Posted on 12/14/2006 4:56:50 PM PST by Libloather
Clinton addresses first graduating class of Clinton School
Thursday, Dec 14, 2006
By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
Former President Bill Clinton, left, is greeted by David Pryor, former senator and past dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006, in Little Rock, Ark., after Clinton spoke to the first graduating class of the school. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
LITTLE ROCK - Saying he was possibly the first commencement speaker in history to be "as excited as the graduates," former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday addressed the first graduating class of the presidential school that bears his name.
Clinton spoke to the first 13 graduates of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service during a ceremony at the Clinton presidential library. The school opened in the fall of 2005 on the library grounds and is the first in the country to offer master's degrees in public service.
The school began as an idea "that we could actually build an institution around the concept of public service," the former president and Arkansas governor said.
"I believe that dedication to the common good is critical to meeting the challenges of the interdependent world in which the graduates will live and raise their children," he said.
Clinton said the world is "one in which we have to have security policies, to be sure, but in which, because we are interdependent, we cannot possibly ever kill, jail or occupy all of our adversaries. So we have to build a world with more partners and fewer adversaries."
He said the graduates will have more options than he had when he graduated. It is much easier now to work in public service without being on the public payroll, thanks to the existence of millions of non-governmental organizations, he said.
"Because all the graduates here want to make a difference, you should feel good about the fact that the trends of the last 20 years have given you much more power to do so, whether you are in or out of government," Clinton said.
In an apparent reference to the recent midterm elections that gave Democrats majorities in both houses of Congress, Clinton said it appears that "we are recovering our bearings and getting back to the idea that whether we're conservative or liberal or Republican or Democrat, it really does matter what the facts are. It really does matter what policies will do in the lives of ordinary people."
Clinton told the graduates they can judge their success in public service by asking themselves a simple question: "Are the people you served better off when you quit than when you started?"
Vivian Flowers of Pine Bluff, one of four graduates who are Arkansas natives, called Clinton's speech "inspiring and prophetic."
"We've had great opportunities to speak with him before, and he's kind of been a galvanizing force for us and continues to be," said Flowers, whose service projects during the 18-month program included working as an intern for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights in Washington, D.C.
Amber Holloway of Rogers said she enjoyed getting to meet people such as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and Clinton. Holloway is one of five graduates who still have a project to complete - in her case, a study of communication strategies used during the 2003 mad cow disease outbreak in Alberta, Canada, for the National Center for Food Protection and Defense.
"It's been a fabulous 16 months, very exciting," she said.
John Spears of Fort Smith worked on projects that took him from the Arkansas Delta, where he worked on plans for a sweet potato storage and distribution facility to help disadvantaged small farmers in Phillips County, to La Paz, Bolivia, where he helped develop strategies for improving that country's economy through tourism.
"Working in the Arkansas Delta, working in Bolivia, it gave me an exposure to grassroots community development and grassroots leadership that I did not previously have. I have a better idea of the entire spectrum of public service now than before I came here," said Spears, who previously obtained a master's degree from Tufts University in international relations.
Clinton spent about 30 minutes at a reception following the ceremony. He was asked by reporters if he is encouraging his wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, to run for president in 2008.
"I'm not encouraging or discouraging. I'm listening and answering questions when asked," he said.
University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service graduates Vivian Flowers, center, Erika Hall, second right, Malcolm Glover, right, and others listen to the commencement address by former President Bill Clinton in Little Rock, Ark., Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
Former President Bill Clinton gestures as he speaks at the Annual United Nations Correspondents Association Dinner Dance at U.N. headquarters in New York, Friday Dec. 8, 2006. Clinton was honored with the UNCA Citizen of the World Award at the event. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)
Former President Bill Clinton, left, and Secretary General Kofi Annan pose for a photograph prior to attending the Annual United Nations Correspondents Association Dinner Dance at U.N. headquarters in New York, Friday Dec. 8, 2006. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks at the Soestdijk Palace in Soestdijk, the Netherlands December 7, 2006. Clinton received a 1 million euro cheque from the Dutch Postcode Lottery for the Clinton Climate Initiative. REUTERS/Toussaint Kluiters (NETHERLANDS)
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton received an energy saving lamp at the Soestdijk Palace in Soestdijk, the Netherlands December 7, 2006. Clinton receives a 1 million euro cheque from the Dutch Postcode Lottery for the Clinton Climate Initiative. REUTERS/Toussasint Kluiters (NETHERLANDS)
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton gives a speech at Soestdijk Palace in Baarn, Netherlands, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006. Clinton was in the Netherlands to deliver a speech about climate change. (AP photo/ Lex van Lieshout,Pool)
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton shakes hands with well-wishers in Hanoi December 6, 2006. Clinton urged young Vietnamese on Wednesday to talk more about HIV and AIDS to reduce fear and ignorance of the disease and discourage discrimination. REUTERS/David Scull/The William J. Clinton Foundation/Handout
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton talks with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, unseen, with the backdrop of the bust of late revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2006. Clinton came to Hanoi to sign an agreement with the Vietnamese government under which his Clinton Foundation will provide pediatric drugs to children living with HIV and AIDS. (AP Photo/Tran Van Minh)
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (R) hugs a girl infected with HIV at the Maryknoll Orphanage in Phnom Penh December 4, 2006. Maryknoll Cambodia, a Catholic organization, provides HIV treatment including paediatric formulations provided by the Clinton HIVC Aids Initiative to over 300 children. REUTERS/David Scull/The William J. Clinton Foundation/Handout
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton hugs a girl infected with HIV at the Maryknoll Orphanage in Phnom Penh December 4, 2006. Maryknoll Cambodia, a Catholic organization, provides HIV treatment including paediatric formulations provided by the Clinton HIVC Aids Initiative to over 300 children. REUTERS/David Scull/The William J. Clinton Foundation/Handout (CAMBODIA)
They misspelled pubic.
GIANT PUKE ALERT. WHAT A PIG
Yeah, I thought Monica was already the first grad of the Clinton School of Pubic Service.
Public service, eh?
Reminds of the anecdote told by Steinbeck about the boy who had to take a cow to the neighbors farm to be "serviced" by a bull. The punch line: "Now whenever he hears the word 'service' he wonders who's getting screwed."
That's true-just look at the women FOX has on representing both sides.
I can't think of a suitable caption, but he sure looks like heck on the half-shell....
I'm surprized the graduation gown isn't a stained blue dress.
Wow, 13 graduates!! Is that all the assho!e could find?
Did they have a course on oral sex in klintoons university??
Did they have a course on selling our secrets to China??
...could only happen in Arkansas...
Congressman Billybob
"Thank you very much. On the real check don't forget to leave the payee area blank so I can use this beautiful illuminated "Clinton Climate Initiative" stamp my wife gave me!"
Ah yes--Public Sevice! Mr. and Mrs. Clinton did not have two nickels to rub together when they were in the private sector. After a few decades of "public service," their combined net worth is probably north of 30 million. Offering pardons to such deserving creatures as Marc Rich, and writing "best-selling" books for 8-digit payouts has sure made public service worthwhile. Not to mention those ubiquitous speaking engagements at 1/4 million or more a pop.
That's why the Clintons always have "Personal gain" above and beyond anything else.They are truly dispicable creatures.
It looks like a lifetime of whining resentment does visibly mark a person
geez, bubba looks like he's in his 90s. Guess that's what a life filled with snoot-fulls of coke [and who knows what else] can do.
They all interned at the Sukey Tawdry House of Virtue.
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