For Those of Us Who Admire Bill Clinton

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 4:20pm

My personal list of BLOCKED USERS (and you know who you are!) are cordially invited NOT to respond on this thread. Thank you in advance!

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ABC News Transcripts
PRIMETIME LIVE (09:00 PM ET) - ABC
November 18, 2004 Thursday

PRIMETIME LIVE A PLACE IN HISTORY
graphics: Primetime special edition

PETER JENNINGS, ABC NEWS

The following is a "Primetime" Special Edition.

PETER JENNINGS

(Off Camera) You love history, sir. Rate yourself as a President.

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

I'm not going to do that. Anything I say is wrong. It's a lose/lose deal. I got, you know, my wife's in public service. I'm still trying to do things as a former President. And I have no business being the judge of my own presidency right now.

PETER JENNINGS

(Voice Over) But at the end of the President's term, historians did feel free to judge.

PETER JENNINGS

(Off Camera) 58 historians, as I think you may know, did this for C-SPAN. And they were all across the political spectrum. And they came out, in general terms, that you were 21st. And on public persuasion and economic management, they gave you a fifth. Pretty good.

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

Pretty good.

PETER JENNINGS

(Off Camera) They gave you a 41st on moral authority.

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

They're wrong about that.

PETER JENNINGS

(Off Camera) After Nixon.

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

They're wrong about that. You know why they're wrong about that? They're wrong about it.

PETER JENNINGS

(Off Camera) Why, sir?

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

Because we had $100 million spent against us and all these inspections. One person in my Administration was convicted of doing something that violated his -job responsibilities, while we were in the White House. 29 in the Reagan/Bush years. I'll bet those historians didn't even know that. They have no idea what I was subject to and what a lot of people supported. No other President ever had to endure someone like Ken Starr indicting innocent people because they wouldn't lie, in a systematic way. No one ever had to try to save people from ethnic cleansing in the Balkans and the people in Haiti from a military dictator who was murdering them. And all of the other problems I dealt with, while everyday, an entire apparatus was devoted to destroying him. And still, not any example of where I ever disgraced this country, publicly. I made a terrible public/personal mistake. But I paid for it. Many times over. And in spite of it all, you don't have any example where I ever lied to the American people about my job, where I ever let the American people down. And I had more support from the world, and world leaders and people around the world, when I quit than when I started. And I will go to my grave being at peace about it. And I don't really care what they think.

PETER JENNINGS

(Off Camera) Oh, yes, you do, sir. Oh -excuse me, Mr. President, I can feel it across the room. You feel it very deeply.

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

No, I care. You don't want to go here, Peter. You don't want to go here. Not after what you people did and the way you, your network, what you did with Kenneth Starr. The way your people repeated every, little sleazy thing he leaked. No one has any idea what that's like. That's where I failed. You wanna know where I failed? I really let it -it hurt me. I thought I -lived in a country where people believed in the Constitution, the rule of law, freedom of speech. You never had to live in a time when people you knew and cared about were being indicted, carted off to jail, bankrupted, ruined, because they were Democrats and because they would not lie. So, I think we showed a lot of moral fiber to stand up to that. To stand up to these constant investigations, to this constant bodyguard of lies, this avalanche that was thrown at all of us. And, yes, I failed once. And I sure paid for it. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the American people. And I'm sorry for the embarrassment they performed. But they ought to think about the rest of the world reacted to it. When I -when I got a standing ovation at the United Nations, from the whole world, the American networks were showing my grand jury testimony. Those were decisions you made, not me. I personally believe that the standing ovation I got from the whole world at the United Nations, which was unprecedented for an American President, showed not only support for me, but opposition to the madness that had taken a hold of American politics.

Updated On: 11/22/04 at 04:20 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 4:26pm

"My personal list of BLOCKED USERS (and you know who you are!) cordially invited NOT to respond on this thread. Thank you in advance!"

I don't know whether I am or not. I can't keep up with things like that. But if I am blocked, you can't read this anyway, so...

Yuck! I have to go take a shower after reading that. It's so slimy.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 4:27pm

when is blocking a user not enough? at what point does a pathological hatred go beyond the point of no return and become dangerous? just curious.

oh and bill, there's a website for that, it's called moveon...

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 4:49pm

Personally, I love it! Go for it Bill! Put them in their place.

[Mamie]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 4:59pm

Amen to that. Bill's 100% right. The level of deceit and trickery practiced by the Nixon and Reagan regimes was unprecidented. THAT'S true immorality.

[etoile]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 5:10pm

I fail to realize what is accomplished when one makes a choice not to see an opposing opinion. Because if anyone's blood pressure is raised by what's written on a message board by an exchange of ideas, comments or opinions, then their issues run deeper than what's been written.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 5:12pm

"You don't want to go here, Peter. You don't want to go here. Not after what you people did and the way you, your network, what you did with Kenneth Starr. The way your people repeated every, little sleazy thing he leaked."

Brilliant. Just plain brilliant. Peter Jennings, Barbara Walters...ALL of them deserve to be totally spanked for dragging journalism in this country down to a National Enquirer level. It has yet to be recovered. Thanks for posting this.

Updated On: 11/22/04 at 05:12 PM

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 5:15pm

You tell 'em Bill! The sleaziest, sneakiest, most conniving and immoral administration is the current one. I'd rather have a Presidient who lies about a blow-job than one who lies about reasons for sending young men and women off to die in an unnecessary and unjust war.

Updated On: 11/22/04 at 05:15 PM

[etoile]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 5:48pm

Let me first say that I don't believe any sitting president should be the subject of a civil suit. But since I'm not the judge who made that decision the best you can do you work with what you're given and go on.


"And still, not any example of where I ever disgraced this country, publicly." To me, this is the part he doesn't get.

But I'm still amazed people continue to try and confuse & deflect & spin the lies over sexual activites (in a freaking civil case where only a monetary outcome would be decided) with the acts of perjury, suborning perjury, witness tampering, and conspiracy. Were not talking about someone not familiar with the law. When one raises their hand and takes a vow, either as an oath to office or in a judaical proceeding, those words have impact. And to defy them has consequences.

I just know that if I lied under oath, and not touching on how I personally feel that would deminish my soul, I would loss my job, my pension, my house, probably my freedom for a set time, and any future attempt at gainful employment.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 4:46am

Good for Clinton! It's so refreshing when someone tells it like it is. There have been so many lies and BS in this administration. The juxtaposition between Clinton and Shrubya is astonishing. I particularly liked how he said that he took care of world matters while being attacked as he was and that at the end of his term he has great respect from the world. And, the world didn't give a crap about any of the Lewinsky scandal. Yet the world is disgusted by Bush. Bush's crimes are far more abominable. But, people believe the lies and the spin.

The "liberal" media isn't that liberal after all.

[feinstein9]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 7:00am

thank you for that snippet, it was very interesting. it's really impossible to tell when someone is a good president or not, because you're getting bs from both sides. really, all i want is the truth. that having been said, i do believe there is substantial evidance to suggest that ken starr is the devil incarnite.

> The level of deceit and trickery practiced by the Nixon and Reagan regimes was unprecidented. THAT'S true immorality.

this brings up something else. a while back i asked why it seemed like a lot of people weren't to hip on reagan, and really seemed to loath him. gotham explained some of it to me via pm- i.e., the slow response to AIDS- but i was wondering what else there was to it. what deceit and trickery was practiced by reagan? there's like, black and white evidance for Nixon, where you can say, with facts in check, he did this this and this. so i guess i'm just looking for a reason he might have sucked, and is retrospectivly viewed as starting something called the Reagan Revolution, which i guess is just folks that are all neo-cony? anyway, thanks for any insight you might bring into this.

(btw- the reason i don't know much about ronald is b/c i was born in 85, so i didn't really get to, er, experince the administration as i am the current one.)

[grownupgroupie]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 1:08pm

Hail to the Chief!!! Absolutely right.

Watergate was whitewashed posthumously,
No one seems to recall Iran/Contra,
and yet we spent MORE on Ken Starr's WITCHUNT for a freaking blowjob (and a fat load of nothing with travelgate, filegate, whitewater) than we have on 9/11.

I absolutely agree. Their are isolated incidences of moral lapses, and then there are systematic administration-wide ones.

Go Bubba!

Posted: 11/23/04 at 1:11pm

I know PalJoey has me blocked and frankly my dear I don't give a damn.

I'm responding to this thread not because I'm interested in anything PalJoey has to say, but because he asked me NOT to respond.

So everyone get ready for this thread to be bumped by me for no other reason than to be annoying.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 1:15pm

Why is "being annoying" a goal for you? Even a military therapist would say that that behavior is "counter-intuitive."

Posted: 11/23/04 at 1:23pm

Funny thing is that I had seen this thread and decided to ignore it but finally decided to at least give it a read.

Had Joey just posted it, I would've read it, shook my head, then moved on.

Since Joey put his(her?) little snotty "blocked users" rant at the beginning, I couldn't resist.

[grownupgroupie]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 1:25pm

People will do what they do, but being a metaphorical scab-picker is something that has always confounded me. I guess some people just enjoy being inflammatory. I've never understood that.

Posted: 11/23/04 at 1:26pm

try it. you'll like it.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 1:36pm

As I said before...

I just LOVE when BLOCKED USERS bump up my threads.

I can see that they've bumped the thread up, but I don't have to read whatever sneering, contemptuous drivel they've chosen to add to the conversation, like dogs at a fire hydrant adding their urine.

Isn't my new conservative-free BroadwayWorld wonderful!

LIBERAL AND PROGRESSIVE: How Broadway Was MEANT to BE!

Updated On: 11/23/04 at 01:36 PM

[B.B. Wolf]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 1:48pm

I like Clinton a lot. Brilliant, brilliant man. And I think he did some great things in office. And ANYTIME a President directly accuses the press, I'm all for it! Those vultures deserve it.
But, I have to say since it was brought up, the fact that the press promoted the scandal doesn't say anything about the liberal bias (or lack thereof) in the media. It was the greatest scandal in YEARS. Every station, no matter their blatant partisan politics was dishing on it.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 1:53pm

well, gug, petty and snarky comments invite petty and snarky responses. i would think that blocking someone would mean that you're not interested in what they have to say. however, mentioning them as often as pal does makes it clear that there's much more at play here than that. it's like a built in safety blanket to insure that a thread gets bumped. which is good for the blocker because were it not there, most of pal's threads would sink off the page. either way, it's a pretty warped, yet oddly symbiotic relationship.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 2:06pm

I think this country has only had 3 truly great presidents.

FDR,JFK,Bill Clinton.


And the best that never was? RFK

Posted: 11/23/04 at 2:45pm

Oh..... my..... God.

Every, I mean EVERY educated person in the WORLD would disagree with you on that one.

Oh, and PalJoey, you can kiss my conservative ass.

Posted: 11/23/04 at 2:50pm

bump

Posted: 11/23/04 at 2:51pm

bump

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 2:52pm

Rodney was that directed at me?