Video: Clinton gets testy with college reporter over gay marriage
posted at 9:36 pm on March 25, 2008 by Allahpundit
He’s 61 years old, has a heart condition, is exhausted from months spent pumping a dry well of support for his loser wife’s candidacy, and now finds himself face to face with a bunch of snot-nosed deciders-in-training daring to question The Legacy? He felt your pain for so many years. The least you can do is feel his.
What you’re seeing here, in fact, is a microcosm of why most conservatives prefer (or should prefer) Hillary to Obama. The Messiah takes the principled liberal position on the Defense of Marriage Act: He wants both prongs of the statute — that the federal government will not recognize gay marriages made in any state and that no other state need do so either — duly repealed. Hillary wants the first prong repealed but not the second. Why? BJ offers a substantive argument towards the end but the truth, as is so often the case with the Clintons, is probably political. They know gay marriage is a wedge issue, don’t care terribly much about it, and are unwilling as a matter of simple pragmatism to get bogged down in a crusade to force feed it to the states. Which leaves them in the unlikely position of defending … federalism. Savor the spectacle of the man who once declared the era of big government over narrowing his eyes, glaring at a budding doctrinaire progressive, and declaring with accusatory gusto, “So you don’t care what the practical implications are?” As Ace might say: Well played, Clenis. Very well played.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
“Clinton” and “federalism” in the same sentence? I have to lie down.
amerpundit on March 25, 2008 at 9:39 PM
I’m shocked that Bill Clinton isn’t in favor of gay marriage. It would open up that many more possibilities for him to cheat on Hillery.
TooTall on March 25, 2008 at 9:41 PM
Yep, heard this on Rush Limbaugh’s show this afternoon. He got pretty testy with the reporterette-in-training.
Michael in MI on March 25, 2008 at 9:41 PM
Gee, what a day…looks like the whole family is headed for rehab.
JonRoss on March 25, 2008 at 9:43 PM
Hey, but what is with that ghey ass bracelet?
That alone should be enough to give him ghey cred..
That young girl has malkins of steel.
Most folks would not have the cajones to smack down an ex-pres like that.
TheSitRep on March 25, 2008 at 9:44 PM
Hey check out that link.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/08/would-obama-pos.html
I guess Douglas Kmiec doesn’t care about that.
Here are two comments from althouse’s blog.
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2008/03/doug-kmiec-conservative-lawprof-counsel.html#comments
ninjapirate on March 25, 2008 at 9:44 PM
He was already angry with the chick because she refused his advances earlier.
jgapinoy on March 25, 2008 at 9:46 PM
He is, and always has been, a slug.
Zorro on March 25, 2008 at 9:46 PM
America’s Greatest Politician. I think Huckabee is now more personable than Clinton.
AbaddonsReign on March 25, 2008 at 9:52 PM
Maybe my memory isn’t that great but I don’t recall any openly gay people serving in the Clinton administration. You’d think they would have made a stink about their inclusiveness or something.
Seriously tho, can’t you just see him making it up as he goes along?
landshark on March 25, 2008 at 9:55 PM
Remember when ex-presidents had class?
Bill has lowered the bar to the point where a 200 lb intern could hurdle it with ease.
fogw on March 25, 2008 at 9:56 PM
Frankly if you compare Bush and Clinton it is really a coinflip as to who is more liberal and it wouldn’t have been a coinflip at all if Bush would have been given an assault weapons ban to sign, because he promised to sign on, just as Romney did in his campaign.
You have to remember that Clinton is a politician first and foremost. This is the guy who worked to pass NAFTA and Welfare Reform with the Republican Congress. He didn’t want to touch gay marriage, he wanted to mollify it from ever becoming an issue and he was a smart enough politician to kill the chances. He may have been a murderer but he wasn’t suicidal.
That said, those that want a gay marriage amendment to the constitution need to get a life. Let the states decide, you know there was a time when Republicans actually gave a damn about federalism. When Republicans legislate like liberals with no respect for the self determination of states or jurisdiction we can see what the consequences are, just look at 1994 to present for a case study.
LevStrauss on March 25, 2008 at 9:57 PM
You are right, gotta hand it to him, he’s good at this stuff. Thank God Hillary isn’t.
conservnut on March 25, 2008 at 9:58 PM
That was my reaction too.
socalconservative on March 25, 2008 at 10:00 PM
This is why I would trust Hillary in the WH more than Obama. As long as something polls well with the Clinton’s that’s their position.
terryannonline on March 25, 2008 at 10:03 PM
If my memory is right,didn’t Bill Clinton
say he would support gay marriage,and after
Bill was elected the second time around,
the gay marriage came up and Bill wouldn’t
touch it!
So,ya Bill literally did throw the gay rights
groups under the bus,and this was talked up
on the lefty talk shows for a period of time!
canopfor on March 25, 2008 at 10:03 PM
Hey! They got their don’t ask, don’t tell out of the Clintons. All the DUmmies realized after the 2004 election that trying to shove gay marriage down people’s throats only pissed them off and hurt the donks. Oh, well, guess it’s another lesson that has to be relearned.
Blake on March 25, 2008 at 10:10 PM
fogw,
“Bill has lowered the bar to the point where a 200 lb intern could hurdle it with ease.”
I thought he was disbarred. There is no bar anymore as far as he is concerned.
exhelodrvr on March 25, 2008 at 10:12 PM
mtvU? Give me a freaking break.
I’m with the Clenis on this one. Anyone who slams a smarmy, snot-nosed liberal college yuppie has my support.
Sydney Carton on March 25, 2008 at 10:13 PM
This is why I get sympathetic to the Clintons. I totally agree with Bill, here. It’s a pretty reasonable stance and the Clintons are often guilty of being reasonable.
thuja on March 25, 2008 at 10:20 PM
Anyone else find it a delicious irony that the Clenis is being taken to task by young voters on an MTV program?
He should have brought his sax with him. It sure worked in the ’90s.
Harpazo on March 25, 2008 at 10:23 PM
It all goes back to Krauthammer’s column. Hillary is the safer choice for us because she’s too triangulating politically to do anything too radical. Someone that doesn’t believe in anything but their own political advancement isn’t going to make any drastic moves that might jeopardize their power base. Obama is such an inexperienced liberal dreamer you don’t know what he might try.
Dudley Smith on March 25, 2008 at 10:44 PM
He is in a ghey marriage….I am shocked he is rejecting his own skin.
David in ATL on March 25, 2008 at 10:45 PM
To think that gays would find Bill too conservative now. What the H?? The gay ommunity is leading the Democratic party over the edge… they run their media, their messaging AND interior design.
leftnomore on March 25, 2008 at 10:46 PM
He smacked down the troofers too. Go President Clinton, go! It’s amazing how disrespectful people can be. Well, people who are committed to extreme crackpot issues like gay marriage and trooferism. You don’t have to love the man, but damnit, he’s a former President of the US.
funky chicken on March 25, 2008 at 10:58 PM
Those weasels asking the questions are the future of the demofascist party. The best we produce join the military, the worst decome democrat activists.
peacenprosperity on March 25, 2008 at 11:02 PM
Oh man, that is an instant classic! ANSWER THE QUESTION! The pointing! The awkward looks. Then the beta chimes in at the end with “We’re asking you, huh huh!”
Game over Clintons.
WisCon on March 25, 2008 at 11:03 PM
He spent his presidency sucking up to different groups and “tweaking” his policies according to opinion polls, and he wants to have a legacy?
A man who stands for nothing will never be anyone’s hero.
29Victor on March 25, 2008 at 11:04 PM
Members of the Massachusetts State Supreme Court made up a “law” 4-3. The citizens of Massachusetts were denied the right to vote on this twice, both times after gathering enough signatures to put it on the ballot. The courts are the favorite means of circumventing representative government by the left.
Little Boomer on March 25, 2008 at 11:09 PM
Since when did Bill Clinton give a flying f*** about the “practical implications” of anything? What a damn cad.
Lee on March 25, 2008 at 11:10 PM
Umm… There are plenty of people opposed to gay marriage and “trooferism”. Most of them are not nearly as morally egregious as Bill Clinton. Allow me to recommend that you consider raising your standards.
Lee on March 25, 2008 at 11:14 PM
Uh, Lee? My kids boo if his face comes on our TV. But if I were granted an interview with a former POTUS or ran into him on the street I wouldn’t behave like a POS like these college “reporters” or like the Alex Jones troofer brigades.
Where exactly did I say Bill Clinton is my hero?
funky chicken on March 25, 2008 at 11:19 PM
Gay marriage is hardly a crackpot issue. My Southern Baptist relatives in rural NC aren’t opposed to it. (Well, excepting the one who is cruel to goats.)
thuja on March 25, 2008 at 11:30 PM
I’m dizzy.
Need to barf.
Chakra Hammer on March 25, 2008 at 11:33 PM
Yo Bubba, I gotcher practical imnplications RIGHT HEYA!
Akzed on March 25, 2008 at 11:37 PM
From ruler of the free world to this, I almost feel sorry for him.
TroubledMonkey on March 25, 2008 at 11:37 PM
I’m no fan of Clenis, but I do love watching snotty liberal collegiate asswipes get schooled.
Sugar Land on March 25, 2008 at 11:37 PM
More like Drooler of the Free World.
Egads! Get these maroons offf the stage NOW!
Akzed on March 25, 2008 at 11:38 PM
Gay marriage – isn’t that sorta what the Clintons have?
Akzed on March 25, 2008 at 11:39 PM
I mean, bill likes girls…
Akzed on March 25, 2008 at 11:39 PM
This is actually good stuff from ol’ B.J. Clinton. He nuances it by saying “marriage has often been about state law and religious practice“. Those two phrases put federalism on the tip of a legislators’ tongue; simply because any sort of national religious-based legislation such as our topic is so terribly hard to pass.
What is happening to Bill in defeat? No more ties, hippie bracelets around his wrist? Sorry Bil&Hil; the mystique is now stinky.
FLcapitalistthug on March 25, 2008 at 11:53 PM
I though you were talking about Hillary being a lesbian, with Huma..
Chakra Hammer on March 25, 2008 at 11:54 PM
Ha ha. They didn’t understand him at all!!
They were idiots, and he embarrassed them.
blink on March 26, 2008 at 12:20 AM
The fact that gay marriage is an issue in our government is a sign of what is wrong with the priorities of this country. No gay people are being harassed by the law or government institutions for their choices (the military acts under its own laws anyway and you have to follow orders no matter what those orders might be for any reason – cut hair, shine shoes, salute superiors, and many other such practices that we wouldn’t stand for in civilian society). Marriage is an institution of the CHURCH. So these people are all for ‘separation of church and state’ with everything except ‘gay marriage’.
The GAY COMMUNITY WILL ALWAYS PLAY THE VICTIM ROLE. No matter what ‘rights’ they get they will always play the ‘woe is me for choosing to have sex with someone that is my same sex’ (they can screw anyone, in any way, at any time, and virtually anywhere they want – thereby increasing the risk of AIDS across the country).
The gay community makes up AT MOST 1% of the population. Why do they get to have influence on so many policy debates? They choose their lifestyle, and that’s fine in a free society. But why do they feel the need to IMPOSE that CHOICE on the rest of us?
ThackerAgency on March 26, 2008 at 12:23 AM
thuja on March 25, 2008 at 11:30 PM
Ya just can’t help it, can you?
Johan Klaus on March 26, 2008 at 12:35 AM
Off Camera: Hey baby, are you into cigars?
Kini on March 26, 2008 at 12:56 AM
We live in the real world here???
Oh really??
Not according to Sinbad and Cheryl Crow. Such nerve.
What about the heterosexuals who choose not to get married in a church or Temple at all? They go to City Hall and are married by the Mayor or a Justice of the Peace.
I have friends who have gone that route, not my choice, I am getting married in my Temple by my Rabbi, so my marriage is blessed, but what about those who are atheist or feel differently?
AprilOrit on March 26, 2008 at 1:03 AM
Good Gawd. I’m actually wishing Bill Clinton were president again.
Please shoot me.
Tuning Spork on March 26, 2008 at 1:05 AM
“The gay community has been a huge base of support….”
Uh, no. The gay community isn’t big enough to be a huge base of anything.
Pablo on March 26, 2008 at 1:07 AM
Yeah, I’m no supporter of Clenis, but he sure smacked her bitch-ass down.
…I’m almost positive he introduced her to “shock and awe” a little later on that night too.
What a pimp.
lodestonejames on March 26, 2008 at 1:10 AM
Post-1994, when it was clear he was never going to be one of them on any major social or foreign policy issue, if it meant losing re-election in 1996, the most positive attribute Bill Clinton has had for the far left in the Democratic Party is how crazy he drives people on the right while still getting elected. And they felt the same way about Hillary, once they realized she was going to do the same Dick Morris-triangulation when she was elected to the Senate.
Obama makes those pluses a non-factor. They don’t care about the Clintons any more because they now believe there’s someone further to the left who can get elected (and they think he’ll drive Republicans even crazier than Bill and Hill, because all Republicans hate black people). So all the hostility gays have had since Bill ran away from “Don’t Ask” in 1992, and all the post-94 hostility others have had towards the ex-president for not being a true believer is now coming out in full force. Watching this makes you feel sorry for Bill, if only because at least he’s got one foot in the land of reality, but it was his and Hillary’s stirring up of these people to treat all their enemies as evil a decade ago, in order to stay in power after the Lewisky scandal, that caused this monster, and the creature is now simply turning on its creator.
jon1979 on March 26, 2008 at 1:16 AM
AprilOrit on March 26, 2008 at 1:03 AM
The government makes laws based on a covenant between a man and a woman out of the Church. Marriage was invented by the Church as an institution to solidify the family unit for a strong community.
Out of that institution, the government has laws and rules and regulations based on that covenant between a man and a woman. The ONLY reason behind marriage is to raise a family. Then you will say ‘well what about people who get married and don’t have children’. I say there is no need for them to be technically, legally, whatever you want to call it. . . ‘married’. There is no real difference between two people who are married or not legally in anything but the tax code, and possibly estate settlement (which can be arranged properly without a marriage, but with an appropriate will).
If a state government wants to recognize some, same sex or otherwise, union for some reason (there really is no reason or political ‘need’ for this to happen other than how gays ‘feel’) then the state should decide that. The federal government really should have much more important things to do than to protect the ‘feelings’ of people who claim to be gay.
Marriage at a courthouse is the state government recognizing that union as a family unit without the Church. . . but that doesn’t mean that marriage wasn’t created as an institution of the Church.
ThackerAgency on March 26, 2008 at 1:30 AM
Ten years ago……. “Troopers foung the body of a slain young woman with three gun shots to the the head. They determined it was suicide….. In other news, Bill Clinton lead our own news poll of who is the best person on Earth…”
Seven Percent Solution on March 26, 2008 at 1:47 AM
The only thing positive about this Dem civil war is it is keeping the focus off of Johnny Mac. Great strategy we have here, hiding our weaknesses and hoping like hell that the Dems stay asleep.
Sure I want the fighting to continue, and sure I think Hillary is the weakest candidate, but it is going to be Obama. The late night talk shows have set out the strategy the dems will take already. It is smelly old man against Eau de Barry. When was the last time anyone heard Johnny Mac inspiring a crowd?
Beer is the only answer folks. Lots and lots of beer for the next eight years.
Limerick on March 26, 2008 at 2:20 AM
Meh. Looked to me like he was just impatient with a militant little chick who went in all confrontational and wouldn’t listen.
RushBaby on March 26, 2008 at 2:24 AM
Way to beat up a little girl there Bill. All class.
The other kid that spoke up had it right when he said “I don’t know, we’re asking you.”
- The Cat
MirCat on March 26, 2008 at 2:34 AM
I think the liberal put the uberliberal in her rightful place.
Livefreeordie on March 26, 2008 at 2:38 AM
Marriage is a type of contract governed under the rules of contract law. Getting a marriage license is not a right guaranteed by the US Constitution. Getting a marriage license is no more a right than getting a drivers license is.
Marriages are often declared null and void by courts. If a court finds someone got married for the sole purpose of gaining US citizenship, for example, the marriage can be ruled an illegal contract, thus null and void. A marriage is a contract between 1 man and 1 woman. A limited partnership is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership, except that in addition to one or more general partners, there are one or more limited partners. Two men don’t have a right to form a marriage contract anymore than two people have a right to form a limited partnership contract.
It should be said that contract law is set by the people or their representatives in government and thus the laws governing contracts can be changed by the will of the people. Rights can never be changed and are guaranteed by the US Constitution.
Dollayo on March 26, 2008 at 2:58 AM
Ah, the gay community and what’s most important for it. Way to be original babe, the bus thing lends an air of intellectualoidism.
Ah, interim. Every word must have the same low emphasis…like that Lipton guy, yes, hm hm, yes, hm hm…gosh, you’re so important.
How can you rewrite history when you don’t know it?
benrand on March 26, 2008 at 5:13 AM
Very, very well said.
you are right, it’s not in the Constitution listed specifically as a right, but the problem is there is NOTHING other than religious doctrine saying why it should or shouldn’t be allowed. THAT is a big problem.
MannyT-vA on March 26, 2008 at 5:23 AM
As with most issues like this, trying to find a political fix for a problem that is cultural can only make things worse. “Gay marriage” is what happens when Americans allow their culture to become decadent and dumbed-down beyond the breaking point. The same kind of culture that keeps rap “music” alive for over a decade. The kind the Founders were hoping would never come to pass.
Halley on March 26, 2008 at 5:45 AM
Puh. Like he “cared about practical implications” when he was dropping his pants in front of Paula Jones, having Monica service him while on the phone to foreign leaders, and committing perjury about same. Anything this self-gratifying
manadolescentinfant says isn’t worth listening to.You can say that again.
inviolet on March 26, 2008 at 6:52 AM
Ooooooooooooh, Bubba Billy is sure getting cranky these days. Maybe it has to do with the fact his wife’s campaign is going down the drain at breakneck speed and his legendary-in-his-own-mind charisma is only increasing the speed of descent.
pilamaye on March 26, 2008 at 6:54 AM
Barry’s wife said he smelled.
JiangxiDad on March 26, 2008 at 7:44 AM
I am not for gay marriage, but then again, I think why shouldn’t they suffer as much as heteros? I don’t believe in an amendment for it or against it, as they are only 1% of the population, and really aren’t hurting anyone anyway.Not worth messing with the Constitution over. The “Sanctity of Marriage” argument is laughable if 50% end in divorce anyway. Agree it should be turned over to the states, as with most violations the Democrats perpetrate(their entire agenda) of the tenth amendment. And enough with the “gays choosing to be gay thing”. I know enough of them to say these people are born with a gay gene, and should be respected like anyone else. If they were treated like everyone else, they wouldn’t have anything political to bitch about.
Reason I’m for civil unions and not gay Marriage is there really isn’t a historical precedent for it. In Ancient Greece, women were for reproduction, men were for pleasure. They practiced homosexuality and heterosexuality at the same time, but no one married the same sex. Gays should accept civil unions and leave marriage to the religious institutions. As I said, half will end in divorce anyway. My two cents…………….
adamsmith on March 26, 2008 at 7:57 AM
What’s not to love about the Zen Master of politics at work? President Clinton is a pro’s pro in the political arena. The way he flipped this entire conversation from a talk about gay marriage to a question of federalism undermining the primary objectives of the gay community is pure genius. The kids asking him questions never saw it coming.
I’ll take age over youth any day of the week.
PS: Obama opposes gay marriage. Message to Melissa Ethridge.
gabriel sutherland on March 26, 2008 at 9:43 AM
‘Wild Bill’ should be testy about the subject of gay marriage because his marriage to Hitlery is a battle of testosterone and he is loosing.
MSGTAS on March 26, 2008 at 10:07 AM
The video cut off too soon, and missed Clinton’s last line.
“She’s also opposed to the ban on gays serving in the military. And what are you doing later, little lady?”
JohnW on March 26, 2008 at 10:27 AM
Did anyone notice Clenis’s poor enunciation and muddled words?
Can we apply the Liberal Bush bashing technique (nucular vs nuclear) to Clenis and declare his “stupid”?
I loved it when the young guy backed up the girl (who Clenis was trying to bully) by saying, with a chuckle) “we’re asking you“.
Clenis’s day in the spotlight is long gone. Shillary’s as well.
Buh bye Cleentons. Buh bye.
Montana on March 26, 2008 at 11:49 AM
The ‘gay gene’ theory has been debunked at least 15 years ago, but the gay community doesn’t want people to know facts.
So if gays don’t choose who they have sex with then they are raped every time they have sex. You are telling me that gay people are predisposed to having sex with ONE person who happens to be the same sex as them. As far as I understand it in this country, people choose who they have sex with all the time. . . unless they are raped.
If a person chooses to ‘have sex’ (which isn’t even accurate to say because sex is technically a means of procreation – what they have is recreation that they can do without anyone really) with someone of the same sex, then they choose to ‘be gay’.
ThackerAgency on March 26, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Off camera, I’m sure he offered the spunky little lady an internship in his Harlem office. By the way, the watch he is wearing is a Panerai, a favorite of guidos, rappers and assorted poseurs everywhere. The Clenis is keepin’ it blingy, Arkansas style.
Travis Bickle on March 26, 2008 at 12:35 PM
Excuse me, what?!? Marriage predates Christianity by a good long while.
I have to say I’m happy he had some trouble there. The Democrats’ position on gay marriage is completely chickens**t.
DrSteve on March 26, 2008 at 1:19 PM
DrSteve on March 26, 2008 at 1:19 PM
Who said anything about Christianity? ‘Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery’ is a clear indication that religion saw marriage as important where the rest of society wasn’t so concerned with it. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been a JEWISH commandment.
ThackerAgency on March 26, 2008 at 2:01 PM
Or we could go back to Adam and Eve if you like. . . not Adam and Steve.
ThackerAgency on March 26, 2008 at 2:02 PM
What is their position? I’ve read the docs. I still don’t know. I can’t even believe that Obama doesn’t favor gay marriage. He has a huge network of GLBT support from spokespeople, to advisers, to fund raisers, to house party hosts. He’s built perhaps the best network of GLBT support for a Presidential campaign ever and he STILL DOESN’T support gay marriage.
Maybe the GLBT doesn’t want gay marriage.
gabriel sutherland on March 26, 2008 at 2:03 PM
I should have known. When the right-wingers say “Clinton is red-faced” it means he’s raised a finger or the tone of his voice has fluctuated from a horizontal line.
Clearly, the Democrats are afraid to take a principle stand. Clinton’s argument works if you accompany it with an unambiguous statement about your personal beliefs. Otherwise, Allah is right it’s a political game.
I think the notion that “separate but equal” is somehow a workable formula should be rejected by everybody in the 21st century. Especially by the Democrats. The goal cannot be anything less than full equality under the law. However, as a first step toward that clearly defined goal, Clinton’s approach is acceptable.
freevillage on March 26, 2008 at 10:19 PM