William Jefferson Clinton Appreciation Thread

[Darth_Kitten]

:bounce:

Share your stories. :)

[cali]

1. He was better than his predecessor or successor.

Sad to see him reduced to this.

[havocmom]

2. second that

[Hoof Hearted]

62. Ya'all are KISSING UP THE WRONG TREE

congrats on your adherence to the memo though.

[havocmom]

65. more projection

the hallmark of a rovian methodology. Sad to see it used here by DEMS promoting a DEM candidate we sadly watched rubber stamp the cheney war into existence.

WE are not the folks who got talking points in a conference call.

[BlooInBloo]

4. What cali said.

[peacebird]

5. bingo...

[chascarrillo]

15. Ayup.

[WillyToad]

64. He hasn't been reduced....

...Just obsessed over and smeared by both republicans and Obama supporters, who picked up where Ken Starr left off.

A smear campaign is an intentional, premeditated effort to undermine an individual's or group's reputation, credibility, and character. "Mud slinging", like negative campaigning, most often targets government officials, politicians, political candidates, and other public figures. However, private persons or groups may also become targets of smear campaigns perpetrated in schools, companies, institutions, families, and other social groups.

Smear tactics differ from normal discourse or debate in that they do not bear upon the issues or arguments in question. A smear is a simple attempt to malign a group or an individual and to attempt to undermine their credibility.

Smears often consist of ad hominem attacks in the form of unverifiable rumors and are often distortions, half-truths, or even outright lies; smear campaigns are often propagated by gossip spreading. Even when the facts behind a smear are shown to lack proper foundation, the tactic is often effective because the target's reputation is tarnished before the truth is known.

Smears are also effective in diverting attention away from the matter in question and onto the individual or group. The target of the smear is typically forced to defend his reputation rather than focus on the previous issue.

Hate appeals to many because it takes no thought, it just is.

[cali]

67. Wrong. Here's why. Political campaigning is messy.

Bill through him himself into a competitive race and took on the role of attack dog. There's no precedent for this situation of course, and I sympathize with his dilemma. He's a born campaigner. He wanted to aid his wife's campaign. But he made serious mistakes. Hillary's campaign itself has acknowledged this. It's not a smear to recognize that Bill Clinton let his emotions get the better of him to the point where he was losing his temper at reporters. It's no smear to say that Bill Clinton made comments that he had to apologize for. That's simply the truth.

It's a common reaction of people who can't face realistic criticism of a beloved figure to call it all a smear plot. Has Bill Clinton been smeared? Sure. All public figures endure that ignominy, but the truth is that Bill Clinton dimished himself with his partisan and over the top campaigning of a few months back. I doubt it will do his reputation any lasting damage, but it's still a vivid picture in the minds of many.

And if you think what I wrote is a smear, you're completely out of touch with reality.

[Darth_Kitten]

3. 2 time president, universally respected across the planet.

It hurts some, I know.

[msongs]

6. yeah peace, prosperity, and a balanced budget suck bad in some peoples' world view nt

[Darth_Kitten]

18. LOL.......exactly.

n/t

[cali]

17. I'm sorry, but I was never a huge Clinton fan.

I appreciated his political skills, but felt he largely frittered them away. I think he was strong on foreign policy- by and large, but NAFTA and Welfare Reform weren't shining stars in the Clinton firmament. And sorry if this offends, but his behavior with women has always offended me. And his having an "affair" with a subordinate thirty years younger, when he knew what he was risking, was simply pathological.

[silverojo]

37. Glad to see someone else agrees with me on this

What Bill Clinton did to the welfare system and Medicaid was nothing less than an attack on everything Democrats are supposed to hold dear.

[DrDan]

28. I agree with you - 8 years of peace and prosperity

the only place he is disliked is on Free Republic . . . . . and GD-P

I guess there is not a whole lot of difference, come to think of it . . .

[Auntie Bush]

42. LOL and so true...especially the latter!

[grantcart]

7. I'll pass until I see what kind of legacy he really wants

we will see on Wednesday

[ObamaKerryDem]

13. Loved him before this primary season..

Up until SC at least. Now "dissapointed" isn't a strong enough word..:( Ego is a mighty destructive force..

[StevieM]

26. Where do I begin to count all the things wrong with what you just said

First of all, Bill's not running, Hillary is. She decided whether to end the campaign or not. Second, it is ridiculous to link his legacy to your opinion as to who deserves to win. Third, the rules of the DNC--the ones that they made their campaign decisions under--specifically state that you must recieve a majority of all delegates. Obama has introduced a brand new standard that has no precedent in American history.

[grantcart]

48. Obviously it has nothing to do with who I think deserves to win

he continues to launch the most cynical attack on the rules of the DNC.

These are rules that the Clintons wanted in order to create Super Tuesday.

They wanted draconian rules so that states wouldn't keep jumping the line but they would pile onto each other and create a defacto national primary - Super Tuesday that would play to their strengths of superior funding, experience and twenty years of passing out favors across the country as one of the most powerful machines.

It was their man Ickes that proposed the rule change that changed the punishment from 1/2 delegate to zero. They needed a punishment that would really sting or a drawn out process would allow a strong field to pick off one primary here and one primary there. The strategy imploded when they bet the farm on ST and lost.


Now they have invented the cynical spin that every vote should be counted and this is some conspiracy against her. It was their conpiracy against the party and it failed. Now, even today, he is pouring kerosine onto the flames by raising the passion about this non existent injustice.


So what happens on Wednesday is we will see if they are finally going to put the interests of the party ahead of their own. Will they fall in line when the presumptive nominee has a huge lead in pledged delegates and super delegates? Or will they launch a slash and burn campaign to force the party to include HRC as a VP?


And also on Wednesday will be the release of the financial reports. They told their supporters to clean out their bank accounts because they were going strong and had the money to fight. They said that they raised "$ 10 million" in one day. If they did then fine. If they didn't, and they won't be able to lie about it - it means that they misrepresented their situation in order to get people, some of them vulnerable - including apparently a boy that sold his bike - to contribute to a dead campaign in order to help pay back their loans.

We already know who has one but having seen these two people consistently take the low road in this campaign then no - I am going to wait until the end to see if they any interest in the higher interests of the party or the people who have supported them.


Your comments about the rules are pure jibberish that you have taken from spin of the Clinton campaign. Tell me what are you going to say on Wednesday when it turns out that the Clinton campaign did not raise $ 10 million in one day and it was a bare faced lie?

[DemGa]

Served his country well as President -

Trashed by Barack - trashed by (many of) his supporters.

[FrenchieCat]

8. I thank William Jefferson Clinton for the legacy that he left us with......

THE RISE OF THE DLC

its mission was far more confrontational. With few resources, and taking heavy flak from the big guns of the Democratic left, the DLC proclaimed its intention, Mighty Mouse-style, to rescue the Democratic Party from the influence of 1960s-era activists and the AFL-CIO, to ease its identification with hot-button social issues, and, perhaps most centrally, to reinvent the party as one pledged to fiscal restraint, less government, and a pro business, pro-free market outlook.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/1/24/16457/4867

Hence the DLC via Bill Clinton's Presidency gave us among other things.......

NAFTA

Clinton Signs NAFTA
12/8/93"I do want to say, also, a special word of thanks to all the citizens who helped us -- the business leaders, the labor folks, the environmental people who came out and worked through this; many of them at great criticism, particularly in the environmental movement and some of the working people who helped it. And a group that was quite pivotal to our success that I want to acknowledge specifically are the small business people, many of whom got themselves organized and came forward and tried to help us. They made a real difference. " Bill Clinton at NAFTA signing Ceremony
http://www.clintonfoundation.org/legacy/120893-speech-b...

1996 TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT

Clinton Signs The Telecommunications Act of 1996
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is the first major overhaul of telecommunications law in almost 62 years. The goal of this new law is to let anyone enter any communications business -- to let any communications business compete in any market against any other.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 has the potential to change the way we work, live and learn. It will affect telephone service -- local and long distance, cable programming and other video services, broadcast services and services provided to schools.
http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html

WELFARE REFORM ACT

1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
On August 22, President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 Conference Report to accompany H.R. 3734, the controversial legislation which repeals the 60 year old social safety net for the poor and requires welfare recipients to work. The legislation is very much like H.R. 4, the previous welfare bill that the President vetoed at the urging of NOW and other advocacy organizations. And, like the previous bill, the President received severe criticism from community activists, women's rights, social service advocacy, labor, minority, and religious groups in embracing this Republican-led effort to change the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=1996_Welfare...

BANKING REFORM BILL

Clinton signs banking overhaul measure
November 12, 1999
The biggest change in the nation's banking system since the Great Depression became law Friday, when President Bill Clinton signed a measure overhauling federal rules governing the way financial institutions operate.

Congress passed the bipartisan measure November 5, opening the way for a blossoming of financial "supermarkets" selling loans, investments and insurance. Proponents had pushed the legislation in Congress for two decades, and Wall Street and the banking and insurance industries had poured millions of dollars into lobbying for it in the past few years.

"The world changes, and Congress and the laws have to change with it," said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm (R-Texas), who has fought for years for the overhaul. Gramm said the bill would improve banking competition and stability.
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/11/12/banki...

DOMA

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) -- HR 3396 or Public Law No. 104-199 -- on 21 September 2000. It defines marriage as an act between heterosexuals and frees one state from being required to honor the same-sex marriage conducted in another state. As of this writing, 39 states have laws based on DOMA; 18 of those are amendments to the state constitution.

On Friday, September 20, prior to signing the Defense of Marriage Act, President Clinton released the following statement:

I have long opposed governmental recognition of same-gender marriages and this legislation is consistent with that position. The Act confirms the right of each state to determine its own policy with respect to same gender marriage and clarifies for purposes of federal law the operative meaning of the terms "marriage" and "spouse".
http://uspolitics.about.com/od/gaymarriage/a/DOMA.htm

CHINA TRADE DEAL

Clinton signs China trade bill
October 10, 2000
he measure is considered the most important U.S. trade legislation since passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993. But it faced a long campaign of opposition from labor, human rights and conservative groups who wanted to retain the annual review of trade relations with China.
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/10/10/... /

(ACTUAL LINKS AVAILABLE HERE: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5587196

[Darth_Kitten]

16. What's Barack's legacy, oh, that's right, he doesn't have one yet......

:eyes:

[FrenchieCat]

22. I thought this thread was about the former President,

not the future one. :)

[Darth_Kitten]

25. haha.

n/t

[ampad]

57. LOL

Frenchie don't confuse this one.

[cali]

29. let's assess that after he's been president for eight years.

the comparison is spurious.

[lumpy]

43. That is a big problem with me. We'll see if he has what it takes

if he gets th WH. Top job position is difficult if it involves on the job training.

[SOS]

24. Here's a few more Clinton gems

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
McCain/Lieberman Iraq Liberation Act
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act - eliminated college for prisoners, added 60 new death penalty offenses, doubled marijuana arrests over those of Bush.
approval of overseas CIA torture
1997 capital gains tax cut

[dchill]

49. That's not FAIR!

You stoop to using the truth!

[onehandle]

55. Go third party.

Seriously, you have no idea what his win did for us back then.

Little child.

[skipos]

9. I appreciate that he used to be less ridiculous than he is now

I used to send money to the Clintons, defend them and support them. No more.

[Evergreen Emerald]

10. I remember one of the first things he did

was stop the ban on international aid tied to prohibition of birth control or abortions. I thought: "we are civilized again, finally."

[jgraz]

11. Thank you, Bill, for helping to scuttle your wife's candidacy

The country is forever in your debt.

[PleaseSayItAintSo]

12. I'll appreciate his absence from my daily consciousness.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

14. Good president, but a bad reason to vote for his wife.

[BayouBengal07]

19. I still like him.

I love that he has the status of rockstar when he goes abroad. Look at the cheering crowds he got in Ireland and India versus when Bush went.

I think the people worried about his legacy are just too wrapped up in the campaign process right now. Yeah, I'm disappointed to see him doing some of the things he's done on the part of his wife's campaign, but that will blow over.

At least with me it will. Some people need to relax and stop taking themselves so seriously.

[AtomicKitten]

20. Great job revealing your true self, WJC, in this campaign.

[NeedleCast]

21. I Met him at the Pentagon in 1999

During the Kosovo conflict. I was one of the imagery analysts working at NOC:P down in the basement (that's NIMA Operations Cell: Pentagon) and we were working brutal 12-14 hour night shifts, two-on, one-off. Part of what we were doing was "scrubbing" imagery so that it was no longer classified and could be shown on TV news. One night the Secret Service came down and said that the president wanted to meet the people responsible for the imagery shown on CNN that day. My and my buddy Sgt Duke thought we were about to receive an ass chewing from the President and that was ummmmm, a little unsettling.

Instead Bill came in and shook our hands. We spent about half an hour with him, showing him some of the techniques we used to "dumb down" satellite imagery and how to do some of the basic analytical work. He had a good sense of humor, and joked with us about how he was happy there were people like us because he "would never be able to do what we do." Even though we were shoulder-to-shoulder with the highest ranking person in our chain of command, Bill had a way of putting you at ease. He talked with us about how we liked being stationed in D.C., where else we had served, thanked us and shook hands with us all and gave Sgt Duke and I passes to tour Air Force One (I was just a Private First Class at the time, so this was a pretty big deal for me).

I try to keep that Bill in my head these days, instead of the new Franken-Bill that seems like a characiture of his former self.

[ecdab]

23. An excellent President, I wonder what the country would look like

if he hadn't been followed by the chimp. It's very hard to judge the long term impact that Clinton had given what Bush has done.

He has pissed off a lot of Democrats as of late with the manner in which he has campaigned for Hillary - I hope he is able to reclaim his good name by way of good deeds and helping Obama win November.

[Arugula Latte]

27. I saw him inaugurated in '93.

I had high hopes then...

Oh well.

[Occam Bandage]

30. Thank you for being the least-bad President after Carter. Glad you screwed over Hillary's shot

at winning the nomination. Wish you hadn't tried to kneecap the Dem nominee in the process.

[mkultra]

31. great president, gone crazy in latter years.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[greguganus]

33. Bill you are appreciated by womanizers the world over. n/t

[Writer]

34. I remember graduating from college in 1997...

and I remember getting a job within a couple of months.

There's my story. :)

[marions ghost]

35. I worked to get people to vote for him back in the 90's

Wish he had not been involved in this latest campaign of his wife's and then I could just have had a better mythical picture of him. Although not happy with many things about Bill's presidency to do with policy I defended him throughout the Bu$h nightmare (not too hard considering the successor). Now I'm really disturbed by the way the Clintons have scorched the earth in recent weeks, their stock's gone way down in my book. Doubtful they can redeem themselves. Moving on...

:shrug:

[RBInMaine]

36. Good prez overall, but NAFTA SUCKS, Monica = STUPID, and too many shitty appointees.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

38. I appreciate that his highly overrated presidency is now in tatters.

His legacy rests on being the "lesser of two evils" twice.

[VotesForWomen]

39. just saw him speak here in SD a few days ago; nobody does it better.

[Forkboy]

40. One of the coolest things I've seen from a president...

..was when a person interrupted one of his speeches. Security went to remove the man and Bill told them to let him stay and ask his question. Bill then proceeded to chew the question up and spit it out, all very politely, but forcefully. Compared to Bush's prepackaged photo ops it was a thing of beauty.

[QC]

50. Yes, the man could certainly think on his feet.

After all these years of having a mental defective in the White House, I can barely remember what it was like to have an intelligent president.

[K Gardner]

41. I still love Bill, even tho I'm disappointed in him right now.

[Buck Rabbit]

44. He was really funny on "The Family Guy".

[invictus]

45. Rotten president: gave us NAFTA, DOMA, repealled Glass-Stegal, reappointed Greenspan, bubble economy

"reformed" welfare, cut social services, gave us the term "rogue state." Bill Clinton's legacy is as a conservative. He was a rotten president who lost Democratic control of Congress, passed only Republican legislation, and gave the Republicans cover for their agenda by distracting the nation with his disgusting extra-marital affairs. I very happy to see his greedy, egomaniacal wife fail in her quest for the Democratic nomination for president. I do not think the Democratic Party could survive another Clinton as leader and still be a progressive party.

[tabasco]

46. Murderous dictators for the Bill Clinton!

[Raine]

47. After the "dirty dozen" reTHUG years Clinton

gave me back my country and I loved America once again. Unfortunately as far as policy went he didn't do much for liberals and what he did was easily over turned by chimp. I'll always be grateful that he "gave me back" my country but I'm not forgetting how I felt (out of loyalty) that I had to defend the undefensible (his betrayal of Hillary with Monica). Since then he has destroyed the little legacy he had left. All in all he was a major disappointment.

[ruby slippers]

51. He plays the sexopho....ahhhh, saxophone very well.....

[BlueJac]

52. NAFTA and Alan Greenspan............

You figure it out!!!

[MonkeyFunk]

53. He was a great president

and it breaks my heart to see him attacked here in the same exact way republicans attacked him in the 90s.

[onehandle]

54. 8 years of peace and prosperity. Heavy on the prosperity. nt

[Zomby Woof]

56. My mom met him in NC a few weeks ago

He spoke in her town, and my sister went along - took some GREAT pics. My mom said everything you have heard about his charisma and speaking ability is true - he just has "it". Whe she shook his hand, he at first held her right hand with his left, then he joined it with his right hand and looked her right in the eye, classic Clinton style. Mom was quoted on the front page of the local paper the next day, saying she was still an Edwards supporter, but could not miss a chance to see the president. She did vote for Hillary a few weeks later in the primary, but was still disappointed about Edwards.

We have a hilarious caption-worthy picture on our fridge from Clinton's speech, that my sister took. I should scan and post it here shortly. :-)

[burythehatchet]

58. I appreciate that he can conduct presidential business while getting head.

[ccharles000]

59. I am unlucky.

When he was elected I was 3 and when W entered office I was about ten so the only president I remember is bush. I wish I would have known what it felt like not to have a Republican in office. Bill rules.

[ampad]

60. Why don't you share a story?

Or do you even know any? I mean you can post all kinds of smiles but I have yet to see anything in this thread from you (the OP )but the roll eyes, peace and prosperity meme and snark towards those who actually post a little history on Clinton. Of course if that history is not all positive history about Clinton instead of refuting it or debating it all you can do is post attacks on Obama for not having a legacy, oh and let us not forget a smilie. Maybe that is because you know nothing about the Clinton years but you do know the "peace and prosperity meme"

Some of you act as if we are going back to those days if Hillary gets into office (thank god that won't happen) maybe that is why she is not winning because folks who actually lived the Clinton years don't care to repeat those years. Better than Bush is all I can say and that isn't saying much. You can tell the people of Africa about peace and prosperity while Bill Clinton was in office he allowed a good number of them to be killed on his watch; how is that for peace and prosperity? It was not all peace and prosperity for the world while he was in office. Maybe because you and others were not dragged through the streets while your country was going through a genocide, well maybe that is why it was all peace and prosperity for some of us. How about NAFTA that one was a good one for the "planet" wasn't it? Maybe you should learn some history about Clinton but of course if you did know something about the Clinton years besides the same old "peace and prosperity meme" then you would of shared your own story first instead of a jumping frog.

[Hoof Hearted]

63. Yup, they're kissing up the wrong tree. Way too little - too late.

[jsmirman]

61. Fuck you, Bill. I never thought I'd lose ALL respect for you

I always knew you were a liar, but now you've resorted to insulting the intelligence of the American public. I thought that was THEIR game.

Shame on you.

[jillan]

66. He has been amazing in his ability to bring attention, money and solutions to world hunger.

I hope people will once again be able to separate Bill Clinton, the passionate spouse of Hillary Clinton, from the man who can accomplish great things.

Not to mention that the 90's were a time of peace and prosperity.

[NorthernSpy]

68. he still has a full head of hair...

That's nice, right?


:shrug: