Not Your Sweetie

Tweety vs Clinton, Honorable Wesley Clark presiding
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By Robbedvoter [Add to my Buddy List]
Posted to Robbedvoter's weblog (News and Links) on Wed Jan 7th, 2004 at 01:01:21 AM EST


http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3889891/
MATTHEWS:  Let me ask you a tricky question about bill Clinton.  I know you`re close to him.  You served under him.  We talked about that in the college tour.  Let me ask you about him. 

You said last night on "Meet the Press" yesterday, and Tim asked you, Tim Russert, "Should he have been impeached?"  And you were quick to say no. 

What would have been the right solution to that national mess, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal?  The whole thing, the lying about it, the deposition?  What would have been the right solution to that national embarrassment?

CLARK:  Well, you know, I don`t know.  You could have constructed any number of ways out of it.

MATTHEWS:  Should there have been a censure?  Should there have been an informal censure by the Congress?  Because otherwise, it seems like you`re saying he should have gotten off scot-free.  I`m asking you what would have been the right solution for the American people, not for Clinton but for the country and the office of the presidency.

What would have been the best way to end that mess? 

CLARK:  Chris, there were any number of ways to have ended the mess. 

But I was over in Europe at the time, and I`ll tell you what I saw at the time. 

I saw our allies in Europe looking at the United States as it went through this orgy of self-destructive behavior back here in the United States Congress, and people were asking, "What has happened to the United States of America?  Get this problem out of sight.  Finish it.  Censure him.  Do whatever needs to be done.  It`s not a high crime.  It`s not a misdemeanor.  It`s wrong.  It`s between him, his family.  He did something wrong, but it`s not a high matter of state.  It certainly didn`t warrant the amount of attention it received, either in the Congress or in the news media."

MATTHEWS:   Lying--lying in an under oath deposition is not a public matter, you`re saying? 

CLARK:  Well, yes it was a public matter, but look at what went on during his presidency.  There was--I don`t know if you`ve ever read the book called "The Hunting of the President, 1989-1999."  Bill Clinton was threatened before he--before he ever took his term as governor in 1989 that they would try to destroy him personally.

They put millions of dollars into trying to bring him down.  I mean, it`s the American political system we`re talking about.

MATTHEWS:  You think--Do you think Hillary Clinton was right?

CLARK:  I want to see us at a higher standard of leadership in this...

MATTHEWS:  Was Hillary Clinton right, it was a vast right-wing conspiracy? 

CLARK:  I want to see America get a higher standard of leadership.  I want to pull us out of this.  I want to see us look to what`s good for America as a whole, what`s good for the next generation, not the next election.

I want to see us end this terribly personal partisan squabbling that`s going on in America.  Get to the key issues that are important for Americans, keep our country safe.  Get employment restarted in America.  Deal with the health care crisis, get kids in school and into college, fix No Child Left Behind, protect the environment and help our American families.  That`s what we`ve got to do in this country.               

We`ve got all the promise and potential in the world.  We`re the greatest nation in the world, but we can`t be the greatest nation if we can`t pull together.

That`s why I`m running, to help pull this country together.

MATTHEWS:  OK.  You`re running as a Democrat.  The last Democratic president was Bill Clinton.  I have to ask you the final question.  Do you think censure was an appropriate response to that national embarrassment?

You said so.  I want to hear you say it again. 

CLARK:  Chris, I don`t know what the appropriate response was.  You could have constructed any number of appropriate responses. 

But I`ll tell you what was inappropriate, was to have the partisan squabbling going on that took this to the United States Congress and the impeachment and tied up the United States government and the American public for over a year.  It was a longstanding squabble. 

I remember when they started Watergate.  My cousin down in Little Rock, said, "They`ve rented this building for, like, three or four years." 

MATTHEWS:  You mean Whitewater.  Yes.

CLARK:  I said--Whitewater.  I meant Whitewater. 

MATTHEWS:  Well, this sounds to me like you`re saying...

CLARK:  ... renting this building.  This was a long-term effort...

MATTHEWS:  Right.

CLARK:  ... to undercut the presidency. 

I think we should be dealing with the issues that are important to America. 

I think the president has a responsibility to lead.  I think he has the responsibility to set a high moral tone.  I think he has the responsibility to have a vision.  He has a responsibility to know what`s going on and lead. 

And I`m running because I believe this country needs a higher standard of leadership, and I intend to provide it.