Did anyone get this angry at Bill Clinton when he was President?

[kentuck]

By the way, President Obama is meeting with Bill Clinton today. Sometimes it seems he is "channeling" Bill Clinton?

What kind of advice is Bill Clinton giving the President?

Remember NAFTA? Did that make you angry when President Clinton signed it? Are you one of those that thought jobs would leave the country in droves when he signed that piece of Republican shit?

Is Barack Obama governing like Bill Clinton?

[BeyondGeography]

1. All the time, so it's good Bill is there

Valuable advice included. I would pay for the transcript.

[CTyankee]

2. Maybe folks like me didn't get this mad because the economy was good and

on balance we had it better as liberals. Clinton did some good things. His Justice Dept. stopped the antichoicers from shutting down abortion clinics. We all had jobs, so life was easier to deal with. We had no wars that sent thousands of Americans into harms way. He got Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the SC. IIRC, NAFTA was a concern but we were soothed by Al Gore. He told us it wasn't going to be so bad and actually would be good. We liked Al and trusted him. We didn't care if Clinton was a horn dog. Hillary was being attacked from the Right and we liked her and sprang to her defense.

I could go on and on, but my point is you have to put this into perspective...

[niceypoo]

33. Clinton stood his ground on the economy

[niceypoo]

34. Clinton stood his ground on the economy

[Autumn]

3. That's a joke? Right?

Of course there was a lot of anger directed at Bill Clinton, still is. Most of it well deserved. Big difference is that Clinton realized the republicans were the enemy. I'm not sure Obama has that yet. Yeah I remember NAFTA, I also remember him neutering Newt during the shut down. Obama seems to be resurrecting republicans. IMO

[sharp_stick]

11. That must be why he passed the DOMA

History always softens the anger expressed at a former President. Shit people on this site have actually expressed positive opinions of that asshole Richard Nixon.

There was a shitload of anger at Clinton, but there wasn't the neverending noise of three 24 hour news channels backed up by the clamor of the internet to never allow it to shut off.

Obama is at least as liberal as Clinton ever was. The Lilly Ledbetter Act is just one example.

[Ninga]

4. You might not believe this, but I was going to post my thoughts about my

inaction and complacency during the Clinton years. You beat me to the punch.

I was a huge Clinton supporter and a delegate to the 1992 convention in NYC. After 12 years of GOP rule I was over the top excited to finally have a DEM in the WH.

But I did not like one bit his welfare reform bill and I was very wary of NAFTA, I didn't get the strange twisted logic of DADT, but I gave him a pass because I had bought into the "greater good" a DEM WH would bring to policy. Looking back and not acting on my concerns taught me to not look the other way when my opinions clash with politicians I had voted for.

And I have been true to my vow. I loved President Obama so much that my emotions pushed aside my brain and I heard him as I wanted to, rather than to sit back and dissect the nuance behind his words.

So he hasn't changed, I have.

[KillCapitalism]

5. We also had "welfare reform" under Clinton.

That was the point when screwing the poor really started to snowball.

[kentuck]

7. We also had Glass Steagall repealed...

..which is a big reason our economy is in this mess today.

[Autumn]

14. Wait till Obama "reforms" the tax code

and Social Security. Then it's a snowball heading to hell.

[rucky]

6. The Green Party was at its strongest. n/t

[OHdem10]

8. Absolutely. However Bill Clinton was careful not to alienate the

base. He made one Sista Soulja move and that was as
much against the artist.

Here is Obama's Conundrum and why trying to be Bill Clinton
is not working for him.

Bill Clinton did the S S during the campaign. By the time
he got into office it was over, done with and people had
moved on.

Bill Clinton campained as an unabashed New Democrat.
He had ssid on C-Span that he was a Conservative Democrat.
Expectations were different. As Liberals we did not
like it, but we liked Bill Clinton. We believed he
would push back and for the most part he did. What
people do not seem to get is: A Liberal like me can
honestly believe Bill Clinton did not help the country
with the way Nafta was written and not managed. I can
believe he went to far with Welfare Reform. These are
two issue where I strongly disagree with the President
and believe he was wrong. His conservatism guided him.
My Liberalism thinks he was misguided. If I had a
choice for a more Liberal Candidate I would have chosen
a more Liberal Candidate. The Candidates running against
him had records that reflected they were more conservative.
I can say all this and still like him and would take him
over some other candidates.

Bill Clinton operated in a growing economy. Obama is
faced with an economy teetering on ruin and it is still
fragile. This sets up circumstances which make it
unfair to compare the two.

One fair comparison, Bill Clinton was savvy enough not
to attack Democrats openly.

[Bluerthanblue]

9. hell yes, I'm still angry at some of what he did- BUT

I supported him during his presidency, and turned my sights on the Republicans.

I think that Bush's aggressive bullying attitude, his macho "wanted dead or alive" "yer either with us or with the terrarists" assholery has seeped into our collective consciousness, and people are channeling that attitude more and more. It's ugly and I despise it.- but there is no denying it.

We are becoming more and more what we hate every day it seems.

[Bigmack]

10. Pissed a LOT..

at Bill, but at least he didn't give me a big FUCK YOU!

[Gold Metal Flake]

12. Yes but we didn't have DU with which to be so open about it.

[Upton]

13. I liked Bill Clinton..

a hell of a lot better than like Obama. Sure, he did things I didn't agree with, like NAFTA, but at least he didn't attack his fellow Democrats like Obama has. He also knew how to negotiate with the Pubs without backing down, something our current president still needs to learn.

[xchrom]

15. at the time i did not understand what was happening.

the drift of the democratic party with nafta, glass steagal, welfare to work, -- i get it now -- and i am angry.

[Individualist]

26. +1

[1VaDem]

16. No I didn't,

I do not recall being angry with Clinton over policy and I was dumb enough to believe that DADT was a step in the right direction. His personal behavior and his refusal to resign and allow Al Gore to become President (which would have changed so much history IMO) will always remain black marks on his name for me. I think we all had too much emotion invested in President Obama? Why anyone thinks one man can make the difference we need seems silly now. This ugly goes to the bone like the McCarthy era politics did.

[TwilightGardener]

17. I didn't get seriously angry at Clinton until he disgraced himself.

I agreed with some policies, disagreed with others, but thought he did a pretty good job. I feel the same way about Obama. But then, I'm more centrist than left. I knew who Obama was when I voted for him.

[upi402]

18. I was mad as hell, for one

Count me in, fwiw. I marched and protested, donated, wrote editorials, solicited articles, wrote letters, lent books, attended rallies and conventions, was a delegate to this and that.

Clinton was the best Republican ever. Hands down.

[Selatius]

25. Michael Moore also voiced similar sentiments about Clinton being the best Repub president ever.

As far as track record goes, Clinton was a chasm away from the old image of the Democratic Party being led by people like Franklin Roosevelt or Harry Truman.

[TheKentuckian]

19. Oh yeah, my anger at the betrayal that was most favored status for China has

actually never been touched by Obama. The President does camp out in my Welfare Deform anger level though.

I was ready for Bubba to go and live under a rock with the deregulation moves which at least offset every bit of good he ever did in office.

Hell, people forget real quick that Obama is in office now because of massive Clinton flight from the left.

[conspirator]

20. During Clinton there were still jobs that hadn't been outsourced, there was still an american dream

So nobody complained

[young but wise]

21. Clinton had so many fuck ups.

Obama hasn't had nearly as many, and he's being treated like shit.

[Xicano]

22. Yes, and not just because of NAFTA. Remember the American Airline pilots strike?

I also remember his union busting act when he ordered American Airline pilots back to work or be fired? Reminded me of Ronald Raygun's ordering of Air Traffic Controllers back to work.

[myrna minx]

23. I guess no one remembers DOMA, NAFTA, 'welfare reform', the repeal of

the Glass–Steagall Act, the telecommunications act of 1996 for starters but he never called me sanctimonious for having principles. :shrug:

[Selatius]

24. NAFTA, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999.

The last one repealed the prohibition against consolidation between commercial and investment banks, which had been in place since FDR signed into law the Glass-Steagall Act. Arguably, the consolidation led to the conflict of interest where a bank simply gives out loans recklessly to anybody with the foreknowledge that the instrument is then going to be sold down-river anyway with no direct consequence on the originator of the loan.

Does anyone not remember the protests against NAFTA?

[erpowers]

27. Obama Was Supposed to be the Opposite of Bill Clinton

I think some people might be so angry at President Obama because so many people thought President Obama would be different from President Clinton. During the 2008 campaign, especially during the primaries, a number of people were claiming that President Obama was not going to do trianglation. I think people thought President Obama would try to compromise with the Republicans, but if and when it was revealed that the Republicans supported ideas that hurt working families President Obama would fight them instead of just trying to make a deal. In addition, President Obama said he would change Washington, D.C., but upon enter the White House he seemed to not change Washington, D.C. that much.

There were a number of people who supported President Obama during the 2008 campaign and claimed Obama would be stronger than President Clinton. Upon Obama entering the White House some of those same people claimed he was actually weaker than President Clinton. I think some people are feeling that they could have voted for Hillary Clinton and gotten what they are getting now. People thought Hillary Clinton would be the one that would give the American people this latest tax agreement.

I think there were a great deal of expectations with President Obama. He made so many claims during the 2008 campaign. There were two wars, tax cuts, health care, bad Bush policies, lobbyists, and the financial meltdown. First, the country did not have all those problems when President Clinton was entering the White House. Second, President Obama, as mentioned before, claimed he would change many of those things. The problem is some have argued that President Obama has either not changed these things or made them worse than they were during the Bush Administration.

In conclusion, I think people are angry because they expected so much from President Obama. There may have been less expectations of President Clinton when he entered the White House. President Clinton had the luxury of entering the White House after George H. W. Bush. The Bush I presidency may not have been great, but it was much better than the Bush II presidency.

[backscatter712]

28. Most of the country was calling him "Slick Willy" back in the day. n/t

[Critters2]

29. Hell yes! nt

[NorthCarolina]

30. I did. I always considered the DLC to be a huge detriment to the Democratic Party. nt

[bobbolink]

31. Those of us who care about poor women and children were LIVID.

But, that never matters to "progressives", does it?

[blogslut]

32. Yes

Bill Clinton taught me there is no such thing as a hero politician.