Bill Clinton to chair Philadelphia-based National Constitution Center (Huh???)

Pittsburgh Business Journal ^ | 9/10/2008

[markomalley]

Bill Clinton succeeded George H. W. Bush as president and now he will succeed him as chairman of the National Constitution Center.

The Philadelphia museum said Tuesday that Clinton’s one-year term will begin Jan. 1. The first President Bush is finishing his second one-year term as chairman.

Clinton was the keynote speaker when ground was broken for the center in September 2000, and visited in 2004 for a book signing and in March 2006 to address the National Youth Leadership Council.

[markomalley]

Huh???

What do the words "Constitution" and "Clinton" (either) have to do with one another?

[incredulous joe]

Maybe he’ll be chairing that from the former Cradle of Liberty?

[Tulsa Ramjet]

Judge: Raise your right hand and repeat after me, “I, William Jefferson Clinton, promise to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God.”

Clinton: Yeah...all that, so help me God. Uh...oh, except situations involving prosecutorial questions on extra marital enhancement activities or explaining the word “is”. (fingers crossed and hidden in small of back).

[gusopol3]

While standing in line at Independence Hall this summer, we heard a ranger trashing the Constitution Center to an inquiring tourist, "It's amateur hour over there. We have to have a Masters degree in history to work here, they hire college kids. "

I hadn't really realized it's a private entity and not associated with National Park service, and don't forget, it provided the forum for BO's "historic speech on race."

[AbeKrieger]

he gets a key to the ... ahem.. “chairman’s room” where there’s a comfy couch, no cameras, and two diverse underground entrances.

[Maceman]

Here's the e-mail I sent yesterday to the National Constitution Center regarding its naming of Bill Clinton to the position of Chairman:

________________________________________________

To: Joseph M. Torsella -- President and CEO
Ashley Berke -- Senior Public Relations Manager,

Dear Mr. Torsella and Ms. Berke:

Please allow me to express my great disappointment to hear that former President Clinton will become Chairman of the National Constitution Center.

Perhaps your organization is not aware of Mr. Clinton’s actual views on the US Constitution and on the founders’ bedrock commitment to individual liberty.

For the record, here are some salient statements that Mr. Clinton made during his first term as President:

“When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of individual freedom to Americans, it was assumed that the Americans who had that freedom would use it responsibly… that they would work for the common good, as well as for the individual welfare… However, now there’s a lot of irresponsibility. And so a lot of people say there’s too much freedom. When personal freedom’s being abused, you have to move to limit it.” – Bill Clinton, April 19, 1995

`If the personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution inhibit the government’s ability to govern the people, we should look to limit those guarantees.’’ -- President Bill Clinton, August 12, 1993

``The purpose of government is to reign in the rights of the people’’ –- Bill Clinton during an interview on MTV in 1993

``We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans…that we forget about reality.’’ -- President Bill Clinton, quoted in USA Today, March 11, 1993, Page 2A, ``NRA change: `Omnipotent to powerful’’’ by Debbie Howlett

Consider how shocking it is (or ought to be) to hear a United States President espousing such views.

At best, these remarks demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of the nature of the American Constitution; at worst, they betray a shocking and cavalier disregard for our nation’s most basic principles.

Given these outrageous and offensive statements by Mr. Clinton, I think it ought to be pretty obvious that he is most assuredly NOT an appropriate choice to further your organization’s mission of “increasing the public’s undestanding of one the most important documents in American history.”

Guess it’s too late to do anything about the situation now, but just know that the selection of Mr. Clinton is not one of your organization’s shining moments, and will in the long run impede your mission, much to the detriment of the American people.

Sincerely,
&c.

[Cincinatus]

Maybe they can add a new display — the sink from the toilet near the Oval Office where Clinton “saved the Constitution.”