Bill Clinton on David Letterman 2004/08/03

[Darth Wong]

Is anyone else watching Bill Clinton on David Letterman? He was always very articulate and intelligent during his tenure, despite the unbelievable volumes of mud flung at him. But watching him again, unscripted, in casual conversation with Dave Letterman on network TV discussing matters of great import to the American people and the world at large, one cannot help but be struck by the incredible contrast between him and George W. Bush.

Bush is easily flustered by questions that don't follow a script. He does not really give direct, detailed answers to questions or exhibit a real grasp of foreign policy issues, but rather, he speaks in buzzwords and slogans. In contrast, Clinton reminds us of how much we should expect a sitting President to know about the world. Whether it was Iraq, Africa, or domestic issues, Clinton never looked hesitant, never had trouble coming up with a good answer, never resorted to empty slogans and buzzwords, and indeed, made it very clear that he is a dedicated student of government policy (a far better student than the current sitting President), even now that he is in retirement.

Yes, I miss Bill Clinton. The right wingers can huff anf puff all they like, but when you see Bush struggling to answer questions and then see Clinton not only effortlessly fielding questions but making a point of discussing extra background detail and information for the benefit of the audience, you get an idea of how far America fell when it elected Monkey-Boy to the office of President in 2000.

[Stravo]

But Mike....we restored honor and integrity to the White House.

[The Cleric]

As much as I dislike Clinton, I won't deny him his accolades. He is very charismatic, articulate, and personable. He is also highly intelligent and full of information. Bush is non of these things. However, We can't put Clinton back up for re-election, and I'm sure as hell not going to elect Kerry. So to Bush it goes.

[Xenophobe3691]

But Mike....we restored honor and integrity to the White House.

I don't know where you get honor and integrity from, but if *my* lies killed people, I know my mom would skin me alive, give me thousands of papercuts with salt blades, and leave me up on the Cypress Trees behind my house as a lesson to my siblings...

[Durandal]

Yes, I miss Clinton as well. He was due to leave office in my senior year of high school when I wrote editorials for the school paper. I wrote one with the (deliberately inflaming) title of "A Farewell to the Best President in My Lifetime" or something like that. I included a picture that I believe was on the cover of Newsweek. It was a picture of Clinton sitting on a chair, with his hands resting on his knees about 45-degrees apart, and he had a big smile on his face.

I ended the editorial with a line that went something like "The picture to the right represents the view that the Republican Congress had during Clinton's presidency."

Of course, very few people actually got the subtle blow-job reference, and it blew right by the censors at my school, a Catholic school. I was kind of disappointed that it didn't kick up the controversy I'd hoped.

[TrailerParkJawa]

I'm gonna have to try and stay up late for this. Not sure if I can make it but I'd be interested to see him unscripted. He gave a speech once at my university. That was a long time ago, but I still remember that he was very articulate and could motivate the crowd.

[Darth Wong]

Discussion of "lesser of two evils" and "Kerry vs Bush" split. This thread is about Bill Clinton (look at the title).

[Gandalf]

That episode of Letterman screens here tonight at some ungodly hour. I shall make sure to watch it.

I always liked Clinton, when I saw him in interviews and the such he always seemed like a cool guy.

[BlkbrryTheGreat]

I watched the interview, and I agree with what your saying. Bush is an idiot who lacks more then basic speaking skills. Even though I don't agree with all of Clinton's ideas and solutions, I won't deny that he's both articulate and intelligent.

[banquetbear]

...Clinton absolutely rocked when he visited Auckland for APEC a few years ago. (I was sheduled to be the personal butler for Joseph Estrada, the Phillipines President, right up until he arrived in the country, when he decided that it would be best that he stayed at another hotel grrrrr-had a boring APEC after that, the only hotel in Auckland that had no work! ) Everywhere that Clinton went he was cheered, and when he left, there wasn't a bad word to be said about Clinton, or the United States...

...at Apec, as per tradition, the host country provides some sort of "clothing", or traditional garb, for the leaders to wear. Well, in '99, we gave the APEC leaders a black polo shirt, and a black kinda fleece jacket...during one of the dinners held around town on the first night of the conference, President Clinton ran into the designers who had put together the polo shirt. Now the designers expressed their dissapointment to President Clinton that noone in the world would see their polo shirt-so the next day, Clinton, despite the wind and the rain, became the only head of state to not wear his jacket for most of the day...

(just found the story here)
http://www.listener.co.nz/default,752.sm

...so yeah, Clinton rocks!!!

[Crown]

You don't know how right you are Mike. When Andrew Denton interviewed him on Enough Rope he used the following discription;

ANDREW DENTON: 'You remind me of a character in the book 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe' who is described as having a brain the size of a planet. You have an enormous intellect, an appetite, for world affairs ... '

The current chimp in the Whitehouse would be lucky if he could pass a geography test.

And that is even with this Intro from Andrew Denton about Clinton's state of mind for the interview too!;

ANDREW DENTON: 'Everybody I have spoken to since the interview seems to want to know the same thing: What was the famous Clinton charisma like? To be frank, a little disappointing - though perhaps that was not his fault. He arrived at the conversation, having just come from several others where, I later found out, the main topic had been Monica. Add to that an army of minders who were doing everything in their power to keep the interview as short as possible - and that meant there was only time for a handshake before we started. Here he is, unvarnished, from London - William Jefferson Clinton.'

No wonder the GOP hates him ... intellect envy.

[TrailerParkJawa]

Now the designers expressed their dissapointment to President Clinton that noone in the world would see their polo shirt-so the next day, Clinton, despite the wind and the rain, became the only head of state to not wear his jacket for most of the day...

He must get loads of clothes everywhere he goes, but he does keep at least some of it. When he gave a speech at SJSU my first year, I remember they gave him a T-Shirt. About a half a year later or so I saw him wearing it while jogging. Yeah!

[Gandalf]

I saw Letterman last night, he seemed tired somehow.

But I could see the Clinton-ism shining through.

Overall, worth watching.

[Stofsk]

He was incredible. The way he engaged with Letterman and the audience, and the way he spoke, damn the man has charisma. I mean I wasn't even going to watch Letterman, I was just channel-flicking - when I saw him on I just stayed and listened.

Crown, thanks for that link. I'm listening to Denton's interview right now.

[Kuja]

I saw Letterman last night, he seemed tired somehow.

Probably a bit of jet-lag.


But this brought him up a notch or two in my book. I enjoyed watching his interview.

[Gandalf]

I saw Letterman last night, he seemed tired somehow.

Probably a bit of jet-lag.

Possibly, but it seemed more. Like he suddenly became an old man.

[PainRack]

Possibly, but it seemed more. Like he suddenly became an old man.

Lacks nookie.

[Galvatron]

The man is probably busy as hell. Between promoting his book and campaigning for John Kerry, not to mention the lecture circuit, I bet he's busier now than he's been since the last election.