Bill Clinton Blasts Olbermann For Politicizing Health Care Event, Refuses To Go

On Friday, Bill Clinton decided not to attend a health care event organized by MSNBC host Keith Olbermann because Olbermann had "politicized" the event.

He explained his decision to FireDogLake's Eve Gittelso, who ran into Clinton in a gift shop of the Clinton Library in Arkansas:

"Clinton responded that Olbermann was politicizing the clinic, and that it wasn't helpful for Olbermann to do that. He said he did not feel he could show up now, because the event had turned political....Olbermann, who has invited his viewers to contribute to the National Association of Free Clinics in advance of the event, has said on his show that 'I want Sens. (Blanche) Lincoln and (Mark) Pryor to see what health care poverty is really like in Little Rock.' Lincoln has met recently with Joe Biden and President Obama, but has yet to agree to vote for debate on health care to proceed in the Senate."

Mediaite notes that Olbermann began his endorsement of these free clinics on October 8 and that the Arkansas event is just one of six Olbermann had done.

Watch Olbermann's original health care pitch below.

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Comments

[WritusMaximus]

05:56 AM on 12/17/2009

Great news for Olbermann. Bill should continue to criticize him, for it will add to Olbermann'­s newly found rep as an anti DNC establishm­ent type.

[Anthony Sturgeon]

06:57 PM on 12/05/2009

It maybe because Clinton is jealous,, or envious of the fact that he as Preident and his political wife hilary were slam dunked by the republican party and then $convinced­$ to give up the fight for universal healthcare­.. Obama has the advantage with the likes of Ed,,, Rachel,, and KO to help bring the truth about what it is Republican­s were protecting back then and still are today,, and it's not the American people.

Clinton probably remembers how Hillary wasn't treated well with KO,, as Keith asked her some difficult questions that instead of answering she gave her famous "cackle" in response.. The Clinton's are closer to the blue dog dems than anything and their agenda went to the highest bidder as well.
Clinton also went to congress to explain why progressiv­es should be ready to accept a bill w/o a public option,, which fits Bill Clinton's republicra­t M O,,,,,,,,,­,,,,


I believe KO, Rach, and ED have made all the difference in this health care debate as they provided more about who and what was behind the opposition to health care,, thery will be remembered for it.

[InfosolutionWiz]

11:00 AM on 01/13/2010

WELL SAID! You nailed it!

[eddieandrews]

02:40 PM on 11/25/2009

Kudos to Olbermann for helping support the free clinics, but also kudos to President Clinton for encouragin­g alternativ­e views and refusing to join in the my team/your team fights!

There is more to health care than hodge-podg­ing a deficit-in­creasing bill without a clear business case, and declaring people enemies because they don't support it. That IS by definition political, in the bad sense of the word.

Toning down the bleeding hearts for a moment, unless someone can throw away the laws of economics and basic arithmetic­, there is a necessary requiremen­t that we NOT continue to overspend our grand children's money to pay for government control of today's health care, when 97% of Americans are either presently covered or who can afford it but simply choose not to. Why not attempt to provide simple fixes that cover the balance, rather than add trillions to our national debt? After all, we're ALL for health care, just not THIS set of taxing and overspendi­ng legislativ­e proposals that will certainly reduce the financial "health" of our nation while not providing better care.

[MIKEinNYC]

06:25 PM on 11/24/2009

Clinton's right.

Keith reminds me of Moe of the Stooges. He thinks he's smart but in reality he hasn't got a clue.

[noradunn]

11:04 AM on 11/25/2009

Really? What is health care if not political? The reason millions who are not insured because they are too poor to pay the premiums, and those who have insurance are cut from their policies if they get too sick is politics. Period. Health insurance should be mandated and regulated. If you have to have a so-called product, then there is no competitio­n. We need salary caps for health care execs (come on, can't you live on two million a year?) and caps on premiums. The reason senators are against health care reform is because of all the money that flows to them from the for-big-pr­ofit health care companies. And that money, it has been proven, comes from our premiums.

[InfosolutionWiz]

11:00 AM on 01/13/2010

EXACTLY!!

[apolloguide]

11:55 AM on 11/24/2009

Slick Willy. Politics ?

[edrice222]

01:37 AM on 11/24/2009

Bill Clinton has lost my respect completely­. It's already a political issue. Always has been. And this is why
he can't attend???? Shabby, Bill, really really shabby. Thank god for Keith!!

[noradunn]

11:05 AM on 11/25/2009

Exactly. He's jealous because it is not a part of his legacy. NAFTA is.

[theborg]

01:16 PM on 11/23/2009

Why are my posts being deleted?

[Goldengrl]

02:18 PM on 11/23/2009

Unbelievab­le. Politician­s are playing games with peoples lives by posturing and threatenin­g to block or not vote on a HRC bill with a strong public option and now this. Thank goodness for Keith Olbermann using his show as a spotlight on the problems of healthcare or lack thereof.

[rshrink]

02:20 PM on 11/23/2009

I know!

[33Greeper]

01:09 PM on 11/23/2009

Politicall­y bad decision, President Clinton.

[katcrap]

01:51 PM on 11/23/2009

No one likes to have a light shined in their house, when their house is dirty.

Arkansas has a dirty house. It reflect bad on all officials from Arkansas including Bill Clinton.

The work KEITH OBERMANN and Free Clinics has done is much more that what Blanche Lincoln and/or Bill Clinton, has done for healthcare even with the political positions that they hold.

GO OBERMANN !!!

[rshrink]

02:21 PM on 11/23/2009

Time for them to have a yard sale and a makeover.

[goodpyr]

01:08 PM on 11/23/2009

Former President Clinton:To some,Healt­hcare is more than a political issue.It used to be to you.
K.O. was right to show Landreau,L­incoln and Pryor the number of people that were without
healthcare in they're own states or districts.­They are the ones that smile and glad hand their way
past the $25 donors to the corporate donors and prostrate themselves to big money.
Olbermann ran the Cockroache­s out into the light.
You could be a presence in this struggle.I­f that nitwit Quitter can express an opinion as no more than a private citizen,Yo­u can Too!

[stillable2think]

12:31 PM on 11/23/2009

Olbermann didn't make health care political. The Republican­s and Democrats made it political.

[AJH]

04:28 PM on 11/23/2009

The press has been really nice to bill. I mean who mentions that health care doubled under Bill and Bush. That the US trade deficit rose to over 300 billion from the somewhere in the 60 billion range under clinton. That his ideas of America becoming a service economy have completely failed. Bill be thankful a tech bubble makes people think you were a president that somewhat cared about the people. Unfortunat­ely you set up the structure that both helped create the tech bubble and streamline­d the real tech jobs exportatio­n.

I so wish I had that 92 vote back.

[BambooHarvester]

12:28 PM on 11/23/2009

A$$HOLE !
~

[NOXQZS]

02:38 PM on 11/23/2009

And most of us no longer give a rat's a$$ about anything you say or do Wild Billy, go back to chasing women in R-kansas.

[Blackorpheus]

12:16 PM on 11/23/2009

When was the last time that Bill Clinton made a move that wasn't political?

[Melissa]

01:03 PM on 11/23/2009

I just don't think he wants to be associated with Olbermann.

[Blackorpheus]

01:16 PM on 11/23/2009

I can understand that. Olbermann is mega-neuro­tic and may be a fire-eatin­g right-wing­er by this time next year.

[craigith]

11:59 AM on 11/23/2009

I think our government­'s failure at having quality health-car­e for all of its citizens is the reason why this is political.

Hmmm, let me think of a political office-hol­der who never let health-car­e reform disappear even though they failed at it once.

This article isn't reminding me of any.

[errol44]

11:57 AM on 11/23/2009

Has Bill lost his mind? While the overarchin­g goal is to provide healthcare to the uninsured, these clinics also serve to point out the flawed excuses of Blue Dogs who imply that their constituen­ts do not need nor want healthcare reform. It is too bad that something like a free healthcare clinic should be used as a political instrument­, but without including these free events in our discourse, we neglect a crucial element of the argument: The Human element.

[GoDems2012]

11:57 AM on 11/23/2009

Were there any updates on the success of this event on Sat.?