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Old 02-14-2004, 08:53 AM   #1
Undertoad
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Clinton brings it

I was not a big Clinton fan back in the day, but I am more of one over time.

My favorite Clinton moment was when he went to China and delivered a brilliant speech to the Chinese students. It was all about what they had to do to succeed. He aced it so well, it was one of those speeches that might change the world.

It turns out he delivered another knockout speech last month at an Arab summit in Qatar. It's summed up very well here. I read the whole thing, and yeah it did rock.

Clinton is like the bad boyfriend of America. He makes you love him even though you know he's sometimes so wrong. He's brilliant but he will cheat on you and waste all that potential. Then he'll come back and, with his smooth talk and implied sincerity, make you love him again.

Being non-partisan is fun for me because I get to see the good and bad in all of these pols.
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Old 02-14-2004, 10:12 AM   #2
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OK now, we can't stop here. If Clinton is our ne'er-do-well boyfriend, where do all the other politicians fit in?

At this point I ought to offer my own witty example ("George W. Bush is like America's . . . . . " "John Edwards is like America's . . . . . ") but, unfortunately, I'm fresh out.
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Old 02-14-2004, 11:47 AM   #3
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I have to say, that's the most dead-on Clinton simile I've seen. I'm not awake yet, so I'm afraid all I have to contribute is a Clinton smiley:

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Old 02-14-2004, 12:30 PM   #4
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Good job, Bill!

Y'know, I think he'd make a damn good Secy. of State.

(The Secretary of State is not necessarily in line for the Presidency, so there wouldn't be a legal problem with that.)


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Old 02-14-2004, 12:32 PM   #5
elSicomoro
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Word around the campfire is that Clinton will be very involved in helping the Dem candidate get elected this time around.

If true, Mr. Bush may very well be fucked...
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Old 02-14-2004, 12:59 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally posted by Pie

(The Secretary of State is not necessarily in line for the Presidency, so there wouldn't be a legal problem with that.)
I'm not sure it matters anyway. The 22nd Amendment doesn't say you can't SERVE more than twice.... just that you can't be ELECTED more than twice. In fact, I'm not even clear on whether someone who had served two elected terms would afterwards be barred from being elected vice-president.
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Old 02-14-2004, 11:32 PM   #7
tw
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Re: Clinton brings it

Quote:
Originally posted by Undertoad
It turns out he delivered another knockout speech last month at an Arab summit in Qatar. It's summed up very well here. I read the whole thing, and yeah it did rock.
One must give Clinton credit. A wide ranging speech that addresses the perspectives of many. As a master politican, if anyone needed to volunteer for holding the middle ground; to become a moderator among various arch adversaries; to find a common link among all regional people and parties, friend and foe - then this speech was the keynote. In the Middle East, virtually everyone else who could take this 'moderators' position has either been loudly silent or compromised by recent events. Suggests that Clinton has identified a void and offered to fill it.

Rather curious what the future objective or true intent of that speech could be. Was it just a speech or was he offering to do more? A speech like this in a region where almost no one else would or could even take such a 'friend to all' position does offer some interesting new possiblities.
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Old 02-14-2004, 11:44 PM   #8
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I hope I haven't posted this before, but my favorite Clinton moment was seeing him speak in LaCrosse WI, and shaking his hand afterward. He was so dripping with charisma, we were all taken in.

A friend who was with, said something like, "I feel like such a groupie!" We all felt that way. It was really sick.
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Old 02-15-2004, 09:28 PM   #9
xoxoxoBruce
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He'll be his wife's Secretary of state.
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Old 02-15-2004, 09:46 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally posted by bmgb
It was really sick.
^^^

I just don't get Clintonmania. Those 8 years were like living in a home where your stepdad is diddling your sister and you can't do a damn thing about it.

And the fact that Hillary, being The Smartest Woman In The World (tm), coupled with her coronation by the ruling party as Health Care Goddess (tm), couldn't get her initiative out of the starting gate, doesn't bode well for a successful run at the WH.
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Old 02-15-2004, 09:48 PM   #11
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In a sensible world she wouldn't be a senator from a state with which she has no actual connection ...
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Old 02-15-2004, 09:57 PM   #12
slang
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Quote:
Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
He'll be his wife's Secretary of state.
That's actually an interesting scenario. Would WJC be happy being a subordinate to ............Hill?
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Old 02-15-2004, 09:59 PM   #13
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He has been so far ...
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Old 02-15-2004, 10:03 PM   #14
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Clinton reminds me of a perrenial politician we had here in Louisiana, The Silver Fox, Edwin Edwards. The man was as crooked as the day was long, but he was so charismatic you couldn't help but like him.

There was one important difference though. He got his share, but the state did better under him than under many before him and all of the ones after.

And he kept it to himself. The IRS took so long getting him that his case is older than most of the people in my classes on campus.

Now, all of that being said, Clinton needs to go away and take his wife with him. He is so indicative of the lowest common denominator and how easy it is to convince them of what they want that it sickens me.

To borrow a line from Spider Robinson:

"I'll never understand people. Even being one doesn't seem to help."
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Old 02-15-2004, 10:09 PM   #15
Undertoad
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It would almost be worth it to vote in Hill to have Bill as Sec'y of State.

Like him or hate him, he is the master politician. If you loved him, it was because you saw him work his magic in your favor; if you hated him, it was because you saw him work his magic against you.

When I saw that Chinese speech, I'm tellin' ya - he was using that magic to advance the American cause. He was Reaganesque. If he did that from that position, it would be perfect. And he wouldn't have to set policy!
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