I, for one, welcome Bill Clinton's return as the Respite President

[MannyGoldstein]

I'm glad that we have a president who is mature enough and thoughtful enough to realize when he needs a break. No one person can handle so many changey things at once, we all need a little help sometime.

When Barack left Bill in charge of his presidential press conference in order to go to a Christmas bash, my eyes welled up a bit - this is a man who puts first things first. Hearing the Big Dog tell us that enormous tax cuts for the rich are the best we could do made me feel proud, and I am more hopeful than ever that with these two adults in office, we can negotiate occasional tasty scraps from the unstoppable Republican juggernaut.

Truly, it is morning once again in America.

[xchrom]

1. it is mourning. nt

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Why so glum, chum?

There are few proven cases of torture by Republicans. As long as we're nice to them, I think we can do business.

[jefferson_dem]

4. Actually, let's just stomp out feet and hold our breath....

New motto: "Purity principle over progress." That'll do us all some good.

[MannyGoldstein]

7. Oh - are you one of those purity people?

Don't you realize that 18 years of responsible adult leadership has been successful?

- Our economy is booming
- Our middle class is vibrant
- We are at peace with our neighbors in the world community

What more do you purity people want?

[jefferson_dem]

3. So you have your "hate on" for the current Democratic president and the previous one too.

I suspect you would have taken to your keyboard to mock Carter too had DU been around.

Ah... Got to love some "Democrats"... So eager to encourage us all to form circular firing squads.

[MannyGoldstein]

5. Do you disagree with my post?

Thanks.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. I Love Bill Clinton

But I don't see the need to denigrate President Obama to elevate President Clinton.

[hollowdweller]

8. Clinton has always seemed to enjoy the Job more than Obama

Maybe it's just delivery but even on his bad days Clinton mostly seemed to be totally love what he was doing. Obama to me always seems to have a more serious or stern. Maybe it's just his voice that seems to have a deeper more authoritarian tone.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

14. Obama is working with an economic crisis, while Clinton

had our largest economic expansion. The situations aren't very comparable. I do agree that Clinton loved the job. I'm not sure that Obama does. I can't say that I blame him. It's been a rolling cluster-fuck for him the whole way through.

[hay rick]

9. The best we can do until the next hostage situation.

In a year when it's time to restore normal funding (WITH A TAX HIKE) to Social Security.
In 13 months when it's time to extend unemployment benefits for several million more unemployed.
In 2 years when it's time to extend the temporary tax breaks again.

In this holiday season, the Republicans are offering us both scraps and CRUMBS under the table (Thought I'd take you to task for forgetting the CRUMBS, you miserable ingrate).

Party on, Barack!

[MannyGoldstein]

10. I apologize about the crumbs.

These are definitely people we can do business with.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. I Think We Can Too Because We Have To

But the way you are framing it, it is pissing people off because they see it as surrender.

[shireen]

12. you forgot ...

:sarcasm:

[Tippy]

13. K&R.....I felt relief, for the first time in a long time.

[jaxx]

15. Looks like Clinton got input from former presidents too.

<snip> He went on for more than 20 minutes, happy in his work. The performance recalled an earlier event in the White House: In September 1993, Clinton was launching his drive to win congressional approval for the North American Free Trade Agreement, a pact broadly opposed by members of his own party.

He invited three past presidents to help him and when he finished with his presentation, former president George H.W. Bush, less than a year after his defeat at Clinton's hands, stepped to the microphone. "I thought that was a very eloquent statement by President Clinton," he said, "and now I understand why he's inside looking out, and I'm outside looking in."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/10/AR2010121007172.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzhead

But when it's bash Obama week, what the hell, anything will do?

[hay rick]

16. It's bash Obama's surrender week.

Running out on his own press conference is just a distraction from the real issue, which is the merits of Obama's compromise proposal. The man's demeanor, body language, and humor are of little interest except as they may relate to his own inner conflict on a path which he knows to be perilous and which many others are telling him leads to catastrophe.

Interesting that the example of a previous president supporting a current president's policy at a press conference was GHWB speaking on behalf of NAFTA.

[phleshdef]

17. That statement by GHW Bush shows how the President use to be respected.

Before the Monica scandal, things really were different. Can you imagine McCain saying something like that about Obama?

[AndrewP]

34. That damn Clinton and Monica! They treated him great until then!!

:eyes:

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

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

[BeyondGeography]

19. This is a very good take on that

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/12/11/928165/-Obama-has-a-Old-White-Guy-problem...not-a-policy-one...

[Ramulux]

20. Pathetic

So having a sitting president bring in a previous president to make stuff up about a compromise that is hated by a vast majority of his party and a majority of the American people is a mature thing to do? This compromise will wreck our economy and make sure these tax cuts become official tax policy meaning they will never be overturned. If you see that as a smart thing to do, I dont know what to tell you.

[MannyGoldstein]

21. Sorry, I was being sarcastic

Sometimes I'm too dry...

In reality, I totally agree with you.

[Ramulux]

22. My bad

I think a lot of the apologists on this site are making it hard for me to separate satire from ignorance. I probably should have read it twice.

[boppers]

24. Manny's got some great snark going.

It's rare to see something from him that isn't part of his running gag... he's kind of a liberal version of Colbert.

Funny, biting, stuff (especially when it stings a little).

[tavalon]

28. Now, not to get too meta on you

Colbert pretends to be a conservative while actually exposing the hypocrisy within conservatism a la Glen Beck. So, he's also a liberal. But, yeah, he and Manny have a similar shtick going.

[boppers]

29. The mirror I was holding up is as follows:

Colbert pretends to be an affable, conciliatory, negotiating, conservative.
Manny pretends to be an affable, conciliatory, negotiating, liberal.

Both of them skewer themselves, while being "reasonable", by pointing out how the opposition is unwilling to be flexible.

[tavalon]

30. You're right. It's a pretty good comparison when you explain it that way

[dionysus]

23. i sense some bitterness here...

[tavalon]

27. Ya think?

[craigmatic]

25. The public and press only like Clinton because he has no responsibilities anymore. But I don't trust

him on the economy because he kept deregulation going during the last years of his administration.

[tavalon]

26. Ouch

No need for the sarcasm smiley there. FUBAR

[Creative]

31. If only we could replace Obama with Clinton...

Watching that press conference made me realize how inept and uninformed Obama really is.

[Beacool]

32. I don't know about anyone else, but I had a blast seeing Bill once again behind the podium.

He looooved being president. He was at ease, knowledgeable, called reporters by name and spoke without the need of notes or a teleprompter. The man is the best politician of his time, bar none.

:D

[Exilednight]

33. Sorry, but he doesn't hold a candle to Carter. n/t

[Beacool]

35. Carter is a better politician?????

You must be jesting. Bill is the master of the game. Carter ran a pretty good campaign, but was not a particularly good politician. Bill could sell ice to an eskimo, Carter couldn't sell his policies even to his own party and was primaried in 1980 by Ted Kennedy.

[Exilednight]

36. Who passed more of their agenda, Clinton or Carter? Here's a hint ...............

It wasn't Clinton. I will also point out that being a politician does not equate to being good at governing.