Pres Bill Clinton Bitch Slaps Chris Wallace on FOX

[The Tower]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

He ate that poor fool's lunch - no question about that. I think Fox is used to people either being terrified of them and/or easy interviews with yes men. I think they are also used to W and his cronies and their canned answers and lack of relative intelect. Clinton is none of those things and he sure showed it in brilliant colors in that interview. I was watching it thinking what a charm it was to have someone who could at least speak English in the White House.

Damn right.

Clinton kicked Wallace's ass... And rightly so. Wallace was trying to steer away from the line of questioning once he realized where he was at (location: up **** creek), but Bill was having none of it and stuck to his guns. "You asked the questions, so I'm going to give you the answers."

Clinton is ****ing brilliant- faults and all. The whole time I was just thinking to myself- what a moron Wallace was to think that he would just be able to breeze into that kind of question and that someone of Clinton's intellect would just sit back and take it.

Democrats take note- fight back, fight hard and fight smart.

[estranged4life]

"I don't know where he is. He's not that important. He's not our priority."

[Nixxxed]

As for the rest of the inteview, ThinkProgress and MediaMatters both have analyses of Wallace's other interviews with prominent Republicans. And, like you couldn't have guessed, he's never asked them anything remotely as caustic as this. In fact, he's never asked most of them a tough or even important question at all.

http://thinkprogress.org/ - most of it has been bumped to page 2 now...

http://mediamatters.org/items/200609240002

I know most you peeps in this thread already know this - I'm posting these more for the lurkers...

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I do not think Clinton could legally run for VP or really for any office that could eventually lead to him being the Pres. for a third term as the 22nd Amendment says:

Section 1.

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once . . . .

____________________________________________________________

Clinton could, however, accept a cabinet position because although that put him in line for the Oval Office - the 22nd Amendment prohibits only being "elected" - not appointed.

Jason, the article I referenced says it IS possible. to wit:

How to bring back Bill
A Clinton-Clinton 2008 ticket is constitutionally possible.
By Scott E. Gant and Bruce G. Peabody
WASHINGTON, D.C., AND MADISON, N.J. – Americans are nostalgic for the 1990s. They long for a time when terrorism was perceived as a problem confined to foreign lands and when the stock market's rise seemed unstoppable. And, it turns out, many of them miss former President Bill Clinton.

In a recent poll conducted for CNN, respondents favored Mr. Clinton over President Bush on a variety of issues, including policy areas traditionally viewed as GOP strongholds. By a wide margin, those surveyed indicated that Clinton did a better job managing the economy and handling foreign affairs and taxes.

Clinton's resurgent popularity, and Democrats' difficulties in taking over the White House in recent years, might counsel a bold strategy for 2008. Whoever is selected as the Democratic nominee for the next presidential race should consider William Jefferson Clinton as a candidate for vice president.

While the political advisability of such a move is subject to legitimate debate, the legal issues are more straightforward. The only serious question about the constitutionality of Clinton assuming the vice presidency relates to the interplay of the Constitution's 12th and 22nd Amendments.

The 12th Amendment was ratified following the election of 1800, which produced sustained electoral uncertainty after Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, Jefferson's designated vice president, received the same number of electoral votes. The election was sent to the House of Representatives, which took 36 ballots to select Jefferson. The 12th Amendment thereafter required that electoral votes be cast separately for president and vice president, and specified that "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of president shall be eligible to that of vice president of the United States."

A century and a half later, the states ratified the 22nd Amendment, largely as a response to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's four electoral victories. The amendment bars individuals from being "elected to the office of the president more than twice."

The 22nd Amendment is often described as prohibiting an already twice-elected president, such as Clinton, from again serving as president. But the text of the amendment suggests otherwise. In preventing individuals from being elected to the presidency more than twice, the amendment does not preclude a former president from again assuming the presidency by means other than election, including succession from the vice presidency. If this view is correct, then Clinton is not "constitutionally ineligible to the office of president," and is not barred by the 12th Amendment from being elected vice president.
Clinton's public approval at the time he stepped down from the White House was remarkably high given the voter "fatigue" that normally accompanies a second-term president. Now, nearly six years later, his popularity appears considerable and is seemingly increasing.

Of course, Clinton's spouse, Sen. Hillary Clinton, is viewed as a leading Democratic candidate for president. She would surely have reservations about putting her husband on the 2008 ticket. But Bill Clinton might help energize the Democratic base and defuse arguments that Mrs. Clinton is too liberal.

In the event that Senator Clinton elects not to run in 2008, perhaps an alternate Democratic nominee will have enough self-confidence to consider sharing the stage with the charismatic Bill Clinton in the hopes of recapturing the White House. As for Clinton himself, although there are many reasons why he might decline an invitation to run for vice president, the thrill of another campaign and the lure of a return to the West Wing might be too tempting to resist.

• Scott Gant is a partner with Boies, Schiller & Flexner in Washington. Bruce Peabody is an assistant professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J.

[strandinthewind]

That is reaching because the VP is elected for the sole purpose of being the Pres. in the Pres. cannot be and the Amendment strictly prohibts the election, etc. So, I cannot see that pasting any kind of muster, etc. But, the cabinet position is far more doable.

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

That is reaching because the VP is elected for the sole purpose of being the Pres. in the Pres. cannot be and the Amendment strictly prohibts the election, etc. So, I cannot see that pasting any kind of muster, etc. But, the cabinet position is far more doable.

Well, we've got two legal eagles saying he could so......

again:

the amendment does not preclude a former president from again assuming the presidency by means other than election, including succession from the vice presidency.

believe me, the Rethugs would HOWL if they thought this was even a REMOTE possibility, but if it is, then I think the Dems need to utilize old William Jefferson because Lord knows we sure NEED him! And it just might give the Dems the boost they need! The very idea is exciting to me!

[strandinthewind]

That is an inaccurate and fallacious conclusion - VP is elected solely for that reason and the 22nd Amendment expressly prohibits that in plain language, etc. But, he could always try.

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

That is an inaccurate and fallacious conclusion - VP is elected solely for that reason and the 22nd Amendment expressly prohibits that in plain language, etc. But, he could always try.

I think the "plain language" says otherwise and it is NOT forbidden in either the 12th or 22nd amendment. And I hope someone DOES try it. I think this country NEEDS him....

[irishgrl]

by the way, I found the exact same interpretation in another place:

There has also been some heated discussion on a possible loophole in the 22nd amendment that might allow Bill Clinton to serve beyond his
prescribed constitutional limit. There is nothing in the language of the 22nd Amendment that precludes a former president from becoming vice-president. So, for example, Al Gore or Hilary Clinton could run for president in 2004 and name Bill Clinton as their vice-president.
Upon the death, incapacity, impeachment, or resignation of the president, Bill Clinton could then assume the office. There is a statement in the 12th Amendment which appears to cover this loophole, however: "But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am12

In an article title "Why the Constitution Permits a Clinton-Gore
ticket," Michael C. Dorf, vice dean and professor of law at Columbia
University, says that the 12th Amendment would allow Clinton to become
Vice-President, however. "The 12th Amendment would allow a Clinton vice-presidency. Its language only bars from the vice-presidency those persons who are "ineligible to the office" of President. Clinton is
not ineligible to the office of president, however. He is only disqualified (by the 22nd Amendment) from being elected to that office."
http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/08/colum...clinton.08.01/

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Then you don't know the facts. Read Richard Clarke's book.

No I don't know all the facts and I don't think any of us will ever know "all" the facts. And if I did read his book, it would be with a grain of salt. After all, he worked for the government

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by bikerchic

No I don't know all the facts and I don't think any of us will ever know "all" the facts. And if I did read his book, it would be with a grain of salt. After all, he worked for the government

yes but he had inside knowledge, thus would be a more credible source than a paid hack such as the folks behind the ABC spewfest

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by irishgrl

by the way, I found the exact same interpretation in another place:

Thus, under the 12th Amendment, he could not assume office, which makes sense because the intent was no more than two terms by any method. If anyone does not like that, then they need to do 1. get the Court to overrule the 22nd and 12th Amendments or 2. change the Const. via the legislative process. Both of these avenues are not based in reality mind you

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

Faux news apparently leaves out the part where the CIA advised the White House not to strike in all 4 cases. In which case there is shared blame.

And yet George Tenet still received the medal of freedom from Bush.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by irishgrl

Jason, the article I referenced says it IS possible. to wit:

It is absolutely possible.

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Thus, under the 12th Amendment, he could not assume office, which makes sense because the intent was no more than two terms by any method. If anyone does not like that, then they need to do 1. get the Court to overrule the 22nd and 12th Amendments or 2. change the Const. via the legislative process. Both of these avenues are not based in reality mind you

you completely ignored the next sentence where the Law Professor says that Clinton is not ineligible to be President, he just cant be ELECTED again. He COULD go in by the backdoor as it were....

personally I'd like to see him try it and get the PEOPLE onboard to voice THEIR choice.....