(Bill) Clinton says Republican extremists divided country

[RamboLiberal]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-10-15T050028Z_01_N14265662_RTRUKOC_0_US-DEMOCRATS.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2

Former President Bill Clinton told Iowa's Democratic Party faithful on Saturday that the actions of "an extreme sliver" of the Republican Party have backfired and "profoundly divided" the country.

"We've got a big responsibility. Forget about 2008. Forget about the politics. Just go out and find somebody and look them dead in the eye and say 'You know, this is not right'...This is America," Clinton said. "We can do better and this year, it's a job that Democrats have to do alone."

<snip>

Republicans, who control the White House and Congress, Clinton charged "paint themselves as pure and the rest of us who don't agree with them as stained" in order to divide the country and stay in power.

"People know things are out of whack, that fundamentally the order of, the rhythm of public life and our common life as Americans has been severely disturbed," he said.

<snip>

"You cannot blame the entire Republican party for this reason. The entire government of the United States, the Congress, the White House and increasingly the courts for the last six years has been in the total control not of the Republican party but of the most ideological, the most right wing, the most extreme sliver of the Republican Party."

[JoFerret]

1. Good political angle, Bill

.

[calimary]

2. Oh yes I CAN! I CAN blame the entire republi-CON party for this.

Yes. ALL OF THEM. They all got on the bandwagon, seeing this as their golden ticket. Whether they really, in their "hearts," agreed, they still climbed onboard and took on the mantle, drank the Kool-aid, and pronounced it good. NOT ONE of them stood up and tried to stop any of this. NOT ONE. If they disagreed, they did it in timid whispers, behind people's backs, out of the limelight, and certainly out of earshot of anybody who could harness that discontent and do something about it, or with it.

FUCK THEM ALL. THEY were perfectly positioned, from the inside, to do something about it, themselves, and they put their party, and its lust for power and domination and subjugation, above everything else.

Oh, did I remember to add - FUCK THEM ALL ?

[Boston Critic]

7. Proportionality

I, for one, have been advising people to vote against each and every Republican on their ballot this year without exception. Even the "good" Republicans have gone along to keep the bad guys in power.

But that said, Clinton is right. There are the extremists and then there are the decent people who we may have profound policy disagreements with, but who not inherently evil. While I root for his defeat in Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee is NOT the same as, say, Bill Frist.

When the dust settles after the elections, hopefully with the prospect of the Democrats holding majorities in both houses come January, we should separate thoese who support Bush's corrupt regime and those who are willing to reach out one issue or another. Even Bob Dole was a strong supporter of the food stamps program, because he saw it as benefitting Kansas farmers if poor people could afford to buy food.

It's why I want Congress to begin massive investigations into the Iraq war and other aspects of Bush's criminal behavior, but do not think impeachment should be the first priority -- deserved though it may be. The American public has come around to the idea that Bush and his cronies and his enablers in Congress are the problem, not the solution. Let the investigations turn up something that will leave the public demanding impeachment rather than dismiss it all as "Democratic payback."

But first, let's defeat every Republican we can three weeks from Tuesday, including DINO Lieberman.

[C_U_L8R]

10. AGREE - they are all responsible

the republicans came gunning for us... thinking they could
destroy the democratic party and all liberals for that matter.
Each and every one of us.
Well they fucked that up too,,, and now they gotta pay the price.
The Neocons, The Freeps, The corrupt politicians and their media counterparts,
and yes especially the so-called Moderate Republicans.
These lame pukes sat aside silenty with tacit approval
and LET THIS HAPPEN. It's their party.. it's their fault.

yeah I know there are quite a few Moderate Republicans lurking around here..
well.. what are YOU gonna do about YOUR party ??? You can't sit on the fence forever.

[ldf]

12. FUCK THEM ALL!

such eloquence. i wish i had such a knack for words. :-)

and i agree 110%.

every last one of them bears the blame and the shame of the abomination currently squatting in al gore's whitehouse.

[calimary]

15. Yeah, eloquent, I know. They bring out the best, AND the beast, in me.

It just goes along with a phrase-to-the-wise around our house, of which we'd remind our kids as they were growing up (especially our son): "if you act like a jerk, you're gonna be treated like a jerk."

Sorry, but these people are acting like jerks. So I'm gonna treat them and speak of them accordingly. At least for the time being. There ARE, mind you, plenty of the sweetest, most forgiving, most TRULY Christ-like souls here on DU, who are more than willing to do what Jesus and Gandhi and other Giants of Great Light recommend. Someday perhaps I'll be so enlightened. In the meantime, though, I'll do the necessary mud-wrestling so they don't have to.

:D

[primavera]

23. Hear, hear!

Radical splinters are just that: splinters, until the rest of the country goes along with them. Nice try, Bill, but the destruction of our democracy we've witnessed over the last several years cannot be so easily chalked up to a few "bad apples." Repuke opportunism and the collaborationist mindset of Vichy Dems promoted by Bill's very own DLC both have to share responsibility for this historic catastrophe, as does anyone who has watched this tragedy unfurl and kept silent.

[aggiesal]

26. I agree. They all drank the Kool-Aid and liked it.

The congress (both Houses) continue to appease this administration.
So I don't think it is the far right faction. It's all of them.

[xchrom]

3. there were plenty of americans just waiting to hear

the hateful message that this ''extreme sliver'' put out there.

somebody like a clinton should start some kind of conversation that talks about the character of americans -- that they are so willing to comply with a divide and conquer.

racism, sexism, religious fanaticism, anti-tax freaks -- all these and more were will to go along with the politics of destruction.

[pretzel4gore]

4. the pigmedia Bill

they were the grease on the slide....

[BrklynLiberal]

5. How many Germans were actually Nazis?

Did that stop the entire country from following Hitler and committing the atrocities that were committed? Of course there were resisters, but they were quickly silenced.

SEE-
http://www.thirdreich.net/Thought_They_Were_Free.html

The discrepancy between the kind of society many Germans thought they were building and the reality of the horror of the Third Reich presents one of the most intriguing questions of our age. "How could it -- the Holocaust -- have happened in a modern, industrialized, educated nation ? The genesis of my interest in the Third Reich lies in my search for an answer to that enigmatic question.
The excerpt reproduced below is one of the most insightful I have yet discovered. I share it with you - Pass it on - Lest we forget.

[C_U_L8R]

11. They didn't CHOOSE to be German

But some did choose to become Nazis.

Today.. Republicans have a choice...
and their choices speak volumes.

[DoYouEverWonder]

19. Many Republicans are turning away from the extremism of BushCo

You shouldn't paint everyone with the same broad brush.

Those people who were not extreme ideologues, who have seen the light, should be welcomed not shunned.

Take a clue from those Amish folks up in PA. We all could learn a lot from them.

Save your anger for the ones who will never admit that they were wrong. Who are too arrogant to see any other POV other then their own. The ones who will go to prison kicking and screaming that they are innocent and everyone else in the world is wrong.

[tularetom]

6. Yet again Clinton tries to please everybody

He knows the "base" (us) is clamoring for some red meat from him, but he doesn't want to piss off his new BFF, poppy bush by identifying the chimp as the source of all the problems. Is this what they call "triangulation"?

[fooj]

8. The son of the "man that you love" has had a swell time

engineering this DIVISION with his pal, Turdblossom. You are their new adopted son, yes? Speak up, Bill. We can't hear you...apparently, they can't either.

[Maccagirl]

9. Many DUer's have said the same thing, Mr. Clinton

and have said it better and with more passion and clarity. Those "sliver" of people despise you and your wife and everything you've ever worked for or (claimed) to believe in. Don't blame me for the laziness of the American people for not stopping them-I've defended you and fellow Democrats against them better than you ever did.

[UrbScotty]

13. He is making an important distinction

Not every Repub is an un-American extremist - just their leadership and a few others.

[Tellurian]

14. Yes, thats the ticket...

But take care not to split those hairs too thin-

They are a herd mentality and depend on Bush for their sustenance.

I can only say this; You've left an open invitation to moderates and centrist leaning Republicans;
and so it may go till the midterms...and thats it!

They will close ranks for the 08' election and return to the scabs they once were, when they held both houses.
Meaning, don't be taken in by this traffe. (jewish word, although I'm not jewish)(meaning garbage?)

Oh, and in case you're reading here. They may accuse the Dems of stealing the midterms. So, brace yourself with an
indisputable response for that one. (like a leak!) You know it's almost impossible to prove a negative..
So, preemption is the way to go on that one..

Otherwise, here's to brave Hillary :toast: wanting to throw herself and you into the fire to put our world right!

God Bless and GodSpeed!

[lpbk2713]

16. It really took a turn for the worse when Gingrich arrived on the scene

When that sleazebag crawled out from under his rock he gave birth to modern day mean-spirited politics.

[FlaGranny]

17. Ultimately, he is

right. The country cannot survive the way it's going. It can't survive divided with hatred. Sooner or later, we are going to have to listen to one another and cooperate with one another or eventually we'll wind up like the Middle East and start killing one another. Sure, the Republicans are responsible for this state of affairs but we'd better be better than that.

[Rambis]

18. Conservatism has been tried and it has failed!

That is my mantra until 2008 and beyond learn it, love it, embrace it, it is the path to our salvation.

[niceypoo]

20. The big divide started when Bush 1 started attacking liberals

with his "The 'L' Word" campaign, equating the word liberal with the 'F' word. From that point on the Limbaughs of the world took over. Now the main dividers are people like Limbaugh and OReiley, spewing hatred for anyone who disagrees with them.

[Norquist Nemesis]

21. Yes, but Reagan sowed that one and Bush harvested it. n/t

[Hobarticus]

27. Bingo....you can thank Old Mother Reagan for the state of the dis-union

...and the deep divisions this country is seeing. The first politician to use "liberal" as a dirty word.

[missTheBigDog]

22. You are right!

And don't forget that annoying dumbfuck Sean Hannitty.

[LibDemAlways]

24. I disagree.

How could an "extreme sliver" of the Republican party be responsible for the clusterfuck we have witnessed the past 6 years? Repukes have marched in lockstep. They are all responsible. Where have the voices of moderation been? Other than Jeffords, who saw the handwriting on the wall and got out early, where are the defectors? Sorry, Bill. I do blame the entire Republican party. Every last Bush Crime Family enabling one of them.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

25. It started with Ray-Gun...

That was when the collaboration with Foulwell and his "moral majority" bullshit was initiated, thereby distancing themselves from the Nixon administration even while employing former Nixonites.

[depakid]

28. Still triangulating

And still the same sell out corporatist he always was. Pandering to the right and hurting progressive candidates all over the country.

Herein lies the major problem with the Democratic party and the reason for its current irrelvance.

I actually regret the one time that I voted for him.