Which statement here is weirder? Newsmax boss Christopher Ruddy now declaring that Bill Clinton was a "great president"? Or Clinton telling him he did a "good job" hounding him in the 1990s? Howard Kurtz unraveled this bizarre meeting of former adversaries in Monday’s Washington Post:
For those who remember Ruddy's name from the scandal wars of the 1990s, that is nothing short of remarkable. Ruddy wrote a book titled "The Strange Death of Vincent Foster," questioning whether the Clinton aide, who committed suicide, had been murdered. He also questioned whether Commerce secretary Ron Brown, who died in a plane crash, had been shot in the head. And yet here was Ruddy, now chief executive of Newsmax.com, telling Clinton that "I was one of your critics" during his administration, and Clinton responding with a laugh: "You did a good job."
Ruddy says in an interview that he was "overzealous" and "over the top" when publisher Richard Mellon Scaife was financing his Clinton investigations. (Scaife has also made peace with his onetime nemesis.) "I think he was a much better president than I thought," Ruddy says. "I think he was a great president."
If this deep bow is what it takes to gain access for an interview with the former president, the price is too high. It sounds a lot like Joe Scarborough apologizing all over Hillary Clinton a few years back.
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Clinton
September 28, 2009 - 07:56 ET by KC MulvilleBy comparison, he looks so much better than the current guy.
By analogy, if the country was an airplane, we may not have liked where Clinton was flying, but we never worried that he would crash the plane. He was enough of a pilot that we knew he could fly the plane. But Obama? We're all searching for the emergency oxygen instructions ...
And of course, you wonder whether the Hillary camp is secretly highlighting the difference. You wonder whether she's fanning the flames of buyer remorse. Look for a couple more interviews along the line of "weren't the Clinton years great?"
Your airplane analogy is
September 28, 2009 - 08:49 ET by G. MayYour airplane analogy is perfect.
Have you never heard of this
September 28, 2009 - 08:54 ET by notonmywatchHave you never heard of this before Tim?
This guy, and "newsmax" went 100% pro Clinton right after the Clintons stole a bunch of ***FBI files***
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When you're dying of thirst in the desert . . .
September 28, 2009 - 09:07 ET by desertdwellerEven muddy water looks good.
This guy is a joke. A few
September 28, 2009 - 08:09 ET by Conserv1This guy is a joke. A few weeks ago he wrote a column saying the Republican Party needs to have a platform that calls for more legal immigration. I don't know why Bob Grant still has him on as a guest.
Ruddy
September 28, 2009 - 08:14 ET by claspurYeah... Clinton was great alright, Mr. Ruddy.
What I really liked about him was Him giving to OK for Loral to sell the Chinese gyroscope and MIRV nuke technology.
In trade, He and the DNC got their campaign coffers filled.
Now We have Chinese ICBMs (MIRVed) that can strike any city with pinpoint accuracy.
Search: China/Clinton "Loral" ...many various articles regarding this "Great President's" treason.
Do you think for one second
September 29, 2009 - 08:30 ET by JerDo you think for one second the GOP wouldn't have added that to the impeachment petition if it had been warranted? This matter was thoroughly investigated. There was no there, there.
Besides, I believe there were as many missile technology waivers granted to China in the previous Republican administrations as there were in Clinton's.
Jer
Compared to the current
September 28, 2009 - 08:20 ET by mattmCompared to the current president....maybe.
Matt, Noel or Tim
September 28, 2009 - 08:58 ET by shawn228What would you guys ask Bill Clinton If you guys ever got an interview with him? :-)
"I have a Bush man-crush, you need to understand."-Mr. Shy
Easy
September 28, 2009 - 09:01 ET by Matthew SheffieldJust how bad of a job do you think Obama is doing?
Re: BC interview
September 28, 2009 - 09:50 ET by Tim GrahamShawn, I would love a Bill Clinton interview -- but it wouldn't be wise for him to agree to one. I can tell you this: I wouldn't call him a "great president" no matter how much time he gave me.
I'm one of those odd Americans who would still love answers on the FBI files, Whitewater, Kathleen Willey, and so on. I just don't think I could trust the answers.
Matt & Tim
September 28, 2009 - 09:53 ET by shawn228Thank you for your answers. It must be very surprising for you both to see a person for a website that imo is even to the right of NB say Clinton was a great President.
"I have a Bush man-crush, you need to understand."-Mr. Shy
Is that "great" compared to
September 28, 2009 - 09:56 ET by Jack BauerIs that "great" compared to Obama?
I'd agree, yes there. But that's a limbo bar.
Good grief, Tim... Just
September 29, 2009 - 08:23 ET by JerGood grief, Tim...
Just how many more years and how many more tens of millions of dollars would you have wanted Starr and the other IC's to spend investigating Whitewater, etc. before you would be happy?
Jer
What was great about the 1990s....
September 28, 2009 - 10:02 ET by Robert17was the most conservative congress we had in the last 50 years or more. If Bill Clinton had a democrat congress through the 1990s it would have been an even bigger train wreck. What has been wrong since 2000 is the gradual decline into statism from both parties.
Legal Immigration -- No Problem!
September 28, 2009 - 10:06 ET by trak65Most conservatives have no problem with increased legal immigration, so I don't see how that particular factoid discredits this guy.
The Polaroids the Clinton's have of Ruddy must be pretty damning
September 28, 2009 - 10:09 ET by R D Helm-Dave
The election of 2010 will be our last chance to save our republic. -Neal Boortz
Cancel my subscription! Oh, sorry I don't have...
September 28, 2009 - 11:00 ET by jawebster1a subscription. This is the truth: Clinton was a failure as President, but he did have a great Congress starting in 1995, which saved his sorry ass. Jim Webster
Clinton: A success due to failure
September 28, 2009 - 11:34 ET by dlitwinBecause Bill Clinton failed to get his wish - a government monopoly on health care - and because his attempt to do so lost him the house and senate, he effectively got nothing done.
Because Bill Clinton got nothing done, the U.S. economy was able to forge ahead.
Clinton is now spun as a successful, "prudent" president - all because he failed at attaining the centerpiece of his wish list.
Had Clinton succeeded, the national debt would have skyrocketed, and he'd be remembered as a spendthrift.
DC is magical. Fail, and you're a winner!
Dan Litwin
www.PeacemakersRock.com
Newsmax
September 28, 2009 - 11:44 ET by justbob223I used to read Newsmax daily, but then I began noticing a left-ward drift. Now, I never read it, figuring there are better places to read the news and find good commentary.
Re Newsmax
September 28, 2009 - 11:53 ET by slickwillie2001Never sign up for their emails, they are up to several a day and hard to get rid of.
Yea
September 28, 2009 - 12:04 ET by lkoturCompared to Obama, Polk was a great president!
Shoot, a horse's rear is
September 28, 2009 - 18:37 ET by gmaniac1Shoot, a horse's rear is great to Obama and if it were female, Clinton would go crazy over it.
My question to Clinton, do you feel any relative connection to Roman Polansky?
When the people fear the government it's called tyranny, when the government fears the people it's called liberty!