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OMG!!! Now I HAVE seen it all. McAuliffe speaks of the DNC= "Supreme Court Countdown." In Home State of Justice O'Connor, DNC Chairman McAuliffe Predicts High Court Retirements This Year

""In my lifetime, in your lifetime, the Supreme Court has been a tremendous vehicle of progress for this nation," McAuliffe said. "Republicans are going to make this a fight about process. But we know it's really a fight about values."

The audacity for the democrats to claim their stance on the courts is about values!!! Everyone save this quote, as they claim to actually have values!

San Francisco Paper Rips Clinton's Expensive and Unnecessary Travels

News/Current Events Opinion (Published) Keywords: CLINTON, OSLO, CORRUPTION
Source: San Francisco Examiner
Published: 11-12-99 Author: Alex A. Vardamis
Posted on 11/13/1999 07:07:52 PST by sigi
Mr. Clinton, is this trip necessary?

Examiner contributor Alex A. Vardamis was military attachŽ at the American Embassy in Oslo for three years, then in Athens for two years.

By Alex A. Vardamis

CARMEL - Now that President Clinton has returned from Norway, one might ask why he went. What did he accomplish? Was it worth the risk? The Norwegian government had invited Israeli and Palestinian leaders to a memorial service in Oslo to honor Yitzhak Rabin, the assassinated Israeli Prime Minister.

Belatedly, Clinton decided to attend. He thereby transformed a commemoration into a summit meeting. He planned to use the occasion to reinvigorate the Middle East Peace Process. And to burnish his legacy.

Did the president achieve his goals?

The press circus that surrounded Clinton's visit undermined any real possibility of progress on the issues that divide the Israelis and the Palestinians. The presence of the most powerful, and controversial, man in the world placed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat in subordinate roles. They remained intransigent.

Once again, it became obvious that the tough decisions that might lead to peace in the Middle East could not be negotiated in the bright glare of the media.

Of course, other world issues arise at summit meetings. Clinton hoped to use the occasion to persuade visiting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to halt the war in Chechnya. Putin, however, had other plans. He delivered a note from President Boris Yeltsin threatening an end to arms control if the president's plan to build an antimissile defense system proceeds. Checkmate. No progress on the Russian front either.

Perhaps Clinton's visit, then, was Norway's gain?

It's true that the local press was overwhelmed by Clinton's "charisma" and "charm." One paper called the Norwegian prime minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, dull and colorless by comparison.

"Bill's women in Oslo" read the headline in the newspaper, Dagbladet.

From Princess Martha Louise and Queen Sonja to a now-celebrated Monica look-alike, Oslo women melted under the intensity of the American president's gaze. Only one resisted his allure. According to press reports, Clinton asked to meet a woman who, as a young secretary with the Norwegian Peace Institute, had been assigned to escort him during his 1969 visit.

Now, 30 years later, she declined his invitation to a reunion, saying that there were so many American antiwar activists passing through Oslo in those days, how could she be expected to remember one named Bill Clinton?

Negative aspects of the trip were generally ignored by American journalists and downplayed by the grateful, always polite, hosts.

Norway is a country in which the king skis on public trails and the prime minister rides the bus to work. Citizens pride themselves on an unpretentious lifestyle. The imperial nature of the American delegation shocked them.

The president arrived with an entourage of more than 700 courtiers and sundry retainers who appropriated an entire hotel in downtown Oslo. The Radisson SAS Plaza, with its 674 rooms, became Fortress America.

Clinton was ensconced in the "Royal Suite," consisting of three bedrooms, each with fireplace, painted silk curtains and antiques, and three baths with gold fixtures and Jacuzzis. Security, in this, the most orderly capital in Europe, became a formidable challenge. Manhole covers were sealed. Trash containers were removed. Hundreds of 2-ton concrete barriers blocked potential car bombs.

Highway ramps into Oslo were barricaded. Portions of the main street, Karl Johans Gate, were declared off limits. Commercial transactions ground to a halt.

Downtown stores, restaurants and kiosks lost millions. Civil unrest in Norway is rare. Yet, a variety of groups, including Save the Children and Amnesty International, loudly condemned America's use of the death penalty and "inhumane criminal punishment of juveniles."

One demonstration turned ugly. Several hundred protesters listened to speeches by members of various international socialist organizations, the Palestinian Action Committee and supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal, now on death row in Pennsylvania.

Many wore Clinton masks and black capes, and carried scythes to portray the president of the United States as the grim reaper. They burned Clinton in effigy. In defiance of police orders, they attempted to storm his hotel. Driven back, they dispersed toward the Royal Palace, the site of that evening's festivities.

Police with attack dogs attempted to head off the mob. Car windows were smashed. Protesters threw bricks.

Riot police, using truncheons and tear gas, advanced, some on horseback, others behind shields. After nearly two hours of battle, activists, many with blood streaming down their faces, retreated into the working class district of East Oslo. The police arrested some 82 demonstrators, including Aslak Sira Myhre, the leader of the Radical Left Party.

This is what happened during Clinton's visit to friendly Norway.

The president is about to embark on a lengthy trip to southern Europe. The first stop was scheduled to be a three-day stay in Greece where American foreign policy is highly unpopular.

According to polls, 97 percent of Greeks vehemently opposed the United States bombing campaign against Serbia.

In the past week, bombs exploded around Athens and shots were fired at the American cultural center. Those responsible boasted that they were sending "Welcome Clinton" messages.

Peace, human rights, labor and women's groups organized sustained demonstrations. On Monday, a mock trial in central Syntagma Square found Clinton guilty of crimes against humanity.

U.S. insistence that Athens prohibit a march against the American Embassy, scheduled for the day of Clinton's arrival, seemed, to the Greeks, an infringement on their freedom of assembly.

Unprecedented and intrusive American-controlled security measures violated, they felt, their national sovereignty. Animosity began to spin out of control.

Hoping that cooler heads will prevail, the White House has postponed and curtailed the Greek phase of the presidential visit.

The president's "goodwill tour," however, continues to Turkey, Italy and Bulgaria, all nations that contain groups bristling with anti-American hostility.

Are photo ops worth the risk?

You're certainly right about the 'rat spin.
70 of 201 amazon.com reviews give "Dereliction of Duty"
1 of 5 stars.
Pretty amazing for a #9 best-seller.
That would seem to indicate that many people "bought"
a book they hate.