Bill Clinton Thinks Dick Cheney Needs More Target Practice
Former President Bill Clinton laughed off a question Wednesday about former Vice President Dick Cheney and his claims that the country is less safe under the Obama administration.
"I wish him well," Clinton told CNN while greeting voters after a campaign stop with Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe. "It's over," he added, apparently a reference to the Bush administration.
"But I do hope he gets some more target practice before he goes out again," Clinton said with a grin before moving along the ropeline.
It's probably not a good sign for your political career if former rivals aren't taking you seriously.
Former President Bill Clinton got a rock star welcome at the Democratic convention this evening. He used his time very effectively, showing that he's still the best politician living today. When he speaks, you just have to listen. Clinton did not equivocate: he clearly told Hillary's 18 million supporters to support Obama and made the case why Obama is qualified to be president. He is an incredibly effective speaker. Between Hillary's soaring speech last night and Bill's speech tonight, the Obama campaign should be thrilled. Here's the video:
Former President Bill Clinton campaigned in Puerto Rico on Tuesday. In the AP video below Clinton urges Puerto Ricans to vote in big numbers in this weekend's presidential primary. Bill Clinton says this will be key to helping his wife Hillary win the majority of the popular vote cast in all the Democratic contests.
The Washington Postgets an earful from very unhappy Republican senators and congressmen who want to know how we're going to pay for Hurricane Katrina -- not to mention the impending Hurricane Rita which could cause severe damage to oil refineries and send pump prices to $5/gallon, in a worst case scenario.
Polls show that most Americans want to cut spending in Iraq (which is topping out at a mind-boggling $1 billion a week). So far, this administration has incurred huge deficits and engaged in two incredibly mismanaged wars which have consumed human and economic resources at a blistering pace. The war in Afghanistan made sense but, as Bill Clinton recently observed, recent reports indicate that we are in danger of losing that country to the Taliban because our resources are stretched too thin.
So, where is the money going to come from? Borrow more billions from the Chinese? Start a staged pullout from Iraq? Give back some of the pork contained in the recently-passed highway bill? All suggestions are on the table, but there's no consensus. And Bush's poll numbers are sinking fast, leaving Republicans with a gloomy future at the midterms if they don't do something to stop voters' unhappiness at the way the country's resources are being managed.
Juan Cole reports that the U.S. has compromised and allowed
Islamic law into Iraq's constitution. But that should not be a surprise
since we did the same thing in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's constitution
also calls for an Islamic Republic according to Cole. Here is
an excerpt from the Afghanistan constitution provided by Cole:
Chapter I The State
Article 1 [Islamic Republic]
Afghanistan is an Islamic Republic, independent, unitary and indivisible state.
Article 2 [Religions]
(1) The religion of the state of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is the sacred religion of Islam
(2) Followers of other religions are free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of law.
Article 3 [Law and Religion]
In Afghanistan, no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam . . .
Article 131 [Shia Law for Shia Followers]
(1) Courts shall apply Shia school of law in cases dealing with personal matters involving the followers of Shia Sect in accordance with the provisions of law.
(2) In other cases if no clarification by this constitution and other laws exist and both sides of the case are followers of the Shia Sect, courts will resolve the matter according to laws of this Sect. '
Think Progress offers a guide to the Plame affair with
21 connected Bush administration officials.
New York Times reporter Judith Miller will not be receiving a Conscience in Media award.
Conservative blog ProfessorBainbridge.com worries that Bush has blown it for the conservative movement. He also says the Iraq War uses our troops as fly paper:
"The trouble with Bush's justification for the war is that it uses American troops as fly paper. Send US troops over to Iraq, where they'll attract all the terrorists, who otherwise would have come here, and whom we'll then kill. This theory has proven fallacious. The first problem is that the American people are unwilling to let their soldiers be used as fly paper. If Iraq has proven anything, it has confirmed for me the validity of the Powell Doctrine."
BloggersBlog.com
reports that the U.S. Government now offers RSS Feeds.
Frank Rich says Cindy Sheehan is being "swift boated" by the Bush administration but that the public isn't buying the Sheehan "crackpot" attacks. Rich also explains how Sheehan's son Casey Sheehan died -- a story the media often avoids.
Specialist Sheehan was both literally and figuratively an Eagle Scout:
a church group leader and honor student whose desire to serve his
country drove him to enlist before 9/11, in 2000. He died with six
other soldiers on a rescue mission in Sadr City on April 4, 2004,
at the age of 24, the week after four American security workers had
been mutilated in Falluja and two weeks after he arrived in Iraq.
This was almost a year after the president had declared the end of
"major combat operations" from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln.
Cindy Sheehan has left Crawford temporarily to attend to her mother who has suffered a stroke. Sheehan plans to
return to the protest which continues in Crawford without her and is edging closer to Bush's ranch. Meanwhile, President Bush continues to
tie the Iraq War to 9/11 despite the lack of evidence.
Former President Bill Clinton is taking on childhood obesity through a
partnership with the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association.
Political Books: President Bush's
summer reading list includes a book about salt. Some of the
authors on the reading list are not Bush fans. Madeline Albright has inked
a two book deal. Bob Woodward's book about Deep Throat
did not do as well as hoped -- but he hit the New York Times list anyway. And several authors, including Stephen King and Nora Roberts, are auctioning off character names on eBay to raise money for the First Ammendment Project (FAP).
There are several blogs and websites now supporting a Condoleezza Rice
bid for president located here, here, here and here. Rice was recently
seen at the 5th Annual World Refugee Day celebration with actress Angelina Jolie.
Public support for war is dropping says Left Coaster.
In a Financial Timesinterview Bill Clinton says close down Gitmo or clean it up:
Bill Clinton has become the most prominent figure so far to add his voice to
criticisms of the US prison camp at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the former president called for the camp, set up to hold suspected terrorists, to "be closed down or cleaned up".
Mr Clinton joined critics at home and abroad who have singled out the indefinite detention of prisoners without trial and widespread reports of human rights violations at Guantánamo. "It is time that there are no more stories coming out of there about people being abused," he said.
Mark Felt, also known today as Deep Throat, has landed his own book
deal.
Senator Chuck Hagel (R) doesn't think the situation in Iraq is getting
better like the Bush administration claims. From a US News article
"Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. The White House is
completely disconnected from reality," Hagel tells U.S. News. "It's like
they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're
losing in Iraq."
Warren Buffet told Lou Dobbs in a recent interview that the huge trade deficit will have consequences:
Everyone says that what is going on can't go on forever. We had, you know,
$618 billion trade deficit last year, and it's already grown a little bit
this year. The standard line is, it can't go on forever, but no one seems
to give an answer of what is going to be done about it. We exported $1.1
trillion last year, and we imported over $1.7 trillion. We are running up
obligations to the rest of the word, and they are buying our assets at the
rate of almost $2 billion a day. And that will have consequences.
Buffet also said there might be a soft landing or there might not:
Right now our net position versus the rest of the world is they own $3
trillion more of us than we own of them, and that number grows every day,
and at some point economists talk about a soft landing. Maybe there will
be a soft landing, but you know, who knows?
Blog Discussions: There are over 3,800 posts listed on Technorati
discussing the Schiavo autopsy results. The autopsy showed that Schiavo's severe brain damage was irreversible and that she was blind.
There are 2,501 posts discussing a plan by some Republican senators to raise the retirement age to 69. By comparison, there are over 18,900 posts discussing the not guilty verdict from the Michael Jackson Case.
Labour lost quite a few seats in the election, but hung onto power, giving Tony Blair a third term as Prime Minister.
Tony Blair promised today to pursue the people's priorities in Labour's unprecedented third term and issued a veiled apology for the shortcomings of the past eight years, as he returned to Downing Street with a much-reduced majority.
Standing in front of No 10, Mr Blair acknowledged that Iraq had been a "deeply divisive issue", but said he believed the country was now ready to move on.
He also drew a sharp contrast between the mobbed scenes of triumph in his 1997 victory and today's humble acceptance.
Labour now has a 60 seat majority in Parliament, down from their 165 seat majority in 2001. The Iraq War was the main reason for Labour's less than stellar results in the election and several pro-Blair MP's lost their seats to the anti-war Liberal Democrats. Blair is no fool; he knows he won by the skin of his teeth, and has been quite humble in his victory speeches. To win, Blair had to do all sorts of unpalatable things. He was a guest on a women's show, where he had to field angry questions about the war from citizens. He was clearly unhappy about it, but managed to muddle through it with most of his dignity still intact. He's come as close to an apology for the WMD fiasco as any politician has anywhere in the world.
George Bush reportedly offered to campaign for Blair, or at least make a speech for him, but Blair declined. Instead, Bill Clinton appeared via satellite to rouse British voters. And that strategy appears to have paid off.
The March 14th Newsweek issue shares an interesting item it learned from President Bush, Sr. about the sleeping arrangements on the plane Bush, Sr. and former president Bill Clinton shared on their tour of tsunami damage in Southeast Asia. According to the Associated Press via CNN:
The government plane in which the presidents toured the disaster area had one large bedroom and another room with tables and seats, according to an interview with Bush in this week's Newsweek.
Bush, 80, said Clinton offered ahead of time to give the older former president the bedroom so he could lie flat and avoid paining his body. Clinton, 58, decided to play cards in the other room that night.
The next morning, Bush said he peeked in and saw Clinton sound asleep on the plane's floor.
"We could have switched places, each getting half a night on the bed, but he deferred to me. That was a very courteous thing, very thoughtful, and that meant a great deal to me," Bush said.
Bush said he and Clinton are not close, but have been compatible on the tour, partly because Clinton respects his age.
Well, one thing President Clinton has never been accused of is having bad manners.
Clinton and Bush, Sr.: Ex-Presidents to the Rescue
No, it's not a Saturday Night Live skit; it's real life. Stung by the worldwide "stingy" criticism, President Bush stepped up to the plate and finally asked his dad for some help. And I, for one, am all for it. President Bush has asked former Presidents Bush and Clinton to head up fundraising efforts in the private sector to assist victims of the Tsunami disaster. Appearing tonight on Larry King Live in a network first, the two ex-presidents agreed that it was time to put partisan politics aside and show the world that the American people really do give a damn what happens to everyone else around the world. Answering questions from each of their respective homes, both Bush, Sr. and Clinton sounded at ease as they discussed their visits earlier in the day with current President Bush, Jr. to the four embassies of the countries hardest hit by the tragedy. Bush, Sr., now 80, looked and sounded good. He was charming and self-deprecating, even joking that Clinton "beat me soundly in 1992" but that they could still work together. It was shocking really -- we haven't seen that kind of good-humored non-partisan comraderie in years. I think that having the two former presidents visit the embassies in the company of the sitting president sends a message of solidarity to the rest of the world. It's civil, it's caring, and it's the kind of grand gesture that really means something, especially now that it's backed up by an initial $350 million in aid. And it's already working. As Bush, Sr. and Clinton got into the limo after the news conference at the White House this morning, Bush, Sr. got a message on his Blackberry -- a friend offered $1 million. Just like that. And the Blackberry messages kept coming, Clinton said; they'd already raised several million bucks via text messaging. And to all the Luddites out there; if 80 year-old Poppy Bush can use a Blackberry, so can you.
After a week of unprecedented media coverage
of the funeral and memorial service of
President Ronald Reagan, I must admit that one
thing that struck me was the
incredible style and panache of the Reagans,
as compared with the last few administrations.
It's not a partisan observation, merely
a stylistic one. American hasn't had a state
funeral since the one for President Johnson
in 1973. In 2004, we demonstrated that we still
know how to pull off a grand event with style.
Apparently, every U.S. president has a full
funeral plan on file with the government,
and is supposed to update his plan every
year. Ron and Nancy Reagan did update this
plan on a yearly basis, as requested.
President George Bush, Sr. has a plan on
file. Bill Clinton hasn't filed one yet.
Every U.S. president is entitled to a
state funeral, but it's not required.
Not every president wanted one.
Harry S. Truman died less than a month
before Johnson in 1973, for example,
but his widow, Bess, was ill and didn't want
to travel to Washington. Richard Nixon died in
1994, but didn't want his body flown to
D.C., a place that had many bad memories for
the only U.S. President to resign from office.
From the moving procession of the caisson
through the streets of Washington, D.C., to the
riderless black horse with President
Reagan's favorite boots in the stirrups,
to the multi-faith service at
the beautiful National Cathedral,
to the sunset burial at the presidential
library in Simi Valley, California, it was
flawlessly orchestrated. Nancy Reagan
wore black with simple gold jewelry,
made more striking by the contrast with
her usual red tailored suits.
Ronald Reagan was a man with strong opinions,
and not everyone agreed with his views when
he was in office. But what even his detractors
remembered in the various tributes given throughout
the week was his ability to joust with
Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill on everything
from welfare to the arms race, then at 6 o'clock,
shake hands and socialize at the various
diplomatic parties and state dinners
that were a staple of the Reagan years.
This is a lesson that both political parties could
learn from today. The rancor on Capitol Hill is
the worst it's ever been. It seems as if
both Democrats and Republicans are guilty in this
regard. No one can agree
to disagree on big issues, while agreeing that
we're all Americans who love this country.
And that is something that Ronald Reagan
would not have approved of at all.
Somebody over at CBS' 60 Minutes has really
got his groove on. After losing over a million viewers
in the past year or so, the once-mighty news magazine
show has really been revamping its image lately.
First, Dan Rather lands the interview of the year
with Saddam Hussein which airs on 60 Minutes II,
and now the show is bringing back the popular
"Point-Counterpoint" segment of the show.
Former President Bill Clinton and former Senator
Majority Leader and 1996 presidential candidate Bob Dole
have been signed to air 10 segments (which will be
called "Clinton/Dole" one week,
then "Dole/Clinton" the next) at a reputed cool $1 million,
for Mr. Clinton alone. According to the Associated Press, Clinton said
their wives -- freshman U.S. Senators Hillary
Rodham Clinton and
Elizabeth Dole -- were ``both terrified'' about
what they may say, although Dole joked that
they have both gotten "permission" to be on the show.
I personally think this is a great idea. I cringed at all the press reports
and rumors last year that former president Clinton was
going to be either a talk show host, an MTV
correspondent or a movie star, depending on which
bizarre report you read. Regardless of their politics, I think
most Americans would prefer that their ex-presidents
behave in a professional manner. Clinton is the youngest
ex-president that we've ever had -- I mean, it's not like
he's going to retire to play golf or something --
so he had to find something to do. And he really has
behaved himself since President Bush was elected.
I think the new Clinton/Dole segment will fill the gaping
hole left when CNN re-tooled and basically destroyed what used to be
the best show of this type on tv: Crossfire. CNN fired
the likeable Bill Press and replaced him with Paul Begala and
James Carville. Then they made the hosts dress up in
stupid boxing outfits and glare at the cameras for promos.
Bill Press and Tucker Carlson made a great team. They
hotly debated the issues of the day, but somehow still
seemed likeable to viewers. They played off each other's styles
and actually seemed to like and respect each other, even
when they disagreed. Now Crossfire has deteriorated
into an obnoxious shouting match, and the
poor ratings reflect viewers' distaste for watching
Bob Novak and Paul Begala scream at each other. It's
boring, tasteless and amazingly uninformative.
Bob Dole's appearances on late night television, such
as Letterman, show how funny he really is. And, of course,
Bill Clinton isn't exactly lacking in the charisma and
brains departments -- those weren't the traits that got
him into trouble. Dole and Clinton think that viewers
are ready for lively debate, without screaming and name
calling. And I think they're right.
