Bill Clinton goes nuts on Fox News Sunday

[Sooner24]

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: OK..

WALLACE: …may I just finish the question sir. And after the attack, the book says, Bin Laden separated his leaders because he expected an attack and there was no response. I understand that hindsight is 20/20.

CLINTON: No let’s talk about…

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. I will answer all of those things on the merits but I want to talk about the context of which this arises. I’m being asked this on the FOX network…ABC just had a right wing conservative on the Path to 9/11 falsely claim that it was based on the 9/11 Commission report with three things asserted against me that are directly contradicted by the 9/11 Commission report. I think it’s very interesting that all the conservative Republicans who now say that I didn’t do enough, claimed that I was obsessed with Bin Laden. 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. All the right wingers who now say that I didn’t do enough said that 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 and they didn’t…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… So you did FOX’s bidding on this show. You did you nice little conservative hit job on me. But what I want to know..

WALLACE: Now wait a minute sir…

CLINTON:…

WALLACE: I asked 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…

WALLACE: We asked…

CLINTON:…

WALLACE: Do you ever watch Fox News Sunday sir?

CLINTON: I don’t believe you ask them that.

WALLACE: We ask plenty of questions of…

CLINTON: You didn’t ask that did you? Tell the truth.

WALLACE: About the USS Cole?

CLINTON: Tell the truth.

WALLACE: I…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 is going to get a lot of criticism from your viewers for supporting my work on climate change. And you came here under false pretenses and said that you’d spend half the time talking about…

WALLACE: [laughs]

CLINTON: You said you’d spend half the time talking about what we did out there to raise $7 billion dollars plus over 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? I worked hard to try and 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 never criticized President Bush and I don’t think this is useful. But you know we do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is 1/7 as important as Iraq. And you ask me about terror and Al Qaeda with that sort of dismissive theme 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. It looks like you’re so clever…

WALLACE: [Laughs]

CLINTON: 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 into Afghanistan and refueling by helicopter and no one thought we could do it otherwise…We could not get the CIA and the FBI to certify that Al Qaeda was responsible while I was President. Until I left office. 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.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,215397,00.html

[IBTT]

IN!

[SicEmBaylor]

Man,
I'm surprised he lost his cool like that.

[GottaHavePride]

I don't think I'd call that going nuts. He went Jon Stewart on them.

Actually, I think he raises some pretty good points there.

[SicEmBaylor]

He did raise good points, but he knows better than to lose his composure like that.

[GottaHavePride]

True. And I'm not sure how it actually came across on video, either. But at the same time, letting people know you still care enough about the job you held for 8 years to get fired up about it isn't all bad.

and I'm not a Democrat by any means. I just think more people should care about something enough to lose their cool about it.

[SicEmBaylor]

True. And I'm not sure how it actually came across on video, either. But at the same time, letting people know you still care enough about the job you held for 8 years to get fired up about it isn't all bad.

and I'm not a Democrat by any means. I just think more people should care about something enough to lose their cool about it.

Very true.
Let me make it very clear that I do NOT agree with the way he handled his foreign policy. I don't like the way he handle the UBL/Al-Quaeda situation, but there is a lot of blame assigned to him for things that are only obvious now with hindsight. There is also an implication among some that Clinton didn't give a flip about American security as if he had no problem seeing nearly 3,000 Americans die. I think it's outrageous.

[proud gonzo]

yeah, you can read that as him losing his cool, but I wouldn't be willing to say that unless i'd seen the video.

oh, and all of that is a hundred times more eloquent than W giving prepared speeches.

[soonerscuba]

Blaming Clinton for 9/11 makes as much sense as blaming Bush, which is to say, very little. The systematic failure of security at base level to executive level administration over a course of decades culminated with 9/11.

Clinton is still very much connected to the political scene, and his career could be far from over. I think this was probably planned to get people talking about him, as '08 get closer, look for this to be more and more common.

[Sooner24]

yeah, you can read that as him losing his cool, but I wouldn't be willing to say that unless i'd seen the video.

oh, and all of that is a hundred times more eloquent than W giving prepared speeches.


I saw it on the CBS Evening news.

He lost his cool.

BTW did you know that X-Men III comes out Oct 3rd on dvd. ;)

[VeeJay]

Clinton is and has been obsessed with his legacy, and that drives his every move.

He's also full of crap. For starters, a "right wing conservative" did not create "Path to 9/11." But, as is customary with Clinton, bald-faced lies, half truths or spin can have a debilitating effect on the facts.

Time takes care of misdeeds and failures - we are a forgiving people. It's unfortunate Clinton is genuinely trying, post-presidency, to improve the world's suffering (poverty, AIDS, hunger, etc.) yet is still blinded by his hatred of that darned "vast right wing conspiracy."

[Jackal]

Has this clip been youtubed yet?

NVM, I found it............... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYNI5RPOlp4

[proud gonzo]

i didn't watch the whole ten minutes, but i skimmed it. Didn't look like he lost his cool to me.

[OklahomaTuba]

IN!

Heh. I missed the little guy actually. ;)

[VeeJay]

He looked at Wallace a couple of times like he was ready to come across the table at him, commenting on the "smirk" on his face. Then, he made some comment about Rupert Murdoch supporting the "Clinton Global Initiative" but ashamed to admit it, therefore directing Wallace to follow this line of questioning to deflect attention from CGI.

What parallel universe is he residing in??

[OklahomaTuba]

Did he explain why turning down Sudans offer of Bin Laden was a good idea?

Or why there was NO response to Bin Laden nearly sinking a US warship?

[VeeJay]

From the transcript:

Now, if you want to criticize me for one thing, you can criticize me for this: After the Cole, I had battle plans drawn to go into Afghanistan, overthrow the Taliban, and launch a full-scale attack search for bin Laden.

But we needed basing rights in Uzbekistan, which we got after 9/11.

The CIA and the FBI refused to certify that bin Laden was responsible while I was there. They refused to certify. So that meant I would've had to send a few hundred Special Forces in helicopters and refuel at night.

Draw your own conclusions; I am reminded of a cartoon from the Clinton years with a sign on his desk which read "The Buck Stops Over There."

[soonerhubs]

Funny stuff. I'm watching it as we speak. Finally, Finally, the adulterer gets in an interview where the LEfties can't baby him, and he throws a complete fit. Truly it shows his real character.


He Freaked out because He didn't have control of the questions.

[soonerhubs]

Did he explain why turning down Sudans offer of Bin Laden was a good idea?

Or why there was NO response to Bin Laden nearly sinking a US warship?
Nope, he panicked because he expected the topic to be how great of a "Jimmy Carter charity organizer" he is. He didn't know his failed administration would come up.

[VeeJay]

This is bringing back some bad memories.

Bubba garners a lot more respect when he's preening on a golf course or globetrotting with Bush 41.

[Jerk]

I would have asked him why he sent more tanks to Waco than he did to Mogudishu.

Of course, he just could pass the blame to the departed Les Aspen for denying the American commander's request for armor before going after the warlord Aidid.

But Janet Reno had no problem getting tanks brought in against American citizens.

[usmc-sooner]

although I was far from a President Clinton supporter, I doubt he did anything to intentionly harm our great country. He made mistakes, but these radical muslims are not his fault. He could've handled it better, but hindsight is 20-20.

[OklahomaTuba]

This is bringing back some bad memories.
No kidding.

Bush is far from perfect, but at least he ended up doing something about AQ once they attacked us.

I do have to credit Clinton for getting the ball rolling on the Iraq liberation though.

[OklahomaTuba]

although I was far from a President Clinton supporter, I doubt he did anything to intentionly harm our great country. He made mistakes, but these radical muslims are not his fault. He could've handled it better, but hindsight is 20-20.

Very true, mistakes happen.

Just wish he had done more.

[OklahomaTuba]

looks like Fox DID ask those evil neocons the questions before...


In 2004, Wallace asked almost the exact same question of Donald Rumsfeld that he asked Clinton today.

Here’s what Wallace asked Clinton today:

[H]indsight is 20 20 . . . but the question is why didn’t you do more, connect the dots and put them out of business?

And here is what Wallace asked Donald Rumsfeld on the March 28, 2004 episode of Fox News Sunday:

I understand this is 20/20 hindsight, it’s more than an individual manhunt. I mean — what you ended up doing in the end was going after al Qaeda where it lived. . . . pre-9/11 should you have been thinking more about that?

. . . .

What do you make of his [Richard Clarke’s] basic charge that pre-9/11 that this government, the Bush administration largely ignored the threat from al Qaeda?

. . . .

Mr. Secretary, it sure sounds like fighting terrorism was not a top priority.

http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2004/tr20040328-secdef0568.html

I don't remember Rummy going off like President Clinton did though.

[Rogue]

I saw it this morning in our hotel. I thought BC did a good job in the interview. He kept pointing out that when he responded in Somalia and WTC 1, he was accused of a "wag the dog" scenario. To me, his gist was that it is the same people claiming he didn't do enough that were then claiming that everything he did was a distraction. He seemed to be enjoying the rant a little bit too.

[Sooner24]

Maybe he was just excited that X-Men III is being released on dvd Oct 3rd.

[Jackal]

I guess Bush drones would see this as going off, just typical Fox news tactics. It's going on 6 years now, how much longer can neocons blame Clinton for everything that's gone wrong.

Then again, how many predictions by this administration has gone right. Oh and btw, it's official now..........there are more terrorists now than before 9/11. Thank you Georgie, you are doing a wonderful job. :texan:

[Ike]

I saw it this morning in our hotel. I thought BC did a good job in the interview. He kept pointing out that when he responded in Somalia and WTC 1, he was accused of a "wag the dog" scenario. To me, his gist was that it is the same people claiming he didn't do enough that were then claiming that everything he did was a distraction. He seemed to be enjoying the rant a little bit too.


this is true...I specifically remember how the newsies were acusing him of a wag-the-dog scenario when he bombed training facilities in afghanistan. At the time too, I think this entire country misunderestimated the threat of terrorism and OBL, and would have seen spending massive resources on going after him as a grossly out of control federal government. I can certainly believe that had he used those resources he would have been attacked by the right for making a mountain out of a molehill, probably to deflect criticism.


Hindsight is 20/20, and while I'm not the biggest fan of clinton, nor am I his biggest critic. I imagine he did legitemately try to do what he could, within reason, to get OBL. He may have wanted to do more, and been hamstrung...he may not have also...I don't know, and I won't try to pretend I do.

But I do think that him doing more, without the American people understanding the threat of AQ, would have opened him up to even more attacks from the right and hampered his ability even more to get any kind of comprimises from the republican controlled congress.


anyway, just my opinion, which doesn't really matter since whats done is done, and the dudes out of office anyway.

[mdklatt]

Oh and btw, it's official now..........there are more terrorists now than before 9/11. Thank you Georgie, you are doing a wonderful job. :texan:

1) How can you possibly know this?

2) How do you know there wouldn't have been even more if we hadn't been doing what we've been doing?

[soonerscuba]

1) How can you possibly know this?

2) How do you know there wouldn't have been even more if we hadn't been doing what we've been doing?

Uh, you're giong to have to get back in line before I contact the leftistas and rat for the good of the glorious people's Democratic party.

[Jackal]

1) How can you possibly know this?

2) How do you know there wouldn't have been even more if we hadn't been doing what we've been doing?
Several independent spy agencies concluded these findings http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/world/middleeast/24terror.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Considering all the sympathy and willingness to help after 9/11, Bush squanders it all to invade Iraq instead of focusing on Afghanistan. Terrorists hijacked planes and 9/11 happened. Bush hijacked 9/11 and now you see what we have.

[Jackal]

Uh, you're giong to have to get back in line before I contact the leftistas and rat for the good of the glorious people's Democratic party.

Gee whiz, anyone who disagrees with Bush gets thrown in a bin with Michael Moore and gets called unpatriotic and terrorist sympathizers.

Dude, get a fricking grip..........McCarthyism doesn't work.

[tbl]

It did show a lot about his true character. All the interviews I've seen with him in the past couple of years he has been very charming and soft on opposing the guys accross the aisle. I think it was a little sissy of him to bring up the Fox News deal... I mean, COME ON.

[soonerscuba]

McCarthyism doesn't work.

You will find some on this board disagree.

I was also joking, I'm considered to be the board's most raging communist, I think. What's the score these days?

[tbl]

You gotta admire him for admitting that he failed. Like usual, the guy is one heck of a politician. Probably the best pure politician most of us have seen.

[tbl]

Okay, around 6 minutes in when he starts talking about the Fox conspiracy and Chris never asking members of the Bush admin these questions, he clearly lost his cool and looked VERY petulant.

[soonerscuba]

I think it is a matter of prospective, he seemed miffed, but "goes nuts" seems to be an exaggeration.

[tbl]

He didn't go nuts, but he definitely lost his cool. I just wish Chris would have been on his toes and pulled up transcripts of what he had asked the Bush people about it and then see what Bubba had to say...

[Jackal]

This retarded slanderous pig tries to infer a veiled comparision of the Monica Lewinsky statement to today's interview. Gawd I hate Faux news, it's a direct pipeline from the Bush White House. http://youtube.com/watch?v=GIlboCO3CPM&mode=related&search=

[OklahomaTuba]

Then again, how many predictions by this administration has gone right. Oh and btw, it's official now..........there are more terrorists now than before 9/11. Thank you Georgie, you are doing a wonderful job. :texan:

Cause doing NOTHING was working out so well before 9/11. :rolleyes:

[OklahomaTuba]

This retarded slanderous pig tries to infer a veiled comparision of the Monica Lewinsky statement to today's interview. Gawd I hate Faux news, it's a direct pipeline from the Bush White House. http://youtube.com/watch?v=GIlboCO3CPM&mode=related&search=

Thank GOD we have trust worthy and reliable news organizations like CBS and CNN. They never make up the news, ever.

[Jackal]

Cause doing NOTHING was working out so well before 9/11.

Which part did you not understand, CIA intelligence had a up and running program to kill bin laden.........Clinton admits failure at accomplishing it. When Bush took over they killed the operation and 8 months later 9/11. Now ask your ill-informed question again.

[Jackal]

Thank GOD we have trust worthy and reliable news organizations like CBS and CNN. They never make up the news, ever.

Problem is, when I turn my TV to Fox news it nearly tips my table over as it shifts so far to the right.

[OklahomaTuba]

Which part did you not understand, CIA intelligence had a up and running program to kill bin laden.........Clinton admits failure at accomplishing it. When Bush took over they killed the operation and 8 months later 9/11. Now ask your ill-informed question again.

Yet, when given the chance to simply take Bin Laden into custody by Sudan and Saudi Arabia, Clinton declined to do so.

At least the CIA was trying, despite Clinton.

[OklahomaTuba]

Problem is, when I turn my TV to Fox news it nearly tips my table over as it shifts so far to the right.
Don't watch it then if you think its biased.

The only part of it thats biased is the news analysis shows. The actual news still comes from the wires.

Unless your CBS, which like to forge memos and calls it "reporting".

[Jackal]

Yet, when given the chance to simply take Bin Laden into custody by Sudan and Saudi Arabia, Clinton declined to do so.

That still puzzles me as well, I believe some complex politics were behind that...........I think the Sudanese offered to hold him or extradite him to Saudi Arabia.

If I had to guess, by arresting him the administration was afraid of making a jailed matyr out of him.............and the Saudis didn't want him back in their country causing problems. Clinton wanted him out free for assassination, which failed.

[dolemitesooner]

Miss lady..you need a little juice in your life

[SicEmBaylor]

Not to defend Bush's foreign policy which, in general, I detest. However, the Bush administration rightfully acknowledged that the Clinton method of tit-for-tat responses to Al-Queada was ineffective and ultimately pointless.

A new national security strategy was drawn up for a comprehensive attack against terrorism and the Al-Queada network which was approved on, I believe, Sept. 4th, 2001.

They weren't doing nothing they were changing their strategy. Don't Bush critics attack him for not changing strategies when things don't work? Well, here is an example of our pre-9/11 strategy not working and Bush changing strategy.

[jdsooner]

Fox News Sucks! Give 'em Hell, Bill!

[OklahomaTuba]

I also love Clinton showing signs on flip flopping on Iraq, when HE HIMSELF signed the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998, and even had a major policy speech at the pentagon in which he basically laid out the case for overthrowing Saddam to keep WMD away from terrorists. Again, in 1998.

The same year John F Kerry said the same thing.

They probably don't like people to remember that stuff though, kinda like Kerry's voting record.

[OklahomaTuba]

That still puzzles me as well, I believe some complex politics were behind that...........I think the Sudanese offered to hold him or extradite him to Saudi Arabia.
Thats the problem with Clinton's FP, it was always complex politics that got in the way. His FP was a disaster compared to Bush's.
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/e/e6/300px-Great_Leader_Comrade_Kim_Jong_Il_(122).jpg

[Jackal]

But this debate over the past doesn't really help, the policy in Iraq is failing, America has more arabs wanting to kill us more than ever over our foreign policy.

It is just unforgiveable for George Bush to paint a false picture of progress in Iraq for fear of political reasons. It's not working and staying the course is not gonna fix it, but at least listen to others and not try to spin their alternative ideas into three words "cut and run".

Why does withdrawing to the outskirts of Iraq get termed to cut and run, as long as we do the fighting.....the lazy iraqis will let us.

[yermom]

where was the Pubz's outrgage on OBL when Clinton was in office?

they were too busy trying to get him out of office with Lewinskygate or Whitewater or whatever

i don't think anyone really knew what they were capable of before 9/11, they were just crackpots living in caves on the other side of the world

[TheBobbyTrain]

I don't know if this has been brought up before, but if not- here it goes...

According to Gen. 'Buzz' Patterson, carrier of the 'Nuclear Football' for Clinton wrote a book of his experieces while carrying this briefcase of nuclear launch codes that is never to exit the proximity of the president. "Dereliction of Duty" points out that there was a time in the late 90's that the CIA had found bin Laden and the Air Force had a couple of stealth fighters ready to strike and take him out upon the president's order. The window for the Air Force to strike was very narrow and it needed an immediate response to ensure success. According to Buzz Patterson, the president was approached about these unfolding events while watching a golf tournament. Apparently watching the golf tournament took priority because the president wouldn't do anything until the tournament was over, thus causing the Air Force to lose the opportunity to strike and kill bin Laden.

Now don't shoot me for saying this. If you don't believe me, go read the book about it and form your own opinion.

[Jackal]

Then we could talk about the 7 mins George Bush sat there and read "My Pet Goat" when we were under attack. Considering in a nuclear world how important 7 mins are..........well we could go on all night about this. Good nite

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Chris Wallace is either very brave, or off the deep end, to confront Clinton like that. I didn't know Chris had it in him.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Then we could talk about the 7 mins George Bush sat there and read "My Pet Goat" when we were under attack. Considering in a nuclear world how important 7 mins are..........well we could go on all night about this. Good niteThanks for swelling the ranks of SO Progressives. You should take comfort in knowing that nearly everyone on this board agrees with your Kool-Aid inspired wisdom.

[yermom]

wow.

[SicEmBaylor]

Chris Wallace is either very brave, or off the deep end, to confront Clinton like that. I didn't know Chris had it in him.

A little of both. I don't think this particular interview was the time or place to rehash Clinton's effort to capture UBL. It was a bit of an ambush to be honest.

[Jerk]

I'm wondering if 'Jackal' and the 'Autorantic Virtual Moonbat' are the same thing?



"ENTER."
hello!

Hello yourself!? The Military-Industrial Complex can intimidate liberal ferns, all in the name of "accountability"? That makes it OKAY! Middle class, indeed!! The truth is at HOMOSEXUALMINORITIESFOREQUALRIGHTS.org. Fundies!!!!

do you like bush?

Horrible!! Bush frightens me. Hey! Matt Drudge!? Alan Greenspan!!? It goes without saying, I can't tell one TROGLODYTIC, racist zombie for General Motors from the other!! (Donald Rumsfeld either, wouldn't you AGREE.)

environment?

What do you mean, "environment"!!!!? If you aren't glabrous about this Boy King, then well you are a Republikkklan!!! As a matter of fact, Bu$$$h wants Samarra for the oil! You see, Shady Shrub caused Katrina by gutting the feminists in blue states!! What about free chocolate!? What about support for the arts!!!!? What about Kyoto and stem cell research for the 57,240 species who are cheated every single day by our president and his sadistic stablehands?

http://sean.gleeson.us/2004/11/17/chat_with_the_autorantic_virtual_moonbat


I mean....this sounds exactly like Jackal!!

[Jerk]

Well, I've got to go to work so I can help support all of the liberals living off welfare.

(;

[Jerk]

.

[Sooner in Tampa]

Then we could talk about the 7 mins George Bush sat there and read "My Pet Goat" when we were under attack. Considering in a nuclear world how important 7 mins are..........well we could go on all night about this. Good nite:rolleyes: yeah...he probably should have stood up and started yelling and acting all crazy and $h!t. That would have been much better in front of all of those little kids. :rolleyes:

[StoopTroup]

And if I were still president we’d have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him. Now I never criticized President Bush and I don’t think this is useful. But you know we do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is 1/7 as important as Iraq.

The low number of Troops in Afghanistan has bothered me since we went in there.

The Iraquis fight for Freedom has been made a much bigger story than the Afghanistan Fight for Freedom. It seems lately that the Afghans aren't getting much coverage about how the Bush Administration has improved life for them.

Seriously...

Clinton was never going to get the support of the military like Bush did.

Anyone thinks that BC could have pulled off a Major War in Iraq or Afghanistan without 9/11 happening is out of their mind.

9/11 happened on the Bush watch.

Blaming BC for any of it is seriously a huge pile of manure.

[Okla-homey]

My take: Former President Clinton gets mad when he doesn't get soft-ball questions. Keep that in mind if you ever interview him.

[StoopTroup]

It kind of sounded like they had a deal cut about what they were going to talk about and Wallace decided to ignore it.

[Okla-homey]

It kind of sounded like they had a deal cut about what they were going to talk about and Wallace decided to ignore it.

IMHO, "Big boys" should expect that to happen anyway. Ever see "60 Minutes?"

[StoopTroup]

IMHO, "Big boys" should expect that to happen anyway. Ever see "60 Minutes?"
I'm just sayin...

It's why BC went off. I think he was expecting it to happen.

[Okla-homey]

And I'm saying if you go on a news show, you better expect to be asked about anything. If the interviewer wanders off the script, that's par for the course.

I'm just surprised Clinton got his back-up like that. He's not the Pope...he's a former president. I'm also surprised because I've always thought he was a better politician than that.

[StoopTroup]

But...

Fox really isn't a news show.

It's more reality tv.

Right? ;)

[Okla-homey]

But...

Fox really isn't a news show.

It's more reality tv.

Right? ;)

TV news shows have agendas and represent the political leanings of their producers. And water is wet and rocks are hard.;)

[recruiter]

Fox isn't a news show. Fair and balanced?

AHAHAHAHA.

Just pushing that Republican agenda for the mid-terms.

[Sooner in Tampa]

BTW...I don't believe a word that lying somb!tch slick willy says. If he told me the sky was blue...I would double check.

[StoopTroup]

http://www.cumminsnortheast.com/images/red%20sky.jpg

[Hatfield]

has anyone in here actually taken the time to watch the video?

i wouldn't call it "going nuts" by any strectch of the imagination.

i was a little suprised to see him react the way he did, but it was certainly warranted in my opinion.

[Hatfield]

My take: Former President Clinton gets mad when he doesn't get soft-ball questions. Keep that in mind if you ever interview him.

and for the record, in the video he address your point which indicates your take as being wrong.*

*but I still love you.

[Sooner in Tampa]

has anyone in here actually taken the time to watch the video?

i wouldn't call it "going nuts" by any strectch of the imagination.

i was a little suprised to see him react the way he did, but it was certainly warranted in my opinion.I agree...he did not go nuts. He was very animated and obviously agitated. I do not think Chris Wallace was out of line...Willy just got asked hard questions and he did not like it.

[VeeJay]

Actually, he got asked one question - and Wallace prefaced it by saying that viewers had e-mailed this question in. "Why didn't you do more to try and apprehend Osama?" That one question set him off. And Wallace posed the question in a very resperctful fashion - he didn't allege anything.

What I saw as comical was in the beginning stages of the interview, Clinton was asked a couple of softball questions like - "is it a former president's obligation to help mankind?" - stuff like that. In other words, questions that were Designed For A Clinton.

He bit his bottom lip a couple of times while answering in typical Clinton fashion.

When he started leaning across the table at Wallace, pounding his finger on the guy's notes, there was no lip biting.

Just an observation. Clinton's got that lip biting maneuver down pat - and it apparently still works for some.

[OklahomaTuba]

According to President Clinton, Richard Clarke was demoted and fired before 9/11.

But according to Richard Clarke, that wasn't the case:

Clinton claimed that Richard Clarke had been demoted and then later said he was fired.

On page 234 of "Against All Enemies," Clarke writes:

"I had completed the review of the organizational options for homeland defense and critical infrastructure protection that Rice had asked me to conduct. There was agreement to create a separate, senior White House position for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Cyber Security, outside of the NSC Staff. Condi Rice and Steve Hadley assumed that I would continue on the NSC focusing on terrorism and asked whom I had in mind for the new job that would be created outside the NSC. I requested that I be given that assignment, to the apparent surprise of Condi Rice and Steve Hadley."

If Clarke was demoted, he requested the demotion.

Clinton also seems to imply that Clarke was "demoted" prior to 9/11. However, on page 239 of Against All Enemies, Clarke writes the following:

"Roger Cressey, my deputy at the NSC Staff, came to me in early October, after the time that I had intended to switch from the terrorism job to Critical Infrastructure Protection and Cyber Security. The switch had been delayed by September 11."

In other words, the Bush administration kept Clarke at NSC beyond the period Clarke had planned on being there.

In a footnote on page 240, Clarke makes it clear that he left the administration under his own volition:

"Cressey and I did spend over a year working on the cyber security problem, producing Bush's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, and then quit the Administration altogether."

[OklahomaTuba]

9/11 happened on the Bush watch.

Blaming BC for any of it is seriously a huge pile of manure.

Maybe.

Bush had 8 months to ignore the threat.

Clinton only had 8 years, a very public declaration of war from Bin Laden on the US, a call to Jihad and a fatwa, 1 terrorist attack on the WTC, numerous embassy attacks, and a they nearly sunk a US warship killing many US serviceman.

All the while letting Bin Laden just get away when being offered to us by Sudan and Saudi Arabia, and letting him go to Afghanistan to gain strength.

At least we were sipping champaign with North Korea.

[Hatfield]

and i didn't take that clinton wanted all the blame to go on bush. sounded more like he was more than willing to share in the blame.

why do people still claim that sudan offered him up to us and we did nothing?

[VeeJay]

Clinton seemed more irritated not by any perceived allegation that he was more responsible for the series of events leading up to 9/11, but that the evil right wingers at Fox news hadn't asked the same questions of Bush Administration officials.

WTF?

[BeetDigger]

After watching that video, it is hard to imagine a former President going off like that. Clinton reacting the way he did was the equivilent of the Howard Dean primal scream. One would expect that a guy who was, you know, the leader of the free world to have a little more composure under pressure. Wonder how he would have reacted had the WTC come down in 1993?

The wag the dog stuff is an easy out for him. It was stupid for the far right to keep up the Whitewater crap followed by the Monica BJ grope-a-thon as it did take Clinton's attention away from doing his job (and getting a "job"). But does anyone really think that he didn't go after Bin Laden because the Republican's accused him of wag-the-dog? If that is really the case, then Clinton is more worried about his popularity and legacy than any President in history.

[OklahomaTuba]

This was the from the 9/11 report:

Sudan’s minister of defense, Fatih Erwa, has claimed that Sudan offered to hand Bin Ladin over to the United States. The Commission has found no credible evidence that this was so. Ambassador Carney had instructions only to push the Sudanese to expel Bin Ladin. Ambassador Carney had no legal basis to ask for more from the Sudanese since, at the time, there was no indictment outstanding.[see ftnote 7]

In early May 1996, the CIA received intelligence that Bin Ladin might be leaving Sudan. Though this reporting was described as "very spotty," it would have been passed along to the DCI’s office because of high concern about Bin Ladin at the time. But it did not lead to plans for a U.S.operation to snatch Bin Ladin, because there was no indictment against him. Ron interview (Mar.18,2004);Frank interview (Mar.18,2004). It appears, however, that if another country had been willing to imprison Bin Ladin, the CIA might have tried to work out a scenario for apprehending him. CIA cable, May 8, 1996. The Sudanese government did not notify the United States that Bin Ladin had left the country until about two days after his departure. DOS cable,Nairobi 07020, "Sudan: Foreign Minister on Developments," May 21,1996.

President Clinton, in a February 2002 speech to the Long Island Association, said that the United States did not accept a Sudanese offer and take Bin Ladin because there was no indictment. President Clinton speech to the Long Island Association, Feb.15, 2002 (videotape of speech). But the President told us that he had "misspoken" and was, wrongly, recounting a number of press stories he had read. After reviewing this matter in preparation for his Commission meeting, President Clinton told us that Sudan never offered to turn Bin Ladin over to the United States. President Clinton meeting (Apr.8, 2004). Berger told us that he saw no chance that Sudan would have handed Bin Ladin over and also noted that in 1996, the U.S.government still did not know of any al Qaeda attacks on U.S. citizens. Samuel Berger interview (Jan.14, 2004).


Its skecthy from this, I do agree.

I will see what I can find later, but it was a big deal i seem to remember in 2004 for some reason.

[Hatfield]

the only people still claiming the sudanese offered him up are former sudanese officials and tuba.....

the u.s. has certified sudan as a state sponsor of terror every year since 1993.

thusly, only sudan and supports of terror have been asserting the claim.

ergo, tuba is a terrahist.

;)

[leavingthezoo]

i've seen far more impressive meltdowns right here on our very own SO.

[OklahomaTuba]

the only people still claiming the sudanese offered him up are former sudanese officials and tuba.....

You gotta add Clinton and Sandy Berger to that list as well.

Maybe thats the reason Sandy Berger was trying to steal documents from the national archive by stuffing them down his pants???

[Hatfield]

You gotta add Clinton and Sandy Berger to that list as well.

Maybe thats the reason Sandy Berger was trying to steal documents from the national archive by stuffing them down his pants???

i notice you didn't dispute you were a terrorist, so therefore, by your own logic you must be one.

:D

[mdklatt]

I am reminded of a cartoon from the Clinton years with a sign on his desk which read "The Buck Stops Over There."

Bush must have left the sign there after he moved in.

[tbl]

Crimson Jihad!!!
http://www.ethicsdaily.com/index_files/true_lies.jpg

[JohnnyMack]

Gee whiz, anyone who disagrees with Bush gets thrown in a bin with Michael Moore and gets called unpatriotic and terrorist sympathizers.

Dude, get a fricking grip..........McCarthyism doesn't work.

LOL.

Poor Scuba.

[JohnnyMack]

BTW...I don't believe a word that lying somb!tch slick willy says. If he told me the sky was blue...I would double check.

You get that some people feel the same way about W, don't you?

[85Sooner]

According to Clintons own National intellegence coordinator, a man who now runs an intellegence agency in Austin (who has a weekly report on KLBJ), stated that he would not call Clinton a liar because he did not want an investigation on him but said that his memory of events was quite different than those that Clinton espoused. Specifically, He mentioned two occasions. One, where they had captured the guy responsible for the first WTC bombings. The intellegence agency new he was going to meet the next day with the guy we now know planned the 9/11 bombings. Because news of the capture was released to the media, the second guy never showed. Presumably because he was tipped off by the press that they were waiting for him. Secondly they had several instances in which the whereabouts of bin laden were known but authority to go forward with operations was not received in a timely manner and the window of opportunity had shut. Anyway thats all I have but he who protesteth the loudest .........

[JohnnyMack]

Thanks for swelling the ranks of SO Progressives. You should take comfort in knowing that nearly everyone on this board agrees with your Kool-Aid inspired wisdom.

Bill accusing someone else of having "Kool-Aid inspired wisdom" is one of the greatest things I have evar read.

[VeeJay]

Clinton is more worried about his popularity and legacy than any President in history.

Ding Ding Ding

We have a winner!!

[mdklatt]

And Bush obviously doesn't care what people think of the job he's doing. That's okay, he's smarter than all of us. He went to Harvard.

[Okla-homey]

And Bush obviously doesn't care what people think of the job he's doing. That's okay, he's smarter than all of us. He went to Harvard.

But Clinton went to one of them Ivy League schools on the Hot Springs Arkansas Trailer Trash Endowed Scholly.;)

[Taxman71]

Clinton's choice in women alone (i.e.-affinity for cankles) keeps him from being a great prez. JFK is just waiting for the chance to rip him a new one.

[VeeJay]

http://geekville.chattablogs.com/archives/clintonlibrary.jpg

[soonerhubs]

http://geekville.chattablogs.com/archives/clintonlibrary.jpg
Do you have an MLS number for that? :D

[VeeJay]

Hate to pick on the guy, but he is such an easy target.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Rush' show the first two hours was going through Clinton's childish behavior, and pointing out the lies Clinton told on the Wallace show. Dims are imploding, just in time for the '06 elections.

[Tear Down This Wall]

Even today, Clinton still sucks. Although, I'm eternally grateful to him and his tool of a wife for getting Republicans off their butts in 1994 and kicking the criminals out of power for the first time in 48 years.

The Democrats still fantsize about regaining power 12 years later. Quite a legacy. No wonder his party loves him so much, he helped them lose the Congress and continue to stay out of power for over a decade. Real bright, those Democrats.

Keep trotting him out, Dems, please. And his wife. Nothing brings dollars into the GOP coffers more quickly than the mention of Clintons. It's a beautiful thing.

[JohnnyMack]

Our political system as it is now makes me want to move to Canada.

[Tear Down This Wall]

Our political system as it is now makes me want to move to Canada.

It makes me want to move to Australia. Canada's too dang cold.

[JohnnyMack]

It makes me want to move to Australia. Canada's too dang cold.

Enjoy getting bit by a snake. Imma go watch hockey and drink beer.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

It makes me want to move to Australia. Canada's too dang cold.Both Canada and Australia are way more socialist than the good old USA. However, Johnny Mack, if you really want to move to Canada....

[NormanPride]

I'd just like to jump in and say the Independent party is better than all the other ones. So there.

[Tear Down This Wall]

But, the Australians don't seem to be bitter, weepy, pasty-faced socialists. It must be attributed to Foster's. Besides, the Aussies aren't so socialist that they didn't help us in the war on terror. Finally, their women are hotter than Canada's and such.

[BeetDigger]

Even today, Clinton still sucks. Although, I'm eternally grateful to him and his tool of a wife for getting Republicans off their butts in 1994 and kicking the criminals out of power for the first time in 48 years.

The Democrats still fantsize about regaining power 12 years later. Quite a legacy. No wonder his party loves him so much, he helped them lose the Congress and continue to stay out of power for over a decade. Real bright, those Democrats.

Keep trotting him out, Dems, please. And his wife. Nothing brings dollars into the GOP coffers more quickly than the mention of Clintons. It's a beautiful thing.


Sincerely,

Jerry Falwell




There.