Clinton - you cannot be serious???????

"No need to worry, according to the president.

"We have moved to improve the security and reliability of cyberspace by focusing attention on protecting critical infrastructures and solving the Y2K computer problem. Now, that's a pretty impressive line of work for all concerned," Clinton said. It might be a reassuring thought -- if the government's own figures released last week hadn't said many federal computers won't be ready in time."

From Declan. M.

"I got back a little while ago from the White House, where Clinton and Gore had an e-commerce shindig and back-patting session. Inevitably, Y2K came up..."

Full story at:-

http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/16542.html

-- Andy (andy_rowland@msn.com), November 30, 1998

Answers

Unbelieveable. A sad day in river city.

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), December 01, 1998.

Clinton. What's to say...

1) Everyone who knows him says he's an extremely intelligent guy. He can't possibly not realize what's coming down.

2) Could be he also sees that there's no real point in precipitating a panic 6 or 8 or 12 months before it happens by itself.

What would I do in his shoes? Luckily I don't have to figure that out.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), December 01, 1998.

Why should I be surprised at what Clinton says? I would be surprised if, at this stage, he said anything negative about Y2K. He is too shrewd (or is it lewd?). He knows that if he raises any concerns, it would be reported and all h*ll would break loose. He is following the government-ordered script: Say everything's fine, we're working on it, nothing to worry about. It's a challenge, but, hey, this is America. We'll fix it. It's those other guys we need to worry about. Etc. It's getting to be very predictable. And sad. And, yes, unbelievable.

-- Steve Hartsman (hartsman@ticon.net), December 01, 1998.

Don't worry, be happy.......Don't worry, be happy......Don't worry, be happy.....

If I were Clinton I would stock up on cigars......don't worry, be happy.........

-- Not Worried (don't worry@fretless.com), December 01, 1998.

To Steve Hartsman:

You knocked that one out of the park, guy.

-- Charles R. (chuck_roast@trans.net), December 01, 1998.

Let us not forget that Clinton is a documented liar.

-- Buddy (DC) (buddy@bellatlantic.net), December 01, 1998.

Um.......Doesn't that depend on what the definition of 'is' is.

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), December 01, 1998.

Not only does it depend on the definition of "is" but it depends on what you actually said at the time, versus the way it could be potentially intrepreted. Not to mention that one would have to "recall" what the problem was in the first place. Of course, that wouldn't be a problem...just look it up in one of those files that just happens to be laying around the office - next to the cigars.

If Clinton had said anything more (truthful) than what was said, we would all calling for the real Bill Clinton to step forward.

-- Christine A. Newbie (vaganti01@aol.com), December 01, 1998.

Don't overemphasize Clinton's intelligence; this fellow's whole career has basically illustrated the old saying that it's better to be born lucky than smart. Examples of blatant Clinton stupidities for which he never had to pay a heavy price:

1. Put his wife in charge of the effort to get some sort of national health care plan (as virtually every other advanced country has); she bungled the job.

2. Screwed up on Somalia.

3. Screwed up on Iraq.

4. Screwed up the chance to mend affirmative action in some meaningful way.

5. Promised the most ethical Administration in history; delivered one of the most corrupt in history. Generated an endless series of scandals, special prosecutors, and congressional investigations that have hobbled his Administration.

6. Played around with a young intern in the Oval Office, then perjured himself about it, all the while assuming that this young airhead hadn't blabbed about the affair to her girlfriends, etc.

7. Waited a year too long to respond to the global financial crisis. (News flash: it's getting worse, not better, notwithstanding some recent market rallies and Wall Street hype. The Japanese banks are in huge trouble, and more of their loans are souring every day.)

8. Waited 19 months after receiving Sen. Moynihan's dire warning about Y2K (backed by a five-month Congressional Research Office study) to appoint John Koskinen as federal Y2K "czar." Koskinen's staff? An assistant and two interns, presumably not of the Monica type.

What Clinton has benefited from: the luck of being president while a technological revolution produced a strong economy and booming (and grossly inflated) stock market. As long as the economy is good and the Dow is up, people don't care what idiotic mistakes (and/or felonies) Billy Boy may have committed. If the economy tanks, because of the global financial crisis, Y2K, or whatever, these same noble Americans will want to lynch him. You don't need an endless parade of pundits to realize that simple fact of life.

Clinton smart? Shady, yes. Conniving, yes. Lucky, yes--very. But smart? From where I sit, he looks like white trash in the White House.

-- Don Florence (dflorence@zianet.com), December 02, 1998.

We will never know the truth. We can't handle the truth.Clinton cannot tell us. He never will. The gov must remain silent. If he tells then it's all over for us. His best strategy is to keep things peaceful as long as possible. Watch and you will see it happen. The reason we have not been told is because it is going to be really bad no matter what.

-- Jack Nicholson (on@thewall.gov), April 26, 1999.