Bill Clinton at Speak Truth to Power 10/6/06

[crinklewing]

For what it's worth, there are other things in this speech of Clinton's that I like a lot. There's a message of hope here and an enjoining to do good. I especially like what Clinton says about its not being necessary to be in power or be among the powerful to do something good. I've always felt that Clinton has a good heart.

[manpowr]

crinklewing you useless retard.you have the maturity level of a 2 year old.taking everything word for word.what he really meant was that the economic disparity is much more pronounced in many developing nations.the current wonderful president george bush said this when he met the miami heat "I never had the pleasure of winning anything" can I take this word for word?

[crinklewing]

The only legitimate exercise of power is its use to make the world a kinder, gentler, freer, more honest place.

[crinklewing]

Clinton's remarks about America's supposed equality of opportunity, meritocracy, and "the great middle class" here evince a not so tacit classism and social darwinism, as well an extraordinary naiveté about the human intellect. Yet we'd be far better off he were still in the White House today.

[crinklewing]

Clinton is justly proud of his accomplishments given his humble origins. And he does at least believe in the ideal of equality of opportunity. But if he doesn't see that we still have a long, long way to go before we've achieved it, he's quite out of touch. And if he thinks that working class people are really inherently less intelligent, on average, than educated professionals, he shows that there is in fact some justification for the usual charge of elitism from the right.

[manpowr]

crinklewing do you mean to say that the left is intellectually deficient when compred to the right?

[crinklewing]

Not at all. I'm basically a progressive populist. I'm saying that as things stand now, there is in fact a significant elitist streak in some quarters of the "left" and this comes through clearly in some of what Clinton says here. How would you feel about this speech if you were a gas station attendant? What would it feel like to have people like Clinton constantly assume that the reason you were pumping gas was that you were intrinsically less intelligent?

[manpowr]

The gas station boy will feel intimidated Only if he believes that Clinton(according to your assumptions) is right.The mere fact that a person is stupid enough to assume that the reason that he is poor is Only because he is stupid itself proves beyond any doubt that he is indeed stupid!.Tell me how did you come to your conclusion that Clinton assumes these things?

[crinklewing]

You need to nurture your inner child, manpowr.

[manpowr]

Don't run away like a coward from answering the question!!

[crinklewing]

Clinton: "When I was a child in my little town in Arkansas, the great middle class based on equality of opportunity and meritocracy had not yet been by established, so the person supplying your food and the person that was filling your tank with gas might have an IQ as high as the doctor at the local hospital. Most of the rest of the world still has that circumstance."

[crinklewing]

This suggests that Clinton thinks a system based upon equality of opportunity has already been accomplished in the U.S., whereas, although we've made significant progress in that direction, we actually have a great deal more work to do before that is achieved.

[crinklewing]

Clinton: "When I was a child in my little town in Arkansas, the great middle class based on equality of opportunity and meritocracy had not yet been by established, so the person supplying your food and the person that was filling your tank with gas might have an IQ as high as the doctor at the local hospital. Most of the rest of the world still has that circumstance."