a reality in people’s lives.  Even Bill Moyers called you—the corporate press—out.

The corporate press is not out to inform but to SELL PAPERS.  After demonizing the Clintons—and liberalism itself—for decades obviously anti-Clinton, anti-liberal pieces sell well.  If I was Bill Clinton I’d be pissed too (And I can’t stand the man!).  Imagine if the press—including Mr. Robinson—dared to take Bush/Cheney to task with just a FRACTION of the zeal they showed in hunting down the Clintons on Whitewater or Monica.  The bastards would’ve been impeached years ago!

The corporate press is determined to decide our candidates for us: it refused to cover the tremendous candidacy of Edwards and boosted Obama, a man who perpetuated the MYTHS of Reagan, with a glaring double standard.  Why didn’t you attack Obama for having sent out Jesse Jackson, Jr. to launch an outrageous racial attack against Hillary Clinton after NH?  Why didn’t you attack Obama for his supporter, Michael Eric Dyson, who said that critics of Obama are indirecly racists and those who voted for others were likely racists?  Why didn’t you go after Obama when he refused to denounce that race-baiting Spanish ad in Nevada run by UNITE-HERE, which ran after the “truce” and since he had unfairly slammed Edwards on 527s?  Why didn’t you attack Obama for having homophobic bigots campaign on his behalf, exploiting hate for political gain?  Why do you continue to present Obama as anti-war when he has the same damn voting record on Iraq as Clinton?

At least with Edwards and Clinton, we get answers.  With Obama, we get the empty rhetoric of a man who’s the LEAST progressive of the three!  Check their voting records: Obama either defers to the establishment or tilts right.

The hell with this.  Read The Daily Howler instead: http://dailyhowler.com/

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By Expat, January 22, 2008 at 8:42 am #

^if he is a hindrance or a help.  I don’t like his “new” style.  Obama needs to get a grip as well.  He’s sounding rather rhetorical lately, as though he doesn’t really have anything substantive to say.  It’s early, but late, as this shit has been going on for far too long this go-round.  They just started too early and that may yet bite them both in the ass.

Outraged, I agree, “philosopher-king”?  Not in my memory.

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By Douglas Chalmers, January 22, 2008 at 8:30 am #

Quote Eugene Robinson: “Both Clintons have trouble hiding their annoyance at Obama’s impertinence….”

Poor old Bill, eh? If you can’t find a way to attack Hillary, you’ll have a go at him instead, uhh.

Well, actually Bill Clinton has “toned it down” except for BO’s recent impertinence. He has had to accept that he is not even going to be in the White House for most of the time even if Hillary is there.

One of the things that will happen is that he will be sent off on missions (a) because he has some value and (b) because it is an excellent way to get rid of him while Hillary hogs the limelight…...

But, actually, the Clinton presidency did change the world in some ways. One was with the bombing of Belgrade which was the direct forerunner of the bombing of Baghdad. Supporting the military-industrial complex was, of course, the beginning of the end for the USA’s domestic economy.

I hope that Hillary has got that reconciled as a negative now that the US military has just come up with “The first use of nuclear weapons must remain in the quiver of escalation as the ultimate instrument to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction…” http://www.guardian.co.uk/nato/story/0,,2244782,00.html

I hope we can all see that today or we really will be shoved down the chute into a new kind of war which will not only be unwinnable but will ensure an ever-increasing contaminating background radiation count wherever you live. That is, there will be no coming back from whatever happens next if that madness is ever put into action.

Bill Clinton might have redefined and repositioned the Democratic Party but it was already viable again in order to elect him. Sometimes, the journalists here on Truthdig really are so-oo dumb! Thus, of course, his years as a president are not such a big deal in some respects.

But what the Democratic candidates who are running this year, including Obama, do owe their own party is some respect and gratitude, though. This can be shown by not attacking each other and by coalescing into a cohesive front to contest the final election.

After all, this is not really about a “Clinton Restoration” or even “Bill Clinton’s legacy”. It is about throwing a dictatorship out of power first and a woman who has fought against the odds of her own husband’s foolishness winning on her own merit in the end.

There is nothing wrong that Obama has “set his sights higher” than what has happened in the past. He does add a new dimension that Rice and Powell have not quite so illustriously begun. His presence underlines the need for change - and that is a good thing.

Pity, then, that he has not been so progressive as he could have been.  It would have cut just as well with his following if he really did “oppose all wars” and that he was awake about the economy and social welfare. After this week’s events, everyone will have to be now, anyway.

By the way, Eugene Robinson, why didn’t you include Edwards in your whining? This is about finding another way to bash Hillary again, isn’t it???

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By Outraged, January 22, 2008 at 8:06 am #

Sorry Eugene but I just have to take issue with this “philosopher-king” designation you’ve given to ol’ Bill.  Have I missed something….?  Eugene you said philosopher-king…?  Well, I guess I don’t have words for that….at least currently they have completely escaped me.  Now, I’ll give ya this, that’s not quite often someone can just leave me speechless…......LOL!

Good one!

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By kath cantarella, January 22, 2008 at 6:49 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

What’s gotten into Billy boy? Have you seen the vitriol that has been thrown at his wife?

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