November 8, 2000

8:47 AM

Amy Goodman of Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now! ("The Exception to the Rulers") maneuvered a get-out-the-vote telephone call by President Clinton to WBAI in New York into a 30-minute interview addressing such controversial topics as the death penalty, sanctions against Iraq, clemency for Native American activist Leonard Peltier, relations with Cuba and China, racial profiling, and the candidacy of Ralph Nader! A transcript is available, and the audio is extremely compelling listening.
posted by sudama (13 comments total)

Wow. That was impressive. I haven't been able to hear the audio yet (no sound card on my @work computer), but the text was very, very powerful. That truly was the mark of a great politician speaking. I can't even imagine Dubya being able to even come close to that kind of performance, even if he were to complete 8 years (shudder) in the Oval Office.

Hate him or love him, Clinton did a fine job the last 8 years.
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 9:19 AM on November 8, 2000

yes, he deserves an "honest look-see"
posted by subpixel at 9:30 AM on November 8, 2000

Hate him or love him, Clinton did a fine job the last 8 years.

I'm always amused how easily people fall for Clinton's BS. This, despite his reputation as a "masterful politician" -- beltway jargon for "very convincing liar". Across the board, Clinton's record is horrendous -- worse than Bush Sr's and plausibly worse than Bush Jr's will be (should he be elected).

posted by johnb at 9:43 AM on November 8, 2000

Hate him or love him, Clinton did a fine job the last 8 years.

While I'm sure many people won't agree with this, I think everyone can agree that he's a very good public speaker.
posted by daveadams at 10:23 AM on November 8, 2000

Is this the kind of hard-hitting coverage that Pacifica management is fighting so hard to shut down? I wish I knew a station in St. Louis that carried DN!
posted by harmful at 12:10 PM on November 8, 2000

If you take a quick look at the last 8 years, I'm sure you will find that if you asked people "Are you better off now than 8 years ago?" you'd probably have a resounding majority of people responding "yes" to that question.

Sure, you could say Clinton had it easy... The economy was doing great, huge budget surpluses, and major advancements in technology... But if we look at Machiavelli's "The Prince", he states that a good leader is able to adapt to the environment... We cannot dispute that the country is a better place now.. for the most part. Of course there are problems. You can't make everyone happy. Not in a nation of over 250 million people.

But look back at the Bush administration.. or even Reagan. I remember a time when most people had a pretty pessimistic outlook on the future back then. That's changed quite a bit now.

The thing a lot of people tend not to realize is that the President is somewhat of a figurehead position. The real work is done by the people working under him. It is the job of the President to appear confident and to have the trust of the people. A lot of this is based on how he speaks and how he presents himself. Bush Jr. will NEVER have that same prowess. Not even Gore... But at least Gore's competent. I can't say the same thing about Bush Jr. Not after everything I've read about him.
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 12:21 PM on November 8, 2000

And you guys do realize that regardless of who's President, this guy is still the most powerful man in the world. :)
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 12:22 PM on November 8, 2000

If you take a quick look at the last 8 years, I'm sure you will find that if you asked people "Are you better off now than 8 years ago?" you'd probably have a resounding majority of people responding "yes" to that question.
1. If that were true Gore would have won in a landslide
2. Better off in what respect?
posted by Outlawyr at 2:21 PM on November 8, 2000

If that were true and if Gore hadn't gone out of his way to avoid any association with Clinton Gore would have won in a landslide.
posted by harmful at 2:32 PM on November 8, 2000

I like Amy Goodman, but I wish she would’ve conducted a better interview. Why setout to piss off a President who, deep down, supports your views, even if his records doesn’t reflect it?
posted by capt.crackpipe at 4:40 PM on November 8, 2000

Amy Goodman had literally seconds notice that the President was on the phone. I think she did a commendable job, given the circumstances. I don't know of anyone who would have done better.
posted by sudama at 5:08 PM on November 8, 2000

Well, if you didn't like Clinton too much, you are not going to like W at all. Not at all.
posted by tranquileye at 6:49 PM on November 8, 2000

Amy Goodman kicks ass. Clinton sucks.
posted by johnb at 11:45 PM on November 9, 2000