It depends on what “is” is
Says disbarred retiree Bill Clinton, the new face of failure:
“The point is that there is no military victory here,” he said exclusively to “Good Morning America.” “I believe that Gen. Petraeus is a very able man. And I don’t have any doubt that they’ll win some battles. And I hope this works. I think every American hopes this works. But it can’t work beyond winning a few battles. … It has to be accompanied by progress on the political front.”
There is no way you can’t read that odd choice of the present tense in that first sentence and be reminded of the great man’s most famous sentence — “there is no improper relationship“…
That Bill Clinton. Man from Hope. Always playing games with us. And with the truth.
July 20th, 2007 at 9:04 am
His point, had it been made by William Jefferson Smith, would still be valid.
July 20th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Ara,
You’d pull out after D-Day. This war was lost in your eyes before it ever began.
July 20th, 2007 at 9:26 am
Ara, you are entitled to your view of the Iraq war, as is every private citizen and convicted perjurer. That’s not what my post is about.
On the other hand, maybe it is. Because why did Bill Clinton use the present tense? Because he did not want to be quoted as saying “there was no military victory” — which is preposterous — or “there will be no military victory” — which is your friend Senator Reid and company. Rather he has utilized a “floating is” — right now, “there is not” a state of “military victory,” ostensibly, because “insurgents” are able to inflict casualties. Reasonable, but unremarkable, and ultimately there is virtually no accountability to it for any period of time other than the two seconds during which he spoke.
That, by the way, is to his credit, in a way. Because both he and his wife the Senator understand well what is really going on and what is at stake. So, with this language, they still manage to avoid entirely pandering to the Ara Rubyan Base of the Democratic Party, while remaining –
– always –
“politically viable.”
July 20th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Kevin:
You’d pull out after D-Day.
Of course not.
I wasn’t born for nearly another 9 years. IJS.
July 20th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
you can tell he is so Hillary’s puppet. He’s so sad he’s not in control anymore. He looks like wax fruit.
July 21st, 2007 at 9:11 pm
LOL, that is a compelling image, Anon!
July 30th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
[...] Oh, yeah, right. We went through that. [...]