WaPo Gushes, PBS Host Tavis Smiley Emcees Bill Clinton Book Launch Event

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Bill Clinton has a new book out titled Giving (no, it's not free), and the book launch already has loads of media help. Today's Washington Post carries a gooey article from reporter David Segal about a Harlem book launch event and panel discussion in Harlem for Clinton hosted by Tavis Smiley, the nightly PBS chat-show host. The headline on the front of the style section was "Bill Clinton's Got What It Takes for 'Giving.'" Segal can't get over how Clinton consistently sounds like a genius, and how it makes him long for the glory days:

He still has this way of presenting his ideas for reforms as simple, elegant solutions that would all but enact themselves if enough people get behind them or merely get out of their way.

He spoke, at one point, of "whittling down materials to retrofit buildings to combat global warming in Bangladesh, and whatever it means, it sure sounds like a good idea. He said the market for charitable giving was "under-organized" and "under-capitalized," and again -- it makes sense even if you're not sure about what it means.

Listening to the man think out loud again, it was hard not to pine for an era before bad news got really bad, before Sept. 11 showed up on the calendar every year as Patriot Day.

"We've gone from small 't' to capital 'T,' " said [Marxist professor] Cornel West, speaking of Trouble, as the session ended and he was getting ready to leave. "And I think there's a certain nostalgia for the commitment to the public interest on the one hand and a certain charisma on the other."

Segal professes amazement at the crowded event, and how "Sprinkled throughout was an assortment of recognizable faces so random they seem popped from a lottery machine number jumbler," from Pat O'Brien to Rachael Ray:

Same question, Pat O'Brien. Although, first, what are you doing here?

"I'm actually a commissioner in the state of California for California Volunteers," he said. "Appointed by Schwarzenegger."

Aha.

"He's amazing," said O'Brien, referring to Clinton. "To me, it's a Bobby Kennedy thing. A lot of politicians have tried it and he actually made it work."

Rachael Ray -- who has her own cooking-related charity, Yum-o! -- you feeling any nostalgia for those earlier times?

You bet she is!

"There was no debt, we had hope, we were largely at peace," she gushed. "Recession shmession."

—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.


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... and whatever it means,

"... and whatever it means, it sure sounds like a good idea." 

Worthy of Yogi Berra. 

The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.

- Arabian Proverb

He said the market for

He said the market for charitable giving was "under-organized" and "under-capitalized,"

This is economic ignorance, pure and simple. In the first place, there is no "market" for charitable giving. In the second place, money given for charitable purposes is not capital, in any sense of the word. But then, this is the guy who called raising taxes "investment", so his continuing ignorance shouldn't be a big surprise. Someone should call him on his nonsensical statements.

simple and pure


This is economic ignorance, pure and simple.

Are you sure you didn't mean 'simple and pure'?

D

Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.

Blind Love of BJC reveals the defects of Liberalism

Here's my reasoning on this:

Bill Clinton embodies all of the things people generally believe are wrong with public officials, and society in general.  It is indisputable that he is a womanizer, which makes him a sexist.  He is possibly a rapist, but definitely a sexual predator.  He is also a documented perjurer and officially corrupt politician - it's on the record. 

He is also a hypocrite.  He portrays himself as caring, while manipulating and using people behind the scenes to get what he wants...Remember James McDougal?  He has been involved in more, and more serious scandals than any other public official in American history.  He also takes credit for the accomplishments of others while blaming others for problems he either caused or ignored.

In other words, he is the epitome of the sleazeball politician, smooth-talking snake-oil salesman.  The type of guy people of the Left love to pretend to hate, but really admire and wish to emulate.

Why so much love for such an obvious villain?  I believe it's because the philosophy of the Left is based on false and incorrect information which may look or sound good on the surface, but is so flawed in actuality that it can lead to everything from mere economic inconvenience to genocide.  It's like the apple the wicked queen gave Snow White - appealing on the outside, to the gullible, but deadly on the inside.

Since their philosophy is based on falsehood, error and vanity, they are naturally attracted to someone who embodies those dubious qualities, and who does it with style and flair.  And they are so enthralled by it, that they will not only respond to it, but they will actively promote it... 

It never ceases to amaze me...

Nailed

mattm: You have it nailed with one exception;;;you left out his most important quality: PHONY!

With all of the aforementioned, he makes the perfect hero for all of the elements making up the left, incuding democrats and the msm.

...

I had "phony" in there, but exchanged it for "hypocrite"... I should have kept both....

if the mask fits...

Hypocrite

 

"The word hypocrisy derives from the Greek πόκρισις (hypokrisis), which means "play-acting", "acting out", "feigning, dissembling" or "an answer” " - Wikipedia

In ancient Greece, actors used masks versus costumes.  Thus "putting on the mask".

 

one who puts on a mask and feigns himself to be what he is not; a dissembler in religion. Our Lord severely rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16). "The hypocrite's hope shall perish" (Job 8:13). The Hebrew word here rendered "hypocrite" rather means the "godless" or "profane," as it is rendered in Jer. 23:11, i.e., polluted with crimes. - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

 1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs. 

2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements. – dictionary.com

 

Looks like both the Mr. and the Mrs. fit the "mask".

 

Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened. -Winston Churchill.

 

I agree...

I never was into politics until 9/11. I just didn't care.

I was in college during the Clinton era, and didn't pay attention.

The first thing I learned after becoming a "republican", (though, i'd like to think of myself as a "conservative democrat", ala Victor Davis Hanson (who describes this title eloquently)), is that the lunatic fringe left will always believe in Style over Substance.

I get into a few friendly discussions with the "progressives" here in Madison, and it turns into a "you're ignorant. you're brain-washed. etc.." argument on their side when I present facts to them.

Not all are like that, but the majority are.

I'm not a cold person,  I just don't let emotions dictate everything.

Well, I am a "Republican", so I guess I want to eat babies, kill your grandparents, and bomb the world...

The Clinton Free Press rolls on

I thought free press meant that news could not be suppressed, held back, etc., but now I find that FREE PRESS means giving FREE TIME to the CLINTONS.  How do they get such FREE TV Time for all the frivilious stuff?  How come previous sound bites of what they said in the past never are shown?  The LOVE FEST continues day & night unabounded & FREE!!

I caught a PBS radio

I caught a PBS radio broadcast of Travis Smiley some time ago.  In it, Smiley was interviewing a man that was lobbying to turn back the three strikes felon law in California.  Travis, true to form, was all for it.  And, of course, thought it was a travesty that is "brothers and sisters" were put upon by an "unjust" legal system that saw so many African-Americans behind bars in the first place. It was all about how it was everyone else's fault. 

Your tax dollars helped pay for that broadcast, his daily PBS radio show and his nightly PBS show.

I guess it is all in the spirit of "giving" 

Gee, I feel so good now! <barf>

...

I'm for one strike and you're out ; )

Clinton himself

If the bozo Travis Smiley doesn't understand what Clinton means when he says "...the market for charitable giving was "under-organized" and "under-capitalized" I do.

It means that Clinton(s) believe that government isn't yet big enough and that we need to invent charities and then have the government extract goodwill from the taxpayers by force to fund them and "organize" them (reminds me of the saying "I'm from the government and I'm here to help").  It all allows his wife to wield unprecendented power over the poor saps who make up the bulk of the patriotic citizens of this country.

I admit to thinking Rachael Ray is smoking hot but did she actually say we had no debt?

Since government is coercion, politics is largely the exercise of deception regarding the intended use of coercion - George Orwell

Besides

Clinton is absolutely wrong about that. 

Americans voluntarity give more to private charity than many entire countries do - including government aid and private charity.

?

Dear fellow NewsBusters;

I solemnly vow that I shall never buy this book, nor read it's contents. I further vow that if I shall happen to chance upon a copy, or copies, in my local bookstores or libraries, I will quickly turn away, and mutter a curse.

D

Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.

I've got 20 bucks that says

I've got 20 bucks that says this book will be on Amazon "new & used" for less then a buck within... oh say 30 days?

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Finish the sentence...

Quote: "Bill Clinton's Got What It Takes for 'Giving...'"

I'm sure there has to be a joke in there somewhere...perhaps having to do with a member of the opposite sex; this would not, of course, include Hillary. 

Sunrise at sea; a breeze across the deck, salty spray tickles the face, the aroma of fresh coffee, stack gas, and haze-gray paint is in the air.  Another Navy day aboard ship as a Navy Chief...the perfect life!