Archive for the 'Bill Clinton' Category
Dec 18, 2007 at 8:50 PM by Political Chase
Yesterday Bill Clinton said Hillary Clinton’s number one priority as president would be to
send "[him] and former President Bush and a number of other people around the world to tell them that America is open for business and cooperation again." As I said yesterday, that’s a bold statement for several reasons. The former President Bush said no thanks.
In a statement sent to CNN Tuesday afternoon, former President Bush’s chief of staff Jean Becker said that he “wholeheartedly supports the President of the United States, including his foreign policy. He has never discussed an ‘around-the-world-mission’ with either former President Bill Clinton or Sen. Clinton, nor does he think such a mission is warranted since he is proud of the role America continues to play around the world as the beacon of hope for freedom and democracy.
I could not imagine Poppy Bush admitting Junior had royally screwed the world up. Junior may be a tyrant, but Poppy still sees him as Junior. What father wouldn’t?
Hillary is going to have to rein Hubby in.
Dec 17, 2007 at 11:31 PM by Political Chase
Bill Clinton and/or Hillary may have just shot themselves in the foot. In Orangeburg, SC today, Bill said Hillary will task him and George Bush’s father George H. W. Bush (41) to go around the world cleaning up the mess that his son has made.
“Well, the first thing she intends to do, because you can do this without passing a bill, the first thing she intends to do is to send me and former President Bush and a number of other people around the world to tell them that America is open for business and cooperation again,” Clinton said in response to a question from a supporter about what his wife’s “number one priority” would be as president.
That doesn’t sound like something that just came to mind. Bill Clinton is too smart to make that mistake. If it isn’t a confirmation of closed-door discussions, I don’t know what is, but…
So, Poppy Bush is going to admit to the entire world that W. has royally screwed things up? Bill’s statement is analogous to the question, “When did you stop beating your wife?” But Bill has put it out there, therefore Poppy Bush has two options: accept and admit the obvious, or decline and make Bill’s campaign statements lack credibility. And what about the domestic political implications? By January 20, 2009, I doubt seriously few will want to hear the name Bush for awhile, much less appointing one as an ambassador of good will.
Of course there’s always the third point to consider. Maybe Bill has decided and Hillary has not been clued in yet. Think about it.
Related post:
Elder Bush rejects Clinton goodwill trip
Dec 4, 2007 at 5:02 PM by Political Chase
Former President Bill Clinton says the media is not being fair in its coverage of Hillary. His complaint? If reporters covered the candidates public records better, Sen. Clinton’s position in the presidential campaign would well ahead of the other candidates. Taking an indirect swipe at Barack Obama, President Clinton said he could not understand why the media ignores Hillary’s experience.
Referencing a study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Clinton said:
One percent of the press coverage was devoted to their record in public life. No wonder people think experience is irrelevant. A lot of the people covering the race think it is (irrelevant).
Sixty-seven percent of the coverage is pure politics. That stuff has a half life of about 15 seconds. It won’t matter tomorrow. It is very vulnerable to being slanted and rude. And it won’t affect your life.
There is no doubting Bill Clinton’s intelligence and obviously he has done his homework, but when his wife’s campaign focuses on issues such as Barack Obama’s class work in kindergarten, what can he expect?
Maybe President Clinton should start knocking the heads of Hillary’s campaign managers and tell them to focus on the issues. If her campaign places a priority on issuing mudslinging press releases, the media is going to report it. Better still, maybe Sen. Clinton should be managing her campaign and the media rather than President Clinton.
Nov 27, 2007 at 8:04 AM by Political Chase
Mr. Bush, the self-proclaimed Uniter, has turned his focus to Middle Eastern diplomacy and is moving full speed ahead in an effort to do something, anything that may change his legacy from being totally void of any achievement (Taking more vacation than any other president does not count.) I hope I am proven wrong, but due to his obsessive, compulsive, recalcitrant nature, Mr. Bush has already postured himself for yet another failure.
From the first day George Bush became the 43rd President of the United States, he has carried out flawlessly a policy that has a greater priority than any other throughout his presidency. Iraq, terrorizing the nation with perpetual fear-mongering, declaring all Democrats terrorists, outing CIA agents. Whatever it may be, none of them exceed Executive Order No. 1 - If Bill Clinton did it, it had to be wrong. Executive Order No. 2 - Whatever Bill Clinton did, do the opposite.
So, Mr. Bush trots off as the Masterhood Middle East Peace Mediator. Excalibur in hand, adorned in Clinton-legacy-repellant armor,and a take-advice-from-no-one shield. Indeed, the only man in the world capable of laying to rest 1,300-year-old Middle Eastern conflicts. That is of course with the provision that his anti-Clinton armor retains its effectiveness.
With eyes shifting from side to side, the Mediator skillfully offers a nudge.
It might seem, after nearly seven years of deliberate detachment from Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, that President Bush has plunged into Middle Eastern diplomacy with Clintonesque energy.
He met with the Israel and Palestinian leaders at the White House on Monday and will do so again on Wednesday. On Tuesday, he will meet them at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., along with delegations from 46 countries and international organizations (including, after an arm-twisting by phone last week, Saudi Arabia).
In fact, Mr. Bush and his aides still deplore what they view as President Clinton’s disastrously hands-on involvement in the peace process in 2000. And they insist that Mr. Bush does not intend to negotiate personally the two-state peace he has pronounced as his vision, just as they insist that this is not an 11th-hour effort to forge a legacy other than the one left by the Iraq war.
It is not necessary to document George Bush’s patent failure in foreign policy. Instead, I’ll just handle it this way. Tell me something he has achieved that did not result in catastrophic consequences, and we’ll go from there.
In almost seven years as President, Mr. Bush has been to the Middle East only four times. Two trips were to Iraq, and both of those were photo-op’s. The first trip he served turkey to a few of the troops. On another trip in September 2007, he staged a peaceful photo-op within the safety of a U.S. base many miles away from Baghdad, presenting the facade of how safe Iraq was.
Sep. 3, 2007 - President Bush makes brief stop in Iraq on way to Australia
I suppose the president is far better off by simply adhering to the orders advice of Mr. Cheney, who has obviously demonstrated considerably more successes than Bill Clinton ever imagined.
Money statement of the day?
“The United States cannot impose our vision,” Mr. Bush told the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, in the Oval Office on Monday, before saying, and sounding, again, Clintonesque, “but we can help facilitate.”
Sep 29, 2007 at 4:11 PM by Political Chase
A spokesman for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich made it official today — Newt will not run for president in 2008.
While I recognize it is just spin, there is something quite ironic about the reason given for not running. Gingrich does not want to give up his role as chairman of American Solutions (for Winning the Future) because he decided “to continue on raising the challenges America faces and finding solutions to those challenges rather than pursuing the presidency.”
Isn’t that what the President of the United States is supposed to do?
Few would doubt the notion that Gingrich’s decision probably had far more do to with the likelihood of not winning than his desire to continue as chairman of American Solutions. But, the notion that Gingrich or anyone else serving as chairman of a think tank could solve America’s problems more effectively than the President of the United States is profound.
Newt’s posit on his personal capabilities is arguably more narcissistic than real, but not necessarily so for others. The success Bill Clinton has had with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) is phenomenal. CGI, with a total membership of approximately 400 people, just completed its third annual meeting — these are a few examples of the group’s commitments for the next year.
- 8.5 million out-of-school children will be enabled to enroll in school for the first time.
- 50 million people will have access to treatment of neglected tropical diseases.
- 170,031,331 acres of forest will be protected or restored.
- 11.2 million people will be empowered with increased access to sustainable incomes.
Based on the success of prior years’ commitments, CGI will likely surpass those goals.
If approximately 400 people can have that much impact, it’s hard to imagine what the U.S. government could do if lead by the right people with the proper perspectives and motivations.
Sep 20, 2007 at 4:16 PM by Political Chase
Maybe Dick Cheney will publish another op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and blame this on Bill Clinton too.
The dollar took another fall on currency markets Thursday, reaching one-to-one parity against the Canadian dollar for the first time in 30 years and plumbing a new low against the 13-nation European currency.
The dramatic half-point cut in U.S. interest rates announced this week, while aimed at shoring up U.S. credit markets, also had the effect of further weakening the dollar versus other currencies by reducing the cash yield on dollars. A lower dollar can make travel more costly for U.S. residents and can also pose the risk of making imported goods more expensive over time.
Dollar at 30-Year Low Vs. Canada Dollar - washingtonpost.com
Sep 19, 2007 at 7:59 AM by Political Chase
If you’ll remember, a few days ago I wrote about how the Bush–Cheney administration blamed the Clinton administration for anything remotely negative (e.g. recession in 2001), well Dick Cheney is doing it again. Darth Vader has an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal challenging the scathing comments Alan Greenspan made about Bush and Cheney in his new book. Read the article (pdf).
Sep 15, 2007 at 7:54 PM by Political Chase
The first significant indication of George Bush’s obsessive adherence to Manichaeism was in a speech he made September 20, 2001 before a joint session of Congress. Nine days after 9/11. The president made it abundantly clear. There was no gray then nor is it now. Standing before Congress, Mr. Bush, the Standard Bearer of Good, declared:
“Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”
Everything is black or white. Good versus Evil. Those who dare oppose Mr. Bush, as we have learned the hard way, are Evil. They are no different than the Terrorists.
We’ve frequently heard George Bush comment that he could care less about what the polls say about him; those writing history will be his judge. Of course, Mr. Bush would prefer all the authors wait until he is dead before history begins to weigh in on the Merits of His Presidency. He made it clear in his authorized biography, Dead Certain, by Robert Draper. It’s in black and white. The first sentence of the first page.
“You can’t possibly figure out the history of the Bush presidency — until I’m dead.”
Well too bad for Mr. Bush, because history is being written everyday and the vast majority share the same view. The Decider makes bad decisions.
Damned historians, they must be terrorists too, and Alan Greenspan has turned out to be one of them because he gave Mr. Bush a thumpin’ in his new book, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World.
During Alan Greenspan’s tenure as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and especially in the 1990’s, many viewed him as the most powerful man in the world, and rightfully so. I can remember well how the world’s financial markets would be influenced if people even thought Greenspan was just thinking about a given issue in the global economy. He did not have to utter a word — a rumor, his body language in a meeting, not commenting on a particular item, pure speculation — would create some type of impact in the global markets and particularly the U.S., of course.
Fed Chairman turned author, Greenspan joins the long list of authors criticizing George Bush, his administration, and the Republicans. While the Democrats did not come out unscathed, Greenspan praised Bill Clinton, which probably infuriated Bush more than the criticism levied on him personally.
Alan Greenspan, who served as Federal Reserve chairman for 18 years and was the leading Republican economist for the past three decades, levels unusually harsh criticism at President Bush and the Republican Party in his new book, arguing that Bush abandoned the central conservative principle of fiscal restraint. (Emphasis added.)
[He expressed] deep disappointment with Bush. “My biggest frustration remained the president’s unwillingness to wield his veto against out-of-control spending,” Greenspan writes. “Not exercising the veto power became a hallmark of the Bush presidency. . . . To my mind, Bush’s collaborate-don’t-confront approach was a major mistake.”
Greenspan accuses the Republicans who presided over the party’s majority in the House until last year of being too eager to tolerate excessive federal spending in exchange for political opportunity. The Republicans, he says, deserved to lose control of the Senate and House in last year’s elections. “The Republicans in Congress lost their way,” Greenspan writes. “They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither.”
Bill Clinton - “The Hero”
While condemning Democrats, too, for rampant federal spending, he offers Bill Clinton an exemption. The former president emerges as the political hero of “The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World,” Greenspan’s 531-page memoir, which is being published Monday.
Greenspan, who had an eight-year alliance with Clinton and Democratic Treasury secretaries in the 1990s, praises Clinton’s mind and his tough anti-deficit policies, calling the former president’s 1993 economic plan “an act of political courage.”
Remember how the economy began rapidly declining after the Supreme Court crowned George Bush king and how Bush adamantly blamed Bill Clinton for it? Vindicated.
On a side note, tor those that might not know, Alan Greenspan is married to NBC’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Andrea Mitchell.
Sep 5, 2007 at 2:38 PM by Political Chase
I have some personal business I must address today, therefore posting will be limited. However, I’ve provided a brief update on some of the hot topics of the day.
Stay the Course
Contrary to President Bush’s insinuation Monday that troop withdrawals may be possible, the AP reports Bush’s advisers have recommend he continue his current failed strategy in Iraq and that Bush “is unlikely to order more than a symbolic cut in troops before the end of the year, administration officials”
Official GAO Report
The GAO’s official report on Iraq was released yesterday. Instead of failing 15 of 18 benchmarks as reported in the leaked draft report, the GAO determined 11 of 18 benchmarks were considered failing. According to The Gate:
Analysts revised their draft assessments after some back-and-forth with the State Department and DOD. For instance, GAO had initially characterized goals for the training and readiness of Iraqi brigades in Baghdad as “not met.” But after “the U.S. commander embedded with the units attested to their fighting capabilities,” and with the help of additional data, GAO upgraded its rating to “partially met.”
Bush Wants More Nukes
President Bush, meeting with Asia-Pacific leaders in Sydney, Australia yesterday, declared nuclear power is the silver bullet for global warming.
Nuclear power is a key to tackling climate change. If you truly care about greenhouse gases, then you’ll support nuclear power. After all, nuclear power enables you to generate electricity without any greenhouse gases. (Emphasis added.)
You just can’t hide brilliance can you?
Sounds like Mr. Bush is pursuing economies of scale. Employ the same concepts of his Iraq strategy into the country’s energy strategy. As I understand it, it takes approximately 10 years to build a nuclear power plant, which exceeds the time frame necessary to mitigate some of the most serious consequences of global warming.
Shifting Positions
Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his resignation from the Senate. Roll Call (sub. req.) obtained a voice mail message that Craig “inadvertently left at a wrong number.”
“Yes, Billy, this is Larry Craig calling. You can reach me on my cell. [Sen.] Arlen Specter [R-Pa.] is now willing to come out in my defense, arguing that it appears, by all that he knows, that I’ve been railroaded and all of that,†Craig said on the voice mail. “Having all of that, we’ve reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my ‘intent’ to resign on Sept. 30.
“I think it is very important for you to make as bold a statement as you are comfortable with this afternoon and I would hope you could make it in front of the cameras,†Craig continued. “I think it would help drive the story that I am willing to fight, that I’ve got quality people out there fighting in my defense, and that this thing could take a new turn or a new shape; it has that potential.â€
Terrorist Attacks Averted
German authorities arrested three suspects planning to carry out “imminent” and “massive” bomb attacks on a U.S. air base in Germany and the Frankfurt airport. According to reports, the group “received terrorist training in Pakistan and had close ties to al Qaeda.”
Keeping Up with “Slick Willy”
Bill Clinton has released a new book, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World. Maybe President Bush will move it to the top of his reading list.
Jul 4, 2007 at 10:23 AM by Political Chase
Bill Clinton criticized George Bush yesterday for commuting the prison sentence of Scooter Libby. In Davenport, Iowa yesterday, a radio host asked Clinton, “You had some controversial pardons during your presidency; what’s your reaction to what President Bush did?”
“You had some controversial pardons during your presidency; what’s your reaction to what President Bush did?”
“Yeah, but I think the facts were different,” Mr. Clinton said. “I think there are guidelines for what happens when somebody is convicted. You’ve got to understand, this is consistent with their philosophy; they believe that they should be able to do what they want to do, and that the law is a minor obstacle.”
“It’s wrong to out that C.I.A. agent and wrong to try to cover it up,” Mr. Clinton added. “And no one was ever fired from the White House for doing it.”
Bill Clinton Criticizes Bush on Libby Move - New York Times.
May 4, 2007 at 3:06 AM by Political Chase
MNBC’s Chris Matthews got too personal on Bill Clinton and Karl Rove in the Republican presidential debate tonight. Matthews asked each candidate if he would allow Karl Rove to be on his staff if elected president. As if that wasn’t enough, towards the end of the debate he asked each candidate if it would be good for America to have Bill Clinton back living in the White House.
Mitt Romney first asked if he was kidding, and very aptly turned the volatile question into whether Hillary should be in the White House.
Since the Clinton question was towards the end of the debate, it was much easier to capture it; therefore, the Rove question is not in this video. I will have the Rove part after I edit the full video.
Both questions were direct personal hits that were uncalled for and had absolutely nothing to do with determining the Republican candidates qualifications for office.
Tags: Chris+Matthews, Bill+Clinton, Republican, presidential, debate
Mar 14, 2007 at 9:30 AM by Political Chase
I am confused on what has historically happened (pre-W.) with U.S. attorneys. I keep hearing conflicting information.
Yesterday, I said the Clinton administration did not fire all of the U.S. attorneys when the administration took control in 1993. I based that on a statement made by Kyle Sampson (Alberto Gonzales’ ousted COS) in an email to Harriet Miers (former White House Counselor). In stark contrast to Sampson’s assertion, on Imus this morning, Chris Wallace said Clinton fired all U.S. attorneys except one at the beginning of his administration.
So who’s right/wrong? At the moment, I suppose I am wrong; look at the credibility of the sources. Chris Wallace works for Fox Noise and Sampson was at the forefront of the whole U.S. attorney mess. I’m inclined to put more credence in Sampson’s “statements of facts,” but that’s not worth much.
I’ll try to ascertain the facts and will let you know.
Mar 13, 2007 at 3:50 PM by Political Chase
(Ed. note: see late update at the end of this post)
Although I have not read them all, the documents the DOJ gave the House Judiciary Committee today are revealing. For starters, they confirm a lie Karl Rove recently made.
In a March 8 speech in Little Rock, AK, Karl Rove remarked that Bill Clinton “replaced all 93 U.S. attorneys” at the beginning of his administration. Former Clinton administration officials responded saying Rove’s claim was not true.
The documents released today prove Karl Rove flat out lied. In a January 9, 2006, memo from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s chief of staff Kyle Sampson to then White House Counsel Harriet Miers, Sampson wrote:
During the Reagan and Clinton Administrations, Presidents Reagan and Clinton did not seek to remove and replace U.S. Attorneys they had appointed whose four-year terms had expired, but instead permitted such U.S. Attorneys to serve indefinitely under the holdover provision.
This can be found on page 20, third paragraph of this document (PDF). I have placed bookmarks in the document to help organize who did what when.
Late Update: The facts for this post may not be accurate. See this post for details.
Mar 9, 2007 at 2:06 PM by Political Chase
Karl Rove, the quintessential spin master and Lee Atwater’s legacy, digs deep trying to salvage the unsalvageable - George Bush’s legacy. From the Washington Post:
In an interview this week in his windowless West Wing office, Karl Rove said that there is “very little” discussion about President Bush’s legacy at the White House these days, only a focus on developing good policy that might have a long-term impact. “The president’s attitude is, ‘History is going to write the legacy long after we are all dead or in no position to affect it — so why worry about it?’ ” Rove said.
When there is nothing to discuss, how can you discuss it? At least Rove is tell the truth albeit with an incredible spin placed on it. Furthermore, when Karl Rove starts singing the praises of Bill Clinton, you know the cheese has slipped off his cracker and he is definitely up to something.
In keeping with the spirit of the occasion, Rove lavishly praised Clinton. “The 42nd president cared passionately about the fate of people who elected him. He exercised the full powers of his office. He mastered complex problems and made sure the president remained at the vital center of action,” he said, recalling words of John F. Kennedy. “These things matter. And they will be seen to matter by history.”
Read the article: Rove Doing His Part to Help Shape a Positive Legacy for Bush - washingtonpost.com
Mar 9, 2007 at 1:24 PM by Political Chase
Former Speaker of the House and architect of the Republican’s “Contract with America” Newt Gingrich (R-GA) had an affair at the same time he led the efforts to impeach former President Clinton. Hypocrisy abounds in oh so many ways.
Gingrich and every other Republican attempted a political coup d’etat decrying Clinton’s moral stance and allegations of perjury. The coup failed, but the rhetoric that came with it could not be withdrawn and it certainly did not stop. Clinton lied about his affair with Monica Lewinski, which was wrong, but Clinton’s misdeed (singular) paled in comparison to the plethora of high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush administration. How many people were directly or indirectly damaged as a result of Clinton’s misdeed? One, and she received $700,000 - not bad income for a minimum wage earner.
I don’t need to list the misdeeds of the Bush administration for justification purposes - they are well known and have been sanctioned for years. Only Scooter Libby has succumbed to justice and that was this week.
Gingrich, a neocon four sure, had this to say about his sordid affair, rule of law, justice and morals. From the AP:
“The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge,” the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton’s 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. “I drew a line in my mind that said, ‘Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept … perjury in your highest officials.”
For emphasis, let me repeat these eight words, “you cannot accept … perjury in your highest officials.”
Scooter Libby’s verdict had barely been read when Republican leaders, neocons, and neocon publications (e.g. National Review), demanded a presidential pardon for Libby. Give Scooter a pardon today for the crimes he committed and the related devastating wake of his and Cheney’s crimes, but send Bill Clinton straight to hell for his? Yeah, that’s hypocrisy.
Well, at least we can say Gingrich has chutzpah…start an outrage on Clinton’s moral issue, that ultimately leads to impeachment of the President, and he is out equally indulging himself.
