Political Punch

Points taken gentlemen. Two wrongs however do not make a right.

What I was really hoping to do though, was draw Chuck off of sabbatical. I miss his comments. Hope he is well.

flyover - you know what else is a time honored tradition in our great land? Freedom of speech. And political discourse. The facts have become so distorted at this point that Clinton himself needed to set the record straight. Did he need to do so in a manner that made lunchmeat out of Chris Wallace? I suppose not, but he's Bill Clinton; he did it that way because he CAN. How I miss Clinton's way with words. *sigh*

While I appreciate Flyover's concern for "civilized" discourse, I see nothing inherently uncivilized about a debate over who failed to protect the American public, and how.

FLYOVER STATED: "This recent row may end with a serious long term negative result for our government and our society. Similar to Mr. Gore and his ill advised challenge of the election, long term repercussions will result from Mr. Clintons breaking of the time honored tradition of not commenting on current administration action..."

That is an inaccurate claim. George HW Bush attacked then-President Clinton several times, as documented by Media Matters for America. Indeed, Britt Hume was forced to retract a claim similar to yours. From the September 21 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:

HUME: Two nights ago on this program, we said that, in attacking President Bush on Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and the budget, former president Clinton did something that Bush's father did not do, and that is to criticize his successor. That was incorrect. While the first President Bush did so rarely, he did criticize President Clinton and his administration several times, including on his Haiti and Somalia policies. We stand corrected and regret the error.

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I'm pleased to see the Democrats finally taking te gloves off. The GOP has repeatedly lied about Bush's incompetence in doing nothing -- nothing -- to stop the AQ attacks on 9-11. Next stop: impeachment.

This recent row may end with a serious long term negative result for our government and our society. Similar to Mr. Gore and his ill advised challenge of the election, long term repercussions will result from Mr. Clintons breaking of the time honored tradition of not commenting on current administration action, and the reciprocal of not commenting on past administrations. At some point a like and kind response will be forced from the Administration. I would rather poke a stick at terrorists than at fellow Americans.

As in the challenged election the precedent will be removed and we will become more like warring Muslim factions than a republic based on rules of law and respect for each other.

He was my President, (Clinton) and he is my President (Bush). We should expect civilized discourse from both of them and all citizens.