Sunday, May 25, 2008

End of the Bush-Clinton Era?

By Robert Parry
May 25, 2008

Hillary Clinton’s comment, referencing Robert Kennedy’s 1968 assassination to explain why she’s continuing her campaign, may serve as a crass punctuation point for the end of a grim period in American history, the Bush-Clinton era.

This period – roughly marked by George H.W. Bush’s rise as Vice President and then President from 1981 to 1993, Bill Clinton’s embattled two terms, and then eight years under George W. Bush – represented an extraordinary period of lost opportunities for the nation as its global power peaked and began a rapid descent.

Read on.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

when will the democrats ever own up to the fact,and it is, that George W. Bush did not steel the election from Al Gore.

Anonymous said...

Boy, 'anonymous', you certainly don't read much on this website to come up with the statement that "George W.Bush did not steel (sic) the election from Al Gore" -- unless you're trying to slip by on the technicality that GW Bush didn't do it strictly by himself, since he obviously had the help of his seedy operatives (Rove, Cheney, et al). The Parrys/Consortium News have put together an excellent, exhaustive & factual reference source of all the 'anomalies' and the outright fact that Gore would've won Florida in 2000 in any kind of fair recount -- see their articles on this website in the section on the 2000 election (link: http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/campaign.html).

So, to answer your rhetorical question, democrats like myself and others reject that 'fact' and the bulk of the evidence is on our side -- all you Bush apologists have is a corrupt Supreme Court majority and schoolyard taunts on your side... congratulations on that.

Robert B. Livingston said...

End of an era?

what a gamble!

(And all we can do as bystanders who lack true political clout is to hope.)

No other president has ever been as impeachable as George W. Bush.

Obama is his ticket to freedom. Who else's?

The "duopoly" is more powerful, and devious, than the mere Bush-Clinton alliance which is a more "in our faces" manifestation of it.

If we have been paying for Bill Clinton's freepass to George H.W. now-- what will we later pay for the freepasses we are handing out today?

Anonymous said...

Think it was a slip? Same slip 4 times?
Four days after ABC polled that 59% of Americans feared for Obama's safety, Hillary started talking assassination.
Hard to believe,
but this site has the facts and sources: zFacts.com

Anonymous said...

I find reading this account of the Bush Clinton Bush years to be extremely satisfying. I think that he mentioned several considerations that I have missed when I think back on these years. & he sums it up nicely. The only point that Parry did not cover is the role in the Internet in helping so many of us realize that the Clinton say 1 thing at 1 campaign stop, and another at the very next.Over time, I have beenleft wondering if the Clintons ever really meant to do the things they claim that the Repugs stopped them from accomplishing. I am almost at the point where I think the whole thing was one big set up from Jan 20 1993 on.

Anonymous said...

The comments on this thread must have been written by a committee because no single person could be that stupid.

Anonymous said...

I am really saddened by this silly piece of journalism. First, I must point out "The Race Memo" released by the Obama Camp which contained 3 errors or distortions which the press and Rep. James Clyburne, Boh Herbert, Keith Olbermann, CBS, NBC, MSNBC and others promoted for a solid week before Obama apologized for it. We know about the Race Memo because the Huffington Post printed it. My journal has all the details.http://journals.democraticunderground.com/McCamy%20Taylor/203
I am not sure why you would make such an easily provable lie in your article unless you are trying to bring the subject back up in a round about way. If so, good. I also believe that Democrats need to talk about the Memo that Dares Not Speak its Name before this nomination process it through. If Obama is the nominee and we do not acknowledge that the Obama Campaign played some nasty games early on and come to some form of internal reconciliation (such as a unity ticket which will make all the dirty trick just so much political fun and games) camp McCain is going to have a field day with this.

Regarding the broader thesis, there is a note of whining because Daddy Clinton did not take the Bush family to the woodshed and tarnish the name of George Bush so that the NeoCons could not steal the 2000 election for his son. I am always being amazed at the people who moan and bitch because Bill Clinton can not save the world from itself. I tend to blame the liberals who decided that Al Gore was the "same" as W. (you know, people like Michael Moore) who encouraged people to vote for Nader or not to vote. Those people probably cost Gore the election. Now they are calling Hillary Clinton the same as Gore.

This article is a piece of political oppo not worthy of the author.

Anonymous said...

To me, the intriguing question that logically flows from Parry's narrative is whether a President Obama would repeat Bill Clinton's disasterous 1992 decision to give his GOP predecessors a free pass on historical accountability for crimes committed earlier on the Republicans' watch.

First, if you're a Democratic strategist, it seems to me the last thing in the world you want your presidential candidate doing is talking openly about his intentions towards Little George's legacy and legal transgressions. Nothing would inflame the GOP base more than well-founded fear that a Democratically controlled Justice Department was all geared up to come after Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Rove, and their bloodthirsty neo-con cohorts right after the inaugeration.

So I suspect we'll see a variation on the impeachment scare theme that was successfully orchestrated out in Limbaugh Land in the run up to the 2006 Congressional elections: bang the drums and accuse Pelosi of "plotting a coup" by turning John Conyers loose to impeach Bush/Cheney if the Dems gain control of the House. Make that accusation loud enough and long enough, and with some luck this ploy will finesse the Donkeys' beltway partisan braintrust into stifling the rumor by... taking impeachment off the table.

It would not surprise me at all to see a parallel right wing media push to force Barack to disavow any intention to ship Bush off to the Hague from Crawford, or to simply indict Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove et al. for the torture, the warrantless NSA wiretapping, and for multiple other crimes involving their invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Second, assuming Obama's people are savvy enough not to take the bait, in my opinion a first order of business for any new Democratic administration in Washington should be thorough investigation of Iraq occupation war profiteering.

Obama's people will have complete control of the Bush junta's paper trail, classified and nonclassified. Obama's people will be in charge of how whistleblowers throughout the federal bureaucracy are treated if they step forward to expose wrongdoing.

Sure, impeachment is and will always be the better, Constitutionally pedigreed remedy.

But plain old Congressional and Justice Department investigations in the aftermath of Little George's departure back to Texas can go a long way to insure the Democrats don't repeat Bill Clinton's mistakes, and let a second generation of crims get away Scot free to write their revisionist histories.

Bill from Saginaw

Anonymous said...

Funny how you left out Obama's plans for appointing some of the worst Rethuglican criminals to his cabinet. Why is that? I could go on and on about how Barry will be no different than Slick Willie or our beloved west Texas prairie monkey but why bother as the fix is in and you're part of it Robert. Sad but typical! I'm sure your efforts to split the Demoncrats so Johnny will win will be well rewarded!

Anonymous said...

Hillary has always been a Republican in a Democrat suit-- She has never gone on record as stating she would hold this current Administration accountable for war crimes. She has not gone on record as willing to roll back power taken by Bush and his cronies, repairing damage to the Constitution, Habeas Corpus, etc. She will keep the existing kingly powers and want more. She will not change anything but continue the Republican agenda. She is more power hungry than Bush ever considered and rode on the coattails of Bill to the front line. She is not a liberal. She is not a women's libber as all her power and money has come from hubby. She is not independent. Hell, she's a whiner and spoiled child who needs to get out of the sandbox and let real grownups do what is necessary to save our democracy. It is time for this Bush/Clinton dynasty to end.

Anonymous said...

No mention of Obama and Pfleger???

The Obama-Pfleger Connection:


1) David Axelrod, serves on the a Fund Raising Board for Pfleger’s church.

2) Pfleger once issued death threats to a Chicago businessman. He then lied about it, but the event is recorded. [source]

3) Pfleger was a prominent figure in the Obama camp in this campaign, until a few weeks ago he had a senior role in Obama’s outreach to Catholics. He stumped for Obam in Iowa [usatoday]

4) Pfleger was: “one of the religious leaders whose “faith testimonials” Mr. Obama has posted on his presidential campaign Web site. We [wall street journal editors] searched the Obama Web site in vain for Pfleger’s endorsement. It appears the campaign has suppressed it…” [wsj] Suppression, as with Hussein’s statement that he could see the dead. Instead of being honest about it, the Obama camp just erases it. The shameless pigs even try this in public, in front of the cameras.

5) Pfleger was listed by Obama as one of three, most influential preachers of his wanton life, along with Jeremiah Wright and Rev. Meeks (another hardened Racist) [Hitchens] All three are miserable Bigots, and Preachers of Hate. All three, Obama considers his heroes. Need we go further in convincing the American people, that Obama’s values, are not ours?

6) “As a state senator, Obama once directed a $100,000 grant to a community center”[cnn]… the actual sum was closer to $225,000 [yahoo]

7) Pfleger “has contributed to Obama’s state Senate campaigns, backed his ill-fated run for Congress” [usatoday]

8) Like Wright and Meeks, Pfleger is a close associate of Louis Farrakhan, whose anti-Semitic, anti-White, and anti-American views he endorses and defends. We at stop-obama documented Turd0s history on Farrakhan, in great detail (viz our contents tab, text search “Farrakhan”). We know that as with Wright, Obama ’s relationship with Pfleger, goes back more than 20 years. If from an early age you worship Malcolm X, its easy to understand why you’d have a thing for Farrakhan who ordered his shooting. Especially since Farrakhan is a big fish in your your district, and you live three blocks from him.

9) If there is one thing readers cannot and should not afford to ignore about Pfleger the Stooge, its this: the congregation of Trinity United Church of Christ, was on its feet, cheering, clapping, and howling as he spoke his recent words. Do readers need a more vivid description of what kind of Church Hussein Obama has been attending for more than 23 years?

10) Remember, Hussein Obama is still a member of this Church of Hatred, and promises to continue being a member. Clearly, Michelle Piranha loves it. The couple insists on taking their kids there. Obama has already smeared the Africa-American community with claims that this “Church” of Hate was “mainstream” and renouncing it and “Wright” was akin to renouncing The Black Community.

11) Obama calls his new pastor, Otis Moss, a “wonderful young pastor.” Otis Moss grew up in the Trinity air, and is the offspring of Wright, Farrakhan, Meeks, and Pfleger. He endorsed Pfleger’s most recent words. On NPR Moss stated that the US government allows AIDS and cocaine in Black America. He uses code words from rap lyrics, and has already declared the Clintons the “enemy”. This is the man and Church Hussein Obama continues to insist he will associate with.

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