We all know the guy's smooth and in the end he probably satisfied the base but his endorsement of BO (in the totality of his speech) seemed a bit tepid to me. Reading between the lines, he seemed to be making excuses for BO's failures rather than truly applauding any successes.
I make it a habit NOT to listen to political speeches - and that is not limited to the left. I can make more entertaining lies for myself rather than listening to someone else's lies.
I just wonder how hard it was for him to stand up there & say BO deserved to be re-elected. After all, he was the one who said a BO presidency was a fairy tale, he has publically called him & liar & claimed BO wasn't qualified to serve him tea or carry his luggage. Slick Willie has also sung the praies of both Bush's and called Romney's career at Bain "stellar". Any truth Axelrod had a shock collar around Bubba's neck in the event he started saying what he really thought? Earlier I asked how hard it was for the guy to stand up there & say those things but I forgot he was a dimocrat so I guess lying is in his nature.
FACT CHECK: Clinton claims of compromise a stretch SEPTEMBER 6, 2012 WASHINGTON(AP) — It's a fact of life in Washington that what one party considers a principled stand, the opposition considers pigheadedness. Compromise? That's the other guy's problem. But when former President Bill Clinton took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, he portrayed President Barack Obama as a pragmatic compromiser who has been stymied at every turn by Republicans. There was no mention of the role that the president and the Democrats have played in grinding compromise to a halt on some of the most important issues facing the country. That was among the lines by the former president and others Wednesday that either cherry-picked facts or mischaracterized the opposition. A look at some of them: CLINTON: "When times are tough, constant conflict may be good politics but in the real world, cooperation works better. ...Unfortunately, the faction that now dominates the Republican Party doesn't see it that way. They think government is the enemy and compromise is weakness. One of the main reasons America should re-elect President Obama is that he is still committed to cooperation." THE FACTS: From Clinton's speech, voters would have no idea that the inflexibility of both parties is to blame for much of the gridlock. Right from the beginning Obama brought in as his first chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel, a man known for his getting his way, not for getting along. One of the more high-profile examples of a deal that fell apart was the outline of a proposed "grand bargain" budget agreement between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner in 2011. The deal would have required compromise from both sides. It slashed domestic spending more than most Democrats wanted and would have raised some taxes, which most Republicans oppose. Boehner couldn't sell the plan to tea party factions in the House or to other conservative activists. And Obama found himself accused of going too far by some Democratic leaders. The deal died before it ever even came up for a vote. In another instance, Obama appointed a bipartisan group, known as the Simpsons-Bowles Commission, to recommend ways to fix major fiscal problems like Social Security and Medicare. The commission issued its recommendations but fell three votes short of formally endorsing them. And Obama mostly walked away from the report. He later incorporated some of the less contentious proposals from the report into legislation he supported. But that ensured the tough compromises would not get made. The problem with compromising in Washington is that there are few true moderates left in either party. The notion that Republicans are the only ones standing in the way of compromise is inaccurate. ___ CLINTON: Clinton suggested that Obama's health care law is keeping health care costs in check. "For the last two years, health care spending has grown under 4 percent, for the first time in 50 years. So, are we all better off because President Obama fought for it and passed it? You bet we are." THE FACTS: That's wishful thinking at best. The nation's total health care tab has been growing at historically low rates, but most experts attribute that to continued uncertainty over the economy, not to Obama's health care law. Two of the main cost-control measures in Obama's law — a powerful board to keep Medicare spending manageable and a tax on high cost health insurance plans — have yet to take effect. Under the law, Medicare has launched dozens of experiments aimed at providing quality care for lower cost, but most of those are still in their infancy and measurable results have yet to be obtained. Former administration officials say the law deserves at least part of the credit for easing health care inflation, but even they acknowledge that the lackluster economy is playing a major role. Meanwhile, people insured through the workplace by and large have seen little relief from rising premiums and cost shifts. According to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, the average premium for job-based family coverage rose from $13,375 in 2009 when Obama took office to $15,073 in 2011. During the same period, the average share paid by employees rose from $3,515 to $4,129. While those premium increases cannot be blamed on the health care law — as Republicans try to do — neither can Democrats claim credit for breaking the back of health care inflation. ___ CLINTON: "I know many Americans are still angry and frustrated with the economy. ... I experienced the same thing in 1994 and early 1995. Our policies were working but most people didn't feel it yet. By 1996, the economy was roaring, halfway through the longest peacetime expansion in American history." THE FACTS: Clinton is counting on voters to recall the 1990s wistfully and to cast a vote for Obama in hopes of replicating those days in a second term. But Clinton leaves out the abrupt downward turn the economy took near the end of his own second term and the role his policies played in the setting the stage for the historic financial meltdown of 2008. While the economy and markets experienced a record expansion for most of the rest of Clinton's two-term presidency, at the start of 2000, there were troubling signs. Then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned in February 2000 that "we are entering a period of considerable turbulence in financial markets." Sure enough, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite stock index and the Dow Jones industrial average both peaked in March 2000. The bursting of the high-tech bubble dragged down the economy and markets through the rest of the year. From September 2000 to January 2001 when Clinton left office, the Nasdaq dropped 46 percent. Even now, in 2012, the Nasdaq has not returned to its 2000 peak. By March 2001, the economy toppled into recession. Also, as president, Clinton supported the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, a law dating back to the Great Depression that separated banking from high-risk financial speculation. Robert Rubin, who had been Clinton's first treasury secretary, helped broker the final deal on Capitol Hill that enabled the repeal legislation to pass. Some financial historians say the repeal of the law paved the way for banks to invest in risky investments like mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations that played a role in the 2008 financial meltdown. ___ CLINTON: "Their campaign pollster said, 'We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers.' Now that is true. I couldn't have said it better myself — I just hope you remember that every time you see the ad." THE FACTS: Clinton, who famously finger-wagged a denial on national television about his sexual relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky and was subsequently impeached in the House on a perjury charge, has had his own uncomfortable moments over telling the truth. "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," Clinton told television viewers. Later, after he was forced to testify to a grand jury, Clinton said his statements were "legally accurate" but also allowed that he "misled people, including even my wife." http://news.yahoo.com/fact-check-clinton-claims-compromise-stretch-043255807--election.html
Bill Clinton: A good lawyer defending a guilty client You could see all the rhetorical sleights of hand, the magic of a delivery, the wit of the argument, the sarcastic sallies against the other side. All of that was in former President Bill Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night. But it was clear, as he spoke, that his client was guilty of being a very bad president who has accomplished very little. President Clinton’s record is by now so well known that each of us was silently mouthing to ourselves as he spoke about the contrast between his record and Obama’s. “We face a long hard slog to recovery” he intoned. But we remembered how he created 6 million new net jobs right after he took office (by the end of 1994). “We need to lay a solid foundation for a future economy,” he said. But we all realized that Obama has increased the debt by $6 trillion. Hardly a solid foundation. When Clinton criticized the Republicans for doubling the debt after his administration left office, we all said to ourselves “and Obama tripled it." The low point of Clinton’s speech was when he boldly charged into the fray – like the charge of the light brigade – and said that we are better off today than we were four years ago! Four years ago, with the U.S. unemployment rate at just 6 percent, was worse than today with 8.3 percent? Four years ago, with just a $10 trillion debt, it was somehow not as good as today with a $16 trillion debt? Clinton’s arguments were obviously inadequate and sought to do something that cannot be done: speaking positively of Obama’s record. In his obvious inability to win the argument, Clinton showed us how weak it is. As he recited his statistics, we came to understand how hollow they are. Is this all he can say about Obama’s record we all asked? Even watching Clinton up there at the podium in Charlotte underlined the difference between his administration and Obama’s. We could see how far Obama’s record fell short of Clinton’s. It was obvious that Clinton balanced the budget while Obama tripled the deficit. It was obvious that Clinton created a net of 23 million new jobs while Obama has lost almost a million net even now. When Clinton had to go back to 1961 to generate positive job numbers, it was clear that something was weak in the case. Now the attention turns to Obama. He has to do everything. He needs to make the attack on Ryan and Romney. He has to justify his record. He has to paint his vision for the future. So far none of this has happened in the first two days of the convention. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/06/bill-clinton-good-lawyer-defending-guilty-client/#ixzz25iqi0BuP
I did not see the speech but it is either very brave or very foolish to put a guy out there speaking for whom the current President couldn't even carry his jockstrap...to Paraphrase Larry Holmes.
Only seen snippets of it over here and I expect that they were the good bits LOL so no real overall impression of it
I just know that I don't have any respect for Fox's opinion of the speech. It's not like they are fair and balanced. More like false and biased.
I am not a Fox Fan. Nor an MSNBC fan. I do have a little more respect for MSNBC now that they are more upfront about their bias. But, I think they do a little more than just 'lean'. View attachment 562 I do find it interesting that they have recently renamed their website to NBCNews.com. I can only imagine that they are trying to appear more legitimate on the interwebs.
