Under the Clinton Administration, Did President Clinton have a

[William769]

[IndianaGreen]

1. Clinton was the last President of the American Republic, so is not fair

to compare him to the Bush dictatorship.

Having said that, I had to vote for "Closed government" for a couple of reasons: Clinton refused to release documents related to Area 51 and the exposure by Area 51 workers to toxic chemicals, and he only paid lip service to the Freedom of Information Act.

[William769]

2. I appreciate you answer.

I did not mean to compare him to *. I just wanted to know what people thought of the Clinton Presidency only.

[IndianaGreen]

5. Clinton was the last republican President

Our republic lasted for 224 years, far less than the Roman republic.

:-(

[William769]

6. Now thtas just being mean and dishonest.

Just because you may not like what he stood for it was Democrats that put him in office and Republicans that tried to take him out of office.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton

P.S. Shame on you.

[IndianaGreen]

8. I used republican with small "r" on purpose

All of our Presidents, from Washington to Clinton, were republican Presidents. They took an oath to defend the Constitution and the republic for which it stood.

[William769]

9. My mistake, I apologize.

[IndianaGreen]

10. No problem. Most people don't realize what we have lost with Bush

We lost a republic, a system of government in which the powers of the sovereign were divided among three equal branches of government. We had a Constitution that put limits on government, and put limits on what a majority could do to a minority. All of that have been swept away by a man that has put himself above the law, the courts, the Congress, and the American people.

[justgamma]

3. Clinton opened up the FOIA

http://www.fas.org/sgp/clinton/reno.html

"In her directive to federal departments and agencies, the Attorney General said, "The American public's understanding of the workings of its government is a cornerstone of our democracy. The Department of Justice stands prepared to assist all federal agencies as we make government throughout the executive branch more open, more responsive and more accountable."



http://www.publicintegrity.org/report.aspx?aid=207

Just three weeks later, with no fanfare or announcement, President Bush signed Executive Order 13233, sharply restricting public access to the papers of former presidents. The Bush order overrides the post-Watergate, 1978 Presidential Records Act, guaranteeing that a president's papers must be made available to the public 12 years after he leaves office. Now George W. Bush can personally decide when the White House documents of Ronald Reagan and his father will be made public. The Executive Order has provoked not only widespread, bipartisan outrage, but also remedial legislation and broadly supported litigation to block its implementation. As Steven L. Hensen, the president of the Society of American Archivists, wrote in a Washington Post editorial, "the order effectively blocks access to information that enables Americans to hold our presidents accountable for their actions . . . for such access to be curtailed or nullified by an executive process not subject to public or legislative review or scrutiny violates the principles upon which our nation was founded."

[William769]

4. Thank you very much for the links!

I have to admit that one link about President Clinton & Janet Reno I had forgotten about.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Clinton paid lip service to FOIA and gay rights

His executive orders never had any teeth, they were meant for PR.

As to Bush, he believes in Stalin-style power and secrecy. There is no comparison between Clinton, a man with whom we have legitimate disagreements, and Bush, a tyrant and a war criminal.