THE CLINTON INTERVIEW

Well, you gotta admit .. that was a pretty intense Chris Wallace interview of Bill Clinton last night [video] on Fox News Sunday.  Bill Clinton obviously doesn't particularly like being criticized for his failure to pursue Osama bin Laden.

The interview, the first Clinton has ever given to the Fox News Channel, started out innocently enough...with Wallace asking the smiling Clinton about his initiatives to save lives around the world and so forth.

So then Wallace asks a question that viewers had e-mailed in.  Why didn't Clinton do more to connect the dots and put Al-Qaeda out of business.  This is where Clinton erupted  --- immediately going on the defensive.  He says he did more to kill Osama Bin Laden than the Bush Administration did in the first 8 months it was in office.  He's upset that the Bush Administration is never criticized for that.  Of course, the Bush Administration had 8 months....the Clinton Administration had 8 years.

In his response to Wallace's question Clinton relied strongly on the statements of Richard Clark, Clinton's chief anti-terrorist operative during his presidency.  But after the interview Fox News did some more research into Richard Clark and found that his assessment of Clinton's efforts was not all that positive.

In a 2004 CNN interview Richard Clark spoke of one particular Clinton attempt to "get" Osama bin Laden.   "Clinton bombed them once; the public reaction was negative to that.  Remember 'wag the dog?'  Everyone said Clinton is just bombing Afghanistan to divert attention from the Monica business.  And so he didn't bomb them again."

Well .. that doesn't make it look as if Clinton was quite as dedicated to the idea of killing Osama bin Laden as he would have had us believe, does it?

Fox News also restated one of the findings of the 9/11 Commission report says where it was stated  that in December of 1999 Richard Clark sent Clinton a memo urging an attack on Al Qaeda basis before the millennium.  Sandy Berger wrote on the memo "No."  Wow -- that sure does show a dedication to get bin Laden, doesn't it?

My feeling is that this whole "lose your temper" bit is going to backfire on Clinton.  His "I tried" stuff is going to cause people to look at his record anew.  That's probably not something he will welcome.

JUST WHAT IS THE POINT HERE?

Let's turn the clock back a generation or so, to the beginning of the civil rights movement.  Just a quick question for you.  What if the New York Times ran a headline which read: "Civil Rights Movement Said to Worsen Threat of Racism."  The article tells you "Efforts by the Justice Department to end racial discrimination in the South has helped spawn a new wave of racial animosity."  You read further and discover that recruitment of members into the Ku Klux Klan has increased since the federal government stepped up its efforts to bring the vote to Southern blacks. 

Tell me .. .would it be time to pull back and let the racists and bigots just have their way?  Or would our determination to go forward with the civil rights struggle merely be strengthened?

Democrats, desperate to do anything to reverse their slide in the polls, are jumping on this story big time, with no small amount of help from the media.

Jane Harman, the most senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee says every intelligence analyst she has talked to confirms what the report says.  Says Harman:  "And that is why the best military commission proposal in the world and even capturing the remaining top Al-Qaeda leadership isn't going to prevent copycat cells, and it isn't going to change a failed policy in Iraq.  This administration is trying to change the subject.  I don't think voters are going to buy that."

Oh really? 

Look closely at the Democratic position here.  They are saying that we shouldn't have invaded Iraq because it is causing more terrorism.  In other words, we made them mad.  We shouldn't fight wars because it might make the Islamic terrorists upset. That being the case, can you imagine how mad the Islamic fascists would be if we caught or killed Osama bin Laden?  That is, if he isn't already dead. 

Maybe we should call off the hunt for Osama, Mullah Omar, and the rest of them!  After all, if we catch them it's just going to piss these pissants off.  Can't have that, can we?

MUSLIMS COMPLAIN ABOUT CAR COMMERCIAL

Muslims often complain that they are being stereotyped as terrorists.  The overwhelming majority of Muslims are not Islamic terrorists, they tell us...and that's true.  So it's a bit of a head-scratcher as to why a car commercial running in Columbus, Ohio has so many up in arms.

CAIR is complaining about the radio ad for Dennis Mitsubishi which advertises "Fatwa Fridays" and features women in burqas threatening to launch a jihad on the automotive market.  The ad also offers free rubber swords for the kiddies.  It is obviously a parody of terrorism.  It has nothing to do with run-of-the-mill, peace-loving Muslims.

But that's not how they see it.  CAIR says it is going to contact the dealership and see about offering cultural sensitivity training.  Many stations are refusing to run the ad, and that's too bad...it sounds like a riot.  But it is brilliant in one respect...they've now gotten more advertising out of it than they ever would've gotten from a regular commercial

All that having been said ... I think this is perhaps about one of the dumbest car commercials I've ever seen. 

RIGHT TO VOTE?  SORRY ... IT JUST ISN'T THERE

Tracey McGoughy, Michael J. Breaux, Ron Gooden, Randy Jent and Debra Stephens.  Sorry ... but every single one of you are dead wrong. 

OK .. .so who are those people.  All five of them had letters published in yesterday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution stating adamantly that there is actually a right to vote engrained in the U.S. Constitution.  These letter writers were responding to an earlier letter from someone who was proposing restrictions on who can and cannot vote, a position I support.

Let's look at some of the claims made by the fantastic five:

• "The question is not whether voting is a privilege or a right.  That fact has been established."  Tracey McGoughy
• "A letter writer tries to make a case for limiting the ability of citizens to vote.  But one can't make that case, based on the 15th Amendment to the Constitution."   Michael J. Breaux
• "But what of the essential right of each citizen to be secure in the one-man, one-vote principle?"  Ron Gooden
• "Even if one ignores the fact that the phrases "right to vote" (Amendment 14) and "right of the citizens of the United States to vote" (Amendments 15 and 19) appear in the Constitution, the letter writer's logic is flawed."  Debra Stephens
• "Nowhere does the Constitution say that voting is a 'privilege.'  It states that there is a right to vote, and it is sacred."  Randy Jent

Well, as luck would have it, this is one of the very issues I've addressed in my next book "Somebody's Gotta Say It!"  I hate to be the one to break this to you Tracey, Ron, Mike, Randy and Debra.  But you're all wrong.  There is no right to vote, at least not in a federal election..

Oh, it may be true that your state's constitution contains some sort of a guarantee of your right to vote in an election, but that's really as far as it goes.

Now I'm not going to give this entire chapter away right here.  I'll just give you enough to whet your appetite for the publication of the book come next Spring. 

In December of 2000 a law professor by the name of Michael C. Dorf wrote a column entitled "We Need a Constitutional Right to Vote in Presidential Elections."  Professor Dorf, a law professor at Columbia University, by the way, was bitterly upset with the results of the 2000 election and the puddin' storm that erupted in Florida after the vote.

Here:  Let me just share one paragraph from Dorf's column.  Now Tracey, Mike, Ron, Randy and Debra ... I want all of you in particular to read this.  Remember .. .this is a learned law professor writing this, not just someone sitting down to write a letter to the editor:

"Amidst the divisiveness of the United States Supreme Court's second foray into the 2000 Presidential election, it is easy to overlook the significance of the Court's earlier, unanimous ruling of December 4, 2000.  A close reading of the decision in that case, Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, reveals a clear consensus for what will strike many Americans as an outrageous proposition: there is no constitutional right to vote in a Presidential election.  The fact that the state in which you reside even permits you to vote for electors is purely a matter of legislative grace."

So ... there you have it.  There's that, and more.  I'm not going to give away this entire chapter here, but my research clearly shows that the founding fathers in no way intended to grant a universal right to vote in federal elections in the Constitution.  As for the states ... well, it's pretty much up to them.  What the Constitution does do, by virtue of the 14th, 15th and 19th Amendments, is set forth some parameters upon which a state cannot limit the voting franchise IF that state decides to offer a right to vote in its state constitution.  In other words, a state can't formulate a constitution which says you can vote in a state or local election unless you're black, or a woman, etc.   The same rule would apply to any federal elections as well.

It would seem that the evil "letter write" had a valid point after all, and our letter-writing gang of five needs to do just a bit more research.

Oh well ... back to the ole drawing board!

THANK YOU AJC.COM

Well I don't know about you, but I was absolutely glued to ajc.com over the weekend.  Ajc.com is, of course, the Internet site for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

So ... why the rapt attention to every single update to this website?  Where else could I keep such close tract to the wanderings of the great and exalted Puff Daddy, a/k/a P Diddy, a/k/a Sean John, a/ka Puff, a/k/a Puffy, a/k/a Sean Combs  over the weekend?

Thanks, ajc.com, for keeping me up to speed.  You would have thought the Pope was in town.

FIND ME A BIGGER BUNCH OF LOSERS

Something else happening in Georgia.  The Flaggots have crawled out from under their logs again. 

And just who are the Flaggots?  They're a group ... a very small group ... of people who believe that the greatest problem facing all of mankind is the fact that the Confederate Battle Flag can no longer be found on the Georgia State Flag.  The Flaggots have surfaced again to vow the defeat of current Governor Sonny Perdue.  Their story is that they were promised a vote on their precious little issue, and that Governor Perdue didn't deliver. 

Know this:  There is no way in the world that the Georgia State Flag is going to revert to the 1956 version with the Confederate battle emblem prominently displayed.  The 1956 flag was adopted as a symbol to opposition to the civil rights movement, and it is NOT coming back.

How pathetic do you have to be to make this your number one issue in an election? 

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

So, is this mailbox happy to see us, or..... More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Chris Wallace says that when Bill Clinton lost his temper during their interview, it was like a mountain coming down in front of him.  In case you missed it, you can watch it here.

Howard Dean is applauding Bill Clinton's performance during the Fox News Sunday interview.  Reading from his Michael Moore talking points, Dean says what Clinton did is exactly what Democrats need to do in the upcoming election.  Absolutely...Republicans would be happiest if they did.

The Pope is groveling today.....meeting with Muslim leaders to atone for daring to criticize Islam.  It's too bad he didn't stick to his guns instead of backpedaling and apologizing too much.

Democrats, desperate to reverse their slide in the polls and still try to take over the House and Senate this November, are trotting out the Social Security bogeyman.  They say the Republicans are going to overhaul the program by cutting benefits.

Oil has dropped to under $60 a barrel...and gas prices are dropping even faster.  What happened to the $5 a gallon gasoline?  It never happened.  Democrats will probably just say the oil companies are lowering the prices before the election to prevent them from taking over.  Always a conspiracy,  you know.

Venezuelan dictator and thug Hugo Chavez is accusing George W. Bush of trying to have him killed.  This is apparently because Chavez called Bush the devil at the U.N. last week.  Of course, he has no evidence...but then the Bush-hating media doesn't need any.

There's been a lot of focus on the president of Iran and his speech to the United Nations.  But Fareed Zakaria takes a look at the situation in Iran itself, and says all is not well.  In fact, he says all we have to do is wait for Iran's anti-American government to collapse.

Byron York takes Bill Clinton to task for his excuse-making on Fox News Sunday and says that no matter what the former president says, the record shows he failed to act on terrorism.

Democrats are accusing the Bush Administration of selectively using the facts when it comes to the war in Iraq.  But Jack Kelly says it is the Democrats that are the ones that are suppressing the facts when it comes to Iraq.  Interesting reading.

For those who might be heading out to the bookstore or library, or for those who may just be heading to college and need some weekend reading, Professor Mike Adams presents his fall reading list.  Enjoy...and pay special attention to the fifth book on the list.

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