CLINTON'S TRIUMPH

New York Post Online ^ | January 19, 2004 | RALPH PETERS

[Kaslin]

I NEVER thought I'd give Bill Clinton a standing ovation. But last week in Qatar I did just that. Our former president gave the most perfectly pitched, precisely targeted speech I've ever heard to a hall filled with Muslim intellectuals and officials. And they listened.

[Kaslin]

You think President Bush reached him by example?

[Eala]

Jimmy Carter - a far better ex-president than president.

I dunno. Jimmy Carter's been pretty bad lately.

[Az Joe]

Yeah, they love him abroad. He let them attack the US with impunity.

[Texas_Dawg]

a super-charged Jimmy Carter - a far better ex-president than president.

I had no problems with the article up until this comment. Jimmy Carter has been 1,000x worse and more damaging to the U.S. as ex-President than he was as President (which is not to downplay how bad he was as President).

[dead]

If Peters wrote this, the speech must have been really excellent and insightful.

The only conclusion I can reach is that, like Saddam, Clinton has a stable of body doubles, many more statesman-like and classy than their employer.

Or maybe Bush sent him a few hookers and some coke. I'd imagine those things are a little tough to come by in Qatar.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

"a far better ex-president than president."

Clinton shouldn't have to strive very hard to reach that mark...

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

they love him abroad

Is that better than having a broad love him?

[HIDEK6]

Is this from the Onion?

[mrsmith]

"he scolded the crowd that blaming others for their own failings was useless and destructive - warning that even when others truly are at fault for our misfortunes, wallowing in blame only paralyzes us."

What a hilarious sicko.
I bet there are hundreds of authors, liberal ones even, dying to psychoananlyze this deluded egomaniac.

[MegaSilver]

Asked by an eager-to-Bush-bash delegate if he, Bill Clinton, would have behaved differently after 9/11, our former president said he would have followed an identical course, pursuing our enemies into Afghanistan and beyond. Queried about his position on Iraq, he stated that any disagreements he might have would be most appropriately expressed at home in the U.S., not before a foreign audience.

*FAINT*

[AnAmericanMother]

The conclusion I reach is that there was some sort of benefit in doing this for Clinton.

He wouldn't lift a finger to help anyone else, even his country, otherwise.

"Cui bono?"

[razorback-bert]

By nature a salesman, not a leader, he lacked the guts to act then accept the consequences.

I can't argue with this statement.

[Triple Word Score]

It's hard to explain this.

He's been away from Hillary for awhile and the venom has had some time to wear off?

I always thought him a venal man, and a lazy one. He was the perfect President if you value showmanship over substance. And he did move toward the center as his Presidency wore on and his far-left positions flopped and flopped and flopped. He could be taught, like a puppy who finally stopped peeing on the rug. It's only a pity that his worst offenses against national security did not come to light until he was already out. By the end of his Presidency I think only Monicagate had managed to seriously tarnish him. (But O, what a tarnish that was!)

He has escaped blame for the recession that started during his administration--but I don't really think that is unjust, as I think blaming the President for every percentage point shift the economy makes is simpleminded. I give him credit--by failing to push the programs he advocated hard enough, he managed to avoid damaging the economy as much as he could have.

He's in legacy-rescuing mode and obviously has been taught, finally, that bashing the current administration only makes him look bad. He also knows darn well that 9/11 was as much his fault as it could be any American's--OBL should have been blown to shreds immediately after Cole, if not sooner. Put up with a bully and bullying escalates. Everybody knows this on a personal level, but Clinton was too lazy.

No, Clinton is a shallow man who can project depth, and a failed President, but he is and has been only a pawn for evil. It's his wife who *is* evil.

[mewzilla]

Toon's an opportunist extraordinaire. Next week he could be saying something completely different if he thinks it expedient to do so. Anyone who thinks Toon has seen the light should let me know, 'cause I have a bridge in Brooklyn I wouldn't mind unloading.

[pasquale]

Kaslin,

Is there any way we can find the original speech? This doesn't sound like the Bill Clinton I know.

[twigs]

Asked by an eager-to-Bush-bash delegate if he, Bill Clinton, would have behaved differently after 9/11, our former president said he would have followed an identical course, pursuing our enemies into Afghanistan and beyond. Queried about his position on Iraq, he stated that any disagreements he might have would be most appropriately expressed at home in the U.S., not before a foreign audience.

He had plenty of opportunities to do so during his own watch--his own Twin Towers, OKC, Riyadh, the embassy in Africa... and pursing Lin Laden into Sudan when he was invited to do so. He is seeing what Pres. Bush is doing well and is piggy-backing onto it. "Me to -- me to ...I would have done that!" It's no different than the way he "led" by following polls when he was president. That his writer could actually be impressed with this nonsense is rediculous. But of course, I'm not surprised.

[smith288]

Queried about his position on Iraq, he stated that any disagreements he might have would be most appropriately expressed at home in the U.S., not before a foreign audience.

[aShepard]

......."Bush administration should lose no opportunity to send Clinton to represent us abroad,.....

A triple decker, large chunk, no holds barred:

BARF

[Taliesan]

The problem with this is that Clinton is erratic.

You say he refused to criticize Bush abroad on this occasion? Just wait. Next week or next month he'll trash the American President on foreign soil, just as eloquently as he here defended him.

Too intelligent to be president? I suppose that might comfort those who saw Camelot in him in 1992. Intelligence, in the service of lousy character, is worse than simply stupid.

The truth is more like what those hated Republicans said: Clinton is not stupid. He is a used car salesman. Whatever he said today he will happily contradict tomorrow.

[LADY J]

" By nature a salesman, not a leader, he lacked the guts to act then accept the consequences."

The Clinton legacy