Friday May 16 2008
All times are London time
My column in the FT this week is tangentially related to Davos. It is about an absentee from this year’s World Economic Forum: Bill Clinton. You can read it here and post comments below.
About this blog
I am the FT's chief business commentator and this blog is about business, finance, media, technology and related matters. I live in New York so there is a bias towards US topics but I range more widely. Comments and criticism, which hopefully are at least as interesting as anything I write, are welcome. There is more about me on my columnist page.
Your article in today’s FT is very interesting. I am a US citizen and live here in the US - Bill Clinton is a very talented individual, but also a fatally-flawed human being in so many ways.
Sometimes he is able to control his terrible and self-destructive habits, sometimes he is not able to do so - and this has been the story of Bill Clinton.
Posted by: Jimmy O | January 24th, 2008 at 8:35 pm | Report this commentI’m a US citizen living in the UK, and absolutely loved your take on Bill Clinton and the damage he’s doing to his ‘global brand’.
I’ve been trying to get people in the US to understand that the goodwill he’s generated overseas is being affected by the role he’s taking in his wife’s campaign. Neither he nor they seem to care about the negative, front-page attention he’s been getting overseas.
All I can say is, not all Americans are like campaign Bill (or his wife). We’re not amoral liars who attack our peers. Bring back philanthropist Bill, he’s a much nicer reflection of who we are.
Posted by: Diane | January 24th, 2008 at 9:08 pm | Report this comment“He is eloquent, thoughtful, sensitive to inequality and suffering outside US borders.”
If so, then why did he bomb a milk factory in the Sudan, killing one person, just to divert attention from the Lewinsky scandal?
And speaking of Lewinsky was it an act of thoughtfulness and sensitivity when he let his aids slander her by saying she was a mentally unstable stalker?
Lets not forget either the women he sent private eyes around to telling to shut up or else when he ran for election in 1992.
“He embodies the aspects of the US that are still admired by the rest of the world after nearly eight years of George W. Bush.”
Foreign aid, especially for AIDS in Africa*, has risen every year under Bush. Bush has also rid the world of a dictarship and fantically religious oligarchy.
The dictator havening violated 17 UN resolutions too.
Since no nations have broken relations under Bush, explain why the world hates him and what have they done specifically to express that like imposing an economic embargo, recalling their ambassador, etc.
“He was, as usual, late”. Clinton is always late or very late. Are those the actions of a man who is “thoughtful” or very selfish and only one he thinks of himself first, next and last?
Terry
* Bono was quoted as saying that Bush had did more for AIDS in his first four years then Clinton did in eight.
Posted by: Terry | January 24th, 2008 at 10:17 pm | Report this comment“Democrat” is not an adjective. Please do not adopt the moronic mushmouth slurs of GOP operatives.
Posted by: thibaud | January 25th, 2008 at 1:51 am | Report this commentI recently watched a presidential campaign interview with Bill Clinton. He said such petty words in his anger that I turned off the program in disgust.
The Clintons are probably good people, but I cannot help to notice the insincerity and paranoia that their campaign exudes at every step.
Posted by: Vladimir Dzhuvinov | January 25th, 2008 at 9:55 am | Report this comment