Don't forget a-hole! heehee
Posted on 09/25/2006 10:35:40 AM PDT by PDR
LET'S DO A THOUGHT experiment:
Perhaps Bill Clinton, an experienced and sophisticated politician, knew what he was doing when he made big news by "losing his temper" in his interview with Chris Wallace. Perhaps Clinton's aides knew what they were doing when they publicized the interview by providing their own transcript to a left-wing website as soon as possible Friday evening, and then pre-spun reporters late Friday and Saturday. Maybe it was just damage control. Or maybe Clinton did what he wanted to do when he indignantly defended himself, blasted the Bush administration, and attacked Fox News. What could Clinton have been seeking to accomplish? Three things.
1. Helping Democrats in 2006.
In the Fox interview, and in other recent interviews (Meet the Press, the New Yorker), Clinton has shown himself well aware of Republican efforts (engineered by the dastardly Karl Rove) to paint Democrats as unreliable in the war on terror. Clinton would have known that these were doing some damage to Democrats, and that Bush and Rove have had a few good weeks on this issue. And he would know that the Democrats haven't fought back well (e.g., they're now in a difficult position on the Bush-McCain detainees legislation).
In this interview, Clinton rallied Democrats. He reminded them of their talking points on Bush's alleged passivity in his first eight months in office (remember Richard Clarke!), and on the alleged distraction posed by Iraq from the more worthwhile war in Afghanistan. He nicely laid the predicate for the leaked portions of the National Intelligence Estimate that appeared in the press the next day. If the Bush-Rove war-on-terror offensive stalls out this week (and much of the media is committed to making this happen), and Democrats do well in November, Bill Clinton can take credit, at a crucial moment, for discrediting the terror issue as a mere political ploy, and showing Democrats how "to fight back" and how "to stand up to the right-wing propaganda machine" (in the words of Howard Dean).
2. Helping Hillary in 2008.
Hillary Clinton has been having problems with the left wing of the Democratic party. With this interview, Bill Clinton has the entire left wing of the Democratic party rallying to him. Some of this solidarity can presumably be transferred to Hillary. And the dangerous move of the left-wing of the party toward Gore and Edwards, and their rise in national and Iowa polls respectively, can perhaps be stopped.
3. Intimidating Critics.
Clinton wants to make it incorrect, or at least impolite, to criticize his record on terror. Chris Wallace stood up to him. Will others? Will his next interviewer raise the same set of questions? Will they be willing to take the criticism of being "conservative hit men" or part of the vast, Fox-centered right-wing conspiracy? Bullying and intimidation sometimes work. Clinton has used both effectively in the past. Now he wants to put out of bounds certain perfectly legitimate and straight-forward questions. Can we debate which party--based on their practice when in power--can better deal with the jihadist/terror threat? No, according to Clinton. That's illegitimate right-wing propaganda. Whose personal reputation benefits from putting such issues out of bounds? Which political party benefits? Which 2008 presidential candidate?
Bill Clinton is a smart (and calculating) politician.
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I do think he is on to something here, though, if we let him get away with it. For 8 years he has been trying to come up with some way of making Republicans pay for impeaching him. Now it seems he has hit on the idea of blaming Republicans for his failure to get Osama. Won't that be the ultimate revenge if he can sell this Big Lie to the public? See, those nasty Republicans who only cared about my sex life kept me from preventing 9/11!
Shame on us if we let him get away with it.
If anything, this was a calculated effort by Fox News to bump up their ratings as News Corp. negotiates new agreements with cable service providers (this is going on right now). Rupoert Murdoch is looking for a huge increase in fees paid by these providers to carry Fox News.
I almost feel sorry for old BJ Clinton - but not too sorry.
Don't forget a-hole! heehee
Perhaps Clinton's aides knew what they were doing when they publicized the interview by providing their own transcript to a left-wing website as soon as possible Friday evening....
Then why did Wallace report Clinton "chewed out his staff after interview"?
...Clinton rallied Democrats. He reminded them of their talking points on Bush's alleged passivity in his first eight months in office....
Oh yes, the newly elected Bush administration had an incredibly smooth and easy transition into office - questions of legitimacy, speedy nomination confirmations, and White House premises in pristine order.
He nicely laid the predicate for the leaked portions of the National Intelligence Estimate that appeared in the press the next day.
This article, Al Qaeda absent from final Clinton report says differently.
Clinton lost his temper. Showed the world his true temperment. Clinton is a narcissist and he is still railing over the 9-11 movie and that has made him finally exceed his coldly calculated public persona. Cinton's finger pointing was no different than his TV appearance saying he "didn't have sex with that woman."
While this might be true, and he is certainly known for pretending to have emotions he doesn't have (remember the Ron Brown funeral?) he is also smart enough to know that there are Presidential responses and defensive responses.
I did not see the interview. I did not have the patience to watch that man for 10 minutes in the segment Drudge posted. I have heard some clips on Rush's show today and I will say that the man sounded just like a kiddiegartner caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Not just the words, but the tone.
There will be a few that will be moved by this, but more than a few more will say, "That? That is the kind of man the Democrats put in the Oval Office? And I voted for him? A 60-year-old who still bawls when someone says something unkind about him?"
If he was trying to show the Democrats how to fight back, he blew it big-time.
Shalom.
This is the Ancient Saturday Night Live skit. (from democrat primary season)
Bill Clinton tearing appart the podium at a Start Trek convention because some OTHER democrat was invited to the other Start Trek convention first.
(it was a parody of C-Span and their one microphone)
"Dont you realize I have an agreement with the mainsteam media not to ask these kind of questions."
"I am here only to talk about Al Gore and his global warming movie"
Um....OK?
So, why was he slurring his words?
Well then how about you bring your brain to the party, Billy.
You numbskull, do you think that Clinton would still be tearing into his staff and threatening to fire them as he left the studio?
Here is Kristol with the clintonstia spin. HOW TYPICAL.
If that was what it takes "to fire up his base", him looking like a kid in a department store tantrum, then they have a BIG problem..............
Wow, Kristol is clueless on this one. When has Clinton ever gone on a talk show and calculated something like this? I can guarantee you if he kept doing this until the election, it would be a Republican sweep.
Clinton's legacy will be set by wagging his finger at the world telling the world "he did not have sex with that woman.." and it will also be the lies he bantered in this interview.
Keep it up Clinton, you are showing the world what the "right" already knew.
I apologize for my oversight! ;-)
LLS
I completely agree. He could of done all those things with a slightly detached, non-defensive, righteous anger. Instead, he came unglued. It's possible that the event will have the stated effect, but it will be luck, not calculation. The man is simply out of practice.
Oh, and I think he knows that President Bush's legacy will eclipse his and that is really what ticks him off. He sought greatness so desperately.
Rush just went into that. That Bill Clinton exploded at his staff for sending to interview that was a setup. Was Clinton's fit a charade?
Every time he has tried to help his party it has been a disaster. He lost the Presidency, the U.S. Senate and House and just recently helping Senator Joseph Lieberman. Bill Clinton is a great help to the Republican Party.
2. Helping Hillary in 2008.
He is an Albatross to Hillary. Every time his name comes up so does Monica Lewinsky her rival. Bill doesn't help Hillary, he is a drag.
3. Intimidating Critics
His critics and Republicans get exactly what they need of him. He is making the War on Terror the focus by his anger and that is the Republican's strong suit.
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