# Godammit Clinton, why did you have to go on Letterman? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 12, 2002, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088 "2002-09-12T07:51:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/41 "2002-09-12T19:58:39Z")
Having also had the pleasure of watching the Clinton appearance on Letterman, I heartily agree with the OP. One couldn’t help but notice, after a full day of listening to Bush’s vacuous speeches, the incredible contrast to Clinton’s polished prose, intellectual capacity, command of subject matter and overall humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/42 "2002-09-12T21:32:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ace0Spades \* > I’m surprised that Bush hasn’t banned Clinton from speaking, as every word he pronounciates makes Bush look ever worse. \*\* Did this make anybody else laugh? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/43 "2002-09-12T21:49:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by light strand \* > \*\* > As for Clinton not doing enough to eliminate terrorism, what would you have him do? He couldn’t even send in cruise missiles without being accused of “wagging the dog” . You see, international terrorism wasn’t really a big deal to us because we (the continental US) were never a target. > \*\* The first WTC bombing wasn’t on US soil? Marc ---
**Author:** ![apotheosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@apotheosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apotheosis)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/44 "2002-09-12T21:51:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sauron \* > \*\*Did this make anybody else laugh? \*\* That was all part of his strategery. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/45 "2002-09-12T21:52:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scylla \* > \*\*I thought he [Clinton] was a decent politician and decent Pres. in many ways, but I’m baffled by the claims of what a great orator and posesser of charisma he was. > > Certainly he is smooth and polished, but he always struck me as leering and disingenuous.\*\* As opposed to Dubya, who strikes me as leering and disingenuous on the face of it, without the benefit of charisma or intelligence. He’s just a salesman. What baffles me is how many people buy into what he’s selling. Not saying everyone sees it that way, but after his piss-poor gludge-fest speeches yesterday, and his content-free speech to the U.N. this morning, I can no longer _help_ but see it that way. Clinton had many problems, but at least he put on a good show. Dubya can’t even do that much. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/46 "2002-09-12T23:05:47Z")
Content-free speech at the U.N.? Wow. I’ve stopped trying to figure “you people” out, though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/47 "2002-09-12T23:25:27Z")
Remember when Clinton had that medicine factory levelled by cruise missiles? Those were the days… ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/48 "2002-09-12T23:48:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*Janet Waco \*\* Hey look everyone, another failed attempt at being witty. How nice. How charming. Just in case you’ve forgotten, which you obviously have, it was Koresch who continually lied and broke agreements which he had made with law enforcement officials and it was his followers who shot first and who killed ATF officers, so go play your failed Janet Reno smear game elsewhere, 'kay? ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/49 "2002-09-13T00:09:44Z")
Nay, nay **London Calling** that’s not quite how it was. From your perch accross the Pond you misread Midwestern politics. We can blame the appointment of John Ashcroft as AG on the good voters of the Show Me State of Missouri. Ashcroft was narrowly defeated in his Senate re-relection campiagn by Mel Carnahan, who had died in a plane crashed about 3 weeks before Election Day. Had Ashcroft been re-elected, Bush would have almost certainly not appointed Ashcroft as AG. Jerry Falwell be damned. The US Senate was tied 50-50 after Bush’s election --I mean appointment by the Supreme Court. Missouri’s Democratic Governor would have appointed a Democrat to fill the vacant Senate seat. That appointment would have tilted the control of the Senate to the Democrats, albiet, 4 months sooner. On November 2, 2000 I very proudly cast my ballot for the deceased Mel Carnahan over a rather stiff John Ashcroft. In retrospect, however, I can’t help but wonder if the U.S. would be better off with Ashcroft in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/50 "2002-09-13T00:17:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elucidator \* > \*\*Oh, cry out for the hounded conservatives! How they are pilloried and chastised from the barren beaches of the Hamptons to the bitter snows of Aspen! Alas! > > \*\* Apropos of nothing, conservatives are doubtless “pilloried and chastised” in these places. They are both liberal hangouts. We’re more Quogue and Lake Powell. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![apotheosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@apotheosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apotheosis)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/51 "2002-09-13T00:23:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 5 time champ \* > **The US Senate was tied 50-50 after Bush’s election --I mean appointment by the Supreme Court.** No, no, **NO**. Now, let’s go over this again: _FIRST_ you make the obligatory snide ‘appointment’ shot as if it were a slip of the tongue, _THEN_ you make the faux ‘retraction’ with its implied smirk. Really, now, is post-Kinisonian sarcasm so difficult? ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/52 "2002-09-13T03:39:08Z")
So what this really is all about is, who cares if we are being screwed or not by our President, as long as he looks and sounds good, then it was worth it. If I’m going to be raped, at least it could be by a cute guy. Is that what ya’all are getting at? How a President appears and conducts himself on a talk show is completely irrelevant. It’s as irrelevant as possible. I want to see how the guy conducts himself in meetings with his senior staff, what kind of policies are beint set, etc. I don’t care if the guy can tell a joke. I guess Bubba was afraid we’d all forget about him. He’s got to keep working on that legacy, after all. I wonder if Letterman spoon fed him the topics ahead of time like he did with the wretched Hillary Rodham. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/53 "2002-09-13T03:46:21Z")
If me and him ever sit down to some beers and sincere discussion, I’ve got a lot of bones to pick with him, a number of serioius lapses when he let down the team. Big time. But towards the end I’d think about the number and the sort of people who lividly hate his guts, and I know I’d figure he had to be doing _something_ right. I also know I’d end up buying the beers. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/54 "2002-09-13T04:10:43Z")
Um… **Oblong** , Letterman isn’t a journalist. Everyone gets to see the topics ahead of times. Or did you think that every celebrity just had some cute anecdote to share right off the bat during those interviews. Give me a break. Even d’Amato got spoon fed questions. They aren’t there to make them look bad or ask tough questions. Letterman’s job is to make his guests look GOOD! Even if they are evil carpetbaggers. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/55 "2002-09-13T04:12:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Oblong \* > \*\*S, as long as he looks and sounds good, then it was worth it. I > > How a President appears and conducts himself on a talk show is completely irrelevant. I don’t care if the guy can tell a joke. > \*\* You obviously didn’t watch. Come to think of it, you obviously didn’t read the OP, either. ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/56 "2002-09-13T04:43:06Z")
> [@](#): > > But towards the end I’d think about the number and the sort of people who lividly hate his guts, and I know I’d figure he had to be doing something right. Maybe that’s why he issued so many pardons. Tried to even the score. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/57 "2002-09-13T05:35:01Z")
Lets see, now, “pardons”. Not quite, no. Ah, here we go, “presidential pardons”, search within that, ah, there! “Presidential Pardons and George H.W. Bush” Ready when you are, **Philo**! Bring it on! Have us a good ol’ time! And **Oblong** you might have something there, poor ol’ Bill, kicked over to the curb and nobody paying much attention to him. Say, by the way, what did you think of Newt Ginrich’s latest press conference? ---
**Author:** ![Rossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@Rossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/58 "2002-09-13T06:27:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enore\_Tsotset \* > \*\*Sure, we _may_ have needed to carpet bomb a country into submission after 9/11 instead of sending in special forces to deal with the actual people that did it, but do we still need to be there a year later? \*\* We must have been watching different wars or something. In the one I watched, we sent a lot of special forces in to deal with the people who did it. And maybe you need to look at a picture of 1945 Berlin to understand what carpet bombing actually is. The only thing “carpet bombed” in Afghanistan was remote mountain ranges. And on the topic, I don’t miss Clinton. Not because I blame him for everything that ever went wrong, but because I think the office of the President of the United States should mean something, and a guy who cheats on his wife and gets blowjobs in an office that used to be occupied by men like Lincoln and Roosevelt, well it just isn’t my idea of a president. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/59 "2002-09-13T06:50:41Z")
Also occupied by Warren G. Harding and Richard Nixon. Lets get a little perspective on this, ok, igloo-kicker? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088/60 "2002-09-13T07:12:22Z")
Well, Rossarian, we’re each entitled. But as long as we’re sharing our ideas of what makes a president… my ideas never, ever include anything having to do with a president’s sex life. Ever. Under any circumstances. Cuz I just don’t see how it applies. Isn’t that funny? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godammit-clinton-why-did-you-have-to-go-on-letterman/128088.md?page=4)