It's a classy move on the part of the former president. While greeting Haiti citizens as part of the Clinton Bush Initiative for Haiti relief, watch carefully as GWB shakes hands with a Haitian and then wipes his hand off on Bill Clinton's shoulder. I guess that's better than turning around for a squirt of hand sanitizer by a waiting assistant. Maybe. Sort of.
By the way, along those lines, Bill Clinton did something astounding the other day: he apologized for the economic policies he pursued during his tenure as president that he admitted had devastated the Haitian economy.
Decades of inexpensive imports - especially rice from the U.S. - punctuated with abundant aid in various crises have destroyed local agriculture and left impoverished countries such as Haiti unable to feed themselves.
While those policies have been criticized for years in aid worker circles, world leaders focused on fixing Haiti are admitting for the first time that loosening trade barriers has only exacerbated hunger in Haiti and elsewhere.
They're led by former U.S. President Bill Clinton - now U.N. special envoy to Haiti - who publicly apologized this month for championing policies that destroyed Haiti's rice production. Clinton in the mid-1990s encouraged the impoverished country to dramatically cut tariffs on imported U.S. rice.
"It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake," Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 10. "I had to live everyday with the consequences of the loss of capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people because of what I did; nobody else."
Wow. What an amazing admission. The sad thing was that it was buried within a story on WaPo published Saturday far from the front page.
..bush would just stay home and stop embarrassing us by making his mere existence public. or maybe he could just stay in a cell for the rest of his life for committing war crimes, that would be better and make us look good to all the other humans on the planet.
by so many black people, it must be uncomfortable for him. Can't imagine why.
Goodnight, Frau Blücher
Bush probably considers himself a great white humanitarian, the Master Race denigning to get out among the genetically inferior to show how compassionate he is.
L. Ron Hubbard had the same delusions.
http://trueslant.com/stephenwebster/2010/03/2...
...more things to admit he fucked up, like expanded on free trade agreements that are destroying our middle class for starters.
isn't fair trade.
Not just that, but Free Trade is only free for corporations. For schmucks like people, labor is very very far from being freely traded.
would have helped the Haitians. It is export subsides for agricultural products that killed them. The two are not to be confused.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
I saw this video yesterday and told my husband about it last night. He kept saying I must have been mistaken in what I saw because even as big a jerk as bush is, he wouldn't do something like that. Then I showed him the clip. At first he looked at me in disbelief and then he just shook his head in disgust
Bush in this clip, the essence of crass.
Clinton's words, the essence of class.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
...the obligatory shrub acknowledgement; what a fucking moron.
Bush...harrruummppppphhh!!!
And this guy was supposed to have the cahoons to fly airplanes?
Not likely. And, it is sooooooo obvious isn't it? He still remembers that 90% of the black vote went against him. Check out the "smirky" expression on his face.
Oh, and lets not forget New Orleans. I suspect that the Bushies haven't forgotten. This is why George #43 is in Haiti for the photo opportunity to prove that he isn't(wasn't) a racist president in the first place..
BTW, where is Mrs. Bush?
Check out the "smirky" expression on his face.
His handlers probably had him doped up to avoid another episode of The Screaming Meemies that Bush has every time he's surrounded by brown people. WIthout a doubt they had him tranqed with something, if only to keep his fucking yap shut when microphones were hot.
BTW, where is Mrs. Bush?
Didn't she leave that pile of shit? Didn't they separate quietly?
I dunno
The timing is piss-poor
But it may be sign of friendship with Clenis
Afterall boosh has the reputation of a touchy-feely guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOomGp8AnH8
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
The war criminal is still on the loose...
US soldiers, and 9/11 victims bush was trying to wipe off. How did that Haitian get it??
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Get away. Get Away from me. Don't touch my hair. Don't touch my hair....pewwwwww! I'll tell. I'll tell.....Momma!
I never said I like this guy. All stage. No substance!
Now how about apologies for the job sucking trade agreements, then DOMA and DADT.
now perhaps he could apoligize for Nafta.
As for Bush, everybody knows he hates black people (except Condi), it's no surprise, and while it's a mystery how he got elected (he didn't) he is a very good representation of the teabagging republican party.
everybody knows he hates black people (except Condi),
Well, the slave master usually doesn't hate their property, not unless they run off.
is inherently racist, more like classist. if those black people in NO had been wealthy, gw would have been all over it. same with the haitians. were they wealthy, gw would be inviting them to stay at his place. he responds in similar fashion to poor whites and latinos.
the concept of "free trade" is not, in and of itself, the problem. it's the failure to coordinate with other laws: agricultural subsidies, environmental/labor, etc. this failure, by definition, creates an "unlevel" playing field for those not able to successfuly make their way through that minefield.
this is what hillary was referring to, when she opined that, had she the opportunity, she'd change NAFTA to what she thought it should have been (and apparently argued with bill about) to begin with.
Am I the only person who remembers that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Bush chose to single out Trent Lott -- a wealthy Congresscritter who was no doubt insured up to the eyeballs -- as someone who'd lost his house? What about all the other people living in Louisiana and Mississippi who also lost their homes but weren't as wealthy or influential as Lott and would therefore quite possibly find it harder to rebuild -- especially if they weren't wealthy enough to afford much (or perhaps even any) insurance? I thought at the time that it said a lot about Bush's character -- or more specifically, his lack thereof.
Then again, Bush's favoritism for people of his own class was more or less blatantly apparent even before he began his first term in the White House. Remember this little gem?
"This is an impressive crowd...the 'haves' and the 'have-mores'. Some people call you the elites -- I call you my base." (George W. Bush, October 2000)
Never trust anyone who insists that patriotism requires you to blindfold yourself with the flag.
Setting his possible racism aside for a moment,I think you're correct concerning the class angle.Bush see's people around him as servants and helpers.Remember when he cleaned his eye glasses on some lady's dress during a tee vee taping?He is of the privileged class-to the manor born,and probably isn't even aware of his behavior.
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
I think there's a lot of truth in your speculation that Bush is unaware of his own behavior -- frankly, there are times when it seems as if the only way he could be less aware of his own behavior is by being comatose!
On the other hand, as I've commented in the past, one thing which is clear from Bush's behavior is that he's profoundly and monumentally insecure -- typically, people who are truly comfortable with themselves and confident in their abilities feel no need for the kind of arrogant boasting, strutting, and posturing that Bush has a tendency to display. It's a bit sad, really -- because when you think about it, you soon realize that they themselves are the people whom folks like this are trying so hard to impress (whether they realize it or not).
Never trust anyone who insists that patriotism requires you to blindfold yourself with the flag.
And should be prosecuted if we lived in any kind of a fair or just society.
LNMC suggestion in Honor of G.W. Bush's ignorancy, hypocrisy, and indecency...
Handshake Drugs ~ Wilco
No statute of limitations on War Crimes.
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
candidate Bush jr. was on letterman?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUVYcWxvqaM
certainly we all know by now that other people are in his world simply for his benefit and use as he sees fit.
I'll bet the Haitian man wiped his hand too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keFIWob8NM4
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
Leave. Bush. Alooooone! Waaaah.
glad hands and wipes hands after shaking hands.
oughta be in the hague.
..in the first place? If we are going to look forward, not backward, why hasn't he been arrested for his crimes? If his first or middle name was "saddam" or "slobadan", we'd be screaming for his head right now. I don't know, its a world gone mad when people who were dictators or presidents can commit murder and other atrocities and then escape prosecution.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
Haiti is signatory to the United Nations as a Member State, isn't it? The people of Haiti could have captured that war criminal for remanding over to the International Criminal Court and done so legally.
Obama administration is trying to rehab. Bush's reputation. Something to do with the President being above the law and all that, not wanting to set a precedent.
I hate to say it, but it rings true.
..I won't be supporting Obama in 2012. I won't vote for him, no campaign funds and I'll register as a Democrat just to try and vote for another candidate in the primary. I applaud him for all the good but I won't support continuing his Presidency the same way I won't vote for any other hypocrite or criminal which means I'll never vote for a republican't or conservative. We've prosecuted people for the same crimes w committed, we've jailed people for the crimes w committed, we've executed people for the crimes w committed. We are still occupiers in the middle east and that needs to end and we need to show the world just who we are as opposed to who we seem to be: a nation of laws not a nation of war criminals. If not, all the harm that comes from it can only be blamed on the faces in the mirror.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
It sounds like he wanted to elevate the gravity of the tragedy in Haiti to a level than would involve ex Presidents as emmissaries, and Bush and his Dad (who is over 80) are the only two R's left alive.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
Look, Rhett, it's coming off.
LOL! God damned fucking Republicans, thinking the black rubs off. 'Course with that Republican IQ of Bush's, he probably thinks he's now got AIDS or Ebola or something.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJkHykGRXrw
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
LOL. Mell Brooks. Look. It's coming off.
I wonder what Bush thinks of that movie when he sees it. Probably doesn't realize that it's all metaphore and stereotype, that it's a comedy, not a negro user manual.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NvgLkuEtkA
Is metaphore when you get all symbolic with waving signal flags?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
true (lol, I was copying his spelling above)
they had set up some photo ops for him to hand out food at one TEMPORARY booth and then move and hand out clothes at another TEMPORARY booth. A German film crew caught him talking to one woman at the clothing table and it was clear he didn't realize that these tables had just been set up for a brief few moments for this public relations event. The woman says something like: "The whole food distribution booth is gone already." and Bush said slowly as if the woman was stupid, "No it's not, I was just there." He didn't realize he was just being used as a prop.
That's the rightarded bubble that the rich white honkey Republidiots live in. They have no conception about the reality of the world outside of their tight little bubbles.
They don't live in the America -- indeed the world -- that normal people live in.
There are plenty of reasons why he's a moron without having to resort to questionable incidents. He poses with troops and plastic turkeys all the time, most of his "humanitarian" trips involve staged events for security purposes or convenience, I wouldn't hold this against him.
Decades of inexpensive imports - especially rice from the U.S. - punctuated with abundant aid in various crises have destroyed local agriculture and left impoverished countries such as Haiti unable to feed themselves.
Also look at what the Monsanto Multinational did in Haiti. Those Republican criminals in that Republican corporate conglomerate deliberately committed genetic sabotage through leasing seeds that don't produce viable offspring.
Monsanto is the real mass murdering corporate criminal in Haiti.
Look what they've done worldwide, shit. They're an absolute abomination.
What did they do? Any links?
Hasa Diga Eebowai
killed Haitian Agriculture and drove the rural population into Port Au Prince.
The US Role in Haiti's Food Riots
Why Haiti can't feed itself
Why US Farm Subsidies are Bad for the World
Food Aid Helped Destroy Haiti
farmHaiti
Is that what you're looking for?
me-oww!
the Monsanto thing in particular. The other disastrous policies I was more or less familiar with.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
but I didn't plug that into google. Nor did I look for ADM. But both are mega farming concerns, with a great capacity for overproduction. And legal depts that will help them find the most free money from government to boot. I wouldn't be at all shocked to find one, if not both not only leading the pack, but somehow at the heart of it, much like United Fruit in the 50s using the US government to destabilise agricultural infrastructure and democratically elected leaders (and calling them dictators, like Aristede, and Chavez) in Central America.
PS thanks for the compliment yesterday. Notice, though, it's miss underscore kitty, not miss hyphen kitty.
:D
me-oww!
1) It IS an amazing admission by Mr. Clinton. He coerced Aristide into lowering the import tariff on rice from 50% to 3%, enabling Arkansas rice growers to undersell Haitian rice growers, devastating Haiti's economy and self-sufficiency. As others have already stated, Clinton now needs to admit he made the same mistake with NAFTA and replacing the GATT with the WTO. As Thom Hartmann has been saying for some time, America MUST return to a system of tariffs that protect American workers.
2) Yeah, WaPo buried the story, but it's an AP article, not a Washington Post article.
3) The IMF forced Haiti to tear down their only flour mill, so now Haiti must import ALL its flour. The IMF also forced Haiti to tear down their only concrete factory, so now Haiti must import all its concrete.
MAYBE if Clinton and others wake up enough, MAYBE we can begin to restore the world economy to a patchwork of LOCAL economies that work.
Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!
Am pretty liberal, but I have a nitpick:
"Deign". I do not think this word means what you think it means.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/deign
deign
–verb (used without object)
1. to think fit or in accordance with one's dignity; condescend: He would not deign to discuss the matter with us.
–verb (used with object)
2. to condescend to give or grant: He deigned no reply.
3. Obsolete. to condescend to accept.
I stand corrected. I thought it was the opposite.
so you would not deign to click on it. But of course, if you clicked on it, you might be led to a false web site, where that
definition was supplied just in case you knew it was a trick.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
You deigned it was the opposite, I ween...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Full stop.
me-oww!
a rare moment when a neoliberal apologizes for, well, neoliberalism.
yes, clinton has oodles to apologize for, but i will take a moment (a rare occasion) to give clinton props for apologizing for some of the pain he helped spawn in haiti. that was big of you, bill, to apologize for some of what you were responsible for.
constructive criticism: drop the "I had to live everyday with the consequences..." nonsense. please, it is insulting. just apologize and be done with it, it's better that way.
Nicole Belle wrote:
"What an amazing admission. The sad thing was that it was buried within a story on WaPo published Saturday far from the front page."
No. The sad thing is that Clinton knew this was the wrong thing to do when he was in office and is now trying to assuage his guilt. He sounds exactly like Ronald Reagan did trying to take credit for Ryan White's courage after Reagan's policies had caused thousands to die unnecessarily of AIDS.
Neither should be let off the hook or allowed to escape blame.
I don't think he thought it was the wrong thing to do.
It's the rule of unexpected consequences. He went in, thinking he was doing the right thing for our agricultural economy. Remember, this was (and still is for most of America) the going economic school of thought. I don't think that those economists pushing this ever looked at the long range implications or particularly cared about the international effects.
That's why we have such a fetish over free markets in this country, instead of fair markets.
You have to admit, though, that it took gonads. Although then again, any normal person should do this upon realizing they're wrong.
I most certainly think he did know it was wrong. He chose to put US farmers' and US national interests ahead of another nations' and its farmers, putting votes ahead of lives. It's yet another example of lobbying, special interests and politicians seeking re-election over doing what's right.
The number of people willing to put principle above principal is far too few, and getting smaller all the time because those who violate ethics and the law are seen to be getting away with it (e.g. George Bu**sh**).
I think he thought doing what was best for US national interests was best. I don't think he filtered it through to consider that what was in our interest would devastate another country.
So yes, while the net result was wrong, I think the intent was meant well.
That's the problem with these free market economists and Rand lovers. I've had more than a few discussions where we play out their preferred scenarios until I point out the consequences to others. I'd say less than half the time they admit that they hadn't even considered it before this and sheepishly admit that it's probably not a good idea and the rest (read the majority) of the time, they simply shrug and say that they don't care.
I'd respectfully suggest that Clinton belongs in the first camp, while Bush clearly falls into the second.
I hope you are correct. I think it is quite possible but we may not ever know for sure. Also it would be interesting to see Clinton in the White House again to see what his reaction to different situations would be now that he has been out of office for ten years doing things and seeing things from a different perspective. Just something else we will never know or see. Interesting thought though.
on this one Nicole. It isn't about free trade. The agricultural price support war with Europe made these surpluses inevitable and they had to be dumped somewhere. The US was hardly the only sinner. The EU shares a lot of the responsibility.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
"The number of people willing to put principle above principal is far too few"
Corruption favors the wealthy.
.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Clinton forces Haiti to drop its agricultural protections. Haiti does so. U.S. agribusiness floods the Haitian market with cheap rice. Haitian farmers can't compete and go under. U.S. agribusiness then owns the market with no local competition.
This wasn't unintended. It was the plan, and it worked exactly as planned.
Regarding free market ideology or school of thought, I'm reminded of Galbraith's analysis of conservatism:
It's not really an ideology or a school of thought; it's more of a pseudo-intellectual fig leaf for greed.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
a major famine occurs and too much food aid is dumped into a region. It kills the local agricultural economy and usually takes years to overcome which ironically prolongs the need for aid after whatever conditions be it climate or war have subsided.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
...but you have to give him credit for publicly admitting that he did the wrong thing, which I bet is a lot more than you'll ever see Bush do!!
Never trust anyone who insists that patriotism requires you to blindfold yourself with the flag.
"What do you think about Roe versus Wade." The former Prez responded, "Heh, heh, heh, as long as they get out of Haiti it doesn't really matter how. Hey! Have you seen that HBO show 'The Pacific?' It was good. I liked it. We really took it to the Chinese."
I've seen some stuff, man. And some thangs...
yeah , and thanks for NAFTA too Bill .
I'm sure at least some of that $100 million plus fortune you've amassed since your presidency is from grateful U.S. agribusiness. Maybe you could toss a few crumbs to the people who's livelihood you deliberately destroyed.
And about that NAFTA thing . . . .
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Canadians were treated to the sight of two former presidents shaking hands with Haitians: astounded to see Bush WIPE HIS HAND ON CLINTON'S SLEEVE afterwards. How can he go any lower than this? I think this is the opposite of diplomacy.
Because dubya was always so good at diplomacy.
The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a Lunatic Asylum. -Havelock Ellis
... with his own human flaws and foibles. A person who can admit when he's wrong and apologize for it.
The other is a classless, moronic buffoon. A malignant narcissist who doesn't know the phrases "I was wrong" and "I'm sorry."
Oh, and a Republican.
Yes, kids, there IS a difference between the parties.
BID
Bush has a germ phobia. I read once that he kept a bottle of Purell in the Oval Office to spritz himself after shaking hands. At public events, a staffer stood by with hand cleaner.
Not an excuse, just an observation. He's not the down-home cowboy he pretends to be.
of cleaning the Crawford Faux Ranch brush before Bush cleared it for the cameras on "vacation" visits.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
on using his own rolled-up bill or straw...
I've seen some stuff, man. And some thangs...
...depends on whether he cleans his hands off after shaking hands with anyone, or whether he only does it after shaking hands with a non-Caucasian. If he's more likely to use sanitizer on his hands when he's shaken hands with people of color or belonging to a certain ethnic group or nationality -- whether he himself is able to consciously admit it or not, even in the privacy of his own thoughts -- then it suggests that at some level, he's prejudiced against those people. It's quite possible for a person to be a racist without being consciously aware of it.
Never trust anyone who insists that patriotism requires you to blindfold yourself with the flag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keFIWob8NM4
He was making war on his nose germs.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Some truth about "free trade". It's nothing more than an attempt by corporations in this country to destroy local economies in third-world nations and replace them with ones dependent on US goods and services. Neo-colonialism at its finest. For example, local farmers in Haiti, Jamaica, and many, many others can't compete at market against our subsidized produce. They have no choice but to buy the foreign stuff.
The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a Lunatic Asylum. -Havelock Ellis
who are evil and not the farmers who wanted and got the export subsidies?
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Bush simply didn't want to get cooties...or does he call them coonies?
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
on clinton's shirt.
________________
common sense matters as much as truth
and he wiped his ass with the Constitution.
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
Every time I start thinking that the man can't possibly disgust me any further, he does something to prove me wrong! It's incredibly rude, tacky, and disrespectful to wipe your hands on someone else's clothing -- it suggests that you refuse to deal with a mess yourself and demand that someone else shoulder all the responsibility of taking care of it (which, when you think about it, is not at all out of character for Bush considering the fact that he allegedly relied upon his father's friends to bail him out when one of his business efforts failed).
Never trust anyone who insists that patriotism requires you to blindfold yourself with the flag.
The funniest thing was Clinton's split second reaction. Like "WTF are you doing dip shit?" All in the matter of a split second.
It sure says a boatload about Bush.
Oh, and Clinton's admittion is good too. I would like to see a conversation with Clinton about Haiti, NAFTA, Rwanda, Iraq and a few other things as well.
http://emperors-clothes.com/croatia/u-legion.jpg
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Let's hope he didn't really mean anything by his urge to wipe his hand (on another ex-Prez, of all things!) after shaking hands with the Haitian, but I suspect it was just what it looked like: his haughty expression that everyone else, including a fellow former POTUS, is there for him to wipe with. Reminds me of the clip of Dubya using the clothing of a producer of a TV show he was on to clean his glasses on, behind her back. Dubya is sure someone I would not turn my back on.
It looks like Mr. Clinton is taking a page from Jimmy Carter's notebook. I hope that he builds on this bit of self-reflection and continues to work to make this world a better place.
Is why we would send bush (the biggest embarrassment the country has ever had) to be there?
The man is a total fool!
He is using Bush.
Clinton admitted his tragic mistake. Now, what's he going to do about correcting it?
Religion will be the downfall of Humanity.
Given how much the Washington press corps hid from the public the paranoid fears of George Bush in over his head, the trembling coward, a more interesting story would be what persuaded Bush to travel to Haiti.
Bush declared he did not intend to travel with Clinton a few weeks ago during a live TV broadcast, yet there he is in Haiti suffering in anxiety, wondering how long before he's kicking back some cold ones beside his pool in Texas.
Maybe it's got to do with this... http://www.truthistreason.net/the-real-story-...
...President in US history. I'd like to have seen Clinton turn around and punch Dubya right in the face. Maybe knock that goddam smirk off his face.
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