From the diaries by Armando. Edited.
Just saw this
AP article and decided to post it as a diary since the open thread is specific to Bush Admin. Just reporting here, haven't decided what to think about it yet but my first reaction is "It's about time!"
Clinton, whose 2004 memoir "My Life" was a best seller, drew roaring applause during his speech from the several hundred people gathered in the Texas House chamber to kick off the 10th annual Texas Book Festival, an event started by first lady Laura Bush when her husband was governor.
"You can't say, 'Please don't be mean to me. Please let me win sometimes.' Give me a break here," Clinton said. "If you don't want to fight for the future and you can't figure out how to beat these people then find something else to do."
Finally, President Clinton speaks. This, I hope, is about to become a trend. It's long past due, but never too late for a "democracy check."
Clinton attributed Republicans' control of Congress to Democratic candidates' inability or unwillingness to "stand up and be heard" on issues that matter to people. For example, he said, Democrats too often are unwilling to talk about abortion because they're afraid of virulent reactions from anti-abortion groups.
"So how come we can't talk about it?" he asked. "Because we basically let political ads turn every player in this drama into a two-dimensional cartoon instead of a three-dimensional person."
The "cartoon" reference is worth the entire article, but I think the most important part is here:
Clinton also criticized political reporters and authors for failing to use reason and common sense in their writing and failing to dig deeply into stories. Instead, he said, reporters let officials get away with saying things that aren't true so stories include comment from both sides.
So, Dems have to fight louder and harder because the news media is on the other side. Bad situation, but I think he nails it. It's not always that Dems aren't speaking out...it's that they don't get heard.