Clinton: Love him or hate him?

[UdoKier]

For me it's a love/hate thing, slightly more on the love side.


And of course, I don't mean a literal hate, like one would feel towards filth like Dumbya or Hitler. More like what you'd feel for J.R. Ewing...)

[WMliberal]

1. love him, even if he was a tad conservative for me

he was liberal where it counted: soft power and environmentalism.

[Selwynn]

2. I love him and hate him.

[liberal N proud]

3. Anyone that the repukes hat that much has got to be great!

I wonder if they will ever get past their hard-ons for the Clintons. I sure glad I don't carry that kind of hate around all the time.

When we get rid of this asshole, bush, I want to forget him. I won't be jabbing at him once we get him behind bars.

[UdoKier]

6. That's one of my FAVORITE things about him!

Hillary too. It shows their insanity, since he enacted so much of THEIR agenda.

[UdoKier]

4. For me, it's love/hate rather than like...

Because I LOVE to hear him talk, and I liked a lot of his initiatives, and I admire his smarts and competence.

I feel the hate because of some of his more right-wing "accomplishments" and when he says things in praise of Bush or the war. Same for Hillary.

But then he wins me over again. I'm a total sucker.

[jackster]

5. jackster

love him/hate him

just when I start to think I can truly forgive him for lying and NAFTA ... then I remember the lying and NAFTA and I can't

he's human - not perfect but he was successful

how many other humans could have held up under the massive assault he experienced

if the shoe were on the other foot - shrubya would be running home to beautifulmindbar with his tail between his legs....

maybe he'll become more liberal now that the rethugs are destroying his legacy!

[UdoKier]

7. It's disgusting. Amazing that nobody in the media mentions...

The lack of info on the treasonous Iran/Contra crimes in the Bush 1 and Raygun libraries.

[jackster]

12. jackster

oh god that fricking raygun - what a slimeball, the s@#t just slid right off him

the day we elected an ACTOR to govern this land was the day I knew that it was the beginning of the end.....

clinton was a reprieve, but his centrism will come back to haunt him

it's all about the cult of the personality - shallowness has replaced intelligence as the resource Americans value most

or maybe it's greed

AND THAT WE DO HAVE TO THANK RAYGUN FOR !

[pretzel4gore]

20. yep...with a staged 'assasination' plot and staged KAL 007 shootdown

run by the reagan fan club media.....the shooting attempt on reagan (by bush family friends' son John Hinckley) happened year one of the repukelian takeover (sellout) of the US economy, and gained enormous sympathy for the repukes that let them smash and grab until '83 when the phony KAL 007 shootdown by the 'evil' USSR (which collapsed of obvious defects within a decade) cleared the way for the massive increase in US military budgets and secret police crap (the US military budget is now 1/2 of the entire planet's!)....so intractable is the nazipoo agenda that for 8 long years clinton ruled in defiance of them, but not one moment was free of worry by the 'most powerful man on earth' for his Hillary/Chelsea, his friends and co-workers etc...
there's a helluva lot we don't know

[wuushew]

8. A good Republican President who has done nothing helpful since 2000

As an Ex-POTUS who no longer is under pressure to lie or conform to a third way, I am very angry that he has not joined President Carter in denoucing the Iraq debacle. Is everything hunky dorry since America always means well? Tell that to 100,000 dead Iraqi's. I expect a Rhodes scolar to be able to appreciate the deadly reality and shades of grey that are more represented by the European viewpoint, not the bullshit Neo-con/neo-liberal one.

[Slit Skirt]

9. he kicked Peter Jennings ass...

..ya gotta love 'em after that.

[Sporadicus]

10. I Chose 'Other'

since love & hate are too strong in both directions for my feelings toward the Big Dog. I'll call it deep admiration and disappointment - admiration for his social positions and disappointment in his center-right tendencies toward corporations. Overall, however, my admiration far outweighs any disappointment in his performance - and I would vote for him again if it was possible.

[brainshrub]

11. It was fun to have a President who could speak in cohesive sentences.

Clinton was the last Democratically elected president we will ever have. It was fun while it lasted.

[jackster]

14. good point....

i hope it's not true

Come along follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength
Come with me and I won't steer you wrong
Put your faith and your trust as I guide us through the fog
To the light at the end of the tunnel
We gonna fight, we gonna charge, we gonna stomp, we gonna march
Through the swamp, we gonna mosh through the marsh
Take us right through the doors (c'mon)

All the people up top on the side and the middle
Come together lets all bomb and swamp just a little
Just let it gradually build from the front to the back
All you can see is a sea of people some white and some black
Don't matter what color, all that matters we gathered together
To celebrate for the same cause don't matter the weather
If it rains let it rain, yea the wetter the better
They ain't gonna stop us they can't, we stronger now more than ever
They tell us no we say yea, they tell us stop we say go
Rebel with a rebel yell, raise hell we gonna let em know
Stomp, push, shove, mush, F**k Bush, until they bring our troops home (c'mon)
:scared:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. A charming mediocrity who led the party to the right.

I don't "hate" him, but I don't like him much. He meant well, but was undermined by his own need to be liked, and his belief that he could charm the right. And, I believe that he should have either told the Republicans and the press to piss-off, that his private life was none of their business. Or, resigned instead of resorting to the lies and obfuscations he attempted in the Lewinsky farce.

He would have made a better mayor than a president.

[LVdem]

15. Love him...

He's proven he's human, just like the rest of us, but he has also proven himself to be an extrordinary leader, thinker, speaker and motivator.

He gets impeached for a BJ in a White House closet and Bush gets reelected for his insane war and religious pomposity.

I don't get it.

To finish my thought: I'd vote for clinton again and again.

[malmapus]

16. As military I hated him but after becoming a civilian I came to like him

While in service, I have to admit I didn't think much of him, and still don't as a Commander in Chief, sure he beats Bush hands down. But I have my reasons that I didn't care for him much...

After I got out of the military and saw how great civilian life was, the money I was making and the great economy I guess I saw him through a new light.

So its really a toss up, but in todays world..I would glady give anything short of my soul to go back to the late 90s under his administration.

[wuushew]

18. Any specific reasons?

Those military paise raises are set by the Congress not the POTUS. Certainly Clinton's mixed record of humanitarian intervention is more commendable than Shrub's unilaterial imperialism.

Is peace not a noble concept in the military?

[malmapus]

19. Wasn't about pay...

Was about how fast we pulled out after loosing 19 buddies in Somalia. Still feels like a job unfinished, which was a big morale blow in the end.

Bugets were cut, even in Special Forces we couldn't commit to training. I remember a training operation that was originally a battalion strengh being cut back to like one ODA team and couple of support guys. I could go on about training, slots to goto certain schools which were espicially needed became few and far in between.

[Pepperbelly]

21. It had shit to do with that ...

it's a lifer thing, the hatred of anyone to the left of Rush Limbaugh. They were like that when I was in and now that my son is in, the song remains the same.

[malmapus]

25. yeah, but those views were from my personal observations

Granted in service we were pretty conditioned to see him in a negative light. I still remember when the election was called for him we got smoked by our drill.

But from my own personal views, and the fact that being in a unit that is considered "elite", and we still had no money for training properly, he did not make a good CIC. Even though there are multiple reasons for cutbacks to budgets the fact that he was at the helm, I hold him ultimately responsible. Just like I hold ** responsible for all he's done.

Of course like I said, after being out and seeing how well the country was doing from a civi point of view I began to see him in a new light.

So I'm rather torn heh

[Pepperbelly]

28. not me ... the military always ... ALWAYS wants more.

It doesn't have anything to do with what is needed, it is how the money is divvied up when it hits your particular service. The big shots ALWAYS have their own little beds feathered, often at the expense of the troops. It has to shit to do with the facts other than protecting their own little fiefdoms.

From my own experience, the lifer's concerns are rarely accurate and they often pointed one way when the FACTS actually lead another. If you look at the appropriations under Clinton, you would be hard pressed to substantiate the shortcomings you saw as a result of poplitical leadership.

As far as Somalia goes, I also think you would be hard-pressed to find a single combat casualty to any military personnel that Clinton sent into battle. Remember, Bush the Elder sent the troops to Somalia and he is the one who transformed the mission from humanitarian to whatever the hell it became.

[Placebo]

17. Absolutely love him...

wish he could run again. :D

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tempest]

24. You obviously haven't a clue about Clinton

Clinton's acheivements are readily available on the Internet.

I recommend you look them up before you continue to make yourself look stupid.

If you last that long here.

[sangh0]

23. Let's all talk about Clinton, and forget about bush*

and how he's trying to restrict abortion, invade the world, cutting taxes, destroying the environment, etc.

[Groggy]

26. I love him but..

He is being too nice to Bush..and telling everyone what a great President he is even though he has different ideas. THAT I don't like....I REALLY don't like. I was really disappointed to hear him say things like that. Makes me think he is out of touch with how most of us feel.

[bklyncowgirl]

27. First I hated him. Now I admire him.

I couldn't stand Bill Clinton when he first ran for President. I was an ABC voter during the 92 primaries and considered voting for Perot. I voted for Bill instead and was pleased when he won. Then came NAFTA and GATT and I hated him all over again until I saw what the right wing was doing to destroy this man and I realized that no matter how conservative he seemed to me, he was not their man. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I slowly began to admire him despite his obvious personal failings. Now after four years of the incompetent and wrong headed leadership of George W. Bush, I admire the man despite his faults which are great in proportion to his own greatness.

[mogster]

29. Difficult question

It's like being asked:

Do you want to live in the normal, reason-based, peaceful '90's when politics was something you could ignore?

Or do you prefer the galloping mad post-2001, festering on the priesthood-begotten insanity of the fascists, when staying updated in politics is MANDATORY and LIFE-ESSENTIAL?

I'm a European. I preferred Clinton when he played the saxophone.
He was of no interest to me because he was no threat to me.

Bush is a soul eating menace that posesses every thought, every spare second, every minute of my days 24/7 - 365 days a year.

I love Clinton as I would love any US president not prone to forming fascist-like governments based on nazi ideology.

If Ronald Reagan hauled his horned ass back from Hell, Cellblock A, and took posession again in the WH, I would cheer like a fucking maniac and celebrate restoration of reason and common sense.
In a manner of speaking.

I love every US president prior to W, par default.

[Laelth]

34. LOL. Excellent analysis.

Sadly, I must agree.

-Laelth

[FlaGranny]

30. I had to vote that

I love him. Back before the 2000 election, I remember the sense of optimism I had, the hope for the future, I knew everything would improve and get better and better. Al Gore was going to take over and get us an energy policy that would develop alternate energy sources and help save the planet. Yes, I felt so happy and so optimistic. I love Clinton for that and I love Al Gore for that. I didn't agree with them completely on everything - no, I certainly did not, but I despair of ever getting back that feeling I had before election 2000.

Now all I see in the future is war, poverty, energy crisis, and government by corporation (edit - and corruption).

[shesemsmom]

31. Oh to have the Clinton Years back............n/t

[Padraig18]

32. Absolutely adore him.

I don't even know where to begin, to explain why.

:D

[Laelth]

33. He won.

He did the best he could. I would have preferred that he keep his trouser-snake zipped, but you can't always get what you want. All-in-all, he did well, and he balanced the budget.

-Laelth

[robbedvoter]

35. He was actually inaugurated you mean. Ah, the pre-Diebold era!

[Laelth]

38. Good point.

Gore and Kerry probably won, they just didn't get inaugurated.

I stand corrected..

-Laelth

[katinmn]

36. love him despite all his f***** faults

forgot a *

[BiggJawn]

37. He's welcome in my humble home anytime.

He wasn't perfect, but he was a shit-load better than either Bush. I had a great life under his administration. What I'm living now seems like an inflated version of "Ray-Gun-Nomics".

Or maybe we should have had President Dole?

[topaz29]

39. I cried when he left office and I well up when I see him on TV sometimes

He was truly MY President.

[newyawker99]

40. Hi topaz29!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[merh]

41. Dislike his ego and the fact that he got a blow job in the

oval office from a 23 yr old intern "because he could". He knew the right wing was out to destroy him and instead of restraint and using the head attached to his neck, he allowed his head below his waist to be pleasured. That is the stupidest thing in the world to have done and he did it.

His pleasure has been the greatest hindrance to our party. It gave the moral majority such a grip on society, it is frightening.

I think he did some wonderful things as president, but I don't like him. He was and is too much of a centralist.

[Hippo_Tron]

42. Big Dog did everything that he could

The fact is that he had people out to destroy him before he got into office. I think that he is a good, although flawed, person in many ways. It's unfortunate that his talent was wasted on fighting off his enemies as opposed to doing good things for the country.

[Sugarbleus]

43. Love/Hate

I was disappointed with his social policies (and NAFTA) but I like him as a person and would LOVE to see him nominated for Sec.Gen. UN :)

[Longgrain]

44. I'd say Love him...

Though his was a bit moderate for my tastes.

I'm still proud to say the first vote I ever cast in my life was in 1992, President, William Jefferson Clinton.

I still consider him a hero however, and the best president of my lifetime (born in '72).

Then again I also "Love" Jimmy Carter.

Can't wait to see what Clinton does as a "former President"...