Begala: Thank God there were no blow jobs. They really are Better People."

[BurtWorm]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-begala/the-false-moral-superiori_b_9674.html

The plain fact is that after a seven year non-stop investigato-rama, no senior Clinton White House official was ever even charged with wrongdoing. Much less indicted. Much less convicted. In fact, the highest-ranking Clinton official to be convicted of wrongdoing in connection with his public duties was the chief of staff to the Agriculture Secretary. Betcha five bucks you can't even name the Clinton Agriculture Secretary in question, much less his chief of staff. Unlike Nixon (whose Watergate crimes were manifest), unlike Reagan (whose White House was corrupted by the Iran-Contra crimes), unlike Bush 41 (who pardoned White House aides and Cabinet officers before they could testify against him), Bill Clinton presided over the most ethical White House staff in decades.

And yet George W. Bush campaigned on a pledge to "restore honor and decency to the Oval Office." He spoke of moms and dads on the campaign trail who showed him photos of their children and asked him to give them a president their kids could be proud of.

We all knew what he meant. With a wink and a nod he told us he wouldn't cheat on Laura. And after he took office Mr. Bush and his henchmen smeared the Clintonistas, falsely accusing them of vandalism and theft. They told the press that in this Oval Office the gentlemen would wear suits, the ladies, skirts. And no more paper coffee cups. Nothing but the finest bone china. The Bushies even claimed moral superiority because of their punctuality. Everything was designed and marketed to stress the virtue of the Bushies and the vice of the Clintonians. And it worked. In the first year of George W. Bush's presidency, one major media figure told my wife and me to our faces that the difference between the Clinton crowd and the Bush team was that, "They're just better people than you are. They're more loyal to their President, more patriotic, less self-interested and ambitious. They're just better people."

Now we learn that these Better People have turned the White House into a criminal enterprise. And that the purpose of that enterprise was to mislead the country into going to war. 2,000 Americans killed. 15,000 horribly wounded. $200 billion gone. And a Muslim world -- and a non-Muslim world, for that matter -- that hates our guts. Al Qaeda is recruiting terrorists faster than we can kill them. And there is no end in sight.

But thank God there were no blow jobs. They really are Better People.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Just read that.

Begala really let it all out, didn't he?

[BurtWorm]

2. Boy, he did!

:toast:

It is not boilerplate to state that those accused are entitled to the presumption of innocence. But that is a legal matter. As a matter of morality, the Bushies are already guilty. Guilty of smearing the Wilson family. Guilty of twisting intelligence. Guilty of lying about the role of White House aides in outing Mrs. Wilson. Guilty of sanctimony and hypocrisy and hubris. Most of all, they are guilty of misleading us into this God-awful war.

So, yes, I feel sorry for those indicted and those under investigation, and especially for their families. They are going through hell. But it's nothing compared to the pain of 2,000 families who've lost a loved one in Iraq, or 15,000 families whose loved one has shed blood or lost limbs in the war Mr. Bush and his "better people" have started.

[leesa]

38. I wish just once they would think about the Iraqis who have died and been

maimed as a result of these lies. We are such an arrogant people!

[Ms. Clio]

44. I had the same thought

The U.S. is not "killing terrorists" it is slaughtering innocents.

[Eric J in MN]

37. yeah, I'm not used to seeing him so blunt (nt)

nt

[cybildisobedience]

3. wonder who that "major media figure" is.....

any guesses?
I'm thinking a Russert, a Novak, an Andrea Mitchell, or maybe a Chris Matthews.
Sounds like something Chris Matthews would say.

[Pirate Smile]

15. That was what I thought too - It sounds like a dumb-ass Tweety comment.

[crispini]

20. Yep. Tweety.

I'd bet five bucks on it.

[Fla Dem]

34. Agree Tweety. I can't understand how much he ADORES Bush.

Seriously, in the past few days I have heard him say how he really likes the guy, he admires him for his strength and vision. Get real. Whatever kool-aid the WH has been serving, Tweety took a big gulp.

[crispini]

36. Sounds like a big ol' man-crush to me.

He's fallen for the Fake Texan thing. Get real, Tweets.

[Fla Dem]

39. Exactly..he comes across as a man's-man. but it's so phony. However,

his swagger, cowboy routine and steadfastness, even though he is wrong, is what the disillusioned loves about him. They love his caricature, even though they may not agree with his policies. It's an emotional and visceral connection that blinds them to his evil side.

[PassingFair]

50. My money's on Tucker.

Begala worked with him. But hell, it coulda been Carville!

[TahitiNut]

21. It sounds like Limbaugh to me. Hubris on Viagra. Conscience on Oxycontin.

I like that. "Hubris on Viagra. Conscience on Oxycontin." It describes Limpballs to a "T". (Good for me. Good brain fart.) :pattingselfonback:

[MrsMatt]

27. Rupert Murdoch

is the first name that came to mind

[highplainsdem]

28. I agree it sounds like Tweety. He's getting more and more delusional.

[Strawman]

4. That was good

That was really good.

[Hubert Flottz]

5. I'll take a blow job, over a snow job, or no job, any day!

We could have Dick's trial and Saddam's together and cut the budget.

[sufrommich]

8. That would make a great bumper sticker! n/t

[Breeze54]

14. lol!

Someone else here posted this and I saved it!
Too funny! :P
imho

[sufrommich]

19. Some people are so witty.

:rofl:

[MellowOne]

46. Too funny! n/t

[PegDAC]

51. I read

on the Clark08 Yahoo group that this was one of the best protest signs on October 24. I love it!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I bet Harriet would volunteer!

[Ms. Clio]

45. Wow, that WOULD make a great bumper sticker -- Zzzzzing!

[understandinglife]

6. It is an excellent essay! Thanks for posting.

Peace.

[DemReadingDU]

7. Recommended

Thank you for sharing

[ElectroPrincess]

9. Yes, too funny! and true : P

[blm]

10. If Begala cared more for truth he'd name that mediawhore. The public has a

right to know because we OWN the airwaves that media figure pollutes.

[riderinthestorm]

11. K & R

[EVDebs]

12. Spider's Web: The Secret History of How the WH Illegally Armed Iraq

Spider's Web: The Secret History of How the White House Illegally Armed Iraq

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/12/17/1615235

"...the Iraq gate scandal showed essentially how the netherworld, the dark world of intelligence agents, arms dealers, crooked financiers that had been used in the 1980's to get military equipment from the United States and Europe to Saddam Hussein when it was considered a good thing to do, because he was being used as a bulwark against Iran continued to function after the Iran-Iraq war ended. So, essentially, a machinery of global dimension was put in place....

What really happened, of course, is that there were people along the way who were greedy, who were making money off of it, and there were people in governments in Italy and Britain and in the Thatcher government and in the Andriotti government in Italy who were working with their American counterparts and they continued the flow of equipment. Some of this is very sophisticated stuff and one of the scandals -- the way the scandal was developed was I first uncovered financial documents for a British company called Matrix Churchill based in Coventry in England that was sending what seemed to be innocent machine tool equipment to Saddam Hussein. But it wasn't. It was dual use technology that the C.I.A. and the British intelligence knew was going into Saddam's missile program and his nuclear program, but they allowed it to happen. So, the real problem is that we had a Frankenstein monster that got out of control, a Bush administration between 1988 and "Operation Desert Storm” in 1990 1991, that essentially turned a blind eye to this continuing shipment to Iraq, and then, of course, when we had the invasion of Kuwait, and the United States under Colin Powell and Schwarzkopf went in and then President Bush decided not to finish the job, but to leave Saddam alone, unfortunately, then it became time to cover up the tilt to Iraq, to cover up the way the United States has helped to shape and build Iraq's military strength and then ensued a traditional cover up which nobody cared about when I brought it out with Ted come in 1991, 1992, and the book, Spider's Web, 1993, because people in America thought it was more interesting to look at Whitewater."

[glitch]

13. I wouldn't be so sure about the blow jobs. Remember Jeff Gannon? nt

[Tatiana]

16. Wow! Paulie really let it out, didn't he?

I get the feeling that he's been holding that back for a long time.

[johnfunk]

26. I get the feeling Paul "Mister DLC" Begala will keep the gloves off

I'm not very pleased with his DLC ties, but when he puts his mind to it Begala can be simultaneously twelve times meaner and more eloquent than Ann Coulter -- and, unlike she of the protruding Adam's apple, Begala's right.

[goforit]

17. Tooooo funny!!!...You tel them Begala.

[crispini]

18. Kicked and recommended!

Excellent!

[Extend a Hand]

22. But thank God there were no blow jobs.

My husband just pointed out that we can't *really* be sure about that with all the time that jimmy/jeff spent at the whitehouse.

;)

[mzmolly]

23. AWESOME!!!

I love PB when he's "hot."

Thanks for posting, recommended.

[gristy]

24. If I wasn't half-smashed on my bottle of G.H. Mumm, I'd rewrite

Fitzgerald's indictment of Libby to see what it would sound like if he was indicting Clinton for lying about his BLOWJOB!

[johnfunk]

25. At least Clinton DESERVED a little oral sex for 8 years peace & prosperity

George W. Bush is a "better" person in the same way that fearmongering opportunists such as Dr. James "Beat Your Kids" Dobson and Pat "Investors Business Daily's My Bible" Robertson are "better" Christians.

In other words, it's all about self-righteous elitism. And that means no blowjobs for Chimpy W. McFlightsuit.

[Christa]

52. I always thought, and still do

Clinton is very doable :P :9

[ismnotwasm]

29. That was a good read

and a GREAT smackdown.

[NashVegas]

30. Love This Paragraph

The Fitzgerald probe, it should be noted, is the first independent investigation into alleged wrongdoing in the Bush White House. And it has hit paydirt. Contrast that with the dry holes of Whitewater, Filegate, the billing records, Vince Foster's suicide, the cattle futures, the Buddhist temple, and all the rest. Good Lord, Congress even spent two years investigating Clinton's Christmas card list. Just to list the trumped-up Clinton "scandals" is to recall how trivial -- and yet how destructive -- they were. Innocent people were impoverished, reputations were damaged, careers derailed. But at least history can give the Clinton team a clean bill of ethical health. No White House was more thoroughly investigated -- and more thoroughly exonerated. But it's telling that the first time anyone had the courage to scratch the surface of Bush, Inc., he found corruption.

[progressoid]

33. Ironic that this WH is just the opposite.

The most corrupt and the least investigated.

[Fly by night]

31. Sure there were blow jobs. Just given by bald men instead of chunky women

"Squeal, Karl, squeal like a pig!!"

[BamaBecky]

32. kick

[fshrink]

35. Very good Burt.

Been pondering something like that but you write way better. Thanks.

[ScreamingMeemie]

40. Yes...but...but....Mr Bush is just an honest normal man...trying to do

his job....Why do you liberals have to be so mean to him all the time? I mean...he KNOWS Jesus...in his heart even.

[Jamnt]

53. Bush doesn't know Jesus

He knows his own 12 step God. Read God's Politics for a good view on how *hole has twisted the Bible to his own ideals. The founding fathers would turn over in their graves if they only knew.

[kestrel91316]

54. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

57. Perhaps I should have used a sacrasm smiley?

:hi: Welcome to DU.

[Midlodemocrat]

41. Paul Begala says what all of us have been thinking for five years.

[ScreamingMeemie]

42. Yes, but we've been saying it...we just didn't have the mouthpiece.

If feels good again to have a mouthpiece. :hi:

[hippiegranny]

43. you gotta read the comments

that follow the editorial. Some priceless shit in there from the die-hard kool-aid addicts. "But but but CLINTON....!"

[drummo]

47. Begala just forgets to mention that had it not been for Clinton's BJ

these "Better People" wouldn't have had a chance to go even close to the White House let alone occupy it.

In fact they wouldn't occupy it had Clinton done the honorable thing and resign and let Gore run in 2000 as an incumbent president without Clinton being the elephant in the livingroom.

[FighttheFuture]

49. Lot's off ASS-uptions there, eh, goof? Kinda ignore that they have..

been working to wrest control for their crapola agenda for decades. Does Regan's Arms-for-hostages machinations which cost Carter the election mean anything to you? As for Clinton, I bet you when you spend $60-$100 million with unlimited powers as Ken Starr did, you will find something on ANYONE to use against them. Know what Fitzgerald cost so far? Under a million!

Of course, to use a blowjob with an intern, they had to play the shame card onto the American sheeple, and America, being very dysfunctional when it comes to sex and too freely judging others for personal failings (must be all the "Christan" influence), fell for it! Still, they liked Clinton, even in the end!

Let's face it, the vast Reich Wing conspiracy was afoot even before Clinton. Coors, Scaife, etc... buying and perverting the media to get their message out, think tanks of lies to spread it to a supine press, stacking the courts for decades, suppressing all the carp already known about Bush I and II, to finally lying through every orifice, accusing Clinton of things that they themselves also or actually did.

BTW, Gore won in 2000, as the News Consortium recount showed. So, how did Bushie really win it? It's called a corrupt SCOTUS with the worst ruling in their history--Bush v. Gore. Add to that a fat, dumb lazy electorate that could no longer evaluate truthful facts when they occasionally heard them and, well, here we are!! On the road to hell. Are YOU one of these sheeple?

You would be a fool if you expect politicians, or anyone for that matter, to be a saint. You should expect them to be competent, and have the best interests of the American people, this country at heart and to not break the law. Clinton succeeded at that in spades. Oh, please spare me the “he lied” crap, it was a perjury trap, itself illegal! Go look it up. This Bu$hitCo administration, and the last several Republican ones, failed miserably at that by any measure.

So, your fantasy ASS-uptions are just simply bullshit delusions. Stop kidding yourself and work on a more comprehensive perspective!

[drummo]

56. Re:

Does Regan's Arms-for-hostages machinations which cost Carter the election mean anything to you?

Even if that is true it has nothing to do with Clinton's BJ and its effect on the the 2000 election. And that was the subject.

As for Clinton, I bet you when you spend $60-$100 million with unlimited powers as Ken Starr did, you will find something on ANYONE to use against them. Know what Fitzgerald cost so far? Under a million!

It doesn't matter how much it cost. Clinton did it. And he should have resigned for the sake of the party, the country and the world.
It was perjury just like what Libby did. If Clinton for a sake fo change had cared more about the country than about himself he would have resigned. And Gore would have become president and then Bush wouldn't have had a chance to capture the White House.
And then we wouldn't be in this mess today. 3000 Americans in NY would be alive. 2000 US troops would be alive. New Orleans wouldn't have been fooled and even if it had been it wouldn't have been the mess as it was under Bush. We wouldn't have a record deficit, more poverty, more uninsured.

Of course, to use a blowjob with an intern, they had to play the shame card onto the American sheeple, and America, being very dysfunctional when it comes to sex and too freely judging others for personal failings (must be all the "Christan" influence), fell for it! Still, they liked Clinton, even in the end!

No they didn't. Clinton's job appoval remained high because of the economy -- which by the way he didn't control. But he personal ratings were around 30-35%. Even in his homestate. Check out the 2000 exit polls.

Or this:

Character Issues as a Legacy of the Clinton Presidency

Any discussion of the role of character issues in the 2000 presidential campaign must begin with
the presidency of William J. Clinton. The Clinton presidency is virtually unique in having at its
helm a man whose performance evaluations were strong and whose personal standing was
dismal. As they did throughout his impeachment trial, Americans consistently rated his
performance in the 60% range, while saying in a variety of ways that they disapproved of his
morals and ethics.

A January 27, 2000 ABC poll found that 58% of the public approved of Clinton’s performance
as president, but 61% percent disapproved of him as a person.
Seven in ten Americans said they were tired of the problems associated with the administration, and fewer than one-third of Americans wished that Clinton could run for a third term.
Fifty- four percent said they would be “glad to see him go,” and only 39% said they would be “sorry to see him go.”

http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:xOrrILk_wBcJ:www.ksg.harvard.edu/shorenstein/Research_Publications/Papers/Working_Papers/2001_1.PDF+%22As+Term+Wanes,+%27Clinton+Fatigue%27+Yields+to+Nostalgia%22&hl=en&client=opera

And it was not a personal failing. It was lying under oath. That's a crime.

Let's face it, the vast Reich Wing conspiracy was afoot even before Clinton. Coors, Scaife, etc... buying and perverting the media to get their message out, think tanks of lies to spread it to a supine press, stacking the courts for decades, suppressing all the carp already known about Bush I and II, to finally lying through every orifice, accusing Clinton of things that they themselves also or actually did.

Two wrongs will not make one good. And those who lie under oath -- regardless who they are -- should be held accountable.

BTW, Gore won in 2000, as the News Consortium recount showed. So, how did Bushie really win it?

Bush didn't win it. It was just close enough for them to steal it. It wouldn't have been close if Gore would have run as an incumbent president without Clinton around his neck.

Add to that a fat, dumb lazy electorate that could no longer evaluate truthful facts when they occasionally heard them and, well, here we are!! On the road to hell. Are YOU one of these sheeple?

No and I agree that most voters are ignorant and lazy as hell. But that doesn't change the fact that
Bush could get as many votes as he got because Clinton's lies and immoral conduct provided a great opportunity for the Reps to run on "honor and dignity" and it gave the opportunity to the press to portray Gore as a pathological liar. And it resonated among the voters because they were fed up lies and deception from the White House house.

Read about the significance of the liar schema in the 2000 election here:

http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/research_programs/ppt/papers/Gore412.pdf

You would be a fool if you expect politicians, or anyone for that matter, to be a saint.

Just because you are not a saint you don't have to do that in the Oval Office (I think Clinton just lost his mind, quite frankly) and you don't have to lie under oath.

You should expect them to be competent, and have the best interests of the American people, this country at heart and to not break the law. Clinton succeeded at that in spades.

No he didn't. He did break the law. Lying under oath is a crime. Just ask Fitzgerald about that.
Clinton was not convincted because of political reasons. (There was no enough votes in the Senate).

Oh, please spare me the “he lied” crap, it was a perjury trap, itself illegal! Go look it up.

I looked it up. And Clinton did commit perjury. You can spin it the way you want but he did it.

This Bu$hitCo administration, and the last several Republican ones, failed miserably at that by any measure.

You bet. But there wouldn't have been a Bush administration to being with had Clinton done the honorable thing and resign.

So, your fantasy ASS-uptions are just simply bullshit delusions. Stop kidding yourself and work on a more comprehensive perspective!

Fantasy? Do you think tha Bush would have had any chance to become president if Gore had run in 2000 as an incumbent president?
Do you think that Bush could have run on the "honor and dignity" mantra had it not been for the Clinton scandals?
Do you think it's a coincidence that the press was so eager to portray Gore as a liar in 2000?
Do you think it's a coincidence that -- according to the exit polls -- the most important personal quality for the voters was honesty? And do you think it's a coincidence that Bush won the "honesty vote" by 80%?

[Kire]

48. I can name the Agriculture Secretary.

In fact, I had a meeting with him when I was working for an environmental group fighting what has now become the Healthy Forest Initiative.

His name was Dan Glickman. I didn't know that about his chief of staff. though. Where can I collect the five bucks? I need it.

I also bumped into Clinton's environmental advisor in the hallways on the Hill, but I didn't know who she was, so I kept pulling my fellow activist away from her because we were late to see some congressman's aide. She asked me all sorts of questions about where I went to college - apparently she went to Villanova, which was nearby. Kathy McGinty, that was her name. What an embarassing thing, but she told me in no uncertain terms to "give 'em hell".

[MannyGoldstein]

55. Unfair! Unfair!

Hey!

How come I had a reply censored because I used a two-word euphemism for fellatio - but this post has the same euphemism!

C'mon editors! Consistency!

[Cha]

58. As usual the media gets it

WRONG! "In the first year of George W. Bush's presidency, one major media figure told my wife and me to our faces that the difference between the Clinton crowd and the Bush team was that, "They're just better people than you are. They're more loyal to their President, more patriotic, less self-interested and ambitious. They're just better people."


But, Fitzgerald got it..

"The Fitzgerald probe, it should be noted, is the first independent investigation into alleged wrongdoing in the Bush White House. And it has hit paydirt. Contrast that with the dry holes of Whitewater, Filegate, the billing records, Vince Foster's suicide, the cattle futures, the Buddhist temple, and all the rest. Good Lord, Congress even spent two years investigating Clinton's Christmas card list. Just to list the trumped-up Clinton "scandals" is to recall how trivial -- and yet how destructive -- they were. Innocent people were impoverished, reputations were damaged, careers derailed. But at least history can give the Clinton team a clean bill of ethical health. No White House was more thoroughly investigated -- and more thoroughly exonerated. But it's telling that the first time anyone had the courage to scratch the surface of Bush, Inc., he found corruption."