The good old days

September 10, 2005 10:50 AM

A reminder of better timesYeah, I know. It's probably been posted here before, but it brought me back to the good old days and cheered me up a bit.
posted by GernBlandston (66 comments total)

That was awesome. Is it a double post? What's the story behind the video?
posted by chunking express at 11:05 AM on September 10, 2005

Amusing - how come no credits? When was it filmed? Shows Bill has more SOH than most POTUSes [is that even a word/acronym?]
posted by dash_slot- at 11:15 AM on September 10, 2005

chungking express - It was something Clinton did for the press corp during the final annual white house press event (I've forgotten what the official name of the event was). Our current president, Classless W. Fuckup had a similar thing - the slideshow that had an image of him searching for weapons of mass destruction under an oval office side chair. Ha! Funniest of all, perhaps, to the families of the 2000 Americans that asshole has murdered by sending them off to a war that he lied to the American public about. Not that I'm bitter. Is now a good time to point out that the president who has lost more military lives than any since Nixon personally used his father's influence to dodge going to war during Nixon's regime. Ironic huh?
posted by jonson at 11:18 AM on September 10, 2005

This was shown at the 2000 White House Correspondents Dinner.
posted by sdrawkcab at 11:19 AM on September 10, 2005

I loved that.
posted by teece at 11:19 AM on September 10, 2005

Thanks for the info Jonson. At first I thought it was some really good clinton look-a-like, till I saw Gore and Hillary Clinton. Funny little video. I miss Clinton.
posted by chunking express at 11:20 AM on September 10, 2005

Ironic huh?
It might be ironic if those facts were the result of impersonal circumstance. However, those facts are the result of personal choices on that immoral man's part.

I don't think there's anything surprising when we find inconsistency in unprincipled people.
posted by sonofsamiam at 11:22 AM on September 10, 2005

Ah yes, that video was pretty funny. And if I remember right, the redhaired guy showing Clinton the internet was from a popular TV commercial at the time, I just cant remember for which brand (remember that this was during the .com boom).
posted by SirOmega at 11:24 AM on September 10, 2005

Awwww. This made my day and cheered me up immensely. Thanks :)

(Bill! We miss youuuuuu!)
posted by kalimac at 11:30 AM on September 10, 2005

"Stuart" from Ameritrade commercial. Trying to get his boss to buy more shares of K-Mart (before it went Bk of course...or was it really BK or a coup by Lampert? oh thats another story).
posted by H. Roark at 11:31 AM on September 10, 2005

Yahtzee!
posted by maryh at 11:33 AM on September 10, 2005

HA! "I'm gonna buy a smoked ham!"

You know, being a super-leftie type, I have lots of political (ham)bones to pick with Clinton, but I have to admit I really do have a funny affection for that guy. Or maybe I'm just feeling wistful for the good old days when presidents regularly had IQs in the triple digits.
posted by scody at 11:34 AM on September 10, 2005

Aww that was great!

(If Hilary gets elected, is this going to be what he does all the time as the first First Man?)
posted by mayfly wake at 11:43 AM on September 10, 2005

"Stuart" [Michael Maronna] was in the movie Slackers, and was the elder Pete on "The Adventures of Pete & Pete."

this video also has an IMDB entry.
posted by ijoshua at 11:49 AM on September 10, 2005

Loved Kevin Spacey's cameo...

sigh... the good ol' days
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:01 PM on September 10, 2005

An unfortunately ironic reminder that Clinton has more charisma and grace in one eyebrow than GWB will ever have in his whole life. Sadly, those qualities are needed now more than ever.
posted by mkultra at 12:11 PM on September 10, 2005

(btw, I'm almost positive this has been posted, but I still appreciated seeing it today. What's old is new and all that.)
posted by mkultra at 12:14 PM on September 10, 2005

Thankyou, I am reminded what it felt like to admire the President again.
posted by DragonBoy at 12:22 PM on September 10, 2005

God, I miss that playa.
posted by LittleMissCranky at 12:34 PM on September 10, 2005

What I miss the most isn't just that he was smart, but that he didn't treat the American public like idiots. I'm sick of Bush trying to manipulate me with buzzwords and slogans.

(As an aside, Pete and Pete is one of my favorite shows of all time. Iggy Pop, Steve Buscemi, Michael Stipe and a bunch of other cool people did guest shots. Highly recommended.)
posted by jrossi4r at 12:47 PM on September 10, 2005

I'm sick of Bush trying to manipulate me with buzzwords and slogans.

I've started calling him President Platitude.
posted by wadefranklin at 12:49 PM on September 10, 2005

Man, that does bring back feelings of a better time. Thanks a lot, GernBlandston.
posted by bk at 12:50 PM on September 10, 2005

Thanks for sharing that. I've seen it before, but it was great to see it again. You forget just how good things were until you look at your old yearbook...

Of course, I needed to explain to my children the concept of a President who was interested in spending time at the White House - especially when there was no one else there (or disasters were occurring, or there was a war on, etc.).
posted by johneb at 12:59 PM on September 10, 2005

i dont want a human being for a president
posted by Satapher at 1:08 PM on September 10, 2005

Ah, the 90's. When things were going so well that people thought who the president was having sex with was a national crisis.

Welcome to the real world.
posted by bitmage at 1:22 PM on September 10, 2005

What you need is a War Time President.
posted by verisimilitude at 1:32 PM on September 10, 2005

Wow, thanks, I'd never seen this. I laughed, but it made me goddam sad too. I didn't even like him that much, but now he seems so wonderful in comparison. Looking at it I was thinking that his warmth were exactly why the right wing saw him as such a threat, thus Rush and Sean and Savage and Drudge and Rove and the whole right wing talk radio hate machine was summoned up to spin him into a monster.
posted by tula at 1:41 PM on September 10, 2005

*sniffle* We miss ya, Big Dog. You're still the man. Thanks for the flashback.
posted by schoolgirl report at 1:47 PM on September 10, 2005

Ah the good old days when Presidents fucked interns instead of countries.
posted by srboisvert at 2:03 PM on September 10, 2005

Excellent, srboisvert. I miss him greatly, philandering ways and all.
posted by teece at 2:09 PM on September 10, 2005

Ah the good old days when Presidents fucked interns instead of countries.

Someone put that on a t-shirt already, so I can buy one!
posted by scody at 2:14 PM on September 10, 2005

Loved Kevin Spacey's cameo..

I always figured that the cameo was a nod to Spacey's (Oscar-winning?) role in American Beauty, about a man facing a midlife crisis who is sexually tempted by a younger woman.

What I miss the most isn't just that he was smart, but that he didn't treat the American public like idiots.

Jon Stewart once said of the current man in the Whtie House-- "He's not dumb. He thinks we're dumb. That's why he talks to us like that."
posted by deanc at 2:21 PM on September 10, 2005

Thanks for this! Though I too disagreed with a lot of Clinton's policies, I always respected his wit, his intelligence, his humor and his charm (which is by all accounts, very formidable). Throughout his term in office, he always gave the impression, even during the impeachment ordeal, that he enjoyed being president. Better days, indeed.
posted by Verdant at 2:26 PM on September 10, 2005

...(sniff) Someone get that guy a smoked ham... (/tears)
posted by AspectRatio at 2:57 PM on September 10, 2005

OMG Big Pete!

I loved this. The Kevin Spacey bit cracked me up. And the "you forgot your lunch".

It was nice to have a President who could manage to be charming and have a sense of humor instead of a range of smirks.
posted by kosher_jenny at 3:21 PM on September 10, 2005

I'd like to join the chorus of wistful sighs.
And I'll add another little one for the old adcritic.com
posted by blendor at 3:33 PM on September 10, 2005

"Two thumbs, Way Up!"
posted by snsranch at 3:33 PM on September 10, 2005

BTW, good call, deanc. I figured Spacey was just the first A-lister they got in touch with.
posted by blendor at 3:41 PM on September 10, 2005

There's something about watching the President of the United States steal ice cream sammiches that makes me feel all patriotic inside.
posted by Hankins at 3:44 PM on September 10, 2005

The Onion ran this article back in 2001 as GWB was sworn in. No news article has been so prophetic.

For those in a wistful mood, also note that the butterfly ballot design in Florida is estimated to have cost Gore 10,000 votes in 2000, or 8000 more than he needed to win. Sigh...
posted by efbrazil at 3:48 PM on September 10, 2005

since we're into nostalgia:

Sometimes you just wanna tell Bill Clinton, "Fuck it. I'd've blown you, too." 'Cause after his speech last night eviscerated the Republicans and their agenda, ...
(via the RudePundit)

posted by matteo at 3:52 PM on September 10, 2005

Is this is the same Bill Clinton who ordered a cruise missile attack on Sudan's only pharmaceutical factory, causing tens of thousands of deaths? Yep, sure looks like him. When is his fair trial under international law scheduled, again? Just after Bush's, I hope?

Gee, I bet those Sudanese were laughing their pants off at this funny video.

Don't forget that Clinton's foreign policies were very similar to Bush's. Only the tone was different. His superior acting skills, politeness, and general intellectual ability DO NOT CHANGE the fact that he, like Bush, was guilty of mass murder.

Forgive me if I fail to join in the circle-jerk of Democratic Party nostalgia.

Give me the future, you can keep the past.
posted by cleardawn at 3:54 PM on September 10, 2005

Give me the future, you can keep the past.

*Hands sack of cinders'n'ash to cleardawn*
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 3:56 PM on September 10, 2005

Monica Lewinsky had more President in her than George W. Bush has in his entire body.
posted by Rothko at 3:57 PM on September 10, 2005

efbrazil, that is a fine article from the Onion. I don't think I've ever seen a more accurate set of predictions. Although the various official reports on the likely impact of a Category 4 hurricanes in New Orleans come pretty close.

As Cassandra said more eloquently (and in Greek), sometimes being proved right kinda sucks.

PinkStainlessTail: Stuff grows in cinders and ash. Eventually. And one day, the vicuñas will graze peacefully again, beneath the clear, blue sky.

Or something probably not too dissimilar from vicuñas, anyway.
posted by cleardawn at 4:14 PM on September 10, 2005

He wasn't perfect, cleardawn, but compared to this administration he was a paragon of virtue. Even with the blowjob.
posted by zoogleplex at 4:51 PM on September 10, 2005

Thanks for bringing this back and the laugh to old and better times. My monitor is set kind of dark and at the shot of him eating popcorn watching a movie, well, my mind substituted him patting Monica on the head instead of his dog in his lap.

Excuse me for being redundant.
posted by hal9k at 4:53 PM on September 10, 2005

'Monica Lewinsky had more President in her than George W. Bush has in his entire body."

Author?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:04 PM on September 10, 2005

'Paragon of virtue' isn't the term I'd use, no.

Better than Bush, though - yeah, I'll give him that.

Obviously, Clinton was better for America, in every way, than Bush. Every economic and cultural indicator is completely clear on that.

In the long term, however, the damage Bush has done to America may well be a good thing, not only for the rest of the world, but for America too. A weaker, indebted, militarily humiliated America will be forced to negotiate on a more equal basis, and that may well result in a more stable and equitable form of global governance.

It'll all work out in the end. God is love, and was so a long time before the Christians started lying about it.

But I remember 1997, and how happy I was to get rid of the Conservative Party after 18 years of abuse. Little did I know that Tony Blair, for whom I had just campaigned and voted, would be in many ways even more rightwing than Thatcher.

If America had elected Kerry, you might well have made a similar same gut-wrenching discovery.
posted by cleardawn at 5:27 PM on September 10, 2005

Similar same? Sorry. That was a typo, though Freudian, perhaps. Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dumber, wasn't that the joke?
posted by cleardawn at 5:31 PM on September 10, 2005

It'll all work out in the end. God is love, and was so a long time before the Christians started lying about it.

The real one is. The one that created this universe is a nutjob.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 5:33 PM on September 10, 2005

In the long term, however, the damage Bush has done to America may well be a good thing, not only for the rest of the world, but for America too.

I am inclined to agree. I take flack for it (communist! traitor!) every time I mention it, but I think the only way the US can reform itself from a bloated and entrenched plutocracy to a true and direct democracy, is to find rock bottom first.

Bread lines aren't much fun for anyone, I know, but the balance of power in this country has shifted so severely to a very wealthy few (as it was in the 1890s and 1920s), that it's hard not to see that the only way to bring this back to the center is through a major cataclysm. Not that I look forward to that, it just seems inevitable: like history repeating itself.

Fundamentally, I am a pro-business Democrat (sellout!), and I still have some hope for a gradual and negotiated shift to a more democratic form of rule, but the longer the thieves and extremists are in charge, the less chance I think that has to happen.
posted by psmealey at 5:55 PM on September 10, 2005

Is this is the same Bill Clinton who ordered a cruise missile attack on Sudan's only pharmaceutical factory, causing tens of thousands of deaths? ... Gee, I bet those Sudanese were laughing their pants off at this funny video.

I must have missed the bit where Clinton was looking under his desk for a Sudanese aspirin.
posted by MegoSteve at 5:59 PM on September 10, 2005

MetaFilter: a similar same gut-wrenching discovery
posted by mwhybark at 6:05 PM on September 10, 2005

Is this is the same Bill Clinton who ordered a cruise missile attack on Sudan's only pharmaceutical factory, causing tens of thousands of deaths? Yep, sure looks like him. When is his fair trial under international law scheduled, again? Just after Bush's, I hope?
posted by cleardawn

Or maybe I'm just feeling wistful for the good old days when presidents regularly had IQs in the triple digits.
posted by scody

Facts kill rhetoric every single time. There's a certain beauty to it. One has worth, the other, not.

No doubt Clinton had more charisma in his big toe than Bush, and with that his shortcomings were overlooked.
posted by justgary at 6:06 PM on September 10, 2005

repost? :)
posted by tomplus2 at 6:08 PM on September 10, 2005

but I think the only way the US can reform itself from a bloated and entrenched plutocracy to a true and direct democracy

HA. That's what Claudius thought, too.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:54 PM on September 10, 2005

"...I think the only way the US can reform itself from a bloated and entrenched plutocracy to a true and direct democracy, is to find rock bottom first."

I never thought of comparing Bush to Tyler Durden before...
posted by voltairemodern at 6:55 PM on September 10, 2005

The Onion ran this article back in 2001

Crikey, that was creepy. The author was probably thinking "This'll be funny sooo because, Republicans aside, there's no way this could ever happen. Naw."
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:04 PM on September 10, 2005

Monica Lewinsky had more President in her than George W. Bush has in his entire body.

Beautiful.
posted by homunculus at 7:25 PM on September 10, 2005

LBJ was a fuckin' awesome president... just listen at all the incredible timeless music that was created under his leadership!
posted by Satapher at 7:54 PM on September 10, 2005

Yes, a repost, but a damn fine one for anyone that missed it the first time around. Feels like its been two decades since that was filmed.
posted by tdominey at 9:29 PM on September 10, 2005

Nice post. I hadn't seen this.

cleardawn I'm with you on the general assholery of Clinton, but I still enjoyed the video.
posted by Smedleyman at 9:57 PM on September 10, 2005

Good times, good times:

As amazing as it sounds, Witt was the first FEMA head who came to the position with direct experience in emergency management...On Witt's recommendation, Clinton filled most of the FEMA jobs reserved for political appointees with persons who had previous experience in natural disasters and intergovernmental relations.

posted by kirkaracha at 10:08 PM on September 10, 2005

I never thought of comparing Bush to Tyler Durden before...

Karl Rove is polishing the brass on the Titanic. It's all going down, man!
posted by psmealey at 12:23 PM on September 11, 2005

[this is good]
posted by stevis at 3:14 PM on September 11, 2005