How thrilled would Bill Clinton have been if Hillary had no ambition to become President, and Bill got to frame Obama as the heir to Clintonian Democratic politics? Obama has learned lesson of needing to genuinely appeal to the other side, being more business friendly (he wants to have a CTO), etc. It has been stated innumerable times: Hillary and Obama are not separated by policy differences so much as personal character. Note that when Obama critiques the Clintons, its generally not policy differences, but a critique of the divisive climate they helped perpetuate in the 90s which made more ambitious progress difficult to impossible.

what you wrote?

" . . . but a critique of the divisive climate they helped perpetuate in the 90s which made more ambitious progress difficult to impossible."

You are literally blaming the victims [the Clintons] for the hate-based, partisan activities of the GOP!

It was the GOP and THEIR deliberate partisan tactics [do you even KNOW the things Newt Gingrinch said during those years about how good partisan politics was as a political tactic?] AIDED by a compliant mass media which willingly followed their [the GOP's] lead that CREATED that divisive climate.

My GOD Bill Clinton was investigated for almost seven straight years based on NOTHING more substantial than GOP rumors of wrong doings!

I just can't believe people like you sometimes.

I think the Clintons were very reckless both in the personal and in their Business dealings making themselves very easy marks for any attack machine.

and you making mock of the notion does nothing to alter any of the facts.

Clinton in his personal life was precisely no different than republican and democrat presidents throughout the 19th and 20th centureies, but then you would actually have to know some fact-based things regarding U,S. history to be aware of this FACT. Nor was he one iota different in his business life than, say G.W. Bush WHO WAS given a free press pass on HIS shady business tactics and dealings.

So, yes, it WAS a vast rightwing conspiracy and since then even some of the conspirators have admitted that FACT. So if YOU want to treat history as some sort of smarmy little political game set that can be twisted around and spun to suit your pathetic emotional needs, well that's your business. Don't come crying to me, however, when the truth and the facts slap you hard in the face.

I was a major supporter of Bill Clinton from the beginning and I certainly do blame right-wing extremists for most of the divisiveness. I said the Clintons did "help perpetuate" the divisive climate - that is not to lay all of the blame on them. Because I'm pretty liberal I personally forgive Bill his affairs, but those affairs, and the consequent sense that the Clintons marriage is made of cold, calculating political convenience has hurt them and the Democratic Party. On the other hand, there is the fact that as 60s gen boomers, along with George W. Bush, they were inevitably part of a sharply divided cultural generation. They couldn't really do anything about the latter, and its time to move forward when the opportunity to do so with a great candidate like Obama comes along.

When Hillary was asked recently by Tim Russert on Meet The Press if the attacks on the Clinton's while in Office were because of a "vast right wing conspiracy", she just laughed very nervously while fidgeting very noticeably and never responded to the question.

Do you have new information or know something that she doesn't know about the Right-Wing attacks?

Yes, the GOP were out to "get" Bill Clinton from the day he took office. So yes, there were partisan investigations looking under every rock and in every closet and when they couldn't make Whitewater stick, the settled on backing him into a corner and getting him to testify under oath about something that should have been a personal matter.

On the other hand, the Clintons are ruthless politicians (a little bit of ruthlessness is a requirement for politics) and over the years, left enough former aides with enough hurt feelings to talk smack about them. That helped fuel the many investigations that were being launched almost daily against them.

So yes, it was a littel bit of a "vast right wing conspiracy" and a little bit of the Clintons' own actions.

I have to wonder, though, if the Bush administration's activities were put under even on 1/10 of the scrutiny that the Clinton administration was, maybe some of the myriad scandals of the past 7 years might have actually lead to some real action. Of course, the Bush administration's approach to any investigation has been to, as Dick would say, tell them to go f**k themselves.

Maybe if Clinton had taken that approach, he could have avoided impeachment.

The Right-Wing Attack machine is always probing for any type of vulnerability in the opposition and I think the Clinton's left way too much surface area available for the Right-Wing attack machine.

"Clinton in his personal life was precisely no different than republican and democrat presidents throughout the 19th and 20th centureies [sic]"

There you have it. If Barack Obama supporters would just lower the bar low enough we would come to appreciate Bill Clinton. But how low is low? Well, the hole I've dug in my back yard is now 20 feet deep and that is still not low enough for Bill Clinton. Guess I'll have to keep digging.