Posted on 04/03/2006 10:44:33 PM PDT by goldstategop
The way that so many people, especially politicians, went nuts over the ports deal reminded me once again what a difference party designation makes. One only has to compare how harshly Sam Alito was treated during his confirmation hearings with the way that the ACLU’s chief counsel, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, sailed through hers. Getting back to the matter of the ports, I’m still not sure if it was a good idea or a bad one to allow the United Arab Emirates to manage those installations on the east coast. But I’m awfully curious why some of those same people who wanted Bush’s head on a pike weren’t the least bit upset when, during Clinton’s reign, Communist China was granted the authority to manage ports on the west coast. So far as I’m concerned, anybody who believes we have more to fear from Dubai than from Beijing needs a brain transplant.
It was only after Saddam Hussein bought off several nations with his oil-for-food scam, and ignored a kazillion U.N. resolutions, that Bush invaded Iraq. Immediately, the cry went up that he didn’t have a coalition. Afterwards, the complaint was that he lacked an exit strategy. Odd that nobody said “boo” when Clinton unilaterally invaded Somalia; odder still that when he sent troops to Kosovo, promising they’d be home within a year, nobody took him to task when, a few years later, when he left the Oval Office, our forces were still there. That’s some exit strategy.
His liberal critics accuse Bush of being in bed with Halliburton, but Halliburton, you should be aware, did just fine in the 90s when Clinton was minding the store.
You also hear about Bush pandering to Enron. Well, there’s no denying that the sleazebags at Enron donated over $400,000 to the party, and kicked in another $100,000 to help pay for the president’s inauguration. And there’s no getting around the fact that Enron’s chairman stayed at the White House on 11 different occasions. Talk about having access! What’s more, the Export-Inport Bank subsidized Enron to the tune of $600 million in a single transaction.
Clearly, where Enron is concerned, the President has a lot to answer for. But the President we’re talking about happens to be Clinton. Bush, in case you didn’t notice, is the president whose administration has Enron CEO Ken Lay up on charges.
Clinton is the same fellow who had Yasir Arafat as a house guest seemingly every other week, while Bush is the guy who declared the terrorist persona non grata.
His enemies like to charge Bush with being in league with the Saudis, but at least the sheiks provide us with oil. Nary a peep was heard, however, when Clinton handed over military technology to the Red Chinese in exchange for nothing more than campaign contributions.
There’s one last thing about Clinton. We keep hearing that he was the first black President. Aside from the fact that he and that other serial adulterer, Jesse Jackson, allegedly prayed together when they were both caught tom-catting around, what made Clinton so darn black? Heck, taking his lead from Congress, he even revamped welfare and tried to get recipients weaned off the federal teat. If Clinton had been a Republican, the Black Caucus would have stormed the White House with torches and pitchforks.
Aside from Jackson, the only black person Clinton seemed to hang around with was Vernon Jordan. I spent eight years trying to figure out what he did for a living. I finally narrowed it down to two things. He had to let Clinton beat him at golf, and when things got too hot with Monica Lewinsky, it was Jordan’s responsibility to get her out of town and try to find her a job in New York City.
But I never was able to get a handle on what made Clinton blacker than, say, George W. Bush. It’s Bush, after all, who has appointed Colin Powell and Condi Rice to the highest positions in his cabinet. You would think that would count for something with the left, especially with one of them being a woman.
So what made Clinton so black? That he spoke with a southern accent, played a musical instrument, came from a dysfunctional family, and was blatantly promiscuous?
If that sounds racist, don’t blame me. I never regarded Clinton as a credit to any race -- black, white or human.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
This is just great. Let us count the nails in the coffin the left has built for themselves?
It was Bush Sr that ordered 25,000 U.S. troops to Somalia on December 5, 1992.
If Klink would have been a GOP Prez. he'd still be in prison. Hillary would be in Marion lockup.
PS. I detest historical revisionism - whether by error or design.
If only Clinton had been behind bars for crimes...
Oh, and the Somalia operation wasn't "unilateral" either. On August 15, 1992 the UN authorized humanitarian peacekeeping operations in Somalia. On December 4, 1992 Bush Sr. offered U.S. troops. On December 5, 1992 the UN immediately accepted. On December 9, 1992 the first U.S. Marines land in Somalia.
These are basic, readily available facts that need not be guessed about....
Bump
Thankyou! This is a definite keeper.
Correction: The UN authorized the Somalia mission on April 24, 1992 and it began August 15, 1992. The U.S. sent forces as stated above.
PS. And I just emailed all this to Burt Prelutsky, fwiw.
Sometimes the cold hard facts make sense.
However, if you are in denial, then they're just cold and hard.
He forgot to mention that Clinton was such a great commander-in-chief he almost defeated a two bit warlord thug in a 3rd world backwater town. I think this puts it best.
Somalia: Good Intentions, Deadly Results
This gripping, Emmy-award winning companion documentary to Black Hawk Down vividly tells the story of one of America's biggest modern military blunders and the events that led up to it.
Now if we can only get Commander Hillary to continue the war on terror, I am sure we can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the next decade, and have 3 or 4 more 9/11 celebrations added.
It was Clinton who turned had been a humanitarian mission in Somalia under Bush Sr. into a military mission, and then promptly lost in the "Blackhawk Down" incident, and retreated, thereby showing bin Laden that the USA was a wimp that could be pushed around even more.
You are right, Clinton screwed Somalia up big time, but nonetheless the mission was not "unilateral" and it was not an "invasion" and the troops were not sent by Clinton, but by Bush Sr.
bump
Burt Prelutsky takes a hard cold look at Bill Clinton. As President, he gave the Red Chinese the run of our ports, it was Clinton who gave us no exit strategy from the Balkans, the Clinton Administration dealt as much with Halliburton as the hated Bush, Clinton showered Enron's Chairman Kenneth Lay with the red carpet treatment, who had Yasser Arafat making regular calls on the White House and who was our first black President. That's some record. A credit to the human race? One can say that not only he isn't one but that he's escaped accountability for failures that would have been hung upon him if he had only been a Republican.
Interesting, but you can't blame a guy for doing something when there was no outcry from the opponents. He just kept getting away with things and their was not a peep from the Republicans. Hopefully this will be a lesson from us to not allow things like these happen again. We need to speak up more when we are the minority which hopefully will never happen again, but as history tells us we probably will be someday.
Of all missions we never should have gotten into, that's the leader.
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