Bill Clinton

Stupid host tricks

bniolet — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:23:39 -0400

So David Letterman's late unpleasantness has Dome thinking a lot about glass houses.

Letterman, of course, has taken one or two jabs at John Edwards over the years. Famously, the late night king of Top 10s, monkey cams and watermelon drops mussed Edwards expensively coiffed hair.

Once Edwards extra-marital affair hit the news, Letterman has mostly gone easy on Edwards, according to a roundup of Edwards jokes. (Leno appears to really, really enjoy picking at Edwards). Dome has previously noted a couple of cracks.

Over the years, Letterman has picked on Eliot Spitzer, David Vitter, Bill Clinton and Gary Hart, the AP's Frazier Moore notes.

"Big weekend for Gary Hart," cracked Letterman when the Hart scandal broke: "He was campaigning his brains out."

Moore asked politicians to take a shot at Letterman. None did.

Edwards, of course, should feel free to submit a Letterman joke in the comments section.

Dome Memo: Birthdays and Saviors

bniolet — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:42:40 -0400

LOW KEY BIRTHDAY: The Highway Patrol turns 80 this year and it may be a good year for a quiet celebration. Another misconduct allegation involving sex has been exposed and the patrol is not having a lot of success reversing a culture in which some troopers expected on-duty escapades as an unofficial fringe benefit. Patrol leaders asked employees to try to knock it off in honor of the patrol's anniversary.

CONS BEATING PROS: Republicans dug in on their opposition to Democratic health care reforms with U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick saying that a Democrat health care system might not have caught her breast cancer in time. Sen. Richard Burr said the plan would just shift the cost of the health care system to taxpayers. On the other side, Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan isn't ready to pick a reform plan, although she's sure one is needed.

WE'RE SAVED: A television advertisement funded by a conservative group catalogues corruption scandals involving Democrats. The group proclaims that it's here to rescue America from "radical socialism." A 30-second spot will probably just about do it.

IN OTHER NEWS: President Bill Clinton wasn't rattled by Sen. Jesse Helms inflammatory statements. Sen. Joe Lieberman is watering down an energy bill in an effort to get Republicans, including Burr, on board. State Rep. Ty Harrell has resigned his seat over questions about his campaign finance reports.

The boogeyman for conservatives

bniolet — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:29:04 -0400

Booo. Halloween comes early this week for conservatives and Rob Christensen counts the ways it will be scary.

Strobe Talbott, the president of the liberal Brookings Institution, and President Bill Clinton's former Deputy Secretary of State will be in Chapel Hill on Thursday to discuss "Obama and the World."

Talbott will be speaking at the Fedex Global Education Center, Nelson Mandela Auditorium at the University of North Carolina at 5:30 p.m.

Talbott has been a friend of Clinton since they were Rhodes Scholars together at Oxford and worked in the George McGovern presidential campaign in 1972. Talbott had a distinguished career for Time magazine before becoming a diplomat.

Clinton took Helms' cracks in stride

bniolet — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:40:02 -0400

Former President Bill Clinton was not too upset about Sen. Jesse Helms' comments suggesting he was unfit to be commander in chief or that it might not be safe for him to travel to a North Carolina military base, according to a new book called "The Clinton Tapes."

The book, by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Taylor Branch, is a collection of private taped conversations he had with Clinton during the White House years, that he agreed not to publish until years later. Clinton and Branch are long-time friends, Rob Christensen reports.

"For different reasons" Branch writes, "the president said he muted his response to a televised attack from Senator Jesse Helms, who called Clinton 'unfit' to command the armed forces. Helms was a significant national figure — the incoming chair of the Foreign Relations Committee — and to denounce him from the White House would magnify conduct suited to a banana republic."

"Clinton told me he appreciated General [John] Shalikashvili of the Joint Chiefs, along with many leading newspapers, for statements of support, but Helms defiantly escalated the rhetorical assault. He warned that President Clinton would not be safe on any military base in North Carolina."

"The president shrugged off the ominous barb, even professing a touch of fondness for 'ol Jesse.' Incredulous, I pressed him about false bravado. Surely, Helms violated some taboo in civil-military relations, if not basic decorum. His veiled threat, I said, delivered on the anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination, could be construed as incitement to crackpots or even military contempt, impervious to political balance or constitutional norms. He said insult was their program, and Helms was just more honest than his fellow Republicans."

Pink to speak at N.C. State forum

bkrueger — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:29:31 -0400

Best-selling author Daniel Pink, an expert on innovation and competition, will speak at the Emerging Issues Forum next year.

Pink’s best-known work is “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will the Future and “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need.”

He will discuss how the country is moving away from analytical thinking into a conceptual age in which creative, flexible thinkers are important.

The 25th annual Emerging Issues Forum will focus on how to develop and enhance North Carolina’s climate of creativity in order to improve the state’s global competitiveness.

The forum is sponsored by the Institute for Emerging Issues, a think tank at N.C. State University created by former Gov. Jim Hunt, that has brought such people as former President Bill Clinton and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to Raleigh for its two-day conferences. The next forum is scheduled for Feb. 8 and 9th.

Pink worked previously as Vice President Al Gore’s chief speechwriter from 1995-97, and before that as an aide to Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.

Checks may signal Wynn nomination

bniolet — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:01:41 -0400

N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Jim Wynn has been the subject of a federal background check, a sign that he may be nominated for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.

The FBI has been conducting a background investigation of Wynn, questioning people around the court houses in Raleigh, Rob Christensen reports.

"I’ve been interviewed by the FBI who didn’t tell me for what," said federal Magistrate Judge William W. Webb. "I know the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington has been calling people about him."

Wynn was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1999 and 2001 for the 4th Circuit but he was never confirmed by the Senate, largely because of opposition by then Sen. Jesse Helms.

President Barack Obama has not indicated who he would nominate. But Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan is pushing hard for another North Carolinian on the 4th Circuit and there has considerable speculation that Wynn is one of the candidates she is pushing.

He is also being championed by Congressman G.K. Butterfield, his former law partner, who is a close Obama ally.

Clinton praises Franklin at ceremony

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:02:26 -0400

Former President Bill Clinton said today's service at Duke Chapel was historian John Hope Franklin's "last gift to me."

The former president was the final speaker at the two-hour celebration attended by hundreds of admirers of the late Duke professor and historian whose work laid the foundation of the study of African American history, Jane Stancill reports.

Clinton thanked the previous speakers who were Franklin's former colleagues, students, relatives and friends, including Clinton pal Vernon Jordan, who ended his remarks on Franklin by saying, "Glory, glory, hallelujah, his truth is marching on."

Then, Clinton came to the podium and joked, "Vernon, you did everything but pass the plate. There's not much left."

But Clinton was eloquent as ever, recalling when he appointed Franklin to lead a national initiative on race in 1997. "I said, before this is over, you'll be accused of racism," Clinton remembered telling Franklin.

But Franklin soldiered on, despite being shouted down at some of the race forums, Clinton said, and produced a "world-class report" on the issue. Clinton said his last message to Congress before he left office was a challenge to leaders to deal with the unfinished business from Franklin's report.

"He was a genius at being a passionate realist," the former president said of Franklin. "He was an angry, happy man, a happy, angry man, don't you think?"

Clinton forgets credit card

bkrueger — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:45:17 -0400

We've all done it - left the restaurant and then realized later that we left our credit card behind.

But we don't all have Secret Service agents to retrieve it for us.

Former President Bill Clinton, in the Triangle to speak at a memorial service for historian John Hope Franklin, ate dinner Wednesday night at Sullivan's in downtown Raleigh.

According to a publicist for the restaurant, Clinton complimented the chef for his salmon steak, visited the kitchen and talked to some of the prep cooks, and had his picture taken with some local high school grads who were there to celebrate their graduation.

And then he forgot his credit card.

"The Secret Service is picking it up today," said Laura Krebs, a publicist for the chain that operates Sullivan's.

Clinton_students

bniolet — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:07:40 -0400

Clinton surprises Leesville grads

bkrueger — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:25:03 -0400

A handful of new graduates of Leesville Road High School received a surprise during a celebratory dinner Wednesday night - a photo with former President Bill Clinton.

A handful of new Leesville grads and their families went to Sullivan's restaurant in downtown Raleigh on Wednesday evening to celebrate the occasion.

While they were eating, Clinton came in to the restaurant. Susan Taylor, one of the Leesville parents, approached Clinton and asked if he would be photographed with the new grads, including her daughter, Lisa.

"They were thrilled," said Jim Taylor, Lisa's father.

Clinton is in town to speak today at a memorial service in Durham for historian John Hope Franklin, who died in March.