I'm not alone:A
post by The Confidence Man over at Daily Kos: (emp add)
Where the hell has this red-faced, angry, combative Bill Clinton been for the last eight years?
Did Bill get angry and demand that wrongs be righted after the Florida miscount? After Bush v. Gore? After Bush, Cheney, and Rice blew off his concerns about terrorism for 8 months? After Bush's unpreparedness for, inadequate and incomplete response to, and unconscionable exploitation of 9/11? After the unfair media and GOP attacks on Al Gore, Howard Dean, and John Kerry? After Katrina? Plame? The US Attorneys? The "lost" emails? The countless other mistakes and malfeasances of the Bush administration?
Sorry, Bill -- by remaining silent in the face of so many grave catastrophes, you forfeited your right to attack Obama. You forfeited your right to be taken seriously as someone concerned about defending the principles of the Democratic Party -- or of the Constitution, for that matter. You, more than anyone on the entire planet (with perhaps the exception of Colin Powell, who's beholden to neither the Democratic Party nor Hillary Clinton) acquiesced in the American disaster that is the Bush administration by your silence. By your lack of outrage. You could have spoken when it mattered. But you didn't.
And now, by speaking out against Obama, you implicitly argue that he is a greater threat to the Republic and the Democratic Party than anything or anyone over the last 8 years.
So shut the fuck up, Bill.
That last line is rude, and unnecessary.
I'll just add that in 2004 it was clear that two Supreme Court positions were likely to be chosen by the next president. Where was Bill when Kerry was attacked by the Swift Boaters? (Yes, Kerry should have fought back sooner and stronger, but Bill Clinton - "master politician" - didn't weigh in.)
posted by Quiddity at 1/24/2008 03:23:00 PM
Not that I necessarily disagree with the spirit of the post--but wasn't Clinton recovering from bypass surgery near the end of the '04 campaign? I seem to recall that it limited his active support for Kerry that year...
You are by no means alone. I agree that Bill sat back and became GHW Bush's lapdog and gave W. a big pass on all the horrible shit the country has been put through.
My only quibble is that maybe he did meekly say something or another about some of these things (though I by no means believe his BS about being against the Iraq war). But he's constantly incandescent now that his third term is threatened. All the horrible stuff that transpired since his term-- meh.
Also the injection of race into this campaign by Bill, Hillary and their surrogates has been disgusting.
I'm ashamed to be a democrat. If Hillary wins I hope Bloomberg runs, picks a Dem for his running mate, and puts the Clintons where they belong. I hate to say that for many reasons but if Bloomberg stands a chance of winning, he'll get my vote.
Obama's new radio ad has it right: They'll say anything to get elected.
