The Reverend Wright on Bill Clinton and Monica

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Posted April 30, 2008 | 08:17 PM (EST)

Read More: 'He Did The Same Thing To Us That He Did To Monica...", Bill O'Reilly, Monica Lewinsky, Rev. Wright, Breaking Politics News

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So here I am this afternoon paging through my soon-to-be-published Clinton in Exile: A President Out of the White House, for a reading I'm giving tonight.

And I find a quote that I forgot was in the book because it went to press before the Reverend Wright controversy erupted in full. The quote seems particularly interesting in light of the heat Obama is taking over Wright's outrageous statements about HIV/AIDs and Zionism and the American government as terrorist.

Contrary to conventional wisdom that Bill Clinton was "good" for the African American community, Wright preached, "He did the same thing to us that he did to Monica Lewinsky."

One wonders if Bill O'Reilly will ask HIllary Clinton about that quote, first reported in the the Baltimore Sun, when he interviews her tonight and tomorrow.

Given Hillary's frequent mentions of how wonderful the Clinton administration was for all Americans -- "What is it that you don't like?" she asks. "The peace or the prosperity" -- would it be fair for a talk show host or a journalist to ask, "Do you agree with Wright's assessment of your husband's administration?"

It won't happen because, luckily for the Clintons, Monica and impeachment and various scandals of the 1990s are not considered appropriate subjects for serious coverage of this campaign. Barack Obama has not been afforded that luxury.

 
 

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- RapidRay See Profile I'm a Fan of RapidRay

Who is good for the blacks?
Who is good for blue collar workers?
Who was very, very bad in 1970?
Who does the best Joe Dirt?

Ah, the abstractions of electing what was once known as the most powerful (man, job, being????) on earth.

"All the world's a stage and we are each actors on it" - dead white guy.
So, Robert Downey is a good actor. He keeps stumbling in his personal life but keeps getting really great jobs in his industry. He's always is pleasant when interviewing on the tube. Maybe he's real presidential timber. Eh? Why not.

Still, even I like so many of my brethern, get bad cluster headaches when any candidate says anything with a whiff of substance to it. Tittilate on! Scandal foreward...

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:38 AM on 05/06/2008
- larstein See Profile I'm a Fan of larstein

The media by its commercial nature MUST pimp drama, ANY drama if it looks like it drives up ratings.
Wright was Obama's pastor, not his therapist, not his wife, not his bed partner, not his "buddy", or his mother, nor even a father figure, despite the media making that a juicy, soapy, dramatic hook. A 20 year relationship with a pastor does not mean you talk to him everyday, it means you go to church on Sundays, when you can, and you are a member of the congregation. You talk to him occasionally, but it's not like he's setting your mental agenda. It's possible to go to church for 20 years, listen to sermons and hear words you will disagree, and not leave the church. And to those who wonder why he didn't quit the first time he heard Wright say something disagreeable, what about those right wing pundits, the Irish Catholic guys on Faux news, who went to church their whole lives knowing, or suspecting that their own priest was a pedophile. Maybe they've all lapsed or converted to the religion of millioniares, the church of Money. The truth is, this Wright thing should be over. Obama broke with him, end of story. Anything more is creeping racism. The millionaire pundits on the right know this, but, as predatory animals, they will push it anyway if they think it still has juice. To them, McCain's whitest-white-man-in-the-world image is all the teflon he needs.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:54 PM on 05/01/2008
- itsnotmyfault See Profile I'm a Fan of itsnotmyfault

Carol, I certainly hope your logic and reasoning is a little better in your new book, than your absurd little post here. Do you mean to say that we should take what the Reverend Wright says as "gospel" truth, such that his comments about Bill and the black community are accurate and true, just as his comments about AIDS and the US conspiracy against blacks is true? Or is it simply that for Obama supporters, such as yourself, cherry-picking the bits of Wright wisdom is the way to go. Sometimes the Reverend is wacky but sometimes....?

Or do you mean to imply that a twenty year relationship between Obama and the Reverend is the equivalent to a relationship between Bill and Wright based on a single comment the reverend said about Bill Clinton and that is why not only Obama was challenged about his long standing association with his spiritual mentor who holds some pretty far out ideas but Bill should be equally challenged for having had his name mentioned by the Reverend.

Or is it that your piece is just nonsensical and entirely without substance and should really be an embarrassment for you as long as it lingers on this web site? ....

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:38 PM on 05/01/2008
- rachaelisacancer See Profile I'm a Fan of rachaelisacancer

Bill Clinton gave his penis to the African American community?

I had no idea.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:33 PM on 05/01/2008
- PrdAmerican See Profile I'm a Fan of PrdAmerican

There certainly is a double standard in this campaign. While I don't agree with raising issues of Monica, I do believe that whitewater, rose law firm issues, travel-gate are all fair game as they all had Hilliary's fingerprints all over them.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:04 PM on 05/01/2008
- Bill3rdterm See Profile I'm a Fan of Bill3rdterm

She was cleared from EVERYTHING. HOw are they going to waste money making accusations about things that the GOP wasted A TON of money investigating to come up with nothing and her being cleared.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:09 PM on 05/01/2008
- Lon See Profile I'm a Fan of Lon

Apparently Bush managed to convince Wright that he had been wrong about Clinton. In the God Damn America speech he points to Clinton as an example of how the government can be good to the black community, and then turns to Bush as an illustration that governments change.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:29 PM on 04/30/2008
- kawika See Profile I'm a Fan of kawika

Enough...He got blown....He is not Hillary...She is the one who is getting BLOWN away.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:04 PM on 04/30/2008
- altohone See Profile I'm a Fan of altohone


I think the corporate media's refusal to expose how Hillary's voting record doesn't match her campaign rhetoric is far more serious.

They insist there are few policy differences, though Hillary was forced to veer left when the wind... I mean polls... changed. Oops... that doesn't sound any better does it.

Her initial approach to the campaign was pure DLC... another topic off limits.


Now, I recently read Kos's views on embracing diverse views within the Democratic party... and I agree with them. His blogs refusal to tolerate intra-party ideological kerfluffles makes sense since we will need every Democratic vote in Congress regardles of who wins. Choosing to ignore differences in ideology is quite different than insisting there aren't any.

To pretend like there aren't ideological differences when Obama opposed the war strongly while Hillary used Bush talking points to sell his war on the floor of the Senate... to pretend like Bill and Hillary's embrace of New Democrat policy wasn't an ideological split from earlier party policy... well, it just seems silly to ignore recent history in such a blatant manner.
Furthermore, the corporate media doing so in order to help Hillary has nothing to do with party unity.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:43 PM on 04/30/2008
- RobertArend See Profile I'm a Fan of RobertArend

Perhaps it is time to ask just what have the Clintons really done for African-Americans. I invite anyone to list just what they have accomplished or even tried to accomplish to have earned the historical devotion of African-Americans.

At last the fascade is off this couple. They are elite bigots, maybe, yes, even closet racists. They have used black voters. Bill is no more than a good-ol'-southern boy huckster scamming blacks and privately chuckling to himself. Yet he thinks black people owe him and his wife alot.

For what, I ask you. For What?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:03 PM on 04/30/2008
- LiamSherborn See Profile I'm a Fan of LiamSherborn

Part of me agrees with this piece - the part of me that is tired of Clinton setting the agenda and making up the rules. A larger part of me doesn't - the part of me that is getting a little sick of the way that media ratings are driving the "coverage" of this election.

First, Obama was "the messiah", when it served media interests to drive ratings up in what what should have been a non-campaign cake walk for Clinton. Then, when it appeared Clinton would fall, the press has done nothing but attack Obama so as to keep the contest and their ratings going.

Neither puts the press in a good light. Neither does a service to our country. The job of journalism - and am important job it is in a democracy - is to INFORM. Of course, choosing what to inform people on is more art than it is science but that does not mean that the press, in pursuit of ratings (read money) has the right to follow only the most spurious and entertaining issues at the expense of a serious discussion of the issues facing our country.

And befoe any one says otherwise, obviously Clinton and Obama have differences of substance and would lead differently. the job of the press is to find those differences and highlight how they might effect how good a job they would do as President.

Neither a blow job nor a blow hard meet that test.

Liam

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:45 PM on 04/30/2008
- midnightreader See Profile I'm a Fan of midnightreader

Absolutely!!!

The MSM has determined that certain things are off limits for Clinton and McCain, but Obama isn't afforded that same luxury. Does anyone know why there are no "off-limit" attacks on Obama, but the MSM skirts around Clinton and McCain.

I have my beliefs as to why, but would like to hear others.

I've been banned for here for a while, not sure why, but appears that I may have posting priviledges again. We'll see.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:39 PM on 04/30/2008
- Thorn See Profile I'm a Fan of Thorn

We've already seen this quote elsewhere -- many times. Christ, it's amazing how many people post on this thing just to get attention. At least you're doing it for money and not to fill some creepy psychological need.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:36 PM on 04/30/2008
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'He Did The Same Thing To Us That He Did To Monica...", Bill O'Reilly, Monica Lewinsky, Rev. Wright
 

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