I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
God, I miss him.
expected Drudge headline:
Clinton shocker: "...I fell in love with these kids!..."
developing...
MORE: "I asked them to perform..."
What a sweet and sad story. No doubt the thugs will bitch about Klinton biting his lip, emoting,and the usual sex inuendo. I miss Bill!
Remember when your President could tell unscripted annecdotes? *sigh*
Great story. Reminds me of the one in Richard Clarks book at the service for the Lockerbie (sic?) disaster in Scotland. Clinton knelt beside a little boy whos father had been killed as they said a prayer. Clinton whispered something to the boy and Clark asked him what he'd said.
"I lost my father when I was young, too." said Pres. Clinton.
I'm convinced both Clinton and Kerry are good blokes. I doubt even God could convince me Bush is.
Those kids must have inspired him to oppose the Drug War.
Right?
Boy, isn't it great we have a Compassionate Conservative in office today, not that callous bastard?
/sarcasm
What a wuss. A real man, like me, keeps dangerous things as souvenirs, like guns.
Here's a link for the picture of Clinton with the bracelet:
bracelet
I much prefer Wonkette's take.
It's really not fair to mock
The size of Republican cock.
They're abnormally small,
But they try to stand tall,
When a little girl strips off her frock.
From the article:
Just before Clinton left office, Arafat thanked him for all his efforts and told the president he was a great man. "'Mr Chairman,' I replied, 'I am not a great man. I am a failure, and you have made me one.'"
Burn!
The man is an artist.
Like most people who walk upright, he provides a stark contrast to the Primate in Chief.
Can you imagine our current president being able to express compassion like this--especially for poor people?
God, I miss the Big Dog.
That's really compassionate. I wonder wether he cried about any of the Colombians killed by the paramilitary forces that he supported with the Colombia plan. I wonder if he cried about any of the victims of the indiscriminate spraying of defoliants, causing birth defects and cancer in the peasant population. I wonder if, when someone asked him about any of this, he'd quote Madelaine Albright (speaking of the at least 250,000 Iraqi children dying because of the sanctions regime posed by the UN under the British and the US) "I think the price is worth it."
I'm sure he feels the same way.
Clinton's record on Colombia is one of the dark spots in his presidency as far as I'm concerned. He gave millions to a govt that his own state dept said didn't meet the human rights standards Leahy set. The result was massive government violence and counterinsurgency and poverty. Yes the narcos are bad folks but this fairy tale about beautiful women and children hides the complicated history of Colombia mistreatment of the campesinos.
Whatever...did you know the meetings never ran on time in the Clinton administration? In the Bush administration the meetings always run on time. Other things can be compromised, but ontime meetings with agendas that everyone sticks too..._that's_ the essence of good government!
And now a compassionate message from the Whitehouse:
It's like this , see. I'm a campassionate conservative. I'm a compassionate conservative because I'm a leader, see. What you have to know is that leading is important. I'm a leader because I'm a compassionate conservative. I have touched dark children on their heads, see. That makes me compassionate and a leader. A better leader than your old Big Dog. There. Nyah, nyah, nyah.
That's right, Fitz, he's just Satan in a suit. There's no good in him. Don't forget to mention he once got a blowjob from someone not his wife.
And then go crawl away into some stinking corner with the rest of the supporters of the miserable failure, the one who has killed tens of thousands with his callousness and his incompetence, the one who mocks people before their execution, the cokebug drunkard whose own children are following in his footsteps, whose compassion is all hat and no trousers, a public display of concern that belies the arrogant unconcern he displays towards anyone who can't give a minimum of ten thousand to his campaigns.
You can BS all you want about what Clinton did or didn't do. He made his mistakes, but he is an essentially decent man and George Bush, who won't own up to a single mistake, is an essentially arrogant liar. It isn't even a close contest between those two.
I remember back in the days of the 1990's age of peace and prosperity, the press barracudas were making fun of Clinton's tie. "Hoo,hoo what's with that TIE?" one of them asked. Clinton explained that the tie was made by a group of children to sell for an AIDS charity. He urged all the press doggies to buy one. They were, appropriate, thoroughly chastened and embarrassed, slinking away and moving on to other subjects.
Ahhhhhh to have a coherent President again......
The Clinton presidency was unquestionably better than the Bush presidency. And it is nice to hear someone who was in the White House who is intelligent, intellectually curious, and capable of telling a moving anecdote. But I completely agree with all of those who remain infuriated by the yawning gap between the noises Clinton makes (and made) and the actual policies of his administration. I'd hope that Clinton is smart enough that, lurking beneath the surface of this self-serving story, is more than a little guilt for pursuing policies that helped lead to the death of Consuelo [don't Colombian ministers -- even hot female ones -- get last names?] and her many compatriots.
At any rate, now that the world knows the heinous secret of the Clinton Mystery Bracelet, Drudge has blown it off his front page.
Replaced with "Sales slow in Florida".
Fucking little worm. When La Revolucion comes, we whack him, day one. I hereby volunteer.
[2004 Disclaimer: It's CONSTITUTIONALLY-PROTECTED SATIRE, John, you singing, crossworshipping fuck...]
BenA:
I'm betting that "Consuelo" probably isn't the woman's real name. If he were to give out her true full name, what's left of her family is endangered.
But of course, it's much more fun to ignore this and try to use her as a club to beat on the Evil Satan Bill.
WallyCox -
That was great. Thanks.
Here we have numb-nutted morons that nitpick at anything Billy C did but refuse to acknowledge that the Bumbling Bush Boy is a true joke of a leader, a man, a human being, etc.
Their days are numbered.
Replaced with "Sales slow in Florida".
"Fraud At Polls!"-- New York Inquirer
Whoa: did Drudge scrub his official archives of this story? That link is to a timeline of the Drudge Report throughout the day yesterday, and I don't see the story anywhere in it. The photo is also missing from the image archive (warning: decapitation photos included). Is Drudge so embarrassed by his own crap that he's tossing it down the memory hole?
And as far as Colombia goes, neither the paras nor the folks they're fighting are exactly nice guys. The common people, as usual, wind up in the crossfire.
Clinton picked the group his advisers told him was the least crazy and the most likely to promote stability in the region. And stability is important. You can't feed yourself if you can't grow crops, and you can't grow crops if you're dodging bullets or machetes.
All I want is a president who can string more than 5 words together into a coherent sentence. Is that too much to ask?
Matt Drudge an asshole? Go figure.
Oh well, OT, more Newsphoto fun, special Republican Governor's edition.
You folks are easily impressed.
Reagan could express compassion too, but he was also capable of supporting death squads all over the globe. Same for Dubya. Hell, there's a story about Dubya standing up to one of his racist supporters in South Carolina that I read once which was very impressive, unless you know about how he conducted his primary campaign there.
Hot newsflash--Clinton isn't that different. He stood up for human rights in some places, and sided with the murderers in others. He stood up to Milosevic in Kosovo, but armed the Turkish military when it was committing similar atrocities against its Kurds. Everyone knows about Clinton's overlooking of genocide in Rwanda--read Howard French's book on Africa (A Continent for the Taking) and you'll find out that if anything, his Africa policy went downhill from there.
In this particular case Clinton is condemning the leftwing guerillas in Colombia who are drug traffickers. Fine--FARC is a collection of murderous thugs. But so is the Colombian military--I wonder if Clinton is wearing any bracelets from the children of the people they killed. There are probably more of them, unless they murdered the kids with the parents.
The point is, expression of sentiment is cheap--anyone can cry a river over the crimes of their enemies.
I 'd take Clinton over Bush the way I'd prefer pneumonia to Ebola, and will vote for Kerry, but this is on the basis of a firm commitment to "lesser of two evilism", not because I want to replace a Republican cult of personality with one for a Democrat.
Is Drudge so embarrassed by his own crap that he's tossing it down the memory hole?
It's not the crap that embarrasses Drudge -- it's the idea that he may have shown something that reflects well on That Evil DEMONcrat Clinton.
Hey Wallycox,
I disagree with almost everything that W has done (that do-not-call-list may be the one glowing spot on his record). I was out there protesting the Iraq invasion before it happened. The last thing I could ever be called is a bushie. I'm just tired of the constant fawning over the Big Dawg. I don't care about Monica, I think the Whitewater thing was a joke, etc. I do think he was a much better leader than our current one. Grover Cleveland's corpse would be a better president than W. I just think that him acting like he did ANYTHING to curb human rights abuses in Colombia would be like Reagan's people talking about how he advocated the rights of unions - a complete sham.
Cripes, Fitz, Clinton was expressing concern about a tragic death of someone he knew personally. I guess in your opinion his big flaw is that he just doesn't have an arm big enough to fit 7 billion bracelets.
WallyCox:
Criticizing Clinton implies nothing about Shrubya. I think that there were a lot of things Clinton did wrong (Columbia being one of them); however, I'm still nostalgic for his presidency and despise the current administration. I'm not sure if Fitz feels the same way, but reading his post, you can't be either.
attaturk sez:
Matt Drudge an asshole? Go figure.
Think of the eggs, man. Think of the eggs!
.
The Guardian interview the bracelet story was taken from is superb. Don't miss it!
I disagreed with Clinton on a lot of things. Quite frankly, I'm going to disagree with pretty much every preznit on a lot of things. I miss Clinton dearly because he and I could probably have a wonderful, civil debate about the things upon which we violently disagree. Bush? I wouldn't even drink a beer with the guy.
It all comes down to stability, Donald Johnson.
One of the big reasons that sane people put the violent overthrow of Saddam waaaaaay down on the Things To Do List was because of the hellish amounts of death, rapine and general havoc that would and did result.
Clinton picked a lot of the wrong folks to support -- he still regrets being conned by Pakistan into backing the Taliban -- but much of the time, he picked them for the right reasons, and the wrongness wasn't apparent until much later.
Perhaps I'm imparting too much subtlety to this rough, crude man - and Clinton's neglect of US latin American "policy" was a noticeable blot on his record, yes :
But, GW Bush's Latin American policies are probably worse. Clinton's bracelet certainly turned my attention towards Columbia. But, maybe he's just hustling his book.
Bushboy is a bumbling, mumbler of malaprops
He also makes frequent flip flops
He'll use lies to promote
War by congressional vote
And should be frog-marched from the WH by cops.
God, I miss Bill.
That bastard!
Notice the leer in his voice when he talks about how " magnificently attractive" this "Consuelo" is. The old lech is up to his old....
Oh, sorry.... wrong thread.
Wrong site. Wrong planet.
What NTodd said.
Attaturk 8:44 am ,
those pictures were hilarious! thanks for sharing.....
-
I'd noticed that braclet on one of the interviews and wondered what it was myself. Thanks for sharing.
You understand that right-wing paramilitaries in Colombia are pretty closely associated with the Colombian government and that killing union activists at Coca-Cola is among their many hobbies?
http://www.google.com/search?q=c...=utf-8&oe=utf-
8
Look, Clinton's better than Bush, but I wish I hadn't voted for the "Big Dawg." I'm joining everyone here who's going after the beatified Clinton of blessed memory, the good guy in a purile good guy/bad guy narrative.
Sure, the wingers hated Clinton. Sure, he's eloquent. Probably did some good things. But his support of Plan Colombia, his neglect of genocide in Rwanda via thug M Albright, his enthusiasm for NAFTA and WTO, which have done nothing he promised and everything I expected them to do, his support of Welfare "Reform," and so on, well, with all that, how can any of us be Clinton supporters?
Just because one guy is kicking poor people in the face doesn't mean you have to like the guy who's kicking them in the ass.
. . .and yes, I'm a reformed Nadar voter and will be voting for Kerry in the fall.
If Bill hasn't taken the bracelet off for two years, how come this is the first time anyone's noticed it?
I hope there are some photos a year or two old where it is visible. Otherwise, Drudge will have the last laugh.
On the other hand Clinton didn't say he's been wearing it on his wrist...
I like to think one of the things that makes us different from the Wingnuts is that we can and will criticize our own. I am no fan of Clinton. I recognize some things he did well, and I'd vote for oneof his genital warts before I would sit thru another Bush admin. But it's OK to point out Clinton did some bad shit. And I'm not talking about interns.
I realize fear of losing an elections drives us to some of the same lockstep hysteria the Right suffers so dramatically from, but let's not lose our ability to criticize what's wrong, even if it's our man.
i've seen the bracelet before. Just because it's the first time drudge noticed it, doesn't mean it's the first time anyone noticed it.
smarter monkeys please
Interesting listening to Clinton on NPR this morning, interviewed by Juan "I'm for Bush!" Williams.
Cogent, intelligent, eloquent, with a full grasp of the facts and ableo to rattle off details of events now several years old.
Contrasted with the current POTUS, who can only speak in Sunday School generalities and clearly either doesn't know his policies are directly contradictory to his public statements, or hopes we don't notice.
Clinton was caught in the line signing books, and he sounded like he was having a great time, although he'd signed 2000 copies, according to the report. Try to imagine Bush sitting still long enough to simply exchange pleasantries with 2000 people.
Bush is toast, despite Juan Williams' best editorial efforts. This kind of thing is going to make people realize what they lost. Kerry's no Clinton, but this election will be a referendum on Bush, and I think the voters will be willing to take a chance on someone else, rather than stick with the petulant bully-child.
He's been wearing it for a couple of years, and explained it from the beginning.
When we talk about Plan Colombia, we must also talk about John McCain.
I agree with NTodd. There are certainly things that I miss about his presidency (he could speak English, for one thing). I watched him at the Book Expo talking about his book a few weeks ago on C-Span and I felt, like I'm sure many of you do now, a real sense of loss since he's no longer in office. I think that he could be a great policy wonk. In the past week, what with the wall-to-wall big dawg coverage, it's made me think about how much I DO miss the guy. There was a sense that I had and a lot of my friends had that we could actually change the things that were going on that we didn't like. That we could get behind somebody who could actually make the country better, and I thank him for that. But, that does not stop me from reflecting on the things that I didn't like (Colombia Plan, Rwanda, Defense of Marriage act, Senate Crime Bill and the new federal crimes that can get capital punishment, nafta, welfare reform, wto, etc.) and thinking about the things that I did (his record on declassifying records, Family Medical Leave Act, etc.)
I respect him and I think that he's infinitely better than W. I just happen to think that Clinton was a moderate republican. Bush is an extreme republican.
Atrios, He may have been wearing it for the last two years, but it wouldn't take very many photos of him without it to get Drudge gloating.
Smart monkeys are prudent monkeys.
Robert M. Jeffers -- what you said. That interview was amazing, mostly because that's what it was like to have a President who can speak extemporaneously on just about any damn thing, as opposed to the drooling cretin we've got now, who can't even say the name of the site of his biggest scandal after rehearsing.
Everyone has flaws, everyone has problems. But we as a nation were lucky to have Bill Clinton as President, and we can never forget or forgive the VRWC for fucking everything up.
Man. Some of the venom spewed at Clinton here is amazing. Listen: He wasn't perfect, and I'm unaware of anyone who is suggesting he is.
As President, he supported good policies sometimes and bad policies at other times. I personally, for example, wished he was less enamored with free trade and more interested in environmental matters.
But those differences don't erase the point that here is a man who can truly understand the plight of disadvantaged people when he personally is confronted with them.
Did his policies address persecution everywhere? Hell no. As president, he made calculations about policies that you or I may not fully understand. He made decisions that turned out to be wrong. He sometimes supported "A" when he should have supported "B."
But I suspect Atrios posted this note to shine a light on the difference, at a human level, between presidents 42 and 43.
Think about it - Bush claims to feel compassion, but anyone who has studied his history, his actions, his personality, and his presidency can see pretty quickly that here is a man who doesn't give a rat's ass about poor people. He knows he should (the Bible tells him to - or so he's been told), but it's just not part of his nature. And yet Bush is viewed by many good, honest, God-fearing people to be a good man. Humble. Christian. A "regular guy."
Clinton, who is held in deep disregard by many of those same people, is everything Bush is not. He does care. He can feel. He can communicate. He exudes intelligence.
As I said above - he isn't perfect. But Damn! Who do you think the pantheon of our greatest presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR) would pick as a better president?
Thanks for posting this Atrios.
I agree with NTodd. There are certainly things that I miss about his presidency (he could speak English, for one thing). I watched him at the Book Expo talking about his book a few weeks ago on C-Span and I felt, like I'm sure many of you do now, a real sense of loss since he's no longer in office. I think that he could be a great policy wonk. In the past week, what with the wall-to-wall big dawg coverage, it's made me think about how much I DO miss the guy. There was a sense that I had and a lot of my friends had that we could actually change the things that were going on that we didn't like. That we could get behind somebody who could actually make the country better, and I thank him for that. But, that does not stop me from reflecting on the things that I didn't like (Colombia Plan, Rwanda, Defense of Marriage act, Senate Crime Bill and the new federal crimes that can get capital punishment, nafta, welfare reform, wto, etc.) and thinking about the things that I did (his record on declassifying records, Family Medical Leave Act, etc.)
I respect him and I think that he's infinitely better than W. I just happen to think that Clinton was a moderate republican. Bush is an extreme republican.
Clinton had sex with that bracelet and lied about it under oath.
Clinton's obsession with bracelets caused Osama to escape and the entire 9/11 fiasco.
Clinton's spending on bracelets created the recession for the fiscally responsible GOP.
Clinton's immoral use of bracelets stands against everything this country stands for.
Clinton's wearing of a bracelet is an obvious sign of his homosexuality.
Clinton's bracelet was purchased through a shady real estate deal in Arkansas.
Ken Starr appointed special Bracelet prosecutor.
Matt Drudge needs to be voted off the Internet.
I just read wastrel's post and had a change of heart. I don't mean to tear the guy down. I just can't get over the chasm between his image and his policies. I don't mean to foam at the mouth. Sorry.
Fitz
I agree with NTodd. There are certainly things that I miss about his presidency (he could speak English, for one thing). I watched him at the Book Expo talking about his book a few weeks ago on C-Span and I felt, like I'm sure many of you do now, a real sense of loss since he's no longer in office. I think that he could be a great policy wonk. In the past week, what with the wall-to-wall big dawg coverage, it's made me think about how much I DO miss the guy. There was a sense that I had and a lot of my friends had that we could actually change the things that were going on that we didn't like. That we could get behind somebody who could actually make the country better, and I thank him for that. But, that does not stop me from reflecting on the things that I didn't like (Colombia Plan, Rwanda, Defense of Marriage act, Senate Crime Bill and the new federal crimes that can get capital punishment, nafta, welfare reform, wto, etc.) and thinking about the things that I did (his record on declassifying records, Family Medical Leave Act, etc.)
I respect him and I think that he's infinitely better than W. I just happen to think that Clinton was a moderate republican. Bush is an extreme republican.
I agree with NTodd. There are certainly things that I miss about his presidency (he could speak English, for one thing). I watched him at the Book Expo talking about his book a few weeks ago on C-Span and I felt, like I'm sure many of you do now, a real sense of loss since he's no longer in office. I think that he could be a great policy wonk. In the past week, what with the wall-to-wall big dawg coverage, it's made me think about how much I DO miss the guy. There was a sense that I had and a lot of my friends had that we could actually change the things that were going on that we didn't like. That we could get behind somebody who could actually make the country better, and I thank him for that. But, that does not stop me from reflecting on the things that I didn't like (Colombia Plan, Rwanda, Defense of Marriage act, Senate Crime Bill and the new federal crimes that can get capital punishment, nafta, welfare reform, wto, etc.) and thinking about the things that I did (his record on declassifying records, Family Medical Leave Act, etc.)
I respect him and I think that he's infinitely better than W. I just happen to think that Clinton was a moderate republican. Bush is an extreme republican.
Funnily enough, there was a thread on Fark.com about the strange case of Clinton's bracelet: no doubt it treated Clinton in a less balanced fashion than does this thread and indeed the blogger who hosts it.
my posts are in inverse order. and sorry about the multiple posts.
or I'm schizophrenic.
no I'm not
yes you are
no I'm not
Phredd said:
"Attaturk 8:44 am ,
those pictures were hilarious! thanks for sharing.....
Thanks Phredd, it does my blogwhoring little heart good to be thanked.
Fitz, I take it you agree with NTodd.
That's why this man is "The Big Dog!"
Can't fool me, Fitz. You're secretly Madrox the Multiple Man. (/fanboy)
Greatest president ever.
Chock up another one for "I miss the Big Dawg." Even if, as Hillary has said, he a tough dog to "keep on the porch!"
As Joseph Wilson says about Clinton in his book, "The Politics of Truth," this President "gets it!"
Ahhh, wOOt boobies. My day is better.
Fitz, I take it you agree with NTodd.
LOL!
Miss him. 
Want him back. Want Idiot gone.
In our house we're wistful for the imperfect Bill every time we see him talk. Does anyone seriously believe that the empty suit persona of our president can stand up to two weeks of first Reagan and then Clinton nostalgia? Swing Reagan voters were also many of the swing Clinton voters, can many of them still bear voting for the chimp after Ronald's videotaped and Clinton's current masterful performances. (Not a Reagan lover but a realist).
Willy
The Last Legally Elected President.
Big Dog.
Who didn't piss like a pup.
The simple difference in character between Clinton and Bush is..Clinton loves kids and Bush loves frogs....or violence in general! its ssooooo excititng
In our house we're wistful for the imperfect Bill every time we see him talk. Does anyone seriously believe that the empty suit persona of our president can stand up to two weeks of first Reagan and then Clinton nostalgia? Swing Reagan voters were also many of the swing Clinton voters, can many of them still bear voting for the chimp after Ronald's videotaped and Clinton's current masterful performances. (Not a Reagan lover but a realist).
Willy
I just received this month's issue of National Geographic, which has a long story with pictures about life in the Colombian cocaine farming areas. Clinton's story makes me nervous about retributions for the many people pictured in the article.
A puny bracelet! Why, it's a riot! A real president shows Saddam's gun, not a puny bracelet!
(/irony)
Jeebus, quit breaking haloscan folks!
Jake, check my homepage - keep it up!
pmacfar,
got that FARC article in the mail yesterday. I glanced through it yesterday, and it is rather amazing.
Bill (may I call him Bill?) is so unconscious about the implications his detractors will make about the "magnificently attractive" Conseulo. But, damnit, that's why I love-as well as admire-him, he's so maddeningly, magnificently human.
Everything the Stepford President and his dark natured handlers are not.
I truly miss having someone with the capacity to experience genuine emotion in the white house. god i'm sick of Smirky Pisspot who thinks he's jesus.
Clinton was a great president, certainly the smartest since Wilson, the most charming since Roosevelt 2, the most pragmatic since Lincoln, the most in tune with Jefferson-Jackson amplitude, the clearest thinker since Truman, the most articulate since Kennedy, the hardest worker since Polk, the best dresser since Martin Van Buren, the most fun-loving since Cleveland, and though few men are perfect, he was.
I'll meet all skeptics down the road in the record books, and you'd better bring better doubts than the world has so far seen.
I didn't know it was "venomous" to point out that Clinton supported bad people and bad policies. I was reacting to the swooning going on in some of the posts before mine. Yes, Clinton is very intelligent and charming and all that and maybe if we were a better country, he'd have been a better President. Clinton was good on some things and terrible on others and in many cases it was his fault. But of course he's better than Bush--a real bush would be a better President than Bush.
Kerry in 2004--not because he's good, but because he's not as bad.
Though I hope he'll be better than I expect. Put that on a bumper sticker.
Sure, he has serious flaws, but his compassion is genuine and is what moved so many to vote for him. Yes, he's articulate, and that is sorely missed. But even more, IMHO, is the fact that we actually had a president who was thinking about how to make this country better for years to come. He knew what it was like to grow up with little and he never lost sight of the problems of working people. His health care plan may have been political poison, but it didn't stop him from investing his whole being (and his wife's) in the effort. Just as he invested himself in the mideast peace process. Just as he went out on a limb over Haiti and Kosovo. The man put himself on the line to do good. He was wildly popular abroad, and we benefitted from that good will. Anyone travelled abroad lately? We could use a little more of that support since Bush pissed it away.
"I'm convinced both Clinton and Kerry are good blokes. I doubt even God could convince me Bush is." - mark
I don't know enough about Kerry. I know that Clinton has done some bad things in his life - both personally (the affairs) and professionally (his ties to Entergy, etc.). But in many ways, Clinton is just a "good ol' boy" from the sticks. There does seem to be a certain underlying decency about him as a person (even if as a politician he is as unctuous as they come) - he really does feel your pain, even if he doesn't really do anything politically to help you out.
Of course, from the point of view of the right, empathy is not macho enough to be a virtue but is rather a weakness. Those of us who are smart, though, realize that empathy is a great strength. If you can empathize with your friends, you will be a better friend. If you can empathize with your enemies, you will know their motivations and thus be best able to cut them off at the pass - or maybe even turn your enemy into your friend!
"Who is strong? He who converts an enemy into a friend." - Abot de-Rabbi Natan (23)
I miss him, too. God I hate Bush.
"certainly the smartest since Wilson"
How do you mean "smart"? If you mean in terms of bookish intelligence (IQ), I suspect nuclear-engineer Carter is the smartest since Wilson (though Clinton is up there). If you mean in terms of political instict, Clinton is far smarter than Wilson himself (as were many other presidents).
If you mean some sort of combination, I might give you that.
I watched that BBC interview (Drum has the link) and you know, ol' Bill tells us how he decides on the right thing to do -- whether it's good for the little guy, not whether it's good for insiders. I miss my big dog and his big warm heart.
Whatever...did you know the meetings never ran on time in the Clinton administration? In the Bush administration the meetings always run on time.
That's 'cause Clinton is a true Southerner and not some Yankee pretending to be Southerner.
Believe you me, being late to something down here is only frowned upon by Northerners and those with a stick up their butt.
Disclaimer: I'm a Northern Michigan Yankee living in North Carolina, so it's not like I'm a Southerner slagging on Northerners. I'm just a carpetbagger. LOL
Whatever...did you know the meetings never ran on time in the Clinton administration? In the Bush administration the meetings always run on time.
That's 'cause Clinton is a true Southerner and not some Yankee pretending to be Southerner.
Believe you me, being late to something down here is only frowned upon by Northerners and those with a stick up their butt.
Disclaimer: I'm a Northern Michigan Yankee living in North Carolina, so it's not like I'm a Southerner slagging on Northerners. I'm just a carpetbagger. LOL
And apparently, those of us in the South like to double post.
"Sanjay to the front with Windex!"
I miss turning on the TV and being able to both stand and understand what the president says.
I'm betting that "Consuelo" probably isn't the woman's real name. If he were to give out her true full name, what's left of her family is endangered.
But of course, it's much more fun to ignore this and try to use her as a club to beat on the Evil Satan Bill.
Anonymous,
Since "Consuelo" was the _culture minister of a large country_ her name is hardly a secret, and so I rather doubt that Clinton is protecting anyone. At any rate, Clinton's Colombia policy was a disaster regardless of what you call her.
And, no, I don't think Clinton was "Evil Satan Bill." As I said, he was infinitely better than our current president, but that's an awfully low point of comparison (a bit like those Rethugs who defend Abu Ghraib by saying that at least we're better than Saddam).
My view of Clinton, FWIW: brilliant politician, very thoughtful person with some nearly tragic personality flaws, and an enormously competent president who led this country in the wrong direction on a host of issues. I don't see Clinton as evil or satanic in any way. I just profoundly disagree with him on a whole series of policy issues.
has that pendulum started swinging the other way yet? i am real;ly sick and tired of the SCLM.
Boy. I had some HUGE problems with Clinton while he was in office.
But the fact that I actually believe what he said in this story REALLY puts things into perspective.
Four more years!
Why is liking punannie a character flaw? Look, Big Dog's only flaw, IMHO, is that he made shitty policy decisions. I could have given two motherfucks where he was dipping his dowser rod. If he was taking care of biz (which he was, for the most part), then what he does in his own time is his biz. The Repiglicants and Pulpit humpers hated him because he dared to care about somebody other than himself. Clinton was my kind of crook; the gentleman crook who lines his pockets and yours. Bushy Bitchboy is a spoiled little frat jock who can't hold his liquor and expects God to clean up his shit.
Now run and tell your mama 'bout that...
Oh well, OT, more Newsphoto fun, special Republican Governor's edition.
So I followed attaturk's link, and lo and behold, what do I see? Mitt Romney in a sweater. A sweater! Clearly, as any one who followed the Democratic presidential primary knows, this is a sign of some horrible character flaw. What that flaw is, exactly, we haven't determined, but Romney is clearly some sort of doppleganger, trying to pose as something he's not. And no, it's not possible that he wore the sweater because he's cold. Or likes sweaters.
OK, he's had the bracelet for two years. It obviously clashes with most suits, which is what he's wearing almost all the time publicly. So we have to assume he's been asked about the thing numerous times. But STILL, he gets a catch in his voice, a tear in his eye? Give me a break. That is just a testament to how polished the act is. Like everyone else here has said, I would take him back from the current asswipe we have now in a heartbeat but this does give you some insight on why the right finds this man so unpalatable. Oh yes, there is also the matter of the hypocrisy given the number of deaths caused by his administration of the Great Game that all who proceeded him and all who will follow him practice.
On balance though, yeah, it does make me miss him just as a matter of competence.
Donald J: what, like
johnkerryisadouchebagbutimvotingforhimanyway.com?
It does exist (if I've got it right?).
All these people pointing out Clinton's flaws seem to be missing the point.
We know he's flawed. He knows he's flawed, and he's able to admit when he made mistakes.
That is why we appreciate him. Not for being a perfect president, because he just wasn't. But he was a human being, which is something I can't say with certainty about the current occupants of the White House.
Someone up thread wanted to know if The Big Dog actually has worn the bracelet for two years. I can attest that he had it on last year at his library "topping off" ceremony in May. I have a beautiful picture of him reaching across to shake someone's hand and it is clearly visible. I was within three feet of him when I took it. There is also a thread at Salon TT in which those of us who were there, discussed the bracelet, where it came from and what it meant to him. the bracelet story was well known over a year ago.
Seraphiel - good point ... I do not know about all other religious traditions, but a fundamental aspect of the Jewish, Christian and various Chinese religious/ethical traditions is the emphasis on being (as we put it in Yiddish) "a mensch" ... being human and striving to be the best human you can.
It is futile to expect perfection, but it is important to do good, to be a decent person, etc. Perhaps (at least in Judaism and Christianity) the key step to this is realizing that you are a "sinner" - realizing your imperfections, confessing them and striving to improve yourself.
Religion without self-examination is just a hollow set of rituals and excercizes. For someone to claim to be religious but not to undergo true self-examination is hypocrisy.
Clinton communicates at a level that gizzmopper W only dreams of.
No President is perfect, but Clinton's a lot closer than our current embarassment.
Drudge really has it out for Clinton. I guess he has a problem with someone who is openly heterosexual. What a pathetic closet case:
Clinton's Book Signings Draw Adoring Throngs in NYC...
CNN: 'My Life' sets records...
BUT... Sales slow in Florida...
Stacks Left Untouched on Maryland Shore...
Clinton book sales quiet in Arizona...
Memoirs not on Houston's best seller list...
Tome slow out of gate in Cincinnati...
Not flying off shelves in Hudson Valley...
Mixed reaction in Manitowoc...
Mixed book sales in N.E. Georgia...
Creates little hoopla in San Antonio...
Not Selling in Shenandoah Valley...
Book not so magical in Wichita Falls...
Hoosiers react quietly to memoir...
Just hype? asks Gainesville...
Sales can't measure up to Harry or Hillary in suburban Chicago...
Memoirs don't stir Saginaw...
Memoir is no 1st-day best-seller in Ft. Wayne...
Not selling in VA Beach...
No best seller in Billings...
Slow in Sacramento...
My Life:
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 1
Drudge Manifesto:
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 2,815
I'm taking down names!
That's a hippie friendship bracelet. Right on dude!
Since "Consuelo" was the _culture minister of a large country_ her name is hardly a secret, and so I rather doubt that Clinton is protecting anyone.
Well, yes, in that anyone with Google can find out here name was "Consuelo Araujo Noguera"; I expect he used only her first name to emphasize the closeness he felt with her -- if his only reference was to her full name, it would present the feeling of greater distance.
Or rather, "Maria Consuelo Araujo Noguera", but like many woman in Latin American countries where "Maria" is such a common first name, her second name is the one used "personally".
Fitz -- My "red-diaper baby" American fiance likes to say that Bill Clinton was the best Republican president the US has had in a long time. He doesn't mean that as a slur on Democrats -- in fact, I think it reflects worse on the Republicans.
Still, I'd rather have a moderate, slightly conservative head-of-government (Hello, Paul Martin!) than a radical right-wing one (Goodbye, Stephen Harper!), so I can totally empathise with liking the Big Dog.
Hell, I criticised Clinton all the time when he was in office, but by comparison with the loser in there now, he looks pretty good. (And that, in a way, is really pathetic.)
Truly disgusting. Paramilitaries commit 80% of the atrocities and are up to their necks in drug trafficking and Clinton encourages the slaughter by giving them boatloads of killing machinery. Then he has the gall to pretend that he cares about the Colombian people. It's really sick.
"Hell, I criticised Clinton all the time when he was in office, but by comparison with the loser in there now, he looks pretty good. (And that, in a way, is really pathetic.)"
Amen.
Drudge is so petty and very transparent and childish - he has several headlines claiming Clinton's book is not selling well in bookstores in many cities -
And of course we all know that there are other places to buy books - he should check with Amazon.com about their sales of this book.
Can I have my president back please?
All those who moan, "Yeah, we know Clinton has made mistakes" are missing the point of the criticisms.
A mistake is a singular act, like Carter's decision to fly helicopters into Tehran despite the danger from the weather.
"The Big Dog" persued policies that were murderous. Even in the face of constructive criticism he refused to back down from them.
That isn't a mistake in judgement, that's a much deeper flaw.
As someone said above, Clinton is a moderate Republican, Bush is an extreme one. And whining that Clinton is nowhere near as bad as Bush is like complaining that Abu Graibe is nowhere near as bad as Sadam Hussein.
Morpheus:
Whining about how Clinton was bad, but not as bad as Bush, is like complaining about yesterday's hard rain while today's tornado is bearing down on you.
Yossarian: Hey, thanks, glad to hear someone likes what I'm doing... I'll probably blog more often once I get some stuff around the house dealt with.
Here's a pic of Consuelo, who was murdered:
http://tinyurl.com/2l7eb
and here's one of her niece, who succeeded her:
http://tinyurl.com/2rcht
BTW
their full names are:
Consuelo Araujo Noguera, who was kidnapped and killed in Sep. 2001
and her niece is
Maria Consuelo Araujo, who is Culture Minister now
He also talked about it on Oprah "After the Show." You might be able to catch it in reruns.
Current culture minister: MARÍA CONSUELO ARAÚJO CASTRO
Former culture minister: CONSUELO ARAÚJO NOGUERA
I misread some information I had; also, lots of sources report the former ministers name as "Consuelo Araujo" (the normal "short" first and last name), "Consuelo Araujo-Noguera" (a not uncommon variant), or "Consuelo Araujonoguera" (a pattern I don't recall seeing elsewhere for combining the dual last names).
i wonder what that mystery gerbil i saw drudge with is all about?
Atrios is kind of...well, earlier some troll was hopping up and down about "evidence" that Atriots were blind in their adoration, so listen:
Atrios putting up an attempt to pretend that Clinton gives a rat's ass about the people he murdered is positively stupid. It cannot matter to a moral person that alternatives do not exist (ie, "Bush is just as bad"): Bush is expected to be like that. Clinton chose to be like that. Which is worse.
Maybe Clinton honestly believes that giving money and copious military and material support to murderous drug lords is going to help those kids-hell, maybe those kids were the children of the drug lords, in which case he's right! Certainly, his record with the KLA would say much to support that.
This-and Atrios "accidentally" allowing lurid Nader-and-dissent-hatred threads in which no intraparty progress is made, lies about Nader controlling the weather are kept alive and anyone who disagrees, regardless of their pledged voting, is instructed to kill themselves, are indefensible pretty fucking stupid.
Indefensible and pretty fucking stupid.
It drives the wingnuts bonkers that Clinton is still loved by so many people.
I sure do miss him as our President.
We do too, but surely you can see just a little bit of daylight between "better than Bush" and "perfect". Clinton had faults and a less crazy form of NeoNazi "humanitarian intervention" was one of them.
He used a firt person name and a common informal greeting understood pronoun to make it more personal, many Lating voters can identify with such, matrilineal respect is the heart of both indigenous and the predominantly Catholic cultures inherent. You see Bill Clinton knows what people value and can talk to a broad base of this respect in first person. Also to a specific demographic and its values in detail at the same time and in the same statement.
That is why he's the big dog. You see NOBODY can do all good things as POTUS because the powers that be and money will not allow it. But they can do the best possible and try to be inclusive, with respect for the little man.
As for Columbia and the union worker executions, it was Senor Arbusto's first country to sign onto his American free trade/dilpomatic alliance and he hailed it as a "model country" despite its killing of more Union workers than the rest of the planet combined the same year.Colin Powell was in South America on 9-11 doing the deed for the union killers and the OPEC expansion including meeting groups with close fiscal relations to the deposed Afghan king in exile (petroleum world.com).
Want to fix it(Cloumbia)? Boycott coca-cola here and demand they change, emplace sanctions of their advertising and subsidised tax shelters/revenues, and allow true UN diplomatic sanctions to leverage them effectively.
Yes Bill was a globalist but he did ask assistance in limiting the pace of it and assistance for human rights. We had blowjob fish to fry though.
And bush, well if globalism is a fire he'll chop wood in august to add kindling to the flames...
[only way we could possibly ever consider stopping our Nazi anticivilian practices is to] Boycott Coca-cola
RRrrrright. That explains why just worshipping Bill as God like a rightist refusing to hear criticism of a Bush is the popular route. How's that boycott of gasoline and all petroleum derived or related products and services going? Way to respond to the narcotrafficante thing too, we hadn't even mentioned or remembered the legal Coke.
By the way, the reason boycotting is a dream is also partially Clinton's fault: anyone recall any mergers at all happening on his watch?
Sometimes we don't realize how blessed we are until it is gone. I feel that way about Clinton. Yes, he was wrong/sinful, but aren't we all at times? Reagan was never accused of treason, when he sold arms to the enemy and funded mass murdering. In fact all the lawbreaking scum of the govt were pardoned... Overall, Pres. C's actions/policies, whether right or not, seemed to be good for America. We were moving ahead.
Lately, everyday is a riveting page of this unbelievably shocking Tom Clancy novel we call "life during the bush administration". It is full of good and bad guys working toward a goal for "peace", but everyday, new facts come out that these "good guys" are guilty of immoral greed, hypocrisy, treason and murder.
1. torture memos advocating inhumane torture resulting in death
2. energy/health corp corruption buying our policies.
3. WMD/aq-iraq links deceptions
4. record rightwing whistleblower revelations
5. Treason in outing a cia agent
6. Profiteering corps overcharging the govt/america while vets and first response gets the shaft.
7. outsourcing american jobs frenzy
9. outsourcing "homeland security"
Like the days the truth came out about 2000 election . I sit here shocked as I watched, illegal unpostmarked absentee ballots counted, while minority voters were incorrectly blacklisted by "felony lists" and the butterfly ballot....SHOCK while the Right wing majority of the supreme court used "equal protection" to justify stopping the voting law for recounts.... Am I stuck in a long nightmare cause I can't understand why this logically moral country has become "this....." Yes, I miss clinton dearly, despite his personal mistakes.
Sometimes we don't realize how blessed we are until it is gone. I feel that way about Clinton. Yes, he was wrong/sinful, but aren't we all at times? Reagan was never accused of treason, when he sold arms to the enemy and funded mass murdering. In fact all the lawbreaking scum of the govt were pardoned... Overall, Pres. C's actions/policies, whether right or not, seemed to be good for America. We were moving ahead.
Lately, everyday is a riveting page of this unbelievably shocking Tom Clancy novel we call "life during the bush administration". It is full of good and bad guys working toward a goal for "peace", but everyday, new facts come out that these "good guys" are guilty of immoral greed, hypocrisy, treason and murder.
1. torture memos advocating inhumane torture resulting in death
2. energy/health corp corruption buying our policies.
3. WMD/aq-iraq links deceptions
4. record rightwing whistleblower revelations
5. Treason in outing a cia agent
6. Profiteering corps overcharging the govt/america while vets and first response gets the shaft.
7. outsourcing american jobs frenzy
9. outsourcing "homeland security"
Like the days the truth came out about 2000 election . I sit here shocked as I watched, illegal unpostmarked absentee ballots counted, while minority voters were incorrectly blacklisted by "felony lists" and the butterfly ballot....SHOCK while the Right wing majority of the supreme court used "equal protection" to justify stopping the voting law for recounts.... Am I stuck in a long nightmare cause I can't understand why this logically moral country has become "this....." Yes, I miss clinton dearly, despite his personal mistakes.
I think the Senate Crime Bill is a great idea.
I hope it's enforced to the hilt: those Republicans are crooks, especially Oral Hatchet.
What an astonishing case of doublethink!
US aid to "Military and Police Assistance Programs in Colombia" (translation: death squads)
Anybody see the NYTs' headline?
"Clinton Book Signing Attracts Thongs"
Anybody see the NYTs' headline?
"Clinton Book Signing Attracts Thongs"
Wow, Clinton is so cool (not perfect) I wish he could run with Kerry. He is a zillion times the man smirk is.
And how about those fairies? http://www.phind.net/ecommerce/
i...businesses.html
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