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Clinton Rails on Bush

Appearing on ABC's This Week today, former President Bill Clinton took the offensive against George Bush:

Breaking with tradition under which US presidents mute criticisms of their successors, Clinton said the Bush administration had decided to invade Iraq "virtually alone and before UN inspections were completed, with no real urgency, no evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction." The Iraq war diverted US attention from the war on terrorism "and undermined the support that we might have had..."

Clinton also criticized Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina:

On Hurricane Katrina, Clinton faulted the authorities' failure to evacuate New Orleans ahead of the storm's strike on August 29. People with cars were able to heed the evacuation order, but many of those who were poor, disabled or elderly were left behind. "If we really wanted to do it right, we would have had lots of buses lined up to take them out," Clinton.

Is Clinton stumping for Hillary? Angry that her plan for an independent commission to investigate Katrina failures was rejected? Or, just speaking the truth?

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    Re: Clinton Rails on Bush (none / 0) (#1)
    by dead dancer on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:00 PM EST
    And no president before has had to deal with a succesor quite like W. ps. The "took the offensive" link is a mailto href and not an http reference. [Ed. thanks, I fixed it.]

    Re: Clinton Rails on Bush (none / 0) (#2)
    by aw on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:00 PM EST
    And no president before has had to deal with a succesor quite like W.
    Quite right. Clinton's no dummy. He knows which way the wind is blowing. I'd love to know what Poppy thinks. I'd love to be that fly on the wall when he and Bill talk. Not that I think Poppy would be disloyal, but he can't be as stupid as his son. For the record, as a Clinton voter and fan, he was never liberal enough for me.

    Re: Clinton Rails on Bush (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:00 PM EST
    I too was a two time Clinton voter, but "Fan" would be pushing it. He was just better than the right wing choices of the time. But this, dear Bill, was not a classy move for a former U.S. President. He should follow tradition and have respect for the Office. Besides, he wife will do a great job trying to clean up Bush's mess when she gets to the White House...and yes, I'll vote for her.

    Re: Clinton Rails on Bush (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:01 PM EST
    But this, dear Bill, was not a classy move for a former U.S. President. He should follow tradition and have respect for the Office.
    Repect for the office is one thing, I will agree. However, perhaps Bill can be excused, seeing as W has shown disrespect for the office and the American people. The adults are in charge, indeed!

    Re: Clinton Rails on Bush (none / 0) (#5)
    by aw on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:01 PM EST
    Now that's interesting, Billy Boy, because, though I'm also a "fan" of Hillary's, I don't want to see her run for president. I'd much rather vote for Wes Clark. I'm not sure I trust Hillary as liberal enough either, but, I suppose, if she were the candidate, I would also vote for her (sigh).

    Re: Clinton Rails on Bush (none / 0) (#6)
    by aw on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:01 PM EST
    I should elaborate a bit. If Hillary were to lead with a Democratic congress (and it could hardly be otherwise), I would feel that she would be acceptable as a democratic leader (but still she might be otherwise accountable to the DLC types.) I want somebody who will fight for us and the progressive movement. I think Clark is that person. I think he knows how to remove obstacles and not simply compromise with with bad guys.

    Re: Clinton Rails on Bush (none / 0) (#7)
    by MikeDitto on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:01 PM EST
    Although Clinton occasionally does something endearing, I lost 99% of my respect for him when he urged Kerry to endorse the anti-gay state constitutional amendments in order to get a few wingers to vote for him in 2004. I think Kerry is an idiot, but to his credit he refused to go along with Clinton's advice. Clinton has been and is willing to throw the gay people under the bus whenever it suits him, and I find that absolutely disgusting.

    Re: Clinton Rails on Bush (none / 0) (#8)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:01 PM EST
    Clinton has been and is willing to throw the gay people under the bus whenever it suits him, and I find that absolutely disgusting.
    Same for working folks, too. NAFTA was his baby. And poor folks. His welfare reforming self never touched corporate welfare. I can't look at the guy w/o wretching. I don't know why the right-wingers hated him...he was a damn good friend to them.

    Re: Clinton Rails on Bush (none / 0) (#9)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:01 PM EST
    Thats true Ernesto. He was probably more wrong wing than Nixon. The repubs hated him because he wasn't a bible thumping wing nut neocon. As Michael Moore said "Bill Clinton is the best republican president this country has ever had." Back on topic, I think a popular preznit like Slick Willy talking out against BushCo is a damn good thing. Maybe it will show people that is indeed ok to criticize the sitting president. Also, when certain wrong wingers here start crawling all over Clinton for this-let s hope they ask themselves a simple question... "How many people did Clinton cage in 'free speech zones' during his two terms?"

    Re: Clinton Rails on Bush (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:01 PM EST
    The thread started with Clinton's barely accurate statements about Bush (sin of OMISSION, Bill, not retromission), and ends up about Clinton's pecker AGAIN. Clinton's A #1 biggest domestic screwup was not NAFTA. It was turning power over to Bush, after doing NOTHING to secure our voting rights. That said, and none of the blemishes ignored, but the fact is that Bush invaded Iraq to fulfill the USPNAC plan, and Clinton knows that full well. So while he is LYING about Bush's behavior and its causes, he is not the point. He did his time, and quite a bit of it will remain worthy of applause. Bush can claim no applause from America, except from jingoists, racists (including racist 'Christians'), and the industrialists and professional bully boys for whom he is RAPING AMERICA'S TREASURY.