Back Off, 'Bubba': Why Bill Clinton Needs to Stop Talking about the Oklahoma City Bombing
Things must be slow on the Southeast Asia hooker circuit these days.
Why else would former President Bill Clinton be wading in where he shouldn’t regarding the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing?
Over the past few days, Clinton has been running his mouth faster than the engines on Ted Waitt's G5 (aka "Clinton Air"). He couldn't resist comparing the “dangerous” protestors such as the Tea Party movement to those pesky Terrorists who lit the fuse and blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City 15 years ago tomorrow.
Not only has Bubba treaded on me by suggesting that citizens demonstrating their Constitutional rights to peacefully assemble is now on par with Terrorism; ‘Ol Bubba has treaded onto my territory. Literally.
You see, while I now live in California, I was born and raised in Oklahoma City. Therefore, it holds an incredibly special place in my heart. It is where I took my first steps in this world; it is where I went to my High School prom; it is the home of this year's #1 NFL Draft pick (who also went to my high school). It is where I learned how to drive a stick-shift on a back country road; was co-captain of the pom-pon squad; had my first kiss; and became involved in student council (planting the seed of my passion for politics). It is where I experienced my first College Football game (awesome, by the way) and became eternally close to the loyal people I still call my best friends 20 years later. It is – hands down – the greatest place I believe a girl could have been raised. Where values are still at an all-time high and the people are as sweet as the tea.
It was also in Oklahoma City that I happened to be at 9:02 a.m. on the morning of April 19, 1995 when our innocence was lost.
The Terrorist attack on my hometown soil was several years before 9/11, and at the time was called "the worst Terrorist attack on American soil." We had never witnessed anything quite like it - save for the somewhat unsuccessful (in the minds of the Terrorists, at least) first attack on the World Trade Center in 1994. That day, I will never forget being unable to get a phone call through to my family, the chilling sound of sirens screaming throughout the city non-stop for hours upon hours, CNN cameras converging on our city years before the 24/7 cable news cycle existed, the hum of generators and enormous spotlights guiding the intricate search-and-rescue operations ‘round the clock, word of victims still trapped (alive) under the building a full week later, and fellow Oklahomans literally giving their fellow man the shirts off their backs. Just as I’m sure New Yorkers will never forget the sights, smells and sounds of New York on 9/11, I will never forget.
And I won’t soon forget Bill Clinton’s careless comments, either.
For Clinton to suggest that today’s Tea Party participants are equivalent to the evil men who killed 168 of my fellow hometown heroes - and injured about 800 more - is beyond inappropriate. This is a serious matter. One that I am (almost) uncomfortable writing about, mostly because it dredges up an old, ugly history in our nation. However, I think it’s important not to allow these outrageous statements by President Clinton go unanswered.
Clinton’s comments suggest that he forgets his own history:
• It was, in fact, the Clinton Administration’s public relations disaster after Ruby Ridge that incensed anti-government extremists like Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh. It was the Clinton Administration’s Justice Department that issued a reportedly whitewashed report on the revised shoot-to-kill order against the wife of Randy Weaver and their 13-year old son, Sammy; shootings that were later looked upon by the United States Senate and others as being outside of the normal protocols of standard FBI sniper Codes of Conduct - even though, to be fair, the 13-year old boy did shoot at the Agents. Regardless, killing women and children under most any circumstances is generally outside the norm of our women-and-children-first culture. Warranted or not, those killings - and the glossy report that accompanied them - incensed a fringe element that were already gunning for the Feds.
• Adding fuel to the fire (literally), the Clinton Administration’s Justice Department once again stumbled in their handling of the raid on David Koresh’s Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. Under direct order from Attorney General Janet Reno, Federal Law enforcement officers found themselves in a confusing standoff and square in the middle of further deaths of women and children – another public relations nightmare that took months for Clinton to fully explain.
• Let me be clear, I do not pretend to even begin to understand the likes of people like Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, nor David Koresh in Waco; those lifestyles and the segregation from society which those lifestyles represent are entirely foreign to me and all that I was raised to be. Nevertheless, the Clinton Administration allowed themselves to get drawn into a standoff - not once but twice. The events that happened on Clinton's watch fanned the flames of the hatred that anti-government extremists already had for the Federal government.
• Bill Clinton's actions and the actions of his Attorney General are linked directly to Oklahoma City. Allow me to point out that the attack on Oklahoma City came on April 19 – the “anniversary” date of the deaths at Waco. Coincidence? Hardly.
• Lastly, the anti-government Terrorists involved in the Oklahoma City bombing hated - with fervor - anyone who was a member of federal law enforcement. In fact, in the five months following the Ruby Ridge standoff, Timothy McVeigh worked booths at gun shows and openly handed out literature calling for the death of the FBI sniper involved in the case. An absolute disgust and disgrace.
• Contrast all of this to the Tea Party members who support our troops passionately and have nothing but love for the patriots who also serve at the highest levels of law enforcement. At every event I’ve been to, the Tea Party-goers have in fact gone out of their way to walk over, shake hands, and thank law enforcement for all they do.
• Further contrast still is that the anti-government extremists of the Clinton-era wanted nothing more than to slip into the woods and get away from their government. Contrast that with the Tea Party movement today: these are folks who walk instead toward the Public square (not away from it). They're folks who actually want to hear from their elected officials, and want to be active, engaged, participating members of their government. One only needs to look at the number of "Tea Party" candidates springing up across the country, or look at the number of Tea Party chapters in California who actively encourage their members to apply as panelists for the California Redistricting Commission. Believe me, these folks are knocking on the door of the Capitol; they want “in”... not out.
Perhaps Bubba should bone up on recent history so he can refresh his memory of the events of the mid-1990s; especially the litany of tragic events that happened on his watch.
Mr. President, leave Oklahomans to mourn our fellow statesmen and to commemorate their lives honorably, and in peace – without their deaths being dragged into present-day Election Year political battles.
Why else would former President Bill Clinton be wading in where he shouldn’t regarding the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing?
Over the past few days, Clinton has been running his mouth faster than the engines on Ted Waitt's G5 (aka "Clinton Air"). He couldn't resist comparing the “dangerous” protestors such as the Tea Party movement to those pesky Terrorists who lit the fuse and blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City 15 years ago tomorrow.
Not only has Bubba treaded on me by suggesting that citizens demonstrating their Constitutional rights to peacefully assemble is now on par with Terrorism; ‘Ol Bubba has treaded onto my territory. Literally.
You see, while I now live in California, I was born and raised in Oklahoma City. Therefore, it holds an incredibly special place in my heart. It is where I took my first steps in this world; it is where I went to my High School prom; it is the home of this year's #1 NFL Draft pick (who also went to my high school). It is where I learned how to drive a stick-shift on a back country road; was co-captain of the pom-pon squad; had my first kiss; and became involved in student council (planting the seed of my passion for politics). It is where I experienced my first College Football game (awesome, by the way) and became eternally close to the loyal people I still call my best friends 20 years later. It is – hands down – the greatest place I believe a girl could have been raised. Where values are still at an all-time high and the people are as sweet as the tea.
It was also in Oklahoma City that I happened to be at 9:02 a.m. on the morning of April 19, 1995 when our innocence was lost.
The Terrorist attack on my hometown soil was several years before 9/11, and at the time was called "the worst Terrorist attack on American soil." We had never witnessed anything quite like it - save for the somewhat unsuccessful (in the minds of the Terrorists, at least) first attack on the World Trade Center in 1994. That day, I will never forget being unable to get a phone call through to my family, the chilling sound of sirens screaming throughout the city non-stop for hours upon hours, CNN cameras converging on our city years before the 24/7 cable news cycle existed, the hum of generators and enormous spotlights guiding the intricate search-and-rescue operations ‘round the clock, word of victims still trapped (alive) under the building a full week later, and fellow Oklahomans literally giving their fellow man the shirts off their backs. Just as I’m sure New Yorkers will never forget the sights, smells and sounds of New York on 9/11, I will never forget.
And I won’t soon forget Bill Clinton’s careless comments, either.
For Clinton to suggest that today’s Tea Party participants are equivalent to the evil men who killed 168 of my fellow hometown heroes - and injured about 800 more - is beyond inappropriate. This is a serious matter. One that I am (almost) uncomfortable writing about, mostly because it dredges up an old, ugly history in our nation. However, I think it’s important not to allow these outrageous statements by President Clinton go unanswered.
Clinton’s comments suggest that he forgets his own history:
• It was, in fact, the Clinton Administration’s public relations disaster after Ruby Ridge that incensed anti-government extremists like Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh. It was the Clinton Administration’s Justice Department that issued a reportedly whitewashed report on the revised shoot-to-kill order against the wife of Randy Weaver and their 13-year old son, Sammy; shootings that were later looked upon by the United States Senate and others as being outside of the normal protocols of standard FBI sniper Codes of Conduct - even though, to be fair, the 13-year old boy did shoot at the Agents. Regardless, killing women and children under most any circumstances is generally outside the norm of our women-and-children-first culture. Warranted or not, those killings - and the glossy report that accompanied them - incensed a fringe element that were already gunning for the Feds.
• Adding fuel to the fire (literally), the Clinton Administration’s Justice Department once again stumbled in their handling of the raid on David Koresh’s Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. Under direct order from Attorney General Janet Reno, Federal Law enforcement officers found themselves in a confusing standoff and square in the middle of further deaths of women and children – another public relations nightmare that took months for Clinton to fully explain.
• Let me be clear, I do not pretend to even begin to understand the likes of people like Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, nor David Koresh in Waco; those lifestyles and the segregation from society which those lifestyles represent are entirely foreign to me and all that I was raised to be. Nevertheless, the Clinton Administration allowed themselves to get drawn into a standoff - not once but twice. The events that happened on Clinton's watch fanned the flames of the hatred that anti-government extremists already had for the Federal government.
• Bill Clinton's actions and the actions of his Attorney General are linked directly to Oklahoma City. Allow me to point out that the attack on Oklahoma City came on April 19 – the “anniversary” date of the deaths at Waco. Coincidence? Hardly.
• Lastly, the anti-government Terrorists involved in the Oklahoma City bombing hated - with fervor - anyone who was a member of federal law enforcement. In fact, in the five months following the Ruby Ridge standoff, Timothy McVeigh worked booths at gun shows and openly handed out literature calling for the death of the FBI sniper involved in the case. An absolute disgust and disgrace.
• Contrast all of this to the Tea Party members who support our troops passionately and have nothing but love for the patriots who also serve at the highest levels of law enforcement. At every event I’ve been to, the Tea Party-goers have in fact gone out of their way to walk over, shake hands, and thank law enforcement for all they do.
• Further contrast still is that the anti-government extremists of the Clinton-era wanted nothing more than to slip into the woods and get away from their government. Contrast that with the Tea Party movement today: these are folks who walk instead toward the Public square (not away from it). They're folks who actually want to hear from their elected officials, and want to be active, engaged, participating members of their government. One only needs to look at the number of "Tea Party" candidates springing up across the country, or look at the number of Tea Party chapters in California who actively encourage their members to apply as panelists for the California Redistricting Commission. Believe me, these folks are knocking on the door of the Capitol; they want “in”... not out.
Perhaps Bubba should bone up on recent history so he can refresh his memory of the events of the mid-1990s; especially the litany of tragic events that happened on his watch.
Mr. President, leave Oklahomans to mourn our fellow statesmen and to commemorate their lives honorably, and in peace – without their deaths being dragged into present-day Election Year political battles.
Excellent analysis as to why Bill Clinton's comparison was ridiculous and offensive. Thanks for that.
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Very well said!!!
I lived in OKC in 1995. It is a time I will never forget.
If you expect Bubba to shut up, forget about it. It's been 30 years since Carter was in office and he ain't shut up yet.
Democrats run their mouths. That's what they do.
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I heard past and present members of the ex-president's inner circle claim that his sub-par performance during the democrat presidential primary was due to some mental or emotional impairment he suffered at the time of his heart attack. Apparently, the impairment continues.
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You make the common mistake of misremembering when Ruby Ridge occurred. It was the summer of 1992, i.e., it was a Bush administration stand off. But much of the resulting fallout and coverups occurred during Clinton's first term.
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Not to pick nits, but the assault on Ruby Ridge occurred during GHW Bush's term. Bubba hadn't yet been elected in Aug. of '92.
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I sympathize with your comments, but Ruby Ridge was on Bush 41's watch.
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Great article, your point is absolutely correct. Though to be fair to Bubba, Ruby Ridge happened 3 months before he was elected.
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The incident at Ruby Ridge was resolved on 8/30/92. The Clinton administration was still almost 6 months in the future...
You very much can blame them for the whitewash report that came later, but the actual incident all occurred under the Bush administration.
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And it was 4 years later, under the Clinton Administration that the marshals who shot young Sammy Weaver in the back received medals of valor for the incident. That was the Marshall service's F.U. to those who said their behavior had inspired McVeigh. So if Clinton's comments encourage extremist attacks on Tea Partyers, you can bet he won't acknowledge responsibility.
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Agree: Ruby Ridge and Waco were both
the result of government efforts to
do "Publicity Shoots' (No pun intended).
That kind of supreme State arrogance is
clearly still alive and well in D.C.
P.S. Open heart surgery can leave a
patient with a mental 'deficit' which
manifests as poor judgement and anger
management; Decide for yourself.
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Many thanks to you all for your Comments. I do stand corrected on the date of Ruby Ridge. And true point re: Clinton/Carter comparison, Carter hasn't shut up in 30 years, so I suppose that's what we'll have to look forward to!
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I might add that the greatest difference between McVeigh and Obama's BFF Bill Ayres is competence. He wiggled free on technicalities, he's admitted guilt and denied remorse. He deserves execution as much as McVeigh did. We all know Clinton is a bold liar with no shame. He was disbarred for perjury if memory serves. You'd think he'd want a lower profile on the whole affair, oops forgot the part about no shame.
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Great write-up with a valid personal connection. I would like to encourage you to edit to correct the RR errors and submit as op-ed to local and national papers.
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Read this - then explain why there should be this kind of slam on Clinton.
"Today's eerie similarities to Oklahoma City "
And see who wrote it.
--Aitan Goelman, a partner with a Washington law firm, served as a federal prosecutor in the Oklahoma City bombing.
ttp://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35993.html#ixzz0lYW3Z14F
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Where was Bubba in 2003 when his ideological mates were openly discussing invading military bases in order to directly interfere with an ongoing war effort?
http://forums.officer.com/forums//archive/index.php/t-13969.html
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It's not the Tea Partiers who come out in the public that should be worrisome, it's those you don't see that will cause the trouble.
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SubManDave: Will do.
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As a fellow Oklahoman, that day will indeed live in infamy for all of us. Thank you for the post.
If I ever doubted that Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, MSNBC and Rachel Maddow were beneath contempt, I don't now.
The fact that anyone would attempt to stifle political dissent by equating Timothy McVeigh to anyone who dared question the wisdom and policy of Barack Obama is reprehensible. The fact that they would use the 15th anniversary date of the OKC bombing to do so is retching.
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Clinton did what? Tea Partiers are equated with the type of evil which produced the Oklahoma City bombings? Why does anyone listen to anything this man has to say? I felt that Clinton was an embarassment to the nation when he was president, and he continues that same tradition today. Tea Partiers are the antithesis of the the OK City bombers, yet Clinton and the democrats must say something so that they can justify marginalizing Tea Parties. He is merely toeing the party line, which Obama has continued to clearly draw, including his remarks in Miami, scoffing at Tea Partiers and commenting that they should be thanking him. The Democrats and Obama neither want to, or can, understand what the Tea Partiers are about, because it would not fit in with the Democratic dependency and power meme. But to equate the patriotic tea partiers with the terrorists is unforgiveable, yet unsuprising. I hope that it infuriates every Tea Partier and inspires them to each find a least one more friend to join the movement, and become even more engaged in the process of throwing these idiots out of office in November 2010.
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I'll try again - criticizing the extreme of the extremists is not the same as stifling dissent.
YOu people must have hated the Bush years when the mildest of critics were called all kinds of names by a large number of right-wingees and Republicans. No memory at all? Convenient.
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Actually there has been quite a bit of violence associated with the TEA Parties and conservatism in general. Of course the violence came from the leftbut, what the hey, it's still violence.
Perhaps Bubba and Obowma should look a little closer to home.
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Beautifully written. I am heartened that so many have not forgotten the events that led to OKC or the victims.
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Start_Making_Sense:
I'm not ignoring you. I just think your premise is flawed because the majority of the Tea Party'ers are not extremists. Even here ---in Liberal California ---i know them and they are normal folks, small business owners, moms and dads, and even had a few physicians come in scrubs on their lunch break last week b/c they are so concerned. I watch Rachel Maddow, too, I know how they are portrayed, but i've covered many of their Events now in real life, and the "crazy"/"Extreme" label just doesn't fit. Passionate, yes; crazy, no.
Besides, this post is initially about a former President using a Day of Memoriam as a Political football - something which is beyond the pale and offensive to the many on this thread who were there. Thank you.
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[YOu people must have hated the Bush years when the mildest of critics were called all kinds of names by a large number of right-wingees and Republicans. No memory at all? Convenient.]
I think the word is selective memory you're looking for, and you suffer an acute case of it. From movies of Bush being assassinated while still in office, to our military being called mercenaries by the media, to Hollywood and their incessant bashing of Conservative and military, to Bush and Cheney being called baby killers or "No blood for oil!", I guess your memory fogged?
No surprise being that you find profundity in meaningless cliches of "Yes, We Can!" and "Hope and Change!"
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I do believe Tex is correct!
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