September 27, 2006
An Inconvienent Truth (Thanks, Algore)
By now, you probably know that Secretary of State Rice has publicly said that some of former President Clinton's statements to Mike Wallace were "flatly false." Were I George W. Bush, I would not have let anyone in my cabinet talk about the interview to the media. After all, the best thing you can do for a man like Clinton is to give him the attention he so desires. It gives strength and credibility to his falsehoods.
I want to focus on one thing Mr. Clinton said in the interview. He stated that after the attack on the USS Cole he had plans drawn up for action against Afghanistan. Here's the exact quote:
Now, if you want to criticize me for one thing, you can criticize me for this: After the Cole, I had battle plans drawn to go into Afghanistan, overthrow the Taliban, and launch a full-scale attack search for bin Laden.
But we needed basing rights in Uzbekistan, which we got after 9/11.
The CIA and the FBI refused to certify that bin Laden was responsible while I was there. They refused to certify. So that meant I would’ve had to send a few hundred Special Forces in helicopters and refuel at night.
First, the President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. He does not need anything from the CIA or the FBI to send troops anywhere. Did he need the CIA or FBI to get basing rights in Uzbekistan? Maybe. However, it would have been possible to overrun the Taliban using naval and marine forces afloat and other bases such as Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. It would have been more difficult, but it was definitely doable. Once an area of control was established in Afghanistan, then you move operations ashore. We did this once before on a bunch of islands somewhere. I think they called it World War Two, but maybe I'm wrong.
Let me address those of you who harp on conservatives and/or Republicans for bringing up Bill Clinton six years after he left the White House. There are two reasons why this occurs. One, because he continually inserts himself into everything that merits a headline. As was said about Theordore Roosevelt, he wants to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral. There was a time when former Presidents remained silent on everything but their terms in office; Bill Clinton feels comfortable opining on everything, including the job performance of the current President. It's bad form.
The second reason is because Bill Clinton is a liar and his lies, unless countered, will become the official history of our times. He wants to be seen as the man who wanted to save the US from terrorism but, gosh, nobody would let him. The mainstream media loves this because it allows them to elevate their hero to the position of generational martyr. In thirty years, he will occupy a hallowed seat next to JFK, the Democratic saint who was also without blemish and who, had he lived, would have kept us out of Vietnam.
Oh, if only...
Posted by Matthew at September 27, 2006 11:40 AMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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True. It sucks when someone you disagree with selfishly expresses their opinion. Will you be asking W to shut his clam if Hillary is the next president? It would be bad form, ya know.
And wow, you're giving war advice to a president that bombed the taliban before the world even knew who they were and supporting a president that took a record amount of vacation prior to 9/11 and then attacked a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.
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at September 27, 2006 04:30 PM
"bombed the taliban..." You mean bombed Al-Quida? Or do you mean bombed some tents, because that's what happened. And I addressed the vacation thing about four years ago: you need to join the 21st century, because GW could LIVE in Crawford and everything would work the same way it does now. We have these things called satellites and cell phones and aircraft. And Americans invented or perfected all of them.
By the way, dude, I read your blog. Here's a quote:
"I’ve done a lot of thinking about this, and essentially it comes to this: I wanted to leave because I was having a dysfunctional relationship with my country. We’d been seeing each other for a long time, and it was certainly a serious and steady relationship, but things were headed in the wrong direction. If I stayed in the relationship, things were bound to get worse, and possibly violent."
Possibly violent? Nice. I'm sure my female readers will be impressed with that, even as an analogy. I'll bet you're great fun after a few beers. Danish women beware.
Stand by, folks: a socialist is about to spin his story.
Posted by: Matt_D at September 27, 2006 05:35 PM
I heard someone call in on a conservative radio show today and it rang true to me. I am paraphrasing but essentially the caller talked about how we are once again engaged in the Repubs vs Dems BLAME game. And we are forgetting that the blame lies with the terrorists that commit heinous acts. I couldn't agree more.
This to me was inevitable as the elections are just around the corner. But the more we get caught up in Clinton vs Bush and who was to blame, the further we get away from keeping in mind that it was fanatical murderers who took the lives of all those innocent people on September 11. I have made my feelings clear on Bush & the War in Iraq multiple times on this blog. But I too feel it is time to move on.
In simple words, Right wingers need to stop with the Clinton is to blame for all that ails our country today - He hasn't been in office for 1/2 a decade. By the same token and for the same reason Clinton needs to shut up about decisions made by the current administration. He is a common citizen now just like everyone else and he can make his displeasure known at the ballot box.
I constantly hear about "aiding and abetting our enemy". IMO all this finger pointing and bickering does is to strengthen our enemy. I for one am tired of it.
at September 27, 2006 11:21 PM
Hash good to see you posting. nmexpat Matt is correct. In your world you may have to turn a crank to start your car or still travel via horseback. Here in the USA, the President can run the country from an airplane. An airplane is vehicle with a fuselage and wings and is propeled by engines, either jet or propeller driven. Now when the plane gains enough speed it creates lift. This will probably shock you, but the force will actually allow man to fly! Up in the air! Above the Earth. This is probably enough excitment for one day. Tomorrow we will cover the telegraph and electricity.
Posted by: Sly at September 27, 2006 11:43 PM
I think Olberman did a pretty good job in summary about the events leading to 9-11 last night. C&L has it posted on their site. I know that some of you feel if it doesn't appear on Faux News then it isn't true but it is an interesting clip nonetheless.http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/09/27/keith-olbermann-takes-a-look-back-at-bushs-first-months-in-office-leading-up-to-911/
Posted by: Dave G. at September 28, 2006 06:28 AM
Hey Dave G. you mentioined prosperity in one of your other posts. Checked the DOW lately. Looks like your spouts of the economy failing and the sky is falling were ill advised. I understand you recently bought a German luxury car and took a juant to Mexico to a 5 star resort. Looks like things have been good for you under G.W.'s watch! :)
Posted by: Sly at September 28, 2006 08:13 AM
Sly,
I am sure the $300 tax refund was the reason for this "roaring economy". If you want to point to the DOW as a marker of prosperity today, then be prepared to defend that position when it was languishing below 10,000 all of last year.
And BTW .. the federal debt today stands at $8.5 trillion.
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
At this rate your grandkids will be travelling via horseback as they wont be able to afford a pinto, far less that German Luxury car.
Posted by: Hash at September 28, 2006 09:47 AM
I never mentioned a tax refund. The economy is doing fine. I mention it to Dave as I know him and he has always claimed his financial situation has not changed.
Posted by: Sly at September 28, 2006 12:19 PM
Matt: I didn't say I was the one that might get violent. This administration is rapidly eroding civil liberties, and is currently trying to redefine the Geneva convention and make it legal to hold people indefinatly without a trial. That's the kind of stuff the founding fathers were trying to avoid.
Sly: I spent 8 years working from home and currently work in Europe and meet with teams in the US every day. So thanks for the tech update but working remotely is much less efficient than being in the center of things. Beside, I seriously doubt that W was tearing through intelligence reports during that time in Crawford.
Hash: Free speech may be helping the enemy, but that's nothing compared to the boost we gave them in by invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.
Posted by: nmexpat at September 28, 2006 01:48 PM
nmexpat: To be in the center of things does the President need to be in Washington, New York, Iraq, Africa, Asia, Iran.........the UN? The fact is the President of the US has the best technology available. If you were able to be productive working remotely from home and now in Europe, with a limited budget (compared to what is spent for the President) I am confident that any President can work effectively from anywhere.
Posted by: Sly at September 28, 2006 02:58 PM
The $300 tax refund I received wouldn't cover the increase in gas over the past few years. The only people the Bush economy has helped are those sitting next to the pool awaiting their dividend check and I would gladly trade my refund for a balenced budget and any effort to pay down our national debt. If borrowing trillions from Communist China to float our economy makes you feel better then good for you. Every child born today has been saddled with a $32,000 share of national debt. Damn borrow and spend neo-cons. As far as my sweet Audi and trip to Mexico goes I worked for and earned it inspite of too stupid to be President. That should warm the hearts of you in the pull yourself up by your bootstraps crowd.
Posted by: Dave G. at September 28, 2006 07:16 PM
You did earn it. It a good economy. By the way let me remind you that you swore you would lose your job when GW was elected. Looks like you were wrong again beatnik.
Posted by: Sly at September 28, 2006 10:33 PM