Michael Baier <[log in to unmask]> wrote in message news:<[log in to unmask]>...
> http://news.yahoo.com/news?
> tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040614/ap_on_go_pr_wh/clintons_portraits_3
>
> Bush Hosts Clinton's Portrait Unveiling
>
> By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer
>
> WASHINGTON - President Bush offered a glowing tribute to former President
> Clinton on Monday as the White House unveiled the official portraits of the
> 42nd president and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
>
> Bush rode into office on a promise "to restore honor and dignity" to the
> White House after eight years of Clinton, and he was bitter at Clinton for
> defeating his father in the 1992 presidential contest. But on Monday, Bush
> delivered a lengthy, forceful defense of his predecessor, and welcomed
> dozens of Clinton administration officials back into the White House.
>
> "As a candidate for any office, whether it be the state attorney general or
> the president, Bill Clinton showed incredible energy and great personal
> appeal," Bush said. "As chief executive, he showed a deep and far- ranging
> knowledge of public policy, a great compassion for people in need, and the
> forward-looking spirit that Americans like in a president."
>
> Bush left Clinton laughing so hard that his face turned red with a jibe
> about Clinton's service in Texas to George McGovern's failed 1972
> presidential campaign.
>
> Mostly, though, Bush gave an almost nostalgic tribute to the Democratic
> former president.
>
> "Bill Clinton could always see a better day ahead and Americans knew he was
> working hard to bring that day closer," Bush said. "Over eight years it was
> clear that Bill Clinton loved the job of the presidency. He filled this
> house with energy and joy. He's a man of enthusiasm and warmth, who could
> make a compelling case and effectively advance the causes that drew him to
> public service."

and this from maureen:

Smack That Cheney-Bot!
By MAUREEN DOWD
The New York Times
Published: June 17, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/17/opinion/17DOWD.html

"Mr. Clinton told friends afterward that he was blown away, that W.
had never been so nice to him before. There was no smirk, no
begrudging. And Clinton pals at a Georgetown restaurant that night
alternated between bellowing about getting rid of President Bush and
marveling at how great he'd been at the unveiling."


yes, i believe bush was genuine in his praise, because after all the
well-deserved battering he's taking from the iraq war, coupled with
the death of reagan, the guy really appreciates optimism right now.
just one thing.  never, ever forget that everything he does and says
is tailored to get him reelected this november.  bush layed it on
extra thick because it's part of his reelection strategy.  it's how
the bush reelection thugs are going to parry all the well-deserved
criticisms about the war in iraq.  they're not going to counter by
saying the charges are inaccurate, they're going to charge every
non-republican is too negative or pessimistic.  it's a familiar
refrain from the ideological, because it's the last refuge for the
hopelessly incompetent.  so, before we all start thinking about
sending roses to the white house, don't think for a second that the
political sociopaths under karl rove aren't coldly manipulating your
best hopes for a kinder, gentler america.












>
> Clinton and his wife ? now in the Senate ? returned to the White House for
> the official presentation of the portraits that will hang in the White
> House. The former president's portrait will hang near the Grand Staircase
> just inside the north entrance of the White House. It will bump a portrait
> of the first President Bush to another position in the hall. The portrait
> of Hillary Rodham Clinton, now the junior U.S. senator from New York, will
> be displayed one flight below with other former first ladies.
>
> "She inspires respect and loyalty from those who know her, and it was a
> good day in both their lives when they met at the library at Yale Law
> School," Bush said of Mrs. Clinton and her husband.
>
> Clinton said: "The president, by his generous words to Hillary and me
> today, has proved once again that in the end, we are held together by this
> grand system of ours that permits us to debate and struggle and fight for
> what we believe is right."
>
> "And because it's free, because it is a system of majority rule and
> minority rights, we're still around here after over 200 years. And most of
> the time, we get it right. And I'm honored to be a small part of it."
>
> Clinton's portrait was painted by Simmie Knox, a self-taught artist born in
> 1935 in Aliceville, Ala., to a family of black sharecroppers.
>
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