Posted on 10/28/2007 2:19:16 AM PDT by Kaslin
Given the circumstances, no other three-word combination would have sufficed: “How Dare You?”
That was part of the response from former President Bill Clinton, when confronted by hecklers at a Hillary 2008 fundraising event in Minneapolis.
The story went like this: after making a late start with what turned out to be his approximately fifty-minute speech, Clinton was rudely interrupted by several hecklers in the audience who began shouting at him, and over him, and claiming that the terrorist attacks of 2001 were a “fraud.“
Even if you haven’t seen the video, it’s not difficult to imagine how this could have played-out. Our former President could have easily ignored the hecklers, or could have easily remained silent for a second or two, and allowed them to be cleared away by security officials - - and then could have continued right along with his remarks.
But instead, President Clinton chose to confront the hecklers head-on.
In the face of the “fraud” claim, Clinton confronted them directly. “A fraud?” No it wasn’t a fraud!” he shot back, as the crowd began to cheer him on. “I’ll be glad to talk to you” Clinton stated, trying to bring closure to the interruption, “if you shut up and let me talk.”
As he then attempted to continue with his address, another heckler shouted at President Clinton, claiming that the terrorist attacks had been an “inside job.”
“An inside job?” Clinton retorted, with indignation in his voice. “How dare you. How dare you! It was NOT an inside job!”
After these brief few moments, the hecklers were indeed escorted from the facility, and President Clinton continued with his speech. But by choosing to confront the malcontents, rather than ignoring them, Clinton accomplished something noteworthy.
In a matter of a few seconds, former President Clinton used a spontaneous moment with rude people in his midst to communicate to a fearful, skeptical American people. What was the message he conveyed? That the worst suspicions about our country and government are not to be tolerated, and certainly not to be believed.
To the skeptic who suggested that the terrorist attacks of 2001 were somehow phony, Clinton made it clear that there was nothing phony at all about “Nine-Eleven.”
To the selfish individual who thought nothing of interrupting an American President for his own personal agenda, Clinton said “shut up and let me talk.”
And to the person so cynical about America as to assert that our nation’s government perpetrated the terrorist attacks on its own people, Clinton’s message was quite clear indeed: don’t you dare say such things about our country. Implicitly, he was conveying to America that as a nation, we are better than the insinuations were suggesting, and we are worthy of greater respect.
Some observers are too cynical about Bill Clinton the man, to be able to appreciate the power of his apparently spontaneous words. But imagine how different things might be, if others of our political leaders were more willing to utilize the “how dare you” rhetoric.
Things would be quite different, for example, if our current President were willing to be so confrontational with those who willingly violate our nation’s border laws.
And imagine how different things might be if Hillary Rodham Clinton were willing to confront her fellow Democrats in Congress, when they insinuate that our military service men and women are torturers, terrorists, and failures.
Bill Clinton’s presidency was far from flawless, and no doubt he still suffers with his own credibility gap today. But he also understands the power of words, and how to use them, far better than most politicians.
Let’s hope that our next President knows how and when to communicate more effectively - - and is willing to say “how dare you” from time to time.
DU is missing another idiot.
I was waiting to read that someone beside myself thought it was a plant.
You are right on the money. Everything is all about him.
...a bit much? This has always been THE PLAN. Billy Blythe would be President for 8 years. Next Miss Hitlery would be President while he was Sec. Gen. of the UN. This goal they formulated many years ago. Billy’s sex addiction slowed them down, but they’re back on track.
The scary thing is that this “inside job” viewpoint is WIDESPREAD among the Soros fringe of the Democrat party. I once infiltrated a DailyKos event in NYC, and was stunned to hear how many of them believed that 9/11 was a conspiracy by Bush for oil or Israel or both.
Don’t confuse him with facts.
Rather wish to say there are many unanswered questions.
There also was apparently possibly deep intelligence penetration on the part of the terrorists.
Seems there should be more bipartisan support for the answers otherwise conspiracy theories will abound.
Give it a rest. Conspiracy theories will always abound because conspiracies are more comforting than the reality.
Makes sense.
Uh oh, now I am suspicious.
Anything this SOB says is a lie.
Preparations for this began to be made that summer.
Government did a good job stopping those in Washington state as they crossed in.
I hope your right in terms of absolutely no complicity on the part of the puppet master . . . though I’m skeptical on that score.
But the notion that any of us should trust Dilldo Klintoon about anything is . . .
preposterous on it’s face, it seems to me.
Except . . . perhaps that he knows his wife uncommonly well . . . and when he tells who was it . . . Kathleen W . . . that his wife has [had more oral sex with women] than he has . . . I’m inclined to believe that.
Shows apparent possible foreknowledge on the part of someone possibly the terrorists.
A lot hasn't been explained.
Not saying that Cheney or Bush directed the whole thing as some of the truthers suggest or that just because they trained in Florida Jeb Bush is responsible.
Trying to say that there are some legit questions that these people bring up amidst the nonsense.
Bill and Hillary sure did their share of talking about our national security - with Johnny Chung, Charlie Trie, John Huang.
Google: Clinton National Security Scandal and Coverup
Government seems to have been afraid of this possiblity.
Also having a lot of information but not knowing specifics or how to stop it would explain a lot of things that took place.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.