Clinton Would Have Stopped 9/11

Media Research Center ^ | 4/1/04 | Jonathan Alter

[NotchJohnson]

“It’s now obvious that the 22nd Amendment barring third presidential terms punishes the nation more than the politician....After three years of George Bush’s flailings, who doesn’t yearn for Clinton’s steady, nuanced leadership? We would have been spared those fiscally destructive tax cuts, the environment would not have been despoiled, and America would not be an outcast among nations. With a serious and non-ideological foreign policy team which had already thwarted at least two major terrorist attacks, there’s every reason to believe that if voters could have elected Bill Clinton to a third term, September 11th would have been just a day just like any other.” – Newsweek Senior Editor Jonathan Alter in “Time to Bring Back Bubba,” in the April 1 edition.

[dead]

Again, you don't know Alter.

You apparently don't know Bozell.

[cookcounty]

Even Clarke said that if the Bush administration had adopted his "recommeded" strategy, it wouldn't have prevented 9/11.

Does Mr. Alter attempt to build an argument for his assertion that Clinton would have stopped 9/11? I'm not going to buy the thing to find out. Besides, I'm already familiar enough with Mr. Alter to know that he's too stupid to form an intelligent argument.

[deport]

They seemed to be on a roll that day.....

Willie Horton With a French Beret

“Tim, the White House lately has been hammering the fact that John Kerry is of French ancestry. In an editorial, the New York Times scolded the campaign. ‘Consider the reaction,’ the Times wrote, ‘if the President’s hit men tried such a tactic on an African-American candidate such as Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. Such odious tactics have no place in today’s politics.’ You know Bush’s father got in trouble for using race in his campaign via Willie Horton. Is this the same sleazy politics, Willie Horton with a beret?” 
– NBC’s Matt Lauer to Tim Russert on the April 1 Today

[cookcounty]

Oh I feel so stupid. But it isn't far from what these boobs come up with every day.

[bootless]

And who could forget WOTW: Gravitas?

Alter's sky is a whole different color. ACK.

[Waco]

Well, he stopped Monica, didn't he? As in,,"hey blitch, come on over here, bring the White Owl, ya hear?"

[Not now, Not ever!]

some law professors argue the Constitution does not bar him from serving as Vice President, just a third term as President.

I think those beard scratchers better get back in those books of theirs, I don't think you can serve as Vice-President if you could not be elected to the office of President.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

The following is absolutely true.I heard it myself.
Alter fell hook, line and sinker for an over the top Imus parody on Gary Condit/ Ann Marie Smith.
The audio is still on line and might even be in the FR archives.

From mrc.org- July,2001 :

[WARNING: Though everything in this item aired during the 8am EDT hour on MSNBC, some readers may be offended by the crude sexual innuendo.]

A gullible Jonathan Alter of Newsweek was fooled by a joke appearance on Imus in the Morning by a pretend "Anne Marie Smith," the flight attendant who says Gary Condit asked her to sign a false affidavit.

Alter, who defended Clinton against calls that he should resign, later argued that in Condit’s case: "Everybody should be calling for him to resign, whether he had anything to do with her disappearance or not. In a real serious matter he was not straight-forward."

On Thursday’s Imus in the Morning radio show simulcast on MSNBC, during the appearance by phone of a woman pretending to be Smith, she made some pretty wild claims, such as how Condit’s blow-dried hair "turned me on," that Condit asked her to take showers with him while she wore a Barney Frank mask as she bent over to pick up soap, that under his bed she found "a limited edition ‘Malibu Barbie S&M Collection,’" that she believes black hairs she saw in Condit’s bathroom belonged to Michael Jackson, that during sex Condit played Jackson’s song ‘Billie Jean’ while making "high-pitched noises" and that she has an agent working to get her on the next Survivor series.

A few minutes later, Alter scolded the supposed Anne Marie Smith: "She’s turning this thing into a farce. It’s not like a normal sex case, we’re talking about a young woman’s life." But he believed "a lot of what she said could very well be true."

MRC analyst Ken Shepherd alerted me to the events on the July 12 show, starting at about 8:15am EDT with an appearance by phone of "Anne Marie Smith" in a not very funny comedy bit during which viewers saw Imus at his New Mexico ranch studio and his on-air colleagues behind microphones at WFAN in New York City.

Some of "Anne Marie Smith’s" recollections, starting with how they met on a flight: "I gave him a hot towel and he asked me if I wanted a hot sausage." She found him attractive because "there’s something about that blow-dried hair. It just turned me on."

-- "One of his obsessions is with Congressman Barney Frank and I always thought that was a little strange. One time he bought me this rubber mask. Imus, it looked just like him and asked me to take a shower with him wearing this mask. He kept dropping the soap and asking me to pick it up..."

-- Under Condit’s bed she found "a limited edition ‘Malibu Barbie S&M Collection’ and the ‘Bend Me Over Ken’ line."

-- Imus: "What, what about the hair that you found in the bathroom?"
"Smith": "Okay, I have my own theory about this hair. It’s very strange, though. A long black hair, wavy hair. I really think it belongs to Michael Jackson. I mean, let me just say, okay, this sounds weird but he had an obsession with Michael Jackson also. He had all of his albums. ‘Billy Jean’ is his favorite song. He’d always play it during sex and make these high-pitched noises. It was so weird. And then I found these left-handed gloves that were stained all over the apartment one time..."

-- "And by the way I have been contacted by CBS. I may be going on their next Survivor show. I’m just not sure yet at this point. I’ve got an agent and you know we’re going to see, maybe Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire could call me or I just, you know, I don’t know, we’ll see."

Ten minutes later, at just past 8:30am EDT, Imus talked with Alter on the phone. Alter’s first words: "That was a mind-blowing interview. I mean, I didn’t know what to make of it. What did you think?"
Imus: "With Anne Marie Smith?"
Alter: "Yeah."
Imus: "I thought she was jerking my chain on the Barney Frank mask frankly."
Alter: "She wants to go on Survivor?"

Alter soon reprimanded her: "I mean, she’s turning this thing into a farce. It’s not like a normal sex case, we’re talking about a young woman’s life."
Imus: "Well, I understand that."
Alter: "It’s just very peculiar. But she certainly gave everybody a lot of new angles. Michael Jackson’s hair?"
Imus: "Well, I do think that sometimes when people appear on this program they think they have to say funny things. But I do think that most of the other things she had to say were, obviously, I do think we are going to find out before this whole thing is over that some sort of weird sex has something to do with it."
Alter: "A lot of what she said could very well be true..."

Alter proceeded to recount a story in that morning’s Washington Post about a minister who claims his daughter had an affair with Condit when she was 18.

Imus then tried to clue in Alter: "Let me ask you something Jonathan. Did you think that was really Anne Marie Smith?"
Alter, realizing he’d been fooled: "Mmmm, no. I wasn’t sure. I just caught the end of it to tell you the truth. So, I didn’t know what it was. You know, that’s the problem with the show, it’s hard to know. She’s coming forward. She’s saying a lot of pretty amazing stuff."
Imus: "It was Kristi (sp?) out in the newsroom, Jonathan."
Alter: "It was Kristi. Alright, you had me. That’s what happens when you jump out of the shower."
Imus: "You really are just a moron."

Alter later conceded: "Sorry, you got me. That’s what happens when life imitates art in America."

Alter reflected a bit of a different attitude toward Condit than he had toward Bill Clinton: "I just know that at this point, that Condit should resign. Because at a minimum, he was obstructing an investigation."
Imus: "By lying."
Alter: "By lying to the police."

He soon added: "Everybody should be calling for him to resign, whether he had anything to do with her disappearance or not. In a real serious matter, he was not straight-forward."

A new standard for Alter. A couple of years ago a certain politician who was "obstructing an investigation" and was not being "straight-forward" didn’t prompt Alter to call for his resignation.

[Mike Darancette]

I thought you couldn't use the Onion.

[KC_Conspirator]

Bill Klinton PARDONED TERRORISTS before he left office. Terrorists (FALN) who had killed and maimed NY City policemen with their bombs. Yet we are supposed to believe the lies and revisionism of Jonathan Alter?

Jonathan Alter is such a lying sack of sh**. Not a word of his article is true. Klinton's failure to take terrorism and national security seriously led directly to 911. Do you think for one moment Bush could have done anything like the Patriot Act or profiled for muslim terrorists before 911? democrats would have brought impeachment articles against him.

[Fitzcarraldo]

A bit late for April Fools.

[hole_n_one]

Isn't there some sort of time constraint regarding the posting of anything written on 4/01?.......

.....or do we now have to ensure that that the idiocy (allegedly)spewed by a rat fell on any of the remaining 364 days before replying to a post?

I notice you're always late to the party.

[KC_Conspirator]

All you have to know about Rather is that he went after President Bush 41 on TV ("He never layed a finger on me?") in order to defeat him in an election, but went over to act as a propaganda tool for Saddam Hussein before Gulf War II.

[Polybius]

.....foreign policy team which had already thwarted at least two major terrorist attacks, there’s every reason to believe that if voters could have elected Bill Clinton to a third term, September 11th would have been just a day just like any other.”

Yeah, right.

[deport]

It would be interesting to see the arguments put forth on a case about his being elgible....

Article XII ratified in 1804 states..... "But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."

Then Article XXII comes along and is ratified in 1951 limiting the terms a President can be elected to with the presidency with the following..... "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once"

The question I guess could be argued that he isn't being elected to the Presidency when elected as VP and would succeed to the office rather than being elected again.....

[Charles Henrickson]

Were any of you guys still awake and watching on Election Night 2000 when Alter went on NBC and started almost saying, "Forget the Constitution, forget the Electoral College. If Gore wins the popular vote, then he should become President." Alter was so "out there," that he even had Russert and Brokaw slapping him down. It was astounding. And he wasn't joking.

[F.J. Mitchell]

I remember. And never watch that sonofagun.

[FlyVet]

It is a joke.

Well, you ruined it for me. I wanted to believe a liberal had just stooped to a lower level of stupidity than even I thought possible.

[My Favorite Headache]

LMFAO..classic caption!

[SandRat]

“It’s now obvious that the 22nd Amendment barring third presidential terms punishes the nation more than the politician....After three years of George Bush’s flailings, who doesn’t yearn for Clinton’s steady, nuanced leadership? We would have been spared those fiscally destructive tax cuts, the environment would not have been despoiled, and America would not be an outcast among nations. With a serious and non-ideological foreign policy team which had already thwarted at least two major terrorist attacks, there’s every reason to believe that if voters could have elected Bill Clinton to a third term, September 11th would have been just a day just like any other."