give the credit to a long line of presidents and leaders who did the hard work fighting the cold war to take down the communists that allowed you to have a period of prosperity and a huge peace dividend, billy jeff

Not amused.

This statement lends credence to the theory he suffered minor brain damage while getting his bypass surgery.

Well yeah. His is the only presidency in which we've had widespread internet access and NOT Dubya as president.

Of course our lives have been the best in the Clinton era compared to any other era in American history.

The problem comes when he tries to take credit for it.

Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

He must be in bizzaro world...

followed immediately by the worst president, ever. smart voting, assholes.

Massive domestic investment in technological infrastructure, money flowing wildly, creating a tech boom, and he thinks it's all because of him.

What an egotistical jackass. The president has very little to do with such trends. He just happened to be in the Whitehouse at the time getting a blowjob.

Wow, lotsa 29%ers chiming in.

Go (D-ie in a goddamn fire, I'm sick of people using this trite, worn-out crap)

Narcissistic prick, and he thinks he deserves to have his fingers in the pot again.

LOL the Bush-humping failures are just flocking to this thread!

in the past 20 years, he's probably right.

Why does no one make the inredibly obvious point about why the economy was so good during his presidency - the internet become part of the culture. That had nothing, zero, nada to do with him. He and Hillary like to claim credit for the most important invention in human history as attributable to them (albeit indirectly).

You smell that? Its the smell of Freeper. Or failure. They are hard to differentiate.

DamnYankees: Why does no one make the inredibly obvious point about why the economy was so good during his presidency - the internet become part of the culture. That had nothing, zero, nada to do with him. He and Hillary like to claim credit for the most important invention in human history as attributable to them (albeit indirectly).

well, to his credit, he didn't STOP it from happening. bush would have found a way to fark it up. clinton just let the retarded speculators fark it up instead.

Well, let's see. Better than Bush Jr.? Come on.

Better than Bush Sr.? Yes. At least the voters thought so.

Better than Reagan? Yes, although not Zombie Nostalgia Reagan as he's usually written about by National Review types. I mean flesh and blood Reagan, who appointed all those nice men in crisply tailored suits to run the government for him, who in turn only occasionally woke him up from naptime to sign their pardons.

Better than Carter? Yes.

Better than Ford? Yes. (Nice guy, though, Ford.)

Better than Nixon? Eh, Nixon looks better every day Dubya's in office, but I think we have to give the nod to Clinton on that one.

Better than Johnson? Uh, yeah.

Kennedy falls into Zombie Nostalgia Reagan territory, which brings us back to Eisenhower. Was Clinton definitely a better president than Ike? No, you could make a case for Ike. Not that there was anything spectacular about him, but neither did anything spectacularly bad happen under Eisenhower, which is the threshold Clinton alone of all presidents since has met.

Not that that's anything to brag about, Bill, but it's true.

semiotix summed it up pretty well. Depends on what he means by modern, but, as usual, BC is at best exaggerating.

It was paradise on earth compared to his successor's 8 years, that's for fkn sure.

semiotix: Not that that's anything to brag about, Bill, but it's true.

So modern history begins in 1952?

well, reagan sucked, bush 1 sucked, bush 2 sucks, carter was enh, ford was enh, nixon was a corrupt asshole, LBJ was a bastard (oh and Vietnam), JFK was cool but didn't last very long.

FDR, Eisenower and Truman were all good, but Eisenhower left office in 61.
So yeah, Clinton may be on to something.

Do the eight years really have to be consecutive?

SilentStrider: well, reagan sucked, bush 1 sucked, bush 2 sucks, carter was enh, ford was enh, nixon was a corrupt asshole, LBJ was a bastard (oh and Vietnam), JFK was cool but didn't last very long.

FDR, Eisenower and Truman were all good, but Eisenhower left office in 61.
So yeah, Clinton may be on to something.

Doesn't modern history, at the absolute, very earliest start at the end of WWII? I would say it actually starts with the beginning of World War I. The only way Clinton is right about this is if you define Modern History as "after JFK died".

Modern history began with Bill Clinton. If you doubt it, just ask him.

The man redefined the blow-job for Christ's sake. He is directly responsible for a whole generation rationalizing why it is okay to suck it. President .. nay he was my King.

Even if it's true (I know that they were pretty good years for me, but I spent most of them hanging out in strip clubs, so YMMV) what does that have to do with the price of rice in California?

Well, compared to the last 7 years of non-stop disaster, maybe so.

Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'

January 17, 2001 | Issue 37•01


WASHINGTON, DC-Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address Tuesday that "our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over."



President-elect Bush vows that "together, we can put the triumphs of the recent past behind us."

"My fellow Americans," Bush said, "at long last, we have reached the end of the dark period in American history that will come to be known as the Clinton Era, eight long years characterized by unprecedented economic expansion, a sharp decrease in crime, and sustained peace overseas. The time has come to put all of that behind us."

The 1960s is not modern history any more, old timers.

Unfortunately, it is 2008, not 1992. Hillary is not Bill. Even Bill is not Bill, in my opinion, ever since his heart surgery (getting confused... wagging his finger and denying things he said less than 24 hours before).

Depends on what you want to call "modern". If Ike would count, I'd say Ike in a heartbeat. Massive, massive infrastructure investments (Interstates, yes, but also dams, airports, schools and lots of other things). Investments that Clinton, like every other President since LBJ has let get further and further behind in upkeep. Sent millions of GIs to college for very low-cost/low-indebtedness, which has helped our economy ever since. Ike did all this, while repaying WWII debt and rebuilding Europe by such crazy socialist ideas as a 91% top marginal tax rate.

If "modern" starts the day Bill shook JFK's hand... then probably he's right.

DamnYankees
Doesn't modern history, at the absolute, very earliest start at the end of WWII? I would say it actually starts with the beginning of World War I. The only way Clinton is right about this is if you define Modern History as "after JFK died".

JFK died 45 years ago. I don't think there's anything wrong with considering those years the best in "modern history" if you need to look more than four decades back to find better years.

But yeah, whether or not you give Clinton credit for them, his terms were periods of peace and prosperity, years you could actually go overseas and have people respect your nation, and where your money was actually worth something when you got there.

Sum Dum Gai: JFK died 45 years ago. I don't think there's anything wrong with considering those years the best in "modern history" if you need to look more than four decades back to find better years.

So, we're gonna define "modern history" as "as far back as we need to go to make Clinton right"? I'm not getting why JFK dying would be a demarcation.

He may be right.

But if he is acting in such a way that he has to remind us of this, then he may need to take a look at his own behavior.

That is some massive fail. This country made a huge turn around under Reagan vs. Clinton. Clinton should get all the credit for his "go along to get along" policy vs. Reagan "we are going to radically redefine the role of the US government". Clinton's policies were politically expedient. Reagan challenged the status quo

DamnYankees
So, we're gonna define "modern history" as "as far back as we need to go to make Clinton right"? I'm not getting why JFK dying would be a demarcation.

Not saying that would, just saying in my opinion, 45 years ago isn't modern anymore. I'd personally only use "modern history" for about the 1980s to present, myself.

Hang On Voltaire: Reagan challenged the status quo

I think you mean "started the downward spiral". Farking neoliberal economic policy...

JFK was a druggie, but he was shagging Marylin Monroe. Bill Clinton? He got Lewinksy - and he's married to Hillary.

JFK > Billdo

Sum Dum Gai: Not saying that would, just saying in my opinion, 45 years ago isn't modern anymore. I'd personally only use "modern history" for about the 1980s to present, myself.

Well, I think that's rather silly. In the large scheme of things, I think anything after the harnessing of electricity for daily use is "modern". If we redefine modern as only from Reagan on, Clinton's statement is really dumb, considering he was the only Dem in office in that time, so of course what he's saying would be true to a Dem.

Bhasayate: He got Lewinksy - and he's married to Hillary.

Hillary was a babe in the 70s. And how can you forget

DamnYankees: So, we're gonna define "modern history" as "as far back as we need to go to make Clinton right"?

come on, seriously, isn't that a given with the clintons? stop acting surprised.

Oh, I diagree, Sir. I think it might have been the best eight years in recorded history.

/practicing sycophant

Wouldn't anybody undead from the neck up look good stuck between Bush and Bush Jr?

spelunking_defenestrator: Oh, I diagree, Sir. I think it might have been the best eight years in recorded history.

/practicing sycophant

Hmmm...I dunno. Under Tuthmosis, there were a good 11 years of greatness for thos in Memphis and Thebes. Of course, they outsourcesdall off their milling to the Nubians in the south.

The best eight years of modern history were all in 1982.

Cinletharwi: Massive domestic investment in technological infrastructure, money flowing wildly, creating a tech boom, and he thinks it's all because of him.

What an egotistical jackass. The president has very little to do with such trends. He just happened to be in the Whitehouse at the time getting a blowjob.

The Clinton administration made the policy decisions that turned the Internet from a relatively small network serving mostly academic and government institutions into the phenomenon that it is today. This is well known to anyone who paid attention to the programs when they were being carried out. Al Gore actually invented the term information super highway. The "massive domestic investment in technological infrastructure" you refer to was a direct result of White House policies.

information superhighway or I-way (new window) - this is a buzzword from a speech by Vice President Al Gore that refers to the Clinton/Gore administration's plan to deregulate communication services and widen the scope of the Internet by opening carriers, such as television cable, to data communication. The term is widely used to mean the Internet, also referred to as the infobahn (I-bahn). by Online Dictionary, NetLingo

But don't let any facts get in the way of your Clinton-bashing.

I noticed what he's doing in pointing this out.

He's subtly reinforcing the "Hillary's presidency will equal Bill's" meme amongst Clinton voters.

Lets not forget the whole somalia incident. Way to go slick willie

Um, the best 8 years? I don't think so.

I wasn't getting a chance to fark during those eight years.
I would have to disagree with his assessment.

DamnYankees: semiotix: Not that that's anything to brag about, Bill, but it's true.

So modern history begins in 1952?

Depends on what we're talking about. If you mean the end of the weak-Congress era of the presidency, then yes, actually, it does start right about exactly then. But if it makes a hell of a lot of difference to you to say that Clinton is the third-best president since 1944, instead of the best or second-best since 1952, okay. Personally I don't think Truman was a very good president, but I guess he has his fans.

You might want to read what I wrote, if you're looking for Clinton-bashing material. My whole point was that it's not actually a great compliment to pay yourself; it basically says, "I didn't royally fark up." I don't really see what whining about the word "modern" gets you. Parsing language that finely to make some legalistic point is awfully... Clintonian, wouldn't you say?

semiotix: Depends on what we're talking about. If you mean the end of the weak-Congress era of the presidency, then yes, actually, it does start right about exactly then. But if it makes a hell of a lot of difference to you to say that Clinton is the third-best president since 1944, instead of the best or second-best since 1952, okay. Personally I don't think Truman was a very good president, but I guess he has his fans.

You might want to read what I wrote, if you're looking for Clinton-bashing material. My whole point was that it's not actually a great compliment to pay yourself; it basically says, "I didn't royally fark up." I don't really see what whining about the word "modern" gets you. Parsing language that finely to make some legalistic point is awfully... Clintonian, wouldn't you say?

I think its because its just so annoying the way the Clintons use language, parse everything so they aren't technically lying or wrong, and always are so self-aggrandizing. Bill said something which has no real meaning and can be endlessly re-interpreted, and can always deny he meant anything arrogant by it. It's just so cloying.

Lets not forget the whole somalia incident. Way to go slick willie

Dude. Too much Limbaugh is bad for your health.

George Bush the First sent a few troops to Somalia at the end of his term and the massacre happened three months into Clinton's presidency. If George, Jr had been president then, I'm guessing you would expect him to exact revenge on Somalia by attacking Iceland?

//hint:9/11Saudis not Iraq.