O'Reilly and Hume

Hey everyone sorry for lack of posts yesterday just had a ton of things to do.

A couple of tidbits from mediamaters I'd like to comment on.

The other day I posted where Bill O'Reilly on his show stating he wish Katrina would have flooded the United Nations adding he wouldn't rescue them. I noted how stupid he was for saying that and now it gets even better instead of a phony apology we usually get from everyone of importance, he goes on to bash media matters for reporting what he said. Here is the exact words he used.

O'REILLY: So, anyway, even though Bush is in trouble, the left can't make any inroads. Enter me. This is a riot. This is so funny. Now let me set it up. Every day The Radio Factor's on, there's this creepy, little group who listens to our program and tapes it, and then analyzes the tape. They're like the Rosemary's Baby people. Remember the scene in Rosemary's Baby, where the devil was born to Rosemary, and they had the little people around the crib, chanting? That's what these creepy, left-wing nuts are like. They're little gnomes. And they tape every show. And they go over it to see if they can find something to embarrass me or, you know, raise some hell or whatever. Now they succeeded one time last year. In the Christmas controversy, they found some nutty group that took their propaganda and ran with it. And you know, it was good for us, because we got six shows out of it and high TV ratings.

So this egomaniac is taking credit for deflecting the bush bashing?? Unbelievable he gives himself too much credit.

Now onto Brit Hume also from my friends at Fox. Now on his show Hume claimed that Bush Sr. never criticized Bill Clinton. I got something that says otherwise AND what he said about President Clinton actually applies to Iraq so I wonder if he asked these questions of his son.

First here is a list of things Bush. Sr. said about President Clinton.

* In an appearance at a San Antonio grade school on October 13, 1993, Bush expressed concern that the humanitarian mission to Somalia that he had launched nearly a year earlier was being "messed up" by the Clinton administration. "If you're going to put somebody else's son or daughter into harm's way, into battle, you've got to know the answer to three questions," Bush told the students. He said the president has to know what the mission is, "how they are going to do it," and "how they're going to get out of there." Several news reports noted that Bush's comments appeared to violate his earlier pledge not to publicly criticize Clinton during his first year in office. [The New York Times, 10/14/93; The Boston Globe, 10/23/93]

* In an interview published in the February 1994 issue of Washingtonian magazine, Bush criticized the Clinton administration's purported lack of a "general strategy" in the foreign policy arena and the "start-and-stop" failures it had exhibited. Bush pointed to the Clinton administration's handling of the situation in Haiti as an example and also criticized Clinton for his policy toward Bosnia:

The specific point of difference I'd make with the current administration, however, is that when you send a US ship loaded with military personnel to go ashore, you don't say, "They're going ashore" unless you mean it. And you don't get turned back by a group of thugs standing on the dock.

What that does -- starting and stopping -- is weaken the image of the United States as a strong, resolute leader. It was devastating, sent a horrible signal, when that troop ship was turned back -- a signal not just to Latin America, but to Europe and elsewhere. Where I find most fault in the Clinton foreign policy, the area where I find room for criticism, is this pattern of start-and-stop, start-and-stop.

[...]

The Clinton administration, you'll remember, began by attacking my administration and the Europeans for being weak and rewarding aggression, and they vowed to get tough. But a few months later, they were essentially where we were. They backed away from their bluster, but not without sending the unfortunate impression of a weak and inconsistent US leadership to the world.

* In a March 8, 1994, speech in Indian Wells, California, Bush repeated his criticism of Clinton's actions toward Haiti. According to a Riverside Press Enterprise article published the next day, Bush claimed "he did not want to be a carping critic, but said President Clinton must be more consistent in carrying out foreign policy. Bush criticized the president in particular for sending a shipload of troops to Haiti last year and then ordering them home when 'thugs' threatened them from the shore."

* On April 8, 1994, Bush gave a lecture at Carl Albert State College in Poteau, Oklahoma, during which he criticized Clinton's proposed health care reform legislation. "This may sound partisan," he told the audience, "but I don't believe it will pass and I don't believe it should pass." [Associated Press, 4/8/94]

* During a July 26, 1996, news conference with Bob Dole, then the Republican nominee for president, Bush "criticized Clinton for boasting of current economic stability," according to a Kansas City Star article published the following day. Bush argued that "he handed Clinton an economy that grew at about 5 percent in 1993." "That was not recession," he told reporters.

* While campaigning with Dole days before the 1996 presidential election, Bush suggested that Clinton had compromised the "integrity of the White House. "What matters to me now is the integrity of the White House," he said. "I believe in duty, honor, country," he continued. "I believe in service. I believe in keeping the White House above partisan politics, away from these puny, terrible disputes we're seeing." [Chicago Tribune, 11/1/96]

* In a letter released on April 23, 1998, Bush "criticized the White House and its allies for their continuing public campaign to criticize [independent counsel Kenneth] Starr and undermine his investigation," according to a New York Times article published that day. In the letter, Bush professed to hold Starr -- who at the time was investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair -- "in high regard."

Now to repeat this "If you're going to put somebody else's son or daughter into harm's way, into battle, you've got to know the answer to three questions," Bush told the students. He said the president has to know what the mission is, "how they are going to do it," and "how they're going to get out of there."

Now moving to our current mess: We have no apparent reason to have gone to Iraq so there is no specific reason. The how is kinda obvious: send our troops and pray they come home. And to, as of now, answer the third question there is no exit stragedy for Iraq.

I guess Bush Sr. is wise beyond his years.