Posted on 03/15/2003 10:35:51 AM PST by ex-Texan
Former Clinton Aide: Bill Told Outrageous Lies to Win Reelection and Lost the Nuclear Codes !
This is shocking news this morning as revealed by a "Washington Whispers" report by U. S. News reporter Paul Bedard. The news comes from former military aide Lt. Col. Robert Patterson, who carried the nuclear "football" for President Clinton from May 1996 to May 1998. It is in Patterson's new book: Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America's National Security.
The book crosses a line that no other military aide ever crossed before in condemning his former commander in chief. Click Here for a Full Excerpt.
I quote briefly from the book:
Another shortcoming was dishonesty - not just about golf and extramarital affairs but also about our national security. Such dishonesty said much about the president's priorities. On August 26, 1996, just three months into my tenure, I was accompanying the president in Toledo, Ohio, on one of his many reelection campaign events. I listened to his speech from one of the "hold" rooms offstage. Television images and sound were piped into the room by the White House Communications Agency. I heard President Clinton say, "For the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, on this beautiful night, there is not a single nuclear missile pointed at a child in the United States of America."
I looked down at the black satchel at my side. "What?" I mumbled out loud. I turned to the military White House doctor along on the trip and asked him, "Did he just say what I think he said?" The doctor shrugged and nodded. It was patently untrue, and anyone with a remote knowledge of military and foreign affairs knew it was untrue.
* * * That autumn, I heard him deliver the line in speeches again and again and again. President Clinton made this claim more than 130 times during the 1996 reelection campaign alone.3 It left me slack-jawed that one of his major campaign themes could be such an obvious, whopping lie. * * *
Of course Clinton's political lying and vote pandering was no secret to anybody who followed news reports regularly. I did not believe the "no-missiles-threaten-us-today" lies when I heard them at the time. But he had a flair for winning the votes of working married couples. Bill Clinton could take any issue, and tie it to the concerns of working families with children. Take any issue, and add in the magic words, " for the children." Lying was just second nature to him. His lies were so smooth, so carefully crafted, and so "larger-than-life."
Amazing, because tying the "for the children" focus was so terribly crude, and so outrageously bold, that it worked time and time again to win votes.
In my humble opinion, Bill Clinton should have been impeached for losing the nuclear codes, and on that basis alone. It was a spectacular violation of our National Security Laws and a cavalier betrayal of the public trust. Clinton's political team working in the White House basement were able to turn the Constitutional process of impeachment for "high crimes and misdemeanors" on its head. They changed the political landscape of America forever with their issue avoidance argument: "It's just about sex."
It is time for people to demand that Bill Clinton just slink away from public view and hide under a rock somewhere.
(Excerpt) Read more at newspundit.net ...
The Maginot Line. It doesn't work of course...never did.
Very clever--This stuff is fun for awhile, but it gets truly tiresome when you consider what is/was at stake.
Imagine living your life having to come up this "cleverness" 24 hours a day.
Agreed.
But can you think of a hypothetical scenario for Vince Fosters's death that would be best to keep secret for resons of national security?
The simpler explanation is that x42 had lots of corrupt schemes going on. (*This is known*) People were often killed to keep them quiet. ( Pretty certain also). Foster's death had all the earmarks of an organized crime syndicate getting rid of a liabilty.
All indications were that Vince Foster wanted "out" and Clinton and friend "helped" him. I believe that there was corruption on both sides of the aisle that would have been exposed. RNC operatives like Caspar Weinberger, Oliver North and Bush senior come to mind. I agree that that a deal was brokered to protect the guilty. The scope of it all is the cause of my disillusionment.
Are John Ashcroft & GWB clueless or part of the coverup?
I don't like either choice. I wish there was another...
Maybe that was part of "the deal"--but when did it actually happen?
Also, IMHO, given the news of the past few months and the way he acted before and during the Senate "trial," I believe Trent Lott was blackmailed with the promise that every borderline racist statement he ever made, all the the way back to college, would be exposed. He caved.
Nothing else I have heard can explain his "don't bring that stuff around here" attitude towards the House managers and David Schippers.
THE WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM was buzzing. It was fall 1998 and the National Security Council (NSC) and the “intelligence community” were tracking the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, the shadowy mastermind of terrorist attacks on American targets overseas. “They’ve successfully triangulated his location,” yelled a “Sit Room” watch stander. “We’ve got him.”
Beneath the West Wing of the White House, behind a vaulted steel door, the Sit Room staff sprang into action. The watch officer notified National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, “Sir, we’ve located bin Laden. We have a two-hour window to strike.”
Characteristic of the Clinton administration, the weapons of choice would be Tomahawk missiles. No clandestine “snatch” by our Special Operations Forces. No penetrating bombers or high-speed fighter aircraft flown by our Air Force and Navy forces. No risk of losing American lives.
Berger ambled down the stairwell and entered the Sit Room. He picked up the phone at one of the busy controller consoles and called the president. Amazingly, President Clinton was not available. Berger tried again and again. Bin Laden was within striking distance. The window of opportunity was closing fast. The plan of attack was set and the Tomahawk crews were ready. For about an hour Berger couldn’t get the commander in chief on the line. Though the president was always accompanied by military aides and the Secret Service, he was somehow unavailable. Berger stalked the Sit Room, anxious and impatient.
Finally, the president accepted Berger’s call. There was discussion, there were pauses—and no decision. The president wanted to talk with his secretaries of defense and state. He wanted to study the issue further. Berger was forced to wait. The clock was ticking. The president eventually called back. He was still indecisive. He wanted more discussion. Berger alternated between phone calls and watching the clock.
The NSC watch officer was convinced we had the right target. The intelligence sources were conclusive. The president, however, wanted a guaranteed hit or nothing at all. This time, it was nothing at all. We didn’t pull the trigger. We “studied” the issue until it was too late—the window of opportunity closed. Al-Qaeda’s spiritual and organizational leader slipped through the noose.
Wrong to speak in the past tense. "Lying IS just second nature to him. His lies ARE so smooth, so carefully crafted, and so "larger-than-life."
I just wonder why this guy waited so long to put forth the truth about the IMPEACHED ex-42. Shame on him, we could have been spared the disastrous second term.
The silver lining, however, is GWB. He is THE man for such a time as this. IF Dole had won in '96, Bush would NOT be President now.
Had your scenario played out, buddah bore would be POTUS. No thanks. As much as I would have loved to see clintbilly removed, I also know that he'd have become the consummate martyr.
We would have been cursed by the Gore presidency, followed by the hillary! presidency. The country would not have survived.
President Clinton has assured the American people on at least 130 separate occasions that Russian nuclear missiles no longer threaten the United States. On dozens of those occasions--including his October 6, 1996 debate with Senator Bob Dole--he said that no nuclear missiles of any kind threaten America. The following quotes are excerpted from his 1994 speeches, interviews, and radio addresses, as downloaded from the "White House Virtual Library" on the World Wide Web and other electronic databases.
"I was proud to go to Russia and sign an agreement where we agreed that for the first time in decades we would no longer even point our missiles at each other."
--President Clinton, Remarks to the Citizens of Atlanta, May 3, 1994.
". . . there are no nuclear missiles pointed at us from the Soviet Union [sic], but there are other countries trying to develop nuclear programs."
--President Clinton, Remarks at the Small Business Person of the Year Announcement, Old Executive Office Building, May 4, 1994.
"And now, for the first time, our nuclear missiles are no longer targeted at Russia, nor theirs ours [sic]."
--President Clinton, Remarks on CNN Telecast, "A Global Forum with President Clinton," May 4, 1994.
". . . the nuclear arsenal in Russia is no longer pointed at the United States, nor are our missiles pointed at them."
--President Clinton, Remarks to the People of Warwick, Rhode Island, May 9, 1994.
". . . the United States and Russia at last no longer aim their nuclear weapons at each other."
--President Clinton, Speech at the U.S. Naval Academy Graduation Ceremony, May 25, 1994.
". . . for the first time since the dawn of the atomic age, the United States and Russia no longer have nuclear missiles pointed at each other."
--President Clinton, Remarks at Swearing-In Ceremony for the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Rose Garden, May 31, 1994.
"We are reducing nuclear stockpiles, and America and Russia no longer aim their nuclear missiles at each other."
--President Clinton, Address to the National Assembly, Paris, France, June 7, 1994.
"For the first time since World War II . . . . Russian and American missiles no longer target each other's people. Three of the four nuclear members of the former Soviet Union have agreed to remove all nuclear weapons from their soil."
--President Clinton, Address to the 49th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 26, 1994.
"Our missiles no longer target each other's people for destruction; instead they are being dismantled."
--President Clinton, Remarks at arrival ceremony for Russian President Boris Yeltsin, South Lawn, the White House, September 27, 1994.
"We've got Russian missiles that are no longer pointed at the United States for the first time since World War II."
--President Clinton, Radio interview with Eileen Ratner, October 7, 1994.
". . . Russian President Boris Yeltsin came to further the partnership between our two nations so well expressed by the fact that now Russian and U.S. missiles are no longer pointed at each other's people, and we are working to reduce the nuclear threat even more."
--President Clinton, Address to the Nation, The Oval Office, October 10, 1994.
". . . for the first time the missiles of Russia are no longer pointed at the American people. . . ."
--President Clinton, Speech to the Citizens of the Bridgeport Area, Stratford, Connecticut, October 15, 1994.
"The United States and Russian missiles missiles are no longer targeted at each other."
--President Clinton, Saturday Radio Address, October 15, 1994.
"Russian missiles are no longer pointed at the United States."
--President Clinton, Speech to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 17, 1994.
"I know that this country is a safer and more secure place because Russian missiles aren't pointing at us and we're making peace in Haiti, the Middle East, Northern Ireland."
--President Clinton, Interview with WLIB radio, New York, October 18, 1994.
"We also clearly are working to make the world a safer and a more democratic and a freer place. For the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, Russian missiles are no longer pointed at the United States."
--President Clinton, Remarks to the Governors Leadership Conference on the Future of the Economy, New York, October 19, 1994.
"Is the fact that Russian missiles are not pointed at your children for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age an abnormal thing? I think that' s pretty good."
--President Clinton, Remarks at dinner honoring Kathleen Brown, San Francisco, October 22, 1994.
"I wanted you to be safer. And that's why I'm so proud of the fact that these little children are the first generation of Americans since the dawn of nuclear power that do not have Russian missiles pointing at them. I'm proud of that."
--President Clinton, Remarks at the Washington State Coordinated Campaign Rally, Seattle, October 23, 1994.
". . . we've had the success in no Russian missiles are pointed at American children for the first time."
--President Clinton, Interview, Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 24, 1994.
"For the first time since nuclear weapons were developed, no Russian missiles are pointed at the children of Ohio and the United States this year."
--President Clinton, Reception honoring Congressman Thomas Sawyer, Akron, Ohio, October 24, 1994.
"Russian missiles aren't pointed at Americans for the first time since the beginning of the nuclear age."
--President Clinton, Interview, KYW radio, Philadelphia, from Pittsburgh, October 31, 1994.
"For the first time since nuclear weapons came about, there are no Russian missiles pointed at our people."
--President Clinton, Interview, WDIV-TV, Detroit, October 31, 1994.
"The Russian missiles aren't pointing at us for the first time since we've had nuclear weapons."
--President Clinton, Interview, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 31, 1994.
". . . we've increased trade and reduced the nuclear threat--for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, no Russian missiles are pointing at your children or grandchildren."
--President Clinton, speech to Senior Citizens, Portuguese Social Club, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, November 2, 1994.
"Here's what the Contract [With America] says--now, pay attention. The contract says, vote for the Republicans, put us in charge in Washington, and here is what we will do. We'll give everybody a tax cut, but mostly people in upper-income groups--they'll get 70 percent of it. We will increase defense; we will bring back Star Wars; and we will balance the budget. Well, how much does that cost? A trillion dollars. How are we going to pay for it? We'll tell you after the elections. (Laughter.) . . . . We [in the administration] have reduced the nuclear threat. For the first time since nuclear weapons were developed, there are no missiles pointed at the children of Iowa and the United States."
--President Clinton, Remarks to the People of Des Moines, Iowa, November 3, 1994.
"And for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age there are no Russian missiles pointed at the children of Iowa. This is a great country."
--President Clinton, Remarks at Reception for Democratic Candidates, Des Moines, November 3, 1994.
"Here's what they [the Republicans] promise. . . . we're going to increase defense and we're going to bring back Star Wars. And then we're going to balance the budget. (Laughter.) And how much does that cost? . . . . I want you to think about this--we're also moving forward overseas. No Russian missiles are pointed at the children of Minnesota and the United States for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age."
--President Clinton, Duluth campaign rally, Duluth, Minnesota, November 4, 1994.
"I think it makes a difference that for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, there are no Russian nuclear missiles pointed at these children here."
--President Clinton, "Rally for Victory," Oakland, California, November 5, 1994.
"And we're a lot closer toward having a safer, more democratic, more free world. Russian missiles aren't pointing at us. . . ."
--President Clinton, Interview with Larry King, CNN, November 6, 1994.
". . . there are no Russian missiles pointed at these children for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age. . . ."
--President Clinton, Speech at the Delaware Democrat Rally, Wilmington, Delaware, November 7, 1994.
"So I think it matters that for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, there are no Russian missiles pointed at these children here."
--President Clinton, Speech at "Get Out the Vote" rally, Flint, Michigan, November 7, 1994.
". . . for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age there are no Russian missiles pointed at the people of the United States."
--President Clinton, Speech on the 75th anniversary of the Edmund J. Walsh School of Foreign Policy, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., November 10, 1994.
"For the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, no Russian missiles are pointed at Americans."
--President Clinton, Radio Address to the Nation, Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage, Alaska, November 12, 1994.
". . . getting the nuclear agreement between Russia and Ukraine which led to no Russian missiles pointed at the United States for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age."
--President Clinton, Remarks at Press Conference, Jakarta, Indonesia, November 15, 1994.
"For the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, no Russian missiles are pointed at the children of the United States."
--President Clinton, Remarks to U.S.-Pacific Business Community Members and Leaders, November 16, 1994.
". . . if you look at the fact that in Russia for the first time since nuclear weapons came on the face of the earth, there are no Russian missiles pointed at American children, you'd have to say we're on the move."
--President Clinton, Remarks to Military Personnel and Families at Hickam Air Force Base, Honolulu, Hawaii, November 16, 1994.
"This is the first Thanksgiving since the dawn of the nuclear age when parents can tuck their children into bed at night knowing that no Russian missiles are pointed at the children of the United States."
--President Clinton, Radio Address from Camp David, November 26, 1994.
Unholy.
It's been French.
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