Clinton

[House of Mustard]

So, his book's out and CNN has the following to say:

In the hourlong interview to air on CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday, two days before publication of his memoir, "My Life," Clinton said he was proud of his successful fight against impeachment, the network said in excerpts released on Wednesday.

"I didn't quit, I never thought of resigning and I stood up to it and beat it back," he said.

"The whole battle was a badge of honor. I don't see it as a stain, because it (the impeachment process) was illegitimate," added Clinton, who called the process "an abuse of power."

Note the line: "Clinton said he was proud of his successful fight against impeachment."

Did both Clinton and CNN forget that he WAS impeached?  He just wasn't removed from office.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Must I now / ignore CNN?

[EUOL]

Ah, Clinton.  I was thinking back to how controversial that whole thing was, then thought about how controversial Dubya is right now.  I wonder--have we ever NOT had a controversial president?  What about Bush Sr.?  

[House of Mustard]

Desert Storm was pretty controversial.  Nothing like now, but he didn't get reelected.  The recession was starting up about then too.

I think the difference, though, is that a lot of recent presidents have had scandals attached to them (whether or not the scandals are true).  Bush: lying about WMD.  Clinton: liked the women.  Reagan: Iran-Contra.  Nixon: Watergate.  Johnson: Vietnam.

It's odd that the presidents that no one cares about are the ones that seemed to keep their noses clean: Bush Sr., Carter, Ford...

[EUOL]

Desert Storm was pretty controversial.  Nothing like now, but he didn't get reelected.  The recession was starting up about then too.

I once heard a political explanation of why Bush Sr. didn't get reelected--and, oddly, it didn't have anything to do with Desert Storm.  In fact, he was very popular during the war, as I understand, and it was generally a well-liked war (nothing like this one.)  

Apparently, the recession had something to do with it, as did offending some major sections of the party elite.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Actually it reminds me of an episode of "Batman Beyond", where Terry is trying to do homework over a com-link with his friend while patrolling the neighborhood as Batman.
He's trying to memorize all the presidents in order,

Terry: "...Bush, Clinton, um..."
Max: "That's right, Clinton was the 'fun' one, then came the boring one."
Terry: "They're ALL boring."

Of course it was so funny because it was post-Lewinsky, but still Clinton's term and so obviously they couldn't say who the next president would be.

But man... it still cracks me up.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

not gonna get involved in the politics scandal part... but dictionary.com had some interseting things to say about the word impeach.

When an irate citizen demands that a disfavored public official be impeached, the citizen clearly intends for the official to be removed from office. This popular use of impeach as a synonym of “throw out” (even if by due process) does not accord with the legal meaning of the word. As recent history has shown, when a public official is impeached, that is, formally accused of wrongdoing, this is only the start of what can be a lengthy process that may or may not lead to the official's removal from office. In strict usage, an official is impeached (accused), tried, and then convicted or acquitted.