Posted on 09/18/2005 2:48:44 PM PDT by wallcrawlr
Former US president Bill Clinton sharply criticised George W. Bush for the Iraq War and the handling of Hurricane Katrina, and voiced alarm at the swelling US budget deficit.
Breaking with tradition under which US presidents mute criticisms of their successors, Clinton said the Bush administration had decided to invade Iraq "virtually alone and before UN inspections were completed, with no real urgency, no evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction."
The Iraq war diverted US attention from the war on terrorism "and undermined the support that we might have had," Bush said in an interview with an ABC's "This Week" programme.
Clinton said there had been a "heroic but so far unsuccessful" effort to put together an constitution that would be universally supported in Iraq.
The US strategy of trying to develop the Iraqi military and police so that they can cope without US support "I think is the best strategy. The problem is we may not have, in the short run, enough troops to do that," said Clinton.
On Hurricane Katrina, Clinton faulted the authorities' failure to evacuate New Orleans ahead of the storm's strike on August 29.
People with cars were able to heed the evacuation order, but many of those who were poor, disabled or elderly were left behind.
"If we really wanted to do it right, we would have had lots of buses lined up to take them out," Clinton.
He agreed that some responsibility for this lay with the local and state authorities, but pointed the finger, without naming him, at the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
FEMA boss Michael Brown quit in response to criticism of his handling of the Katrina disaster. He was viewed as a political appointee with no experience of disaster management or dealing with government officials.
"When James Lee Witt ran FEMA, because he had been both a local official and a federal official, he was always there early, and we always thought about that," Clinton said, referring to FEMA's head during his 1993-2001 presidency.
"But both of us came out of environments with a disproportionate number of poor people."
On the US budget, Clinton warned that the federal deficit may be coming untenable, driven by foreign wars, the post-hurricane recovery programme and tax cuts that benefitted just the richest one percent of the US population, himself included.
"What Americans need to understand is that ... every single day of the year, our government goes into the market and borrows money from other countries to finance Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, and our tax cuts," he said.
"We have never done this before. Never in the history of our republic have we ever financed a conflict, military conflict, by borrowing money from somewhere else."
Clinton added: "We depend on Japan, China, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Korea primarily to basically loan us money every day of the year to cover my tax cut and these conflicts and Katrina. I don't think it makes any sense."
" anyone see his photo on drudge? Pointing that ugly finger? This man is not well."
People magazine Sept 26 , " Bill Clinton Won't Slow Down," page 80 :
Though Clinton says he was profoundly affected by his heart surgery-
" It made me sort of grateful for every day "..it didn't completely change him.
He eats an inflight meal consisting of McDonald's hamburger,
fistfuls of french fries,
a few McNuggets and a fried apple pie-
while admitting " I shouldn't be eating this."
A year ago, Clinton had a quadruple bypass and he's
" sort of " grateful for every day ???!!
And to show his gratitude to the surgeons, he's eating fistfuls of fries and fried apple pie ??
I'm sure that Tim Russert asked Clinton why he didn't make a recorded telephone message urging everyone in the inner city of New Orleans to evacuate .
I'm sure Tim Russert asked Clinton why he didn't make radio and tv appeals urging residents to evacuate .
I'm sure Tim Russert asked Clinton if he felt a little guilty that while he was sipping Mai Tai's in Kaua'i with Pierce Brosnan, many of his long time voters were spending their last hours on earth.
Sarcasm off.
What I am sure of however, is that Clinton wrote the script for MTP and Russert acted like a lap dog and read the prepared questions.
Maybe Dubya can send Trump to see him.
"You're FIRED."
Several of my friends who have been faithful Oprah fans have turned her off for good after her racial baiting in NOs. Her screaming about what "they" did to "my people" was a big turn off for a lot of regular folks. I am sorry Oprah but we saw "Americans" who were suffering not "your people". For the record I have never been a fan and can't stand her show and her fawning over actors and democrat politicians...too bad it was "her people" who are in office from the Mayor on down and that is who she should be looking at when she says "they" not the Bush Administration!
The last I heard, officials from Edmond, OK were standing by his resume, so I don't know it was enhanced or not. Your take that he was a target for the leftist propaganda was probably more accurate, and was removed to diffuse the lies that presstitutes were expounding upon.
I don't know about you, but I'm fairly certain Clinton is doing exactly what President Bush thought he would do.
President Bush is nobody's fool. He is not stupid. He is not weak. He is a decent and honorable man, and Bill Clinton is not. That fact is demonstrated clearly and repeatedly by the actions of each of them.
The more the Left show their true colors the more they stand in stark contrast with the strength of character, and steadfast core values, demonstrated daily by George W. Bush, the man, and the President of the United States.
I believe awareness of this contrast underlies the spread of "red" across the U.S. electoral map. I've been told as much by Democrats who voted for President Bush in the last election.
Exactly! Shame some folks don't get it even now. Everytime Clinton opens his mouth to attack Pres Bush, we get more Dems to become Republicans. With Howard Dean, Kerry, and the Clintons, my county in OK went from Democrat to Republican and we are separating more from the Dems each month! Clinton is not popular in flyover country.
Clinton's budget cuts were largely the result of him cutting our active military forces by approx. one-third, a fact which left us critically at risk. (GWB had to immediately rectify the situation upon entering office at a cost of nearly $100 billion)
The other reason Clinton was able to balance the budget number in 1998 and 1999 was the billions of dollars streaming into the US Treasury from capital gains on the ballooning Stock Market.
Consider further that the NASDAQ was down 46 percent from its bubble high on the last day of the last year of Clinton's second term (check it out) === a financial fact which caused tax revenues to drop enormously the first year President GWB took office.
Bottom line: Some economists calculate that nearly $150 billion in capital gains tax revenues were lost due to the Clinton recession, and that doesn't count the tax revenues lost due to rising unemployment and lousy productivity.
Factor in the massive amount of money America needed to protect the country in the wake of 9/11 and the War on Terror (two other events which were planned by our enemies while Clinton fiddled with his wang) and it's easy to see how Clinton screwed the country over.
In other words, it makes me sick to hear Clinton blaming President GWB.
The Clintons have their FBI family files.
That, or sick Barbara on him.
My feelings about matters like this have run the gamut! At times I think like you, that the nastier Clinton and Carter are, the better President Bush looks. You see in Bush a considerate and thoughtful man, and you see two 'has-beens'in Carter and Clinton, who have no legacy to be proud of. Their actions show them to be petty, conniving, and most of all untrustworthy. Carter can't be honest about his sheer stupidity, and Clinton is a pathological liar married to a pathological liar.
Then sometimes I want to tell the President he needs to expose them for what they are, because if he allows them to 'step on him'; they're going to 'stomp on him' if he doesn't put a stop to it. I wish I knew the correct and smart thing to do. Is President Bush turning the other cheek as instructed by the Bible? I really don't know.
How many times are they going to report this line? If I recall correctly, Jimmuh Carter also "broke with tradition..." during the last election. They need to quit making this ridiculous assertion and begin to report on the fact that that last two DEMOCRAT presidents have thrown out this long standing "rule," while no Republican president has ever done that. THAT is the story here.
Then sometimes I want to tell the President he needs to expose them for what they are...
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But, that is exactly what he is doing without saying a word against them!
George Bush is not a war hero.
...a true gentleman to not reciprocate to these low attacks!
I will not forget him calling the Minutemen who are attempting to non-violently protect our borders vigilantes.
Read "Compromised. Bush, Clinton & cocaine", by Terrence Reed. After you finish and still have any doubts, FReepmail me and I'll provide you with names of Police officers who were buying Multimillion dollar homes in Southern California back in the eighties.
Good thoughts...your perspective helps to tolerate this nasty man's disrespectful public comments about those who have been so gracious to him.
Birds of a feather flock together. Mr. Bush - please get a clue . .
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On Hurricane Katrina, Clinton faulted the authorities' failure to evacuate New Orleans ahead of the storm's strike on August 29.
I sure don't understand why current and former Bush are so chummy with Slick Willie. The remarks he made today only reinforce the opinion that the Slickster has NO CLASS!
"hey Bill....you were Gov. of Ark....they're still poor..what's your point ?"
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