FULL TRANSCRIPT: Clinton Takes On Fox News
FULL TRANSCRIPT: Clinton Takes On Fox News
Today, President Bill Clinton taped an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, which is scheduled to be aired Sunday. He was told the interview would focus on his nonpartisan efforts to raise over $7 billion to combat the world’s biggest problems.
Early in the interview, Wallace attempted to smear Clinton with the same kind of misinformation contained in ABC’s Path to 9/11. Clinton was having none of it.
ThinkProgress has obtained a transcript of the interview. Here are some highlights –
Wallace repeats Path to 9/11 misinformation, Clinton fights back:
WALLACE: When we announced that you were going to be on Fox News Sunday, I got a lot of e-mail from viewers. And I’ve got to say, I was surprised. Most of them wanted me to ask you this question: Why didn’t you do more to put bin Laden and Al Qaida out of business when you were president?
There’s a new book out, I suspect you’ve already read, called
The Looming Tower. And it talks about how the fact that when you pulled troops out of Somalia in 1993, bin Laden said, I have seen the frailty and the weakness and the cowardice of U.S. troops. Then there was the bombing of the embassies in Africa and the attack on the Cole.
CLINTON: OK, let’s just go through that.
WALLACE: Let me — let me — may I just finish the question, sir?
And after the attack, the book says that bin Laden separated his leaders, spread them around, because he expected an attack, and there was no response.
I understand that hindsight is always 20/20…
CLINTON: No, let’s talk about it.
WALLACE: … but the question is, why didn’t you do more, connect the dots and put them out of business?
CLINTON: OK, let’s talk about it. Now, I will answer all those things on the merits, but first I want to talk about the context in which this arises.
I’m being asked this on the Fox network. ABC just had a right-wing conservative run in their little Pathway to 9/11, falsely claiming it was based on the 9/11 Commission report, with three things asserted against me directly contradicted by the 9/11 Commission report.
And I think it’s very interesting that all the conservative Republicans, who now say I didn’t do enough, claimed that I was too obsessed with bin Laden. All of President Bush’s neo-cons thought I was too obsessed with bin Laden. They had no meetings on bin Laden for nine months after I left office. All the right-wingers who now say I didn’t do enough said I did too much — same people.
Clinton takes on Fox News bias:
WALLACE: Do you think you did enough, sir?
CLINTON: No, because I didn’t get him.
WALLACE: Right.
CLINTON: But at least I tried. That’s the difference in me and some, including all the right-wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try. They did not try. I tried.
So I tried and failed. When I failed, I left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy and the best guy in the country, Dick Clarke, who got demoted.
So you did Fox’s bidding on this show. You did your nice little conservative hit job on me. What I want to know is…
WALLACE: Well, wait a minute, sir.
CLINTON: No, wait. No, no…
WALLACE: I want to ask a question. You don’t think that’s a legitimate question?
CLINTON: It was a perfectly legitimate question, but I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked this question of.
I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked, Why didn’t you do anything about the Cole?
I want to know how many you asked, Why did you fire Dick Clarke?
I want to know how many people you asked…
WALLACE: We asked — we asked…
CLINTON: I don’t…
WALLACE: Do you ever watch Fox News Sunday, sir?
CLINTON: I don’t believe you asked them that.
WALLACE: We ask plenty of questions of…
CLINTON: You didn’t ask that, did you? Tell the truth, Chris.
WALLACE: About the USS Cole?
CLINTON: Tell the truth, Chris.
WALLACE: With Iraq and Afghanistan, there’s plenty of stuff to ask.
CLINTON: Did you ever ask that?
You set this meeting up because you were going to get a lot of criticism from your viewers because Rupert Murdoch’s supporting my work on climate change.
And you came here under false pretenses and said that you’d spend half the time talking about — you said you’d spend half the time talking about what we did out there to raise $7-billion-plus in three days from 215 different commitments. And you don’t care.
Clinton on his priorities and the Bush administration priorities:
CLINTON: What did I do? What did I do? I worked hard to try to kill him. I authorized a finding for the CIA to kill him. We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing him than anybody has gotten since. And if I were still president, we’d have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him.
Now, I’ve never criticized President Bush, and I don’t think this is useful. But you know we do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is only one-seventh as important as Iraq.
And you ask me about terror and Al Qaida with that sort of dismissive thing? When all you have to do is read Richard Clarke’s book to look at what we did in a comprehensive, systematic way to try to protect the country against terror.
And you’ve got that little smirk on your face and you think you’re so clever. But I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it. But I did try. And I did everything I thought I responsibly could.
The entire military was against sending Special Forces in to Afghanistan and refueling by helicopter. And no one thought we could do it otherwise, because we could not get the CIA and the FBI to certify that Al Qaida was responsible while I was president.
And so, I left office. And yet, I get asked about this all the time. They had three times as much time to deal with it, and nobody ever asks them about it. I think that’s strange.
Read the full transcript HERE.
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our country, our world would be a better place is he were still our president.
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:52 pmOh my f*cking god, this has made my day. It’s about time someone smacked down Fox, and I’m SO happy it was Bill Clinton.
Fantastic!!!
If this interview sees air time, I’m sure Fox will chop it to bits.
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:52 pmSmackdown, I guess its every reader to themselves, I didnt see anyone limping off the set.
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:59 pmthank goodness for Thinkprogress and the entire blogosophere. All I ask for is old-school straight talk like this.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:01 pmSmackdown? Clinton claims “And yet I get asked about this all the time and they had three times as much time to get him as I did and no one ever asks them about this. I think that’s strange.” WTF? Who had 3 times as much time? 8 years vs 8 months? Bill, who were you so busy doing?
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:06 pmI’m not an American so I don’t know the deal, but couldn’t he be Vice-President an arbitrary number of times?
Gore-Clinton ‘08
Gore-Clinton ‘12
Feingold-Clinton ‘16
Obama-Clinton ‘20
?
So you bring in the new, young guys with the idealism and energy & charisma (after Gore fixes global warming, that is) and Bill stays on as the voice of gravitas?
[I’m sorry, I just don’t care for Hillary]
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:07 pmThis is the best post I’ve read here in a year. Go President Clinton!, you d’ man. Stupid (Wallace) meets the Rhoads scholar. He left you looking like an ass. What do you want to bet this will nor air or will be heavily edited.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:07 pmBEAUTIFUL
Go Bill!!
spread this transcript far and wide–Fox will cut the video to pieces.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:12 pmfox is running trailers, with the excerpts above, if you’v waited a year for this then you truly have a sad life.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:12 pmWay to go Bill Clinton!!
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:12 pm#6:
I believe that a Vice President must be elegable to take the office of President. For instance, a Split Ticket I’d love to see: McCain/(B) Clinton. If some fruitloop were to decide that McCain no longer deserved to live. He gets lucky and takes McCain out. Clinton would introduce a horrible bind in this situation: He could not fill the role of President because he is Term Limited.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:15 pmGood solid points. The public IS being played by the media - and has been played by them since at least 1988. The media LIKE being kingmakers. And one thing they like even more is to have tight races and close elections - it gives them more to talk about and it boosts their ratings.
That this leaves the country wide-open to massive election fraud and theft is an inevitable secondary consequence. It’s a lot harder to steal elections that are not close.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:17 pmLove it when Bill kicks ass. At least Bill has balls, can’t say the same about Cheney/Bush/Rumsfeld Cartel.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:18 pmMike Wallace must just be dying to see what a shill Chris has become. Anything for a paycheck??
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:19 pmOMG, a President that can not only speak a complete, coherent sentence, but a whole bunch of them…and one right after the other…
Oh…
My…
God…
What a pleasure.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:22 pm.
Now that’s that. Clinton is classey and intelligent to much for the GOP. I’d like to see Clinton and the President of Iran in a discussion. No wonder the world respects Bill Clinton and they think Bush is an idiot oh yes and a Devil aka Satan.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:22 pmI’ll bet it will be heavily edited. That’s a pretty hard knock on FOX and the Bush loyalists.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:22 pmcontext beefeater. The fact is we were misled in the “war on terror” by half truths and lies by the bush adminstration now we are in the middle of a civil war. If we are to survive as the greatest nation on earth we need to stop this infighting and find the appropriate context for our nation to focus on.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:24 pmEdited version, advance copy courtesy of Winston Smith, Ministry of Truth,
WALLACE: When we announced that you were going to be on Fox News Sunday, I got a lot of email from viewers, and I got to say I was surprised most of them wanted me to ask you this question. Why didn’t you do more to put Bin Laden and al Qaeda out of business when you were President? There’s a new book out which I suspect you’ve read called the Looming Tower. And it talks about how the fact that when you pulled troops out of Somalia in 1993, Bin Laden said “I have seen the frailty and the weakness and the cowardice of US troops.†Then there was the bombing of the embassies in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole.
CLINTON: I tried and I failed to get Bin Laden.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:30 pmSCHOOLED!!!
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:31 pmwow - my imagination makes it a very exciting and rousing exchange!
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:31 pmcan’t wait to see it for real - and i bet i won’t even have to watch faux to do so, thanks to the internets!
“Too many OB/GYNs aren’t able to practice their love”
That’s what we got stuck with.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:33 pmJackie - did you mention the devil? Now that explains the sulfar smell.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:34 pmYou guys are great! How I miss the days when we had real leaders in office. I hope Wallace choked when Bill fed him his smirk.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:37 pmfrom the transcript:
“…I think I owe it to my fellow countrymen and people around the world to help save lives and help people see the future…”
now THAT’S what being an american is all about…
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:37 pmHE DEMOLISHED THAT PUNK!
My goodness! He even smacked him for his smirk!
Thank you, Bill.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:40 pmNo wonder Fox prefers to have conversations among their various hacks, and right wingers. Wasn’t it nice to have a President that could actually speak intelligibly as opposed to one that speaks in sound bites and malpropisms.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:40 pmHo. Lee. Crap. That was freakin’ awesome. Totally amazing. I cannot wait to watch the video, though I would assume that they’ll probably chop it up to not make them look like the tools they are.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:42 pmAmerica’s Least Wanted
hot damn I do love billy boy
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:48 pmDamn. Clinton was far from a perfect president. Some of the things he did pissed me off at the time. But compared to Dubya and his pack of criminals and incompetents, Clinton looks like Lincoln, Washington, and FDR rolled into one. The guy could have a lobotomy and be ten times smarter than the buffoon who’s infesting the White House now.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:52 pmThe American only-be-president-twice thing is really really moronic.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:52 pmNo wonder the pukes hate Clinton so much, he can cut through any bullshit they throw at him. Without notes.
or an earpiece feeding him lines.
I wonder how Bush would have handled such an interview?
oh c’mon, we know that would never happen… but if it did it, just look at Bush’s interview with Matt Lauer. Just a little bit of adversarial questioning brought out his inner bully. He’d go totally ballistic if he ever got a real  grilling.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:54 pmYeah! Bill Clinton is the man! Why can’t other democrats stand up to faux news like Clinton? This country would be a better place if we had more democrats like Clinton and Gore! Those two men are true American heros!
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:55 pmOh my f*cking god, this has made my day. It’s about time someone smacked down Fox, and I’m SO happy it was Bill Clinton.
Beautiful, isn’t it? I was reading the transcript with my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe FAUX was stupid enough to think that they could fool or stump Bill Clinton. The guy who graduated 2nd in his law class from Yale, despite having no legacy to get him there. They’ve been worshipping the Yale C student for too long, I suppose…
If this interview sees air time, I’m sure Fox will chop it to bits.
Comment by Zooey — September 22, 2006 @ 8:52 pm
No doubt. The ‘cons believe all is fair in love and war, and that everything is ‘war’…
Still, I’m planning to email this version to everyone I know so the truth is out there FIRST…
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:58 pmI have an unusual thought about all this. Chris Wallace did a hit job on Fox for Bush. But, on other occasions, I’m starting to see the spark of an actual journalist in him. I think there’s a little of his father, Mike Wallace, in him.
I’m going out on a limb here and making a prediction…within 2 years, Chris Wallace is going to ask some right wing guests too many tough questions, and Chris will be fired. At that point, he’ll start a true journalistic career. He’ll never be as tough or smart as Mike Wallace, but he’ll have a go at it.
In the meantime, I find his toeing the line for Fox hard to watch…but I don’t think he’s the idiot in a suit that his co-workers are…
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:00 pmThe guy could have a lobotomy and be ten times smarter than the buffoon who’s infesting the White House now.
Comment by Frederick — September 22, 2006 @ 9:52 pm
Well said!
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:01 pm“All of President Bush’s neocons claimed that I was too obsessed with finding Bin Laden when they didn’t have a single meeting about Bin Laden for the nine months after I left office.” - Right on Bill. I wish you were still president. 9/11 would never have happened. We would not be in Iraq. We would not be trillions of dollars in debt. We would not have idots like Bush, Cheney, Condi, and Rumsfeld bringing down America.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:09 pmheh… i thought this thread’s copy was lengthy - till i read the full transcript … it’s still a record, but now i understand how hard it was to condense it even this much!
my, that was good reading! …really good to hear him say those things…
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:10 pmmore! more!
Yet another Fox hit job. What if, before he died and if he was coherent, Wolf Blitzer or Tom Brokaw had smeared Reagan in an interview that was billed to be about some innocuous thing. The right would start lynching people. Wallace got “emails” wanting him to attack Clinton? Yeah, from Roger Ailes.
http://www.polibuzz.blogspot.com
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:14 pmRepublican smear job in Maryland. Dems founded the KKK? Gotta love the GOP.
Political Buzz
http://www.polibuzz.blogspot.com
That was pretty disingenuous of Wallace to say he was “surprised” about viewers wanting him to ask that question.
It’s a f’in Right Wing Network! Of course their viewers want him to try to stick it to Clinton.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:17 pmLOL
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:18 pmWhy can’t other democrats stand up to faux news like Clinton?
Comment by neopro — September 22, 2006 @ 9:55 pm
they are not given this kind of chance, for one thing…
dems are not invited on many of the shows, and when they are, it’s never better than 2 repugs to 1 dem…
it’s weird to me - i listen to air america radio all day - i have to remind myself that MOST people don’t know even a little of what i know… and the dems and progs are not allowed to get out their message to “the people”… top 40 radio doesn’t carry this kind of information… it takes extra time and effort to be informed… easier to be lazy and apathetic…
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:19 pm…
When Chris Wallace began his tenure at Fox “News”, he wished to reassure his audience that he would be fair and objective. So much for living up to the slogan of being fair and balanced.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:21 pmI think the 06 election is pretty much over tonight. We won.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:22 pmThat is, if - and this is big IF - the Dems follow Clinton’s cue
and make the first 8 months of Bush, Tora Bora, afghan to Iraq
deflection the issue.
Bushies will have no response and we will have the election in the bag.
Now that we have the transcript, Fox cannot edit this.
Clinton always, ALWAYS was the republican slasher…ripping any of them to shreds one on one and holding the whole scab of filth at bay for 8 years thwarting their every dirty underhanded incessent yelping and lying. And inspite of their wasting $100 million of taxpayers money to undermine him, they never really did. They may have finally caught him in a slip up (as anyone could against anyone if you had a $100 million to throw around), but he never had the piss poor ratings of the criminal bufoon that followed him.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:24 pm.
So glad to see this. Clinton DID try to get Bin Laden, Bush has been all talk. Bush was more interested from the get-go to oust Saddam. Bush has made a mess that we may never get out of
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:25 pmI love the Big Dog.
This is why the right wing hates him with such passion.
He is a real president. Legitimately elected, instead of being installed by Daddy’s corrupt cronies on the supreeme court.
He knows how to take on right wing hacks like Chris Wallace. He knows how to fight back.
He is the most formidable Democrat since FDR.
This is why the right wing hates him.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:37 pmDAAAAAAMMMMMMNNNN!!!!!! Will this actually get on TV? If it does I bet they edit the crap out of it.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:41 pmThat’s gonna leave a mark.
Don’t f*ck with the Big Dawg.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:44 pmRE: #11
Nope…incorrect. Re-read amendment #22 to the Constitution:
There is nothing to prevent a two term President from becoming Vice President, and subsequently assuming the office of President due to death of a sitting President as specified in Amendment 20. I don’t think Article 12 precludes this from happening (”But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States”) but that would be an interesting legal argument on original intent.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:45 pmout-FOX-ed by the best! :D
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:45 pmIf FOX runs this, is it a goldmine for Dem ads? Will it be ‘fair use’ for political ads? Damn, that’s good.
Note to Dem leaders: be more like Clinton!!
————————–
repost from full transcript page:
Wow.
How do the kids say it? OWNED?
No wonder the pukes hate Clinton so much, he can cut through any bullshit they throw at him. Without notes.
Best. Transcript. Ever.
.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:46 pmDammit, lets try this again:
Can the dems use this for ads? Wouldn’t it be ‘fair use’?
Advice for Dems: BE MORE LIKE CLINTON!!!!
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:51 pmWow… Bill was terrific in defending his record and also placing the blame where it belongs.
Bravo ‘the people’s B
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:52 pmill.’
BEAUTIFUL!…Good job Bill……oh and chris…’your NO mike wallace’…and NEVER will be.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:53 pmOne thing is going unnoticed and deserves to be mentioned. Former President Clinton mentions some very wealthy people, Gates, Buffett, who are supporting very liberal ideals. From the full transcript:
Hats off to them. Now, if only more of the super-wealthy can follow their lead…
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:54 pmHoly shit that was funny. Wallace needs some serious Tide, because his ass just got taken to the cleaners. My God, Bubba’s still got some spice to him!
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:55 pmLiberal media my ass!!! I’m glad when, on rare occassions a liberal does get to speak his mind and does it well. The right wing media lies daily. I was happy to hear Clinton defend himself.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:56 pmNice to see former Pres. Bill Clinton stick up for himself on 9/11 smears, but he still needs to explain his association with the Bush family?! The Bush clan has completely destroyed Clinton’s legacy, but he refuses to criticise Bush Junior who told Karl Rove to smear Bill constantly! Bill is a clever politician, but he has been out-conned by Bush Senior!
Bill if you read this post, then wake the hell up, and realize the Bushes are your biggest enemy! Hillary needs to wake up too and stop helping Junior!
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:56 pmDumb, dumb repugs, they really THINK they are smarter than they really are, too bad they actually believe their SPIN about themselves.
The clowns on Fox Lies Corp actually think they are smarter than Bill Clinton, so they tried to set up a normal faux ambush.
Too bad for them Clinton is THE REAL THING, not a Karl Rove creation
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:02 pmBill Clinton throws another hissy fit. It’s just like the old days.
No one has ever said the man doesn’t think fast especially when it comes to saving his own face and tooting his own horn.
The slightes hint that he’s wrong brings out his nasty temper and his enormous ego.
Go FOX!
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:03 pmThank you, President Clinton! It has been a very long time. I fully expect a ‘P.T.9/11′ style dramatizational edit job. I hope they cut his (Wallace) laughter out, for his sake. That type of laugh is like the reaction when one kid punches another, and the one who got punched says, ‘DIDN’T HURT!!, then runs away and starts crying. Mr.Wallace was also rather disrespectful. Like him or not, he should be treated in a respectful manner. Democrats objected to the comments made by the President of Iran, they felt it was disrespectful. They do not like GWB, but they respect the office of the POTUS, and put their personal feelings aside, and spoke out about it. I guess the Righties are just so used to slamming everyone who doesn’t ’share’ their …values, that it was just same old-same old, and Wallace wasn’t going to change his ways, especially with President Clinton. Bad call. So the ‘interview will have to be edited to make him look better, since it won’t happen without ALOT of chopping. Republican Ranting only works when the victims aren’t there to call them on their crap. They can’t handle it. Especially when they reply honestly to the questions that are being asked to make a ‘Got’cha’ moment happen. Why lie, when the truth is so much more effective? And Righties never see it coming. And there is no ‘come-back’ for that. So it’s ‘Change the Subject’ time! It just didn’t work this time. This was the whipped cream on the Key Lime Pie of my day! :)
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:03 pmHahahahaha … Faux can dish it out … but that can’t take it! Go Big Dog!
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:07 pmTruth hurts, don’t it Faux?
HUH?
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:12 pmB..B.. BUT CLINTON
/had to
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:17 pm#62 Haha, it was nice when our president could think…fast…or at all.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:26 pmAnd yet I get asked about this all the time and they had three times as much time to get him as I did and no one ever asks them about this.
And that’s the key question. Conservatives slam Clinton for missing opportunities to get OBL with a special ops strike, but Bush has had 5 years since 9/11 and the entire strength of the US military at his disposal and he claims that he thinks getting bin Laden would be a poor use of resources.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:28 pmwallace should have started out:
“Mr. President, the mind controlled cult that watches Fox wanted us to ask you….”
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:32 pmThe slightes hint that he’s wrong brings out his nasty temper and his enormous ego.
Go FOX!
Comment by Georgia
I know. I hate it when George W. Bush, or “Dick” Cheney, or Rumsfeld do that. I feel your pain…
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:34 pmHeh! Typical Clinton! A mixture of obfuscation, lies, and inability to answer a question directly or honestly…It is this kind of sophistry that led to him having a federal judge hold him in contempt of court….The man never learns!
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:34 pmThe man never learns!
Comment by Exley
Lame…
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:36 pm#71 …and yet he was serious about bin Laden.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:36 pmUm, wasn’t Chris Wallace the guy who said, on national TV, that his own father - Mike Wallace - was showing signs of senility because the elder Wallace had the stones to criticize th’ Bushwhacker? No matter what else Chris Wallace ever does, he will never make up for the fact that he called his own father senile on national TV. S-C-U-M-B-A-G!
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:38 pmWhy can’t other democrats stand up to faux news like Clinton?
Comment by neopro
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:40 pmI agree with that statment in your post.That’s what they really ought to do instead of going on there and trying to be diplomatic.The Dems interview on Faux news must be adversarial.
Just a little truth mixed in there. And some strategy for dems. Watching BC on FOX could be a class in how to swat down bullshit.
And when the Dems find something that works, they should stick with it, at least during every public appearence. Hammer them on IRAQ. Then diversify. Hammer them on Body Armour.
“Wouldn’t you want proper body armour as a soldier in a war?”
Hammer them on CPA incompetents playing football with stacks of the voter’s money. Hammer them on torture. Hammer them on…
Their record.
.
P.S.(O/T) I haven’t heard ‘Benedict Lieberman’ thrown around, but I think it has a ring to it…
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:41 pmExley,
#71.
I guess you have reading comprehension issues to deal with. There is huge difference between facts and….. idiots. Look it up and start watching your propaganda channel. You need your hourly dose to keep your IQ in single digits.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:41 pmOWNED!!!!! Go Clinton!
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:42 pmWhen Chrissy Wallace decided that he wanted to be a journalist like his father, perhaps he forgot to watch and learn from the grand old man of profeesional journalism how to conduct proper interviews and how to show proper respect for guests. Even Joey Scarbourough once said that if he didn’t interrupt his guest after seven seconds, that he wasn’t doing his job. Good reason not to come on his show unless you bring up the subject of a dead staffer in his office.
So that’s what is supposed to be journalism? Invite a guest over to your place and humiliate him/her without offering a beverage? Chrissy, my girl, I mean boy, you have a lot to learn before you’re are even 25% as good as your father is.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:43 pm#71, JPark,
He was semi-serious. He did the right thing in launching the cruise missile attack against Afghanistan and the OBL-Iraqi-Sudanese Al Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum. He could have done more. However, hindsight in 20/20.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:44 pmALAN COLMES, YOU COULD LEARN A FEW THINGS ABOUT FIGHTING OFF A BUNCH OF RIGHT-WING BULLIES FROM MR. WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:44 pm#72, Zooey,
I don’t think it’s fair to call Clinton “lame.” I agree with you that his overly-defensive performance in this interview was exceedingly weak. But, as JPark pointed out, Clinton did make some effort to get Bin Laden, albiet ineffective and unsuccessful. But I fully supported Clinton when he launched a cruise missile attack against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the Sudan, where, as Richard Clarke and Sandy Berger said, Al Qaeda was working with Iraqi nerve gas experts at the al Shifa plant.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:49 pmHowever, hindsight in 20/20.
Comment by Exley
Hey Ex,
Maybe you could look into your magic crystal ball and give us an idea what rightwing 20/20 hindsight might look like.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:50 pm#82 - Once again, Ex, YOU are being lame.
Face it, sweetie darling, you got nothin’.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:00 am#80 I am not a big Clinton fan. I thought he was a pretty good pres. I also think he was way to Liebermanesque. However, put yourself in his shoes. This guy, bin Laden, is suspected in the Cole bombing. There is no proof but you suspect he is a pretty bad guy. You have the righties jumping all over you for a goddamn blowjob and claiming every foreign policy decision was driven by a desire to distract the country from the Republican witch-hunt. Ok, so, you have this guy in your sights. Clinton pulled the trigger, witchhunters be damned. He told the CIA that the guy was a target and to take him out. He made Richard Clarke the anti-terrorism czar and made that a cabinet level position. Clinton was an incredibly political animal but he was damned serious about getting bin Laden, which was NOT politically expedient for him. The guy was described as too obsessed with bin Laden by his enemies!!! He did what he could. Your boy didn’t.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:05 amI use to have a mild infatuation with Clinton. Now I realize its full blown love.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:07 amI am so glad Bill let him have it. Bill is a rock star and the best thing that has happenned to this couintry in my lifetime. Little biased interviewers like Wallace need this kind of feedback on air so they will try to be objective and be real reporters.
Bravo Bill!
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:07 am#84, Oh, Zooey, I wouldn’t say that….I got you calling me “Sweetie darling…”
That’s sumthin’ !
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:08 am[…] I think I need to take a moment here and bask in how absolutely AMAZING President Clinton IS. In case you haven’t seen my Facebook profile, Clinton is still my president. And I know you all check Think Progress every chance you get just like I do, so you’ve already seen the best transcript ever. […]
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:11 amIn the immortal words of The Juggernaut:
Pimp-smack your right-wing ass, bitch!
And make no mistake about it, Chris Wallace is a little whiny bitch.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:11 amUnfortunately, Fox will edit most of this in a way that makes Clinton look bad, just like the ABC docudrama. The same media lapdogs at CNN that are doing stories now on the inevitably of a US-Iran war will construct narratives from this that will try to make Clinton look insane and decidely anti-Bush, which is code for anti-American. The mythology will begin to cement itself, along with our terrible fear of being attacked by Iran. The echo chamber will embellish it and mold multiple permutations of 911 being all Clinton’s fault. Toby Keith will right a song about it that we will all be forced to stand up and sing during the seventh inning of every ball game. And we will blog and complain.
Although I think sites like TP and Media Matters are making inroads, we have to get the Fairness Doctrine back and more regualation in controlling monopolies from own the media. It’s the only way. And that means going all out to get people to the polls in five weeks. Donate money. Talk to your friends, well at least the ones that still have hope. Initiate group efforts to drive people to get their Republican mandated IDs, and drive them to the polls. This misinformation machine that exists in everyone’s homes and cars has to be dismantled soon or it won’tnfor many years to come
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:12 amThat’s what they really ought to do instead of going on there and trying to be diplomatic.The Dems interview on Faux news must be adversarial.
Comment by DutchHenry — September 22, 2006 @ 11:40 pm
i’m so with you on that! …every chance they get, dems should bash!
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:12 ami mean, there’s so much ammo available - use it!
…
Hey Chris, how does it feel to get butt hammered on National TV?
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:16 amLOVE IT! Everyone in the media panders to Slick Willie, never asking him tough questions, when he is asked an unscripted question, he has a meltdown. Clinton did Zero to catch Bin Laden, “Path to 9/11″ illustrated that.
Welcome to Fox News Bill! Where you don’t get the questions before the interview.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:16 amNow I realize its full blown love.
Comment by Lisa Wilson
That’s a fine double entendre…
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:17 amWhy do people in this blog even acknowledge the mashochistic right-wing douchebags who apparently live at this site?
Just ignore them and maybe they’ll have to get their masochistic jollies by actually joining the millitary and going to Iraq.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:21 am#94 Are you kidding me? The media has been sucking Bush ass for 5 years and attacked Clinton for more than 2 years. Never mind, you are a Fox viewer, you are too stupid to talk to.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:21 amHehe, I love the double entendre.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:22 amBill Clinton is a terrific politician, he was an amazing President, and he is ten times the leader George W. Bush ever could be. Nice to see him taking Fox and Wallace to the paint and making the whole news organization look like the morons they are. It’s true that the Bush Administration had z-e-r-o meetings discussing Bin Laden until after he crashed planes into New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. As Clinton said, at least he did all he could to get Bin Laden, while Bush did NOTHING, and that is what led to the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:24 amSecondly, you Libs are nuts if you think this was a victorious, way-to-show-Fox, Tough-guy, moment for Clinton. He got asked a question he could not honestly answer and flew off the handle and acted like a street-punk… shaking his finger in wallaces face…Wallace was a class act (as always), Clinton was rage-filled jerk. Thanks Bill, for a video bit that will go down in history.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:24 amI love it when Clinton gives the neocons a taste of their own medicine. Listening to him speak reminds me of what America was like when we had a real president.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:25 am#94: Ha! He is slick isn’t he? Better than being a moron, like Bush. Of course, your argument is based on a “documentary” that is full of falsehoods and lies. Try again.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:25 amSadly, this interview will most likely be edited to save the image of Wallace Jr. His father must be ashamed of the man he has become. Mike Wallace could conduct a savage interview, but he was fair and direct. This little squirt doesn’t have clue what professional journalism is, let alone decency. These people are the most unpatriotic in the country today because they know better, but have sold their souls.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:26 am#94
Well said, Neocon …. Bill is too used to the softball questions from CNN (Clinton News Network) and CBS (Clinton Broadcasting System)….As soon as a real journalist tries to ask him some real questions about his counter-terrorism record, he melts down and starts lashing out with half-truths and outright lies…As I said, it is this colossal arrogant belief that no one may dare question him that led to his being held in contempt of court and having to enter into a plea bargain with prosecutors like a common Mafia hood on his last day in office.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:26 am#94: better to be slick and successful than stupid and incompetent like Bush. Of course, the basis of your argument is a “documentary” that been shown to contain multiple falsehoods and outright lies. Try again?
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:27 amHey neocon, Kinda like the way your Chimp in Chief has to do the hand picked butt kissing crowds, rather than meeting the people face to face…
You Fright Wing whackoffs are such bloody hypocrites.
Go back to to FREEPERLAND you Knuckle Dragging Buffoon, before someone drops a house on you
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:28 am#100: Very funny. You want to see someone act like an idiot when asked a question? Look at the first Bush debate against John Kerry. He was like a second grader! Bwaahahaha!
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:28 am#104: Clinton didn’t lie. Of course, it’s hard for you to tell when Georgie does nothing but lie.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:29 amFinally, Thank you Chris Wallace and Fox, for Asking a question that Clinton has been spared by the Gutless, we-don’t-want-to-hear-the-real-answer, media since 9.11.
Clinton want to field softball questions?…..Stick to Larry King
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:29 amSecondly, you neocons are nuts if you think this was a victorious, way-to-show-Clinton, Tough-guy, moment for Wallace. He got asked a question and he honestly answered it and Wallace acted like an ass just sitting there laughing…Clinton was a class act (as always), Wallace was a rage-filled jerk. Thanks Chris, for a video bit that will go down in history.
There. Now your post makes sense.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:30 amThe fact you neocons just can’t seem to face in the morning is that 9/11 HAPPENED ON BUSH’S WATCH! He did nothing to stop it, except continue to read “My Pet Goat” for seven minutes. THE WORST TERRORIST ATTACK IN U.S. HISTORY HAPPENED ON BUSH’S WATCH AND WAS HIS FAULT. He was warned and did nothing!
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:33 amThis part crack me up!
“All the right wingers who now say that I didn’t do enough said that I did too much. Same people.”
Yeah, Bill, you were a real Hawk! Osama is was glad to be out of your kravenous crosshairs.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:34 am#100 Stop drinking the Kool-Aid and face reality. YOUR President has lost the war on terror. How? By doing nothing to actually catch the Bastard that did this to us OBL. When I watched the towers come down again on 9/11 this year I got mad all over again. But this time, my anger is directed at the conniving, lying, incompetant, dimbulb that currently occupys the Oval Office. This country is no safer today than it was before 9/11 IMO less so because of what Bush has done to us. Is it 2008 yet?
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:34 amExley has apparently never been full blown in love…
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:35 amGee Neocon (replying to #94), cant you understand you are hurting your country when you let the polarization take over your brain like it has. Clinton was not perfect, and I dont mean the Monica thing, Clinton was attempting to tackle the problem though. Bush is the same, I see flaws in both approaches but Bushes effort is far far less effective than Clintons. Neither one apprehended Bin Laden but Clintons approach did not make the USA a rogue state, a torturer in the eyes of the world as Bushes method has.
I watched as the Yanks killed their way through the Vietnam conflict, I protested with many others, but I never during that time had the same absolute lack of respect for the USA as I do now.
A pox on your house
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:35 amBalzar
Yeah, Bill, you were a real Hawk! Osama is was glad to be out of your kravenous crosshairs.
Brought to you by the folks who had him surrouned at Tora Bora and let him go.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:37 amChris Wallace is such a pig… what a hatchet job… these “news” people are really just right-wingers getting paid to distract people from Bush and the neocon destruction of our Republic… Chris Wallace the new swiftboater, sliming President Clinton, then smirking about it and laughing in the President’s face. His father should be ashamed.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:37 am#114,
I appreciate the offer, Zooey. But don’t you think we should get to know eachother a little first?
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:40 amChris Wallace only did that to President Clinton because he and the rest of his ilk have been doing it to Democrats for years.
It is pretty pathetic when you got Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter standing up for the party while the rest of the Democratic leadership quakes before GW Bush, Karl Rove, Fox, and the jerks in the MSM.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:40 am#82 - Once again, Ex, YOU are being lame.
Face it, sweetie darling, you got nothin’.
Comment by Zooey
Actually Zooey, he did get something, but NOT what he wanted. A good look at what Fox would Look like DAILY if they did not vet their guests so much and use the ambush style of journalism to propagandise for the Greedy Ole Party.
Exley got a small dose of reality, which is the proper antidote for the GOP kool-aid. True believers are like all drug addicts, they do not want to give up their delusional lifestyle.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:41 amOK Neocon, President Clinton has admitted he failed to find bin Laden.
We can accept that.
However, you neocons have had six looooooooooooooooong years.
So, Where is bin Laden? Since you think you folks are so qualified to lead, why haven’t you caught him yet?
Answer that question.
You have boots on the ground in the middle east. Yet, no bin Laden.
Nada, zippo, zilch….
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:42 amBut when it’s all said and done we are still left with these words from George and why the No.1 Priority isn’t a priority and why National Security is weak and why Osama is still free — George doesn’t care and doesn’t keep his promises. Heckuva Job George:
For four and one half years, more than a single term in office, Bush hasn’t cared The decider cannot be bothered with his #1 priority.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:44 am…”video”… “listening”… ???
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:46 amis there video of this somewhere???
what am i missing?
#112, I agree, Necon…“All the right wingers who now say that I didn’t do enough said that I did too much” and “All these neocons claimed that I was too obsessed with finding Bin Laden”
Wha? What is he talking about? WHO is he talking about??? He just throws out this lunacy with giving a single name or example…Like Hillary’s famed “Vast right-wing conspiracy” (until the blue dress turned up)… Look, Clinton did make some efforts to get Bin Laden and Saddam … But his defensiveness in this interview borders on the paranoid….
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:47 amYeah, Bill, you were a real Hawk! Osama is was glad to be out of your kravenous crosshairs.
Yeh it’s much better when Bush, a REAL Chickenhawk, is glad to be out of Georges mind AND crosshairs.
“I am truly not that concerned about him.”
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:48 am- G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden’s whereabouts,
3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
Hopefully Clinton is now done trying to play nice with Bush and the neocons. These people are a true threat to the Constitution and have nothing but contempt for the rule of law, and deserve to be treated as such. It’s time to defend the Constitution and the American system, not be nice to people who are sharpening knives to stab us all in the back.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:49 amWha? What is he talking about? WHO is he talking about??? He just throws out this lunacy with giving a single name or example…
Well you would be wrong Exley, but thats not new now is it?
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:49 amConservatives are always critical of President Clinton because he failed to apprehend or kill Osama bin Laden after a couple of attacks on foreign assets. But, their precious Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld haven’t had any more success, despite the motivation of the most lethal attack on our home soil. Hey, conservatives…FIVE years! All the world’s assets and troops on the ground in Afghanistan asn still no bin Laden! Oh, and when will you incompetant homeland protectors get around to capturing the anthrax terrorist who attacked our metropolitan areas shortly after 9/11/01? No wonder you support torture…you have tortured minds, tortured by George W’s incompetence.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:50 amI miss the days when we had a real president. Clinton represented everything that a president should be: a man of integrity, honor, charisma, and intellect.
Compare that to George “War” Bush, the worst president in history!
Bush’s war on presidential integrity:
The first president in US history to enter office with a Criminal record:
• The first arrest of George W. Bush was for theft at a hotel.
• The second arrest was for disorderly conduct at a football game.
• The third arrest was for drunk driving.
Admits to doing cocaine.
Admits to being a former alcoholic.
Was AWOL during the Vietnam war.
As President, Bush spends two to three hours a day exercising during what most would consider work hours (between 8am and 5pm). This doesn’t count his one hour lunch break. This leaves Bush with only five hours a day to work. He also refuses to work evenings and weekends.
Bush has taken more vacations than any president in history:
- As of August 2005, Bush has taken 315 days of vacation.
- In his first term, he took over six months of vacation.
- A 28 day vacation right before 9/11
- A ten day vacation during the Israeli-Lebanon crisis (Tony Blair was smart enough to postpone his vacation during this time)
- A five week vacation right before and into Hurricane Katrina.
Bush has set the record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest a leader (10 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.
Prescott Bush (Bush’s grandfather) was extensively involved with and enabled the rise of Nazi Germany, and its war machine via his business interests. This has been clearly shown in recently declassified (2003) documents from the National Archives. Much of the current Bush Family fortune can be traced back (directly or indirectly) to Nazi profiteering. By working around Roosevelt’s 1942 “Trading with the enemy actâ€, Prescott Bush made $1,500,000 dollars from Union Banking Corporation which has an extensive history making money for the Nazis (for details, see http://www.debatecomics.org/ assets/ Sources/ US_Fascism/ A-2%20Fascist-Friendly%20Power%20Brokers/ Roaming%20Ghost%20Case/ Chapters/ chap07.pdf).
Bush was bailed out of bankruptcy by his father and father’s friends numerous times.
In the new book ‘Bush on the Couch,’ psychoanalyst and professor at George Washington University, Justin Frank studies the president’s public pronouncements and behavior, along with biographical data, to craft a comprehensive psychological profile of Bush. Frank indicates his research has uncovered a man suffering from megalomania, paranoia, a false sense of omnipotence, an inability to manage emotions, a lifelong need to defy authority, an unresolved love-hate relationship with his father and the repercussions of untreated alcohol abuse.
In 1963, Laura Bush, killed her then boyfriend, Michael Dutton Douglas, in a fatal car accident. Though she was at fault for his death by not paying attention to the road, she was not charged or penalized for the killing.
Bush has set the record for the fewest amount of press conferences by a president since the advent of the television.
Bush sealed the presidential records of both himself and his father.
Bush and Cheney both refused to testify under oath - or by themselves - to the 9/11 Commission.
How did this country go from having a true hero like Clinton in the white house to a douchebag like Bush? Talk about a 180 degree turn on presidential integrity! Good thing congressional election is on its way…along with a presidential impeachment!
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:53 amif it were left up to the neocons, they would blame Clinton for Eve eating the forbidden fruit.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:56 amBalzar (responding to 115)
RE: Monica, I could careless what Bill does
in private, he can stick his cigar any where he wants
RE: “Clinton was attempting to tackle the problem though &
Bushes effort is far far less effective than Clintons”
Bill basically did NOTHING to prevent any major world problem
Under his watch, he ignored Genocide & Advance North Koreas nukes. The easiest decision a leader can make is to do nothing….Clinton did that for 8 years.
RE: “the USA a rogue state, a torturer in the eyes of the world as Bushes method has.”
Buddy, I could give a Rats rump about what the world thinks of my country.
Find Freedom and democracy anywhere on earth and you can bet your a** the USA had something to do with bring it there.
Did you see the UN applaud Hugo Chaves speech? That is the world body for you! Lucky I am not president. Those countries need a spaking. Cut of USA $$$$$ for a year or so, and see if the world figures out that they should be appauding the USA, not it’s marxist enemies.
RE: “I never during that time had the same absolute lack of respect for the USA as I do now.”
You may not respect the USA, but I bet your Father or Grandfather did
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:56 amCause we probalbly saved (or kicked) their a** in WW2.
Clinton’s got Fox boxed in, thanks to the internet and his prosecutorial questioning of Chris Wallace, who deserved it. If Fox airs the entire piece it would be quite devastating. If they do not air the whole piece, it shows that Fox is willfully disingenuous. Either way, Clinton wins. He realized very quickly he was being set up and decided to break the tables and fine china and dare Fox to stop the cameras. Very savvy and very quick thinking.
Wallace betrayed himself ethically as a journalist. Clinton had been led to believe the central topic was to be his humanitarian work. If Wallace wanted a free-form, open-ended interview, he just should have told Clinton that during scheduling and Clinton could have agreed to it or declined. No problem. What pissed off Clinton was the false pretense that was not revealed by Wallace until the cameras were rolling. Wallace should be fired, but with Fox, he will probably be promoted. As a professional journalist myself, I sincerely beg people like Chris Wallace to quit their jobs and take up organic farming or work in a DDT factory in Bangladesh. I took a whole semester in journalism ethics which cost me $1,000 for just that class and the professor essentially told me not to do what Chris Wallace did to any person you interview for a story. Thanks Chris Wallace for rubbing our whole g.d. profession into the depths of the fetid hog slop. All of us who try very hard to do our job as journalists to the highest ethical standards really appreciate it.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:56 am“The Clinton Wars” Excerpts: How the GOP Undercut Clinton’s Efforts to Fight Terrorism
“…that details how the Republican Congress and former FBI Director Louis Freeh (who allied himself with the anti-Clinton forces) undercut Clinton’s efforts to fight terrorism. The excerpt also touches upon how after the impeachment trial, pseudo-scandal mongering by the media — including the New York Times — helped deflect public attention from President Clinton’s struggle with terrorism.”
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:57 amWhat would the neocons do without Bill to blame for EVERYTHING??
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:58 amTerrorist Attacks Bill Clinton Stopped
Just for the record, under Richard Clarke’s leadership as Czar of Counterterrorism:.
· CLINTON developed the nation’s first anti-terrorism policy,
and appointed first national coordinator of anti-terrorist efforts.
· Bill Clinton stopped cold the Al Qaeda millennium hijacking and bombing plots.
· Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to kill the Pope.
· Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up 12 U.S. jetliners simultaneously.
· Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up UN Headquarters.
· Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up FBI Headquarters.
· Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
· Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Boston airport.
· Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Lincoln and Holland Tunnels in NY.
· Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the George Washington Bridge.
· Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the US Embassy in Albania.
· Bill Clinton tried to kill Osama bin Laden and disrupt Al Qaeda through
preemptive strikes (efforts denounced by the G.O.P.).
· Bill Clinton brought perpetrators of first World Trade Center bombing and CIA killings to justice.
· Bill Clinton did not blame the Bush I administration for first WTC bombing even though it
occurred 38 days after Bush left office. Instead, worked hard, even obsessively - and successfully
- to stop future terrorist attacks.
· Bill Clinton named the Hart-Rudman commission to report on nature of terrorist threats
and major steps to be taken to combat terrorism.
· Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to tighten airport security. (Remember, this is before 911)
The legislation was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the airlines.
· Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to allow for better tracking of terrorist funding.
It was defeated by Republicans in the Senate because of opposition from banking interests.
· Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to add tagents to explosives, to allow for better tracking
of explosives used by terrorists. It was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the NRA.
· Bill Clinton increased the military budget by an average of 14 per cent, reversing the trend under Bush I.
· Bill Clinton tripled the budget of the FBI for counterterrorism and doubled overall funding for counterterrorism.
· Bill Clinton detected and destroyed cells of Al Qaeda in over 20 countries.
· Bill Clinton created national stockpile of drugs and vaccines including 40 million doses of smallpox vaccine.
· Of Clinton’s efforts says Robert Oakley, Reagan Ambassador for Counterterrorism:
“Overall, I give them very high marks” and “The only major criticism I have is the obsession with Osama”.
· Paul Bremer, current Civilian Administrator of Iraq disagrees slightly with Robert Oakley as
he believed the Bill Clinton Administration had “correctly focused on bin Laden. [The same Bremer that lost 8 billion in Iraq]
· Barton Gellman in the Washington Post put it best, “By any measure available, Bill Clinton left office
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:59 amhaving given greater priority to terrorism than any president before him” and was the “first administration
to undertake a systematic anti-terrorist effort”.
Just remember, stop jawboning and make sure that everyone you know votes Democratic this time around. Put out extra effort, donate your hard earned money to these causes, otherwise you will have much more of this stuff, you will have a draft and a broken country and wars on at least three fronts, a national debt like you won’t believe and a Big Brother of a government.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:59 am#127,
Well, please enlighten us, Dick….To whom is Clinton referring? Who criticized him for paying too much attention to Bin Laden? Bill didn’t give us a name, so maybe you can….
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:01 amA lot of what’s written here sounds like you’re the victim and Clinton is doing your work for you. Big deal. The Democrats and the Liberals and the press and the media have been playing the victim, as in “Poor me!”, for much too long. First, they let the Republicans mount an attack on them and their positions or do something unjust like imprisoning at AP employee or swiftboating Kerry. Then they act surprised at the “bad” Republicans for doing this. Then they protest, calling what the Republicans do “despicable” or “dirty tricks” or “untrue” or, worse yet, as you do, “unfair”. All of which only makes you, the press and your organization look even more like victims. And so you dig your own fate. I also sense that, when you do this and ring your hands, you are hoping the Republicans will receive their comeuppance from some mysterious force, and that they will self-destruct of their own accord. The Democrats have been out of power for so long they’re afraid to lose any handhold they have, and the press and media have become so used to truckling to the Administration, it is almost a lost battle. It is important to recognize that, if you are ever to restore any semblance of dignity you have, you need to vote for the Democrats this time around, nevertheless, to balance the Republicans who have lived up to Lord Acton’s maxim: “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Sure the Democrats are scared, timid, afraid to speak out. But act like a victim, end up like one. So go out and hit Administration hard with every legal weapon you have and then and vote for a Democrat, no matter how weak, get your friends to vote Democratically, and act to help others do the same.
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:01 am#131 Christ neocon…read something!!! Um, other than O’Reilley.
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:02 amFace it neocon, you got nothin’.
You can’t answer as to why your mumbling, bumbling Decider hasn’t caught bin Ladne in 6 loooooooooooong year.
Instead, you sit there beating it like it owes you money over cigars and blue dresses.
Run Along Junior, you’re out matched. Go back to FREEPERLAND with the rest of the self abusing morons.
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:02 am# 100- Please tell me what question you are saying President Clinton did not answer. And any anger he displayed was warranted by the weaselly Mr.Wallace. President Clinton called him on his crap, and wouldn’t let him ride roughshod all over him, while he just sat there. We all know the Righties like their targets to be silent, or absent, from the ‘CONversation, that way, they have no need to concern themselves with petty little details, like TELLING THE TRUTH!! It’s much easier to get away with your lies, if no one is there to point them out. Bill Clinton is an expert on Right Wing tactics. He knew what to expect, and he was prepared for it. Trolls are just furious because he is SO damn good, and they know it. If you want a ‘pissy, angry, insistant raging, fit having maniac’, just look at GWB. Witness his latest meltdown in the Rose Garden. He was wiggin’ out! Poor thing. But we know you will never have a decent thing to say about President Clinton, we are used to it, after all these years. But come November, it is possible that you will have a whole bunch of new things to focus on, and will be able to let go of your unhealthy obsession. And I would be pretty damn happy, myself. We shall see…
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:03 amYou may not respect the USA, but I bet your Father or Grandfather did
Cause we probalbly saved (or kicked) their a** in WW2.
Comment by neocon
And what would you think of a President that called our constitution a goddamn piece of paper? I think I would not respect such a person.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, please enlighten us, Dick….To whom is Clinton referring? Who criticized him for paying too much attention to Bin Laden? Bill didn’t give us a name, so maybe you can….
Comment by Exley
Scroll back =)
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:06 amAs democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. — H. L. Mencken
The light is always brightest before it burns out. Remember the salad days when President Clinton was at the helm? The economy was kicking, the world didn’t hate us quite so much, and the neocon bedroom peepers were purple with rage over the demise of “family values.” But now…. Oh, dear, now, after he fooled us once, shame on him, and then we got fooled again, and now that our military and National Guard—troops and equipment—are stretched to the breaking point, my friends, we have finally and perhaps irrevocably made the pie higher.
Let’s not forget that the millions, no, billions, make that trillions of tax dollars being or to be spent on this administration’s “foreign policy exercises” in Iraq, etc., are not just disappearing into thin air; someone is collecting all that money, and we’re not talking mere Bill Gates-wealth. We’re talking nation-changing wealth. Global market-control wealth. War is a money maker and I can’t fathom any other reason why the current administration would concoct a reason to go to war as it did. I can’t even pretend to be as well-informed as your garden variety news junkie, but I know enough to follow the money. Can you say Halliburton?
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:07 amAnswering 121 LordStarFyre:
“So, Where is bin Laden? Since you think you folks are so qualified to lead, why haven’t you caught him yet? Answer that question.”
I will gladly answer it. Let use lib logic, maybe Bush is taking the Libs advice and treating him like you wanted Saddam treated under the U.N. brillient sanctions. UBL is now: isolated, his solider forces depleted by 70%, cut-off from the rest of the world, and has no communications. Then why should we invade his cave???
Look to put it simply the if UBL was killed tomorrow, Murtha, Pelosi, Kerry, Kennedy, and their ilk would say “We got him… We won the war on terror…UBL is dead! Let us bring all our troops home tomorrow.”
The war on terror is not catching UBL… Catching him today might be the worst play we could