The regrets of Bill Clinton

[Jefferson23]

The ex-president is now fessing up to some of his worst decisions as president. Is the current president listening?

By David Sirota


In 1992, I was in 10th grade. Hence, I didn't care about much more than the girls I could never get, the Philadelphia 76ers' playoff chances, and the shortcomings of my own unimpressive basketball career (in that order) — and I certainly didn't care about politics. So when my teacher assigned me to represent a Southerner I'd never heard of in a mock presidential debate, I was, um, not psyched.

My attitude changed, though, when I started researching — wait, what was his name again? Oh, right — Bill Clinton. To my surprise, what I found was inspiring. The lip-biting saxophonist seemed like a forthright guy with some heartfelt "feel your pain" outrage at the unfairness of the moment's Gordon Gekko zeitgeist. An early campaign speech I discovered particularly captivated me — the one in which Clinton said, "I expect the jetsetters and featherbedders of corporate America to know that if you sell your companies and your workers and your country down the river, you'll be called on the carpet."

Call me crazy or gullible — at 16, I was probably both — but I bought it. If not for Clinton's campaign (and that irrepressibly optimistic Fleetwood Mac jingle), I might have followed star-crossed hoop dreams already doomed by my god-awful jump shot. Instead, I chose a political path, genuinely believing in that place called hope.

This naive faith, of course, is why I would later come to detest Bill Clinton.

Upon assuming office, he championed the very corporatist policies he railed on — lobbyist-written free-trade pacts and financial deregulation, to name two. To me, a fervent supporter turned spurned groupie, Clinton eventually looked like an opportunist who knew he was selling out — and yet sold out anyway.


remainder in full: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2010/04/23/bill_clinton_s_contrition/index.html

[RandomThoughts]

1. Many get into politics not being able to fight the toughest fights.

And some do it falsifying their own positions.

And some believe when they have 'that meeting' that they have to do what they are told.

And some get some things done.

Not sure where Clinton falls on that spectrum. But I also don't let such things bother me.



Edit: Just read the whole article, from the article, it seems he believed much of the trade stuff that was peddled back then, and his comments as quoted in that article are interesting, and actually remarkable.

I think I agree with some of what the writer of that article feels.

[Jefferson23]

2. Clinton could have avoided questions like this, but inevitably

they would be asked again and again, considering the impact those choices have had on our country.

With that said, I am pleased to see Clinton say what needs to be said, and Obama needs to heed the advice.


I'll always appreciate honesty from a politician, even when it comes late.

[Jefferson23]

3. Clinton:

It began with his congressional testimony last month. Discussing his administration's trade policy, Clinton admitted that it "has not worked" to alleviate poverty, as promised.

"It was a mistake," he said of his agribusiness-backed initiatives forcing impoverished countries to eliminate tariffs. "It was a mistake that I was a party to ... I had to live every day with the consequences of the loss of capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people because of what I did."

Clinton didn't stop there. In a subsequent ABC News interview, he said that when it came to 1990s-era financial deregulation that so harmed today's economy, "I think were wrong, and I think I was wrong."

[Raster]

4. Than do something now, Bill. You have a voice. You will be listened to.

You are Bill Clinton. You could become the greatest crusader for empowerment for the everyday man and woman. You will be remembered for many things, Mr. Clinton. Some good, some bad. Most of us have the capacity and power to make small changes and hope that these changes add up to be large and powerful. You, on the other hand, can facilitate large and powerful change all by yourself. Correct the mistakes. Help us right the wrongs. Speak out, Mr. Clinton. Speak out.

[RandomThoughts]

6. +1

[blm]

8. EXACTLY! He should call for the books to be opened on BCCI matters he helped deepsix in the 90s.

I hope he does...and does it LOUDLY.

[MilesColtrane]

12. +1

He needs to model his post presidential life after James Earl Carter, and he needs to stop pal-ing around with the Bushes.

[marshall]

5. Clinton was a pragmatist

Looking at it optimistically, he did what he knew could be done, and be done easily.

[blm]

7. he sold/sells himself as a fighter though he actually UNDERMINED those Dems risking their careers

and even their lives to diligently uncover the crimes against the constitution committed by Reagan and Bush1 and their global operatives - crimes that ultimately led to the rise of global terrorism and the economic downturn the world has been facing.

Imagine how different the world would be today if Clinton had sided with the good guys working to fully expose BCCI matters to the American people instead of his choice to side with the secrecy and privilege of Poppy Bush, Jackson Stephens, and the Dubai and Saudi royals.

[Raster]

9. To be fair to William Jefferson Clinton, alive and sitting in the Oval Office

beats an open-air motorcade through Dallas.

[blm]

11. fine...but, let's drop the pretense he has ever been a 'fighter' - he's helped Poppy Bush in ways

crucial to the furthering of the Bush agenda that most here haven't been able to admit. And he had to throw over a handful of our most courageous Dem lawmakers to do it. IranContra, Iraqgate, BCCI and CIA drugrunning didn't happen in a vacuum, and neither did Clinton's 'Poppy-protecting' presidency.

[Raster]

13. You'll get no disagreements from me. You don't get to the national political stage without paying

some type of homage to "The Machine." Some have, of course: Wellstone, Kucinich and Grayson, but they are few and woefully far between.

[blm]

14. I've supported Kucinich since 1972 when I was a schoolgirl. I wish he'd use his

platform to seriously go after at least ONE issue of Bush corruption and stay on it like a pitbull uncovering the matter layer by layer for months and years until it made at least a DENT in the historic record.

As much as I love him and his speeches and his heart and his calling attention to wider matters at hand, he's missing the diligence gene that has the patience and determination to stay on something and investigate it through every legal means possible - and that means forcing yourself to read page after page of dry data and drier testimonies of those wellschooled in diverting attention from the 'Machine' and its criminal operations....and doing it for days....for months....and even years.

Kucinich's style would not have accomplished what needed to be done to uncover IranContra. To uncover Iraqgate. To uncover CIA drugrunning. Or the granddaddy of them all, BCCI.

Love DK for who he is. He does a heck of a lot more than most. But...If he'd go beyond the great speeches stating the problems and used his legal powers to the very limits AND had the gene that actually tackled the corruption that exists in the dreariest details of the corrupt machine, he'd be one of the most awesome lawmakers in modern history.

[SmileyRose]

10. Someone call me when he has townhalls all over the country pushing REAL truth

If he feels so bad about his mistakes as president, well he should. If he's really wanting to make it right then he'll talk and talk and talk until people listen that since the late 70's one administration and congress after the next has sold us out.

And what REALLY needs to be done.

[Jefferson23]

15. Hopefully this will be the beginning of that.

[Odin2005]

16. "Regrets" my ass. This protege of Caroll Quigley who exactly what he was doing

Quigley wrote about the power structures of the International Corporate Elites and he supported them whole-heartily, he said that the 2 major parties should be as identical as possible so that the public could "throw the bums out" without affecting the elites agenda. Gee, sounds like the DLC mission statement.

[Jefferson23]

17. He spoke out against those policies, that he was motivated by no

reason other than the policies were so destructive for the country, he can't say much else in defense, can he?

Better to have him say they were wrong, than find an excuse. There is no longer any cover coming from the guy who
led the way, that's not a bad thing.