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Clinton's lunch in NYC comes after speaking to a union crowd in Las Vegas Monday night. Barf alert account of his speech:

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Criticizing "the politics of ideology, anger
and attack," while urging support for troops deployed abroad,
former President Bill Clinton got a warm reception Monday from
a national labor convention.

"Nothing I did in the White House would have been possible
without you and the other people in the labor movement," Clinton
said, basking in applause from 4,000 representatives of the
Laborers' International Union of North America.

Clinton, addressing a traditional Democratic power base,
criticized the Bush administration for turning what he said was a
projected $5.8 trillion federal budget surplus when he left office
into a $2 trillion projected deficit today.

The former president compared the billions of dollars spent to
wage war and then rebuild Iraq with domestic cuts in after-school
programs for 500,000 American youngsters and the elimination
of the Community Oriented Policing Program that he created to
put more police on the street.

President Bush sent a letter congratulating the union on its
100th anniversary and praising "the hard work, innovation and
entrepreneurial spirit of our workers."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson addressed the convention later,
criticizing "a national agenda of fear" and urging attention to
health care, Social Security, good wages and dealing with HIV
and AIDS.

Clinton, sounding professorial during his 30-minute speech at
Bally's hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, stuck to familiar
partisan themes and called for voters to demand "the test of
evidence."

"They know how they want it to come out," he said of the Bush
administration, "and they make up the evidence as they go."

Clinton pointed to what he said were eroding social services and
said the nation must be strong at home to be strong abroad.

"The power of our example has always been as important as the
force of our arms," he declared.

Clinton opened his remarks by welcoming the weekend release
of seven U.S. prisoners of war in Iraq, and saying that the United
States should support its troops, "whatever our views of this
conflict (and) whatever our views of what's going on there."

He did not take questions, but laughed after one man shouted,
"C'mon back, Bill."

"I'm not young anymore," he said.

Clinton said he won't endorse any of the Democratic candidates
for president, saying, "They've all done a lot for me. I like them
all."

The union declined to say how much Clinton was paid to speak,
and he did not address the media afterward.

Laugh of the day (if it doesn't sicken you, that is):

... In 1993, Clinton nominated Elders for the position of surgeon general, and she became the first African-American U.S. surgeon general. During her time, she gave 302 speeches. One mishap she mentioned was when she lost the speech she was planning to give at a Harvard commencement and had to scribble out some notes for a new one on a scrap of toilet paper in the bathroom. [We all see the appropriateness of that]

One of her more controversial remarks was at the National Press Club when she made a statement about the legalization of drugs. “There have been multiple studies that have shown that the legalization of drugs would lower the crime rate, but I do not know all the implications of this,” Elders said when recounting the incident at the forum. “I feel it should be studied.”

After 15 months she was forced to resign amidst controversy stemming from a remark she made at an AIDS conference that allegedly endorsed courses to teach how to masturbate. She specifically said masturbation “is part of human sexuality and it’s a part of something that perhaps should be taught.” Elders maintained that she meant that children should be taught about masturbation in sex education courses.

She spoke about the incident with a sense of humor. “[Masturbation] never got anybody pregnant,” she said, “and you know you’re always having sex with somebody you love.”

Elders said that she had no regrets about her time as surgeon general. “I would do it again,” she said. “In fact, I absolutely did this job as I felt it should be done. If I had to do it all over again, I’d do it exactly the same way.

“I want you to know that I always did the very best that I could do as your surgeon general,” she added.

Despite the fact that Clinton called for her resignation, Elders said that she harbors no harsh feelings for him. “I think Bill Clinton is probably the smartest person that I’ve met, and I feel certain that he’s the best politician this country has seen in a long time.” full story