A Personal Message for Bill Clinton

Al, thank you for expressing exactly what I felt when I saw his statement earlier.  Now, I can go back to work.

I mean, surely Bill could have added in the line about how some of his best friends are black? I very much doubt that the Clintons are going to do anything except pay off HRC's debts and wait on the sidelines in the hope of an Obama loss. Bill obviously won't, and HRC has hardly been a ball of fire recently. They might say a few token words, but I can't see them really going for it.

ye gods, i am so sick of Bill Clinton! no one with any credibility ever called you a racist, Bubba, which is the easiest way to shut down any type of conversation about your actions because you get to act all indignant and shit!

what they (and we said) is that you intentionally injected race into the campaign! you DID personally attack Obama! you did it because your wife was losing and that's how Clinton's roll and when you got called on it you freaked out.

the only reason i look forward to your "truth" next year is because by the Obama will be President and he can tell his truth as well without worrying about your delicate fucking sensibilities!

Al, do we REALLY need Bill to win this election, because i sooooooooooo want to tell him to go fuck himself!

I mean, at least it seems that he was making an effort to actually think before speaking. A little.

As far as Hillary goes, it doesn't seem like Obama has any of his surrogates really hitting McCain hard now, so I'm reserving judgement until this fall.

what a shameful descend to absurdity that Bill Clinton had had...

Kat - ABC's The Note has other excerpts from the Good Morning America interview:

Is he angry? "I'm not, and I never was mad at Senator Obama," the former president said. "And you know he hit her hard a couple of times and they hit us a few times a week before she ever responded in kind. The only thing I ever got mad about was people in your line of work pretending that she had somehow started the negative stuff. It's a contact sport."

 

"I will be glad to, as soon as this election is over in January, to have this conversation with you and everybody else. I have very strong feelings about it. But I live out here in the fact-based world." (And Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., is off the Christmas card list. A friend? "Used to be," Clinton said.)

On his impact in the campaign: "Go get yourself a map. Look where I went. And look what the vote was."

 

Oh, right. He's so not angry... but Jim Clyburn (who had called him out at a few key moments of the primary campaign) is off his xmas card list. Uh, most folks know how to wait for Christmas to let someone find out he's not geting a card. Ha. And just look at the map: Wherever I spoke during my racially divisive campaigning - among aging white folks in Appalachia! - look who won there! 

And it wasn't an isolated incident. He had to open his big trap for the Washington Post, too, creating more drama about what he says he's not saying but promises to say at a later date. Sheesh. He sounds like someone jockeying for a tell-all book deal.

The Post slavishly frames Clinton's Africa trip as one of, "the rehabilitation of Bill Clinton has begun."

And it lasted about five minutes before he had a relapse.

It's a new strain: "Herpes 42."

Bill C. wastes a couple of high-profile MSM interviews NOT talking about his party's candidate and, once again, talking about himself (zzzzzzzzz), and the rest of the entire Democratic political establishment was MIA last week as the McCain campaign and the MSM did their ugly little misinformation dance all over Obama. Where were Pelosi, Reid, Edwards, Hillary, Kerry, etc.? These people should have been all over the airwaves calling out the McCain campaign for their dirty tactics but instead...nothing. What's up with Dems, anyway? It's like we take a stupid pill every four years - coincidentally at exactly the moment we're trying to choose a new president. We need to demand more from these people.

Which was not warranted, evidently. I keep hoping that one of these days a Clinton doctor will announce that he has some medical issues because of his heart surgery. Not that I wish him problems, but it would be a lot easier to understand his behavior in that light, instead of the idea that a man I voted for twice is an unmitigated jackass.

It's all about you Bill isn't it?

KD

HA -- love the graphic, Al!

Bill Clinton is a raging narcissist who will say and do anything for attention. He can't stand to be out of the public eye, but I hope he keeps traveling overseas until, oh, how about November 5??

This type of thing is why I am floored by Obama's restraint.  The fact that he never said (to Bill or others) what is depicted in Al's "graphic message", never said anyone was rascist or played the race card (whether it be the Clintons, Ferraro, the email smear artists, the McCain camp or anyone else) shows a remarkable calmness which I believe bodes well for the next Commander-in-Chief.

I, on the other hand, am not running for any office, so *$&# off , Bill!!!

Si somos americanos, seremos buenos vecinos;
compartiremos el trigo,seremos buenos hermanos -- canción de Rolando Alarcón

Todos somos americanos.-- Barack Obama

Has any political couple done more to destroy their credibility and legacy than the Clintons? I can't think of any power couple who have more egregiously failed those who believed in them.

Could it be that the blogosphere is the entity in need of rehabilitating? 

So what if Clinton is making an ass of himself in the Press...again?  If we really, truly want to show that we want change, let's start by changing.  If we stop going off on Bill, giving him the attention he craves so desperately, then we will show that we refuse to give the pathetic little sex addict what he wants.  We stop enabling his toxic addiction.

Ignore him and his rantings.  Stop giving him ink.  Show that we don't think he is worth our time or energy being concerned about what he might say. 

Wean ourselves from our own addiction to his drama now rather than later.

is that one must assume he thinks this kind of talk is "setting the stage" for Hillary to swoop in to save the day in 2012 should McCain pull off the upset.

Frankly, every time Bill opens his mouth, it becomes more and more clear he's suffering from dementia worse than Johnny Mac, and is the last person this country needs anywhere near the levers of power.

As for his previous claims that he would supporting Obama -- I guess it depends on what your definition of "support" is, no?

Nothing make me happier than to see Clinton self-immolate. I met the Clintons in Manhattan in 1991 when they were at an upper-eastside hotel (Carlyle? Regency?) and my instant reaction was a no-go, and I called a friend and told her so afterward. My reaction was visceral. I remember saying "He's trailer trash."

On a hopeful note, I just read a comment 89-year-old Pete Seeger (of folk song fame and savior of the Hudson River) made to Philip Weiss a year ago. Thought it apropos:

"You know how if you throw a tennis ball against the floor, the harder you throw it down on cement, the higher it bounces? These horrible things in Washington will spur on the best things over the next eight years. The greatest people will come forward.”

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Bill.

only confirming what many of us thought during his wife's campaign...he's still smoldering about the injuries inflicted on him by Senator Obama.  Which is why I believe Obama refusing to engage him on many of the things he's said over the last year shows restraint, temperament and a willingness to hide in the weeds until the time is right-- all of the intangibles in real leadership.   As for Bill-  what a d-bag.

are there still people who want his wife to be veep?

Think this impeached prez was born without a 'shame' gene...really! Almost makes me want to go back to that store on K Street and buy an I Believe Paula Jones tshirt.

No longer just the study of snakes.. it now includes Clintons....

Just when I thought Obama might do a surprise, BIG, game-changing pick of Hillary for VP, Bill opens his mouth again.

Hillary obviously knows that it is in her interest to help Obama and the Democratic Party to win big in the fall, and she is acting accordingly. Why doesn't she tell Bill to get with the program? Or, why doesn't Bill do as she asks?

No way can Hillary be the VP if she can't persuade Bill to act in the Democrats and her own interests.

 I can not believe I was dumb enough to vote for that man twice. I have learned so much this year!

Dems to Win - Bill as loose cannon (and global businessman) has been, ever since it was clear that Obama would win the nomination, the deal-breaker on any Obama-Clinton ticket. I do agree with you that HRC has nonetheless navigated those waters impressively well after the initial June 3 slip up. She seems to herself understand what (and who) the problem is, and seems to accept it for what it is without taking it personally.

Hillary I think has been great since the primaries have ended. Whereas during the primaries the thought of her as VP was a no no in my book I now personally would have no problem if Obama gave her the nod as VP. The anger I felt during the primaries is now gone and the only thing that interests me now is winning in November.She would stay on message and do what is required of her in my view. The problem it seems however of that ticket being a possiblity is Bill who for some reason cannot keep his mouth shut if he has nothing positive to say.

You see?! Remember when he left the White House on Bush's inauguration day? We were subjected to a LOOOOONG look at Bill dramatically walking through the hallway. However you feel about Bush, it was so inappropriate. Now he says, "I'll tell you how I really feel about the primaries after the election. But wait, maybe I'll say something now, too." Bill was one of the reasons I had so much trouble seeing Hillary as a viable candidate. I'm glad he's involved in philanthropic work, but ye gads, can he please zip it?!?

Response to Nepat.  John Kerry was out there hitting John McCain not once but twice last week.  Don't rely on the pundits to let you know who is doing what.  Some yahoo on CNN just said what you said, so I am wondering if that is where you heard the nonsense that surrogates weren't out there for Obama.  Agreed, though that Reid and Pelosi need to do more.

This appearance where Kerry just demolished Kyl was my favorite:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25955976#25955976

Where was that John Kerry in 2004? Had he shown up like that occasionally, like, I don't know; maybe when he was being swiftboated -- a whole lot of dead and messed up soldiers and civilians would be alive today.

Same with Gore in 2000, who showed up like a mensch just in time to concede the nomination.

What is it with our candidates, who show up so well after it doesn't really matter anymore. Team Obama is very smart. I will not substitute my judgment for theirs. But I'd sure love to see Obama -- or a surrogate or two -- open a can of whoopass on McCain right about now.

Nobody sends Bill Clinton anywhere - this is laughable, as is the notion of the former president as a racist. He's doing brilliant work with the Clinton Global Initiative. How about checking the record, Al?

"Sent" - c'mon, that's embarassing - but not to the greatest Democratic president of our lifetmes (thus far).

I thought the "rehabilitation" line was offensive; no rehab is needed, in my view.

A comment above: . He's doing brilliant work with the Clinton Global Initiative. How about checking the record, Al?

It's about time!  Wish that he was as attentive to the issue of AIDS when he was in the WH in 1992. He said he's 'atoned' for Rwanda -useless words. He did nothing to support groups working to deal with the problem of AIDS in the USA and other countrieswhen he was in the WH.

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE!  When he had power, he was busy doing 'other' things.  Expect the issues he's addressing now didn't poll well, per his then guru Dick Morris.

Now I wish he'd just stop trying to stay in the public eye, and listen to those trying to get him to be quiet!

If Clinton is the "greatest Democratic president of our lifetimes," it's more a testiment to the stupidity of the American public than to the virtues of Bill. Must add, though, that having been born in '63, I'm not willing to concede the point. Kennedy didn't have time to make a true legacy. His moves on Cuba and Vietnam were boneheaded, and he certainly had his share of preocupation with "other things." But he also made some good policy decisions.

Also, though Carter's leadership skills were poor, and his courage in office (to make tough choices) was suspect, in terms of intelligence and humanitarian instinct, he was (and is) a great man.

The problem, at base, may be that we humans have a deep instictive desire to be lead by a strongman (who makes us feel safe) rather than governed by a community of wise men. Thus, even the wisest of leaders discover that, to gain power, they must behave (to a greater or lesser extent) like alpha males. [By the way, this includes women, like Hillary, who feel the need to vote for wars and the like.]

Thus, we find our smartest potential leaders minimizing wisdom and maximizing thuggishness, trading one kind of efficacy for another. This is why Democrats expend so much energy jumping at every opportunity to cave to Republicans on issues like FISA, acting weak for fear of looking weak. In the end, they act and look weak, which gives Republicans a distinct structural advantage despite the fact that people can see that Repubs are in the hip pockets of the rich.

Even in the current electoral climate, with the world caving in around us, Republicans still have this structural advantage. Without it, they would truly be toast. That's why old school Democrats like Kennedy were so hawkish of foreign policy.

In a nutshell, Bill needs Black love.  He needs to feel loved by the Black community.  He has always had this love, and he needs it to feel better now.  Remember he was proud to be called the 'first Black President', and he thought that he would always have the full support of the Black community.  During the primaries you could see his feelings hurt that the Black community was starting to support Barack Obama.  Once others started questioning some of his statements, he was terribly offended because it contridicted his own view of himself as an advocate for Black people.

He is sulking, he is hurt, he is still very very angry.  When the primaries were over, he went back to his offices in Harlem and probably still expected to be welcomed with open arms.  He wasn't, and the Black community is never going to view him they way they did before the primaries.  So in lue of this Black love in America, where does he go?  AFRICA.  There he can still enjoy the same love and adulation he once had in this country with the Black community.

That is why when he was interviewed, the 'race thing' popped out of his mouth, unprompted by the reporter.  Not support the Democratic nominee, not high gas prices, not the poor economy, but simply "I am not a racist'.

He needs to realize we can't all be loved all the time, and get over it, or just start working earnestly to elect John McCain and quite playing around.

It's hard for me to comment too much on this thread since I left the Democratic Party and became an Independent because of both Clintons, as well as Bill's trade and foreign policy decisions.

I'm pretty sure the Clintons counted on the loyalty of Black voters to sweep Hillary right into the nomination.  I wonder if Bill is more miffed because the prize Hillary "was entitled to" was taken away by Obama due in part to the shift of that loyalty.  Since Bill has been lousy at both introspection and accepting blame/responsibility, he needs to believe he was wrongfully considered to be a racist during the primaries - rather than guilty of playing the race card, which he certainly did, and clumsily, too.

I say ignore Bill.  A lot of people who had warm feelings for the Clintons before this primary season have awakened from a dream, and his power will continue to seep away.  Finally.

By way of responses:

Roy - JFK was a hawk because he was, well, genuinely a hawk! It wasn't a political consideration, a necessary evil to be negotiated in consideration of the GOP. He and Bobby were stone Cold Warriors. In fact, during JFK's lifetime, Dems were far more hawkish than Repubs. Check out the history, man.

Peg - Bill Clinton does need to be loved, it's true - not just by the black community but by a wide swath of the Democratic electorate. He loves crowds, like our nominee. He's been to Africa many, many times and much of his CGI is dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. And good on him, I say.

Mary - he was "wrongfully considered to be a racist" during the primaries, let's face it. Too many folks went in that direction, and in my view it's been despicable. It's painful to be called a racist during a campaign like this last one - believe me, I know.

Now, if you all want to continue all the Clinton-bashing, I'll say no more. But it's a hell of a short pier you're driving toward the end of...

 Thank you Peg & Mary for posting here. I am a student in awe of all that is happening in and around "The Field" every day. It truly is a awakening.

to a well-written story on all the reasons Hillary Clinton should NOT become the VP.

  http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/2008/06/why-no-nightmare-ticket-lets-count.html

Tom W.-I couldn't disagree with you more.  You come off just like the Clintons-"Let's blame everybody else for our mistakes."

I had an interesting conversation with a "I still love Hillary" supporter, the other night.  She informed me that the only reason Bill Clinton was a great president was because Hillary was telling him what to do and running the real show.  Wow....just wow.....