Free Republic

In 15 years the Clintons have never been this far removed from the limelight. Im guessing that Denver will be something special to watch. Here's betting the notorious Michelle tape appears or a super delegate fight breaks out. I don't trust them a one bit! Your thoughts.

AUSTIN - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama strayed onto Republican turf in Texas, agreeing Thursday with a core GOP principle: Be conservative when it comes to federal spending. "I am a progressive, but I always tell people that if you're a progressive you should be fiscally even more conservative than the so-called conservatives," he said. "The reason is, there are a lot of needs where we need to spend money, so we can't afford to waste money on stuff that we don't need." Obama was answering a question from a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative during a town hall meeting about the...

It’s over. The Clintons will not return to the White House. I’m relieved. Who knows what’s ahead. I hope we’re done forever with Clintonian soap operatic dysfunction, with subpoenas for billing records, with the “Republican attack machine.” It just wears you out. My friends in The Sisterhood are still mad at me for failing to support the first so smart, so qualified woman. I just keep repeating: This campaign was never about electing the first woman president. It was about returning a couple to power, Round 2; his turn, now hers. It was about going back to the ’90s, when...

Clintons Suffer From Premature Triangulation Penn, a professional pollster who was political adviser to President Bill Clinton, is chief strategist for Hillary Clinton's campaign. He has embraced the triangulation -- coming across as a third force somewhere between the liberal and conservative poles -- that characterized Bill Clinton's politics after 1994, based on advice from Dick Morris. To many Democratic operatives, Penn's triangulation prematurely introduced a general election strategy when in fact the party nomination was still in doubt. Clinton was even more obviously engaged in triangulation in September, when she voted for a resolution declaring the Iranian Revolutionary...

Former President Bill Clinton got positively riled -- as in steely-eyed -- today when pressed by a local TV reporter on the issue of lawsuits filed by Sen. Hillary Clinton's Nevada supporters to challenge the Jan. 19 Democratic "at large'' caucus locations that will serve workers on the Las Vegas strip. Many of those workers are members of the 60,000-strong Culinary Workers Union -- which has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama.

Organizers claim they didn’t intend to come off as secretive "It won’t happen again." Given the uproar over a closed-door meeting in which Clinton delegates gathered at the Parkway Ballroom on Wednesday for a pep talk from former President Bill Clinton, I’ll bet it won’t. Traci Otey Blount, a spokeswoman for the Hillary Clinton campaign, moved swiftly to douse the fire storm caused when media were locked out of a meeting billed as a “People’s Rally.” A gaggle of cameramen and reporters were forced to stand in chilly temperatures for three hours across the street, while a predominantly black crowd...

A day after she appeared to struggle to give her views on the subject, Hillary Rodham Clinton offered support today for Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s effort to award New York driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, as her campaign sought to contain potentially damaging fallout from what her own supporters saw as a tense and listless debate performance. Mrs. Clinton’s statement affirming her support of Mr. Spitzer in his office came less than a day after she offered a muddled and hesitant position on the bill, prompting a round of denunciations by her opponents. It signaled the extent to which her advisers...

A RACIALLY insensitive moment from Bill Clinton's boyhood is coming back to haunt him. It's a postcard the future president sent his grandma Edith Cassidy in 1966 showing a black youth eagerly polishing a gigantic watermelon, titled "Hope, Arkansas - Home of the World's Largest Watermelon."

From this afternoon's FBI news conference in Camden: * Suspects allegedly scoped out Dover Air Force Base and a Coast Guard station in Philadelphia. * Suspects said to have "burst out in laughter" at gruesome video of attack on U.S. Marine * Coordination of law enforcement called "model of the post-911 era" The FBI arrested six people last night, including five in Cherry Hill, for an alleged plot to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, several federal officials said. "If you want to do anything here, there is Fort Dix and I don't want to exaggerate, and I assure that you...

"I worked hard to try to kill him. I authorized a finding for the CIA to kill him. We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing him than anybody has gotten since." —Former President Bill Clinton, Sept. 24, 2006 Now there's a passage for the next edition of "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations." It the stunning, blatant confession made in the midst of a heated exchange on "FOX News Sunday" with Chris Wallace that as president, he sanctioned the assassination of Usama bin Laden.

For Bill Clinton, the best defense is always a good offense. That’s the Clinton the nation saw Sunday, pointing his finger and reprimanding Fox News’ Chris Wallace for the crime of aggressively questioning the former president about his role in fighting terrorism and his failure to go after Osama bin Laden. “They [the Bush administration] had eight months to try [and] they did not try. I got closer to killing him than anybody’s gotten since,” he said. Perhaps someone should have reminded Clinton that “close” only counts in horseshoes. But that aside, a day later Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice...

Chris Wallace (FOX TV) just stated on the Monday morning news segment of Fox TV (aired in the 7:00 a.m. EST hour) that, not only did Bill Clinton retain his anger at Wallace after the interview was over and the cameras were off (despite Wallace trying to part on friendly terms), Clinton absolutely fumed at his own personal staff, right then and there while still on the Fox TV premises, for getting him into the interview with Wallace where he had earlier lost his head.Wallace said Clinton's blow up at his staff for this mistake was very visible and...

Check it out (video stream above per link). Bill Clinton going bonkers over his failure to prevent 9-11 and get Bin Laden--historic fact which is just starting to emerge in the public square of debate in the USA. Which is the topic of other threads today....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton, angrily defending his efforts to capture Osama bin Laden, accused the Bush administration of doing far less to stop the al Qaeda leader before the September 11 attacks. In a heated interview to be aired on Sunday on "Fox News Sunday," the former Democratic president defended the steps he took after al Qaeda's attack on the USS Cole in 2000 and faulted "right-wingers" for their criticism of his efforts to capture Osama bin Laden. "But at least I tried. That's the difference in me and some, including all of the right-wingers who are...

Veteran U.S. civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, walks past an anti-U.S. banner placed among the rubble of a building that was destroyed following Israeli bombardment during the 34-day long Hezbollah-Israel war, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006. Jackson, who said Tuesday that an Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian militants and two others held captive by Hezbollah are alive, also said Syria, a main backer of both Hamas and Hezbollah, wanted to be involved in a prisoner swap that included the three Israelis and Syrian nationals detained by Israel in the Golan Heights....

At this year's International AIDS Conference, former president Bill Clinton fielded criticisms that he had not "done enough" about the HIV virus. In activist-speak, this means that he didn't throw enough of American taxpayers' money at the problem. Of all the criticism that could have been leveled against him, this is the most absurd. During Clinton's last year in office, the U.S. government spent $12.2 billion to fight AIDS. If it were possible to simply spend the disease out of existence, we would have done it long ago. If attendees of the conference wanted to challenge the former president, they'd...

A southern Ontario bishop is urging Catholics to boycott an upcoming fundraiser featuring former U.S. president Bill Clinton, saying his views don't reflect the church's beliefs. Clinton is set to deliver a speech Nov. 8 during a $500-per-seat fundraising lunch for the Catholic Family Counselling Centre in Kitchener. But Rev. Gerard Bergie, the auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Hamilton, says Clinton is an inappropriate guest speaker, the Waterloo Region Record reported. Clinton's support for abortion, his marital infidelity and promotion of condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS go against Catholic Church doctrine, said Bergie. He...

He Saw the Roots of America's Welfare Problem As a conservative analyst who spent much of the 1990s working against most of Bill Clinton's agenda -- including even some aspects of his welfare reform proposals -- it pains me to say this. Bill Clinton was right. He deserves more credit for the passage of welfare reform than most conservatives probably care to admit. No, Clinton didn't play a major role in shaping the policy details of the landmark 1996 act. But he understood something about policymaking that many conservative strategists and policy wonks could stand to re-learn: It isn't enough...

Federal prosecutors in Miami were prepared to indict Raul Castro as the head of a major cocaine smuggling conspiracy in 1993, but the Clinton Administration Justice Department overruled them, current and former Justice Department officials tell ABC News. The officials say Castro, as Cuban Defense Minister, permitted Colombian drug lords to pay for the use of Cuban waters and airstrips as staging grounds for smuggling runs into the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s. "It was a major investigation involving numerous witnesses that was killed at the highest levels in Washington," said a former Justice Department official...

Former President Clinton weighed in on the nation's immigration debate Monday and took a lighthearted jab at Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist while addressing Princeton University seniors. Clinton was the headliner at Class Day, held ahead of Tuesday's commencement at the Ivy League School. The former president said the world is increasingly interconnected, with greater opportunity for more people with worldwide trade, widespread travel and increased diversity. "Think about how much more interesting you are than the Princeton Class of 1906," he said. "A bunch of boring white guys like me." Clinton praised President Bush for trying to find common...

Bill Clinton Narrates Tour at Ark. Library Jun 03 9:46 AM US/Eastern By JILL ZEMAN Associated Press Writer LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Late at night on a recent trip here, Bill Clinton wandered the halls of his presidential library, recording his thoughts on some of the milestones from his time in the White House. "There were lots of times when Republicans thought I was right about an issue, but they were determined not to let anything happen," Clinton says in a new audio tour of the library. "I know that when I got elected president, a lot of those folks just...

AL ASAD, Iraq (May 5, 2006) -- A distinctive beating is heard overhead as two attack helicopters circle ground forces patrolling the western Al Anbar Province of Iraq. The slim, grasshopper-like powerhouses and barrel-chested gunships belong to the pioneers of close air combat support, the Gunrunners of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269, Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Both the AH-1W Super Cobra and the UH-1N Huey, are organic to the squadron. The aircraft, as a team, are capable of distributing massive amounts of firepower to both ground and air opposing forces. The Gunrunners returned to...

RUSH: All right. It's time, ladies and gentlemen, for the moment that I have been waiting the whole program for. I've been practicing patience and restraint. I know that there are other more pressing issues, and I have devoted myself to the discussion and exploration of those issues. But now, time to indulge myself. Dadelut dadelut dadelut dadelut dadelut! (That's the trumpet fanfare. It means an update is upcoming.) It's our new theme. It's the Sittin' on the Ports of Dubai. (Playing of Sitting on the Ports of Dubai spoof.) That's our old buddy Paul Shanklin with a takeoff on...

Let me say, first of all, I have extended sincere condolences to the people of North Korea on behalf of the people of the United States after the death of Kim Il Sung, and I have expressed my deep appreciation to them for his leadership in enabling our two countries to resume our talks. We hope the talks will resume as appropriate. We believe it is in the interest of both countries to continue. Obviously, the people there are preoccupied with their surprise and their grief at this moment. But we have no reason to believe that they will not...

CAMP AL QAIM, Iraq (Nov. 18, 2005) -- The UH-1 Huey helicopter is one of the oldest aircraft in the Marine Corps’ war arsenal. Like its counterpart, the AH-1 Cobra, Hueys have been around since the days of Vietnam, and in Iraq, the helicopters named for utility are living up to their title. At Camp Al Qaim, Iraq, a detachment from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369 provides the rotary wing close-air support for the ground forces in the area. They know firsthand the importance of the less glorified cousin of the Cobra. Hueys fly with crews of four, two...

CLINTON THE CONDOM Bill Clinton may have been a smoothie as a politician but he's now proving to be the ultimate contraceptive in China. The ex-US president and the woman he had a fling with, Monica Lewinsky, have found their surnames being used on a new brand of condoms. The Guangzhou Haokian Bio-science company has registered their names as trademarks for the contraceptives. They will be given the Chinese spellings of their names - Kelitun and Laiwensiji. Befitting his former status as the world's most powerful man a pack of 12 Clintons will be the more expensive of the brands,...

WASHINGTON — The federal commission that probed the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks was told twice about "Able Danger," a military intelligence unit that had identified Mohamed Atta and other hijackers a year before the attacks, a congressman close to the investigation said Wednesday.

Bill Clinton Pardoned Nat'l Security Leaker No wonder 2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has been silent as a churchmouse about Karl Rove while her Democratic colleagues call for his prosecution for leaking classified information about CIA employee Valerie Plame. Turns out - in the only case in U.S. history of a person successfully prosecuted for leaking classified information to the press - Hillary's husband pardoned the guilty party. On January 20, 2001, President Clinton pardoned Samuel Loring Morison, a civilian analyst with the Office of Naval Intelligence. In 1984, Morison had been convicted of providing classified satellite photos of an...

Did anyone else lose their breakfast this morning monitoring The Perky One? Katie interviewed Slick on the pretense of his Africa trip, blah, blah, blah. With that little task out of the way, Kate then ask Impeached Expresident Bill Clinton about Karl Rove and ethics of this administration. Slick went on to whine about how effective Rove is at making democrats look like fools. And yes, it would be nice if he was gone.

There is quite a lot to be thankful for this year. On the home front, everyone is as healthy as they were last year at this time and doing well. Governments in our metropolitan area are seeing shortfalls, as usual. But, we just consider who is running them. Overall, the economy looks good here. Unemployment, even here in the center of the so called rust belt, is way down now. Of course, we're thankful that the Republicans kept the executive and legislative branches in Washington. Not because we like them all and everything they do, understand. But, consider the socialist...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Nov. 19 - With its sleek horizontal form hovering at the edge of the Arkansas River, the new William J. Clinton Presidential Center has been called by promoters a "bridge to the 21st century," a trite allusion to one of the former president's favorite themes. Locals snicker that it looks like an enormous double-wide trailer. Actually, its best elements fall somewhere between those two extremes. Designed by James Polshek and Richard Olcott of the New York-based firm Polshek Partnership, the library has moments of genuine architectural power. Its sleek cantilevered form thrusts out aggressively toward the river,...

Photo : AFP LONDON (AFP) - US pop star Madonna made a rare foray into politics, calling for her home country to withdraw its troops from Iraq during an interview with British radio."I just don't want American troops to be in Iraq, period," she said on BBC Radio."My feelings are 'can we just all get out?'," said the 46-year-old star, who lives mainly in London with British film director husband Guy Ritchie, who said she believes the US-led war will not help in the fight against terrorism.

PHOTO FUNNIES Iconoclast's Best of the Web Collection Dinner Is Served.... Clinton Legacy Portrait....

YOU CAN ONLY COME CLEAN IF YOU ARE CLEAN Roger Clinton talking about cocaine caught on an FBI surveillance tape of Dan Lasater - "I've got to get some of this for my brother because he has a nose like a vacuum cleaner.On the August 18, 1999, Foxnews' Hannity and Colmes program, Gennifer Flowers stated that Clinton had told her that he used so much cocaine that it made his head itch. It is always a good idea to have a coke-head on the nuclear button. Keeps the enemy guessing. The Senate is an OJ jury - we had an...

Reacting to Monica Lewinsky's newly harsh criticism of ex-President Bill Clinton, Kathleen Willey expressed her sympathy on Saturday, saying that Lewinsky's recent comments to British interviewers show she finally understands the truth about the 42nd president. "I feel so sorry for her. I really do," Willey told WABC Radio's Monica Crowley. "She was so young. She just got taken in. She was in over her head and she just got absolutely bamboozled by this guy." But now Lewinsky is acknowledging that she's one of several former Clinton allies who paid dearly for the association, said Willey, who was victimized by...

Radio Notes: Bill Clinton; Lynn Cullen; Clarke Ingram Monday, June 21, 2004 Adrian McCoy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Former president Bill Clinton will be on the air in a one-hour live radio special Thursday. The town hall-style program coincides with the publication of his book "My Life," which goes on sale tomorrow. "Bill Clinton Connects with America" will air on Infinity Broadcasting news/talk stations around the country, and locally on KDKA-AM (1020) Thursday at 6 p.m. Clinton will talk about the book and about his life before and during his time in the White House and answer listeners' questions. Harry Smith, co-anchor...

Excerpted... "Given that context, the book itself can only be described as disappointing, even bizarre. It isn't just that it's dull, like so many political memoirs, or that the sections on Gennifer Flowers and Monica Lewinsky are weirdly abrupt and uninformative; it's utterly lacking in perspective. Apparently, Clinton dawdled over the book for several years, concentrating on his childhood, and wound up racing to finish the final, presidential chapters this spring." "At the same time, he finds space not only for trivia but for emotional reactions to the trivia." "In fact, other than the personal issues of interest to him...

LONGVIEW, Texas - A Texas woman has struck oil — or maybe it struck her. Leila LeTourneau returned from work late Monday to find crude oil covering her home’s floors and spilling from the toilets, bathtub and sinks. Experts have told her the oil kind of “burped up.” ...Darned msnbc excerpts!

"Sub Rosa Vepres" Posted by Doc Farmer Saturday, June 28, 2003 We’re all familiar with the Latin phrase ''Sub Rosa'' (under the rose) which stands for something secret or hidden. Well, now I believe we should add a new phrase to the lexicon: ''Sub Rosa Vepres,'' or under the rose bush. Thanks to our friendly neighbourhood Iraqi Nuclear Weapons Developers, that is. Yes, you’ve read by now that one of these scientists under Saddam Hussein’s employ (see also: death threat) was ordered to hide critical atomic weapons development equipment in his back yard, under (of all things) a rose bush....

When You Run Out of Ideas... by Doc Farmer I've been racking my brain for the past hour, trying to come up with ideas for my next column. I know I'll have to create something funny, pithy, humorous, and witty because that's what my editor wants. And from what I've been able to gather, that seems to be what the readers want as well. Man, the pressure! It's hard to come up with new stuff all the time, so those of you who think that writing is an easy gig can think again. Sometimes it's really simple--something interesting (or annoying)...

"Hellary Lies Again? Ho-Hum..." Posted by Doc Farmer Saturday, June 14, 2003 For the past week or so, we've all been inundated by the MAJOR NEWS EVENT that is Hellary Clinton's new book ''Living History.'' Yes, the tentacles of this monster news story have stretched to the farthest reaches of the globe. From New York City to Pango-Pango to Doha to a primitive mud-hut in Newark, New Jersey, you just can't get away from her. No matter how hard you try. And you can't get away from the many opinions about her new book. Including here. So sit back, relax,...

Former president hits talkers for not criticizing reality shows on Fox Posted: May 2, 2003 5:00 p.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Former President Bill Clinton will take a shot at top-rated talk-show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly this weekend on his "60 Minutes" debate segment with former Sen. Bob Dole, reports World magazine. According to a transcript of the previously taped segment obtained by the magazine, Clinton hammers the hosts for not criticizing the Fox TV network for airing what Dole calls "degrading" reality programs. Addressing Dole, Clinton says, "Fox, the network full of conservative Republicans, has reality shows....

School naming event today Ceremony: Compton school to be dedicated to ex-President Clinton. By Ian Hanigan, Staff writer COMPTON City officials, school administrators and local residents are expected to gather today for a formal dedication of William Jefferson Clinton Elementary School the Compton district's first new school in more than 35 years. After six months of construction, the $16 million two-story facility at 6500 E. Compton Blvd. opened in January, pulling about Clinton 800 students from nearby Kelly, Foster and Roosevelt elementary schools. Parents who wanted their children to attend Clinton Elementary submitted applications last year for a lottery-style drawing,...

Thu Mar 6,11:34 AM ET Former President Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, former Senate majority leader and the Republican candidate for the presidency who ran against Clinton in 1996, are interviewed on CBS' 'The Early Show' Thursday, March 6, 2003, in New York. Clinton and Dole have agreed to debate weekly on the '60 Minutes' television program beginning Sunday, March 9 on the CBS network. (AP Photo/CBS,Jeffrey R. Staab)

[This is the transcript of an interview between former President Bill Clinton and James Fallows, of The Atlantic Monthly, on October 21, 2002. It occurred at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Clinton was in Fayetteville to deliver a speech on foreign policy honoring his mentor, the late Senator J. William Fulbright. Also present at the interview were two of Clinton's associates from Arkansas, including Rodney Slater, former Secretary of Transportation. Clinton and his group arrived 45 minutes late. Clinton strolled into the interview room and took out a cigar, which he never lit. The transcript that follows, which was prepared...

MADRID, Spain, Dec 24, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Strong winds have pushed a menacing slick from the sunken tanker Prestige close to Atlantic waters for which France has responsibility, the Spanish government said Wednesday. That slick - described as a concentration of dozens of patches up to five meters (16 feet) in length - was about 60 nautical miles north of Cape Ortegal at the northwest tip of Spain's Galicia region, Deputy Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said. Rajoy also disclosed that the French research submarine Nautile detected four new leaks in the Prestige wreck last week, bringing the...

<p>NEW YORK (AP) -- A judge has ruled that Bill Clinton does not have to provide sworn testimony in a libel lawsuit that a librarian filed over her alleged portrayal in "Primary Colors," a fictionalized account of the 1992 presidential campaign.</p>

<p>LITTLE ROCK -- A holiday exhibit by the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation opens Monday in downtown Little Rock, offering visitors a glimpse behind the scenes of Christmas in the White House.</p> <p>The exhibit features holiday gifts, photographs and memorabilia and runs through Jan. 18, portraying holidays across religious boundaries from Islam, Judaism and Christianity. An 11-foot, 1,000-pound glass tree created by renowned artist Dale Chihuly is the exhibit's centerpiece.</p>