Thousands line streets for Clinton event (Dublin)

[Nambe]

By:Press Association

The former US President, who played such a pivotal role in the Northern Ireland peace process, was cheered by thousands when he turned up for a book signing at a city centre store. ..

Eason`s general manager Martin Black said the signing had been the best event ever held at the famous store, the rapturous reception outdoing previous records set by Roy Keane and David Beckham.

"Mr Clinton eclipsed everyone," he said. "Selling that many hardback books worth 30 euro has broken all records. We have never experienced anything like it."

After the two-hour signing Mr Clinton made a point of shaking hands with scores of waiting fans outside. Tonight he will dine at Farmleigh House with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, when they will discuss the ongoing peace process.

He and his wife are staying at the exclusive Clarence Hotel, owned by Irish rock band U2. They will travel to Belfast tomorrow.

Asked whether he thought any US President would ever show as much commitment to the peace process as he had done, Mr Clinton wasted no time in expressing support for fellow Democrat John Kerry. ..

Ride Don’t Drive * * It’s Global Cool

[JohnKleeb]

1. Kerry is great on Irish issues

Even has a part of his page dedicated to this, Ive always known that the Irish like Clinton a lot, they even had this statue that really pissed off some visiting American Businessmen off extremely, I read about in Sports Illistrated a few years ago.

[struggle4progress]

20. Clinton: Kerry would show more interest in peace process

25/08/2004 - 10:28:49

Former US President Bill Clinton has said that Democratic candidate John Kerry would show more interest in the Irish peace process than current President George W Bush.

Speaking at a signing of his autobiography, My Life, in Eason’s book shop in Dublin, Mr Clinton said Mr Kerry would do good work for the peace process if he won the US presidential election in November.

Three hundred people were inside Eason’s to meet the former US President when he arrived this morning, and 2,000 more were waiting outside.

Mr Clinton is due to hold a private meeting with the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, before travelling to Belfast tomorrow for another book-signing.

http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=115371696&p=yy537z4xz&n=115372456

[mimitabby]

2. remember the days when our president was popular everywhere..?

it is so embarrassing to be under the smirky regime.
American presidents used to be able to go almost anywhere
and get cheering crowds, in our country and out of it.
Smirky went .. where?

[Catherine Vincent]

7. "Smirky Regime"

LOL! Good one, newbie!

[barb162]

9. Yes!

sigh....

[Southsideirish]

3. Recall when dubya was there last month? In the history of the

country they never spent more money defending anyone - and for what - so he can have a photo op.

[Cha]

24. AND remember how smirky tried to get

the Irish journalist fired for asking him the tough questions..

Never heard what happened on that ..I trust she was NOT fired.

[kskiska]

4. He got a great reception in Iceland, too

Clintons, McCain visit Iceland

(08-24) 20:39 PDT REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) --

U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain visited Iceland on Tuesday to study its use of alternative energies, but they were upstaged by former President Bill Clinton, whose separate 11-hour visit captivated the local media.

(snip)

Following a private meeting with the president, prime minister and foreign minister of Iceland, Clinton said they had decided what would be discussed, not him, since he is now out of office.

Afterward Clinton, a known fast-food aficionado, was spotted at a popular hot dog stand, Baerjarins Beztu ("town's best"). It serves the traditional Icelandic hot dog, which includes lamb, beef and pork. It is served with onions and an egg-based relish.

Clinton next traveled to Thingvellir, the site of the world's oldest Parliament, and spoke out again.

"I knew about this place when I taught in law school. And I knew about Iceland's pivotal role in the history of law," he said.

more…
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/08/24/international2339EDT0801.DTL

[RebelOne]

5. And thousands lined the streets to boo Bush.

[Catfight]

6. Dumbya will go into obscurity after he gets the boot by America.

He's the most hated pResident EVER in history. If we could, we could erase him from history as just a big mistake on humanity and an example how democracy can go wrong when a president gets appointed in by friends instead of voted in my popular vote.

[llmart]

14. I couldn't agree more.

I said from the start (after he was appointed) that the most dangerous thing about him being selected was that he wasn't the person chosen by the majority of American voters and that would be disastrous. It has turned out to be true. The majority of the people didn't want him and then we got stuck with him. However, he actually turned out to be even worse than I could have imagined. He has earned his title of "Worst President Ever."

[Ganja Ninja]

15. I don't know about that.

I expect he'll show up in the tabloids from time to time when he or the twins get in a bar brawl.

[Matilda]

27. I'd rather see him go to jail.

n/t

[2Design]

8. WOW what a contrast to our criminal pResident

[devinsgram]

10. Wow you just took the words out of my mouth.

That was the first thing that came to my mind also.

[RobertDevereaux]

11. The Irish rock! n/t

[CBHagman]

12. Clinton: A hundred thousand welcomes.

Bush: A hundred thousand protesters. (Well, at least in the U.K., though the Irish did turn out)

I wonder what our Irish friends would make of the Freeper protests at Clinton events? "Feckin' idjits" is my best guess.

On a sobering note, though, however, I doubt many Americans realize just how important it is that America maintain good relations with the rest of the world. How would they feel to know that even Western industrialized nations view Bush with utter disdain and anger? It's infinitely worse in the Middle East. So much for spreading the peace!

And Bush would never have been able to work on the Irish peace process; he has no sensitivity, no nuance.

[struggle4progress]

21. Fans queue to shake Clinton's hand

<snip>
Mary Lavin, from Naas, and Kathleen Cunningham, from Galway, said they were tired and cold but were looking forward to shaking Mr Clinton’s hand.

Ms Lavin said: “I have always been interested in politics and admired Bill Clinton. He has been a wonderful friend to Ireland.

“We’re hoping that John Kerry wins the election this year and will then send him over as an ambassador.”
<snip>
http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=115346986&p=yy534769z&n=115347746

[Ganja Ninja]

13. Comparing the reception Clinton gets when he travels to ..

the violent riots that threaten to break out wherever Bush goes just makes me sick and angry. George W. Bush once said "They hate us for our freedoms." Well George, They don't hate us. They hate you!

[krkaufman]

18. Well, I guess we all do hate him for his freedom.

I'd much prefer Bush were behind bars.

[LibDemAlways]

22. They hate him

passionately. Just returned from Canada. Everyone I met who was willing to express an opinion hates the chimp and doesn't understand how any American could vote for such a complete moron. It was refreshing to be in a civilized country where people actually read, think, and take an interest in world events.

[Judi Lynn]

28. Thanks for pointing it out.

He always tries to drag us into his problems, claiming a lot of people are simply against US! Not so fast there, Dub-uhl-yuh.



.

[sofa king]

16. DU represented in Ireland, too.

I just got back from there a couple of weeks ago. It was fascinating to see the attention paid to our President and our election. The first morning I was there, the Irish Independent's headline was that Kerry and Bush were neck-and-neck in the polls. Irish television news often kicked off with an American campaign update.

I got the distinct impression that our Irish friends are better informed about the issues affecting the United States than a whole lot of our red state citizens are. Perhaps not surprisingly, I failed to meet a single person who was willing to admit thinking highly of President Bush. I wish both Irelands had a few electoral votes apiece.

Anyway, here's a pointless little story for you folks.

One morning I went for a drive along the Donegal coastline wearing my classic DU T-shirt.

Eighty kilometers or so later, on my way back, I pulled into a gas station, and a fellow wandered out to fuel up the hard-flogged rental car. While I philosophically considered a broken hubcap and bent rim--par for the course on roads easily as unforgiving as the nearby Ballyliffin links--the fellow struck up a conversation:

"Dy'e really think he's the worst President ever?"

"Well," I said, "it's a little early to tell, but since you ask I'd say the guy is gonna have to do something like cure cancer in order to come in second-worst."

He laughed. "Or pull those weapons of mass destruction out of his arse." My turn to laugh.

"There's a lot of people around here who would agree with you," he said. Except maybe the %$*???&^%(&."

(At this point there was a breakdown in communications until I eventually figured out that he was talking about the sheep herders. We really are two peoples separated by a common language.)

"Sheep herders? Why would they like Bush?"

"Because of the pollution," said the guy. "It doesn't snow here in the winter like it once did. Keeps the sheep fat and happy."

A few no shits later and I was on my way back to Ballyliffin. It doesn't take long to figure out that the Irish like to spread it pretty thick at times, but that chap didn't seem to be joking.

Anyway, the DU shirt paid for itself with a half-dozen more conversations like that over the course of the day. It was wonderful to go somewhere where people were thoughtful, informed, and politically engaged. It's a damned shame that the place happened to be across thousands of miles of ocean instead of, say, fifty miles west of Washington, DC.

[krkaufman]

17. Maybe *that's* where all those flowers went....

... that were supposed to be greeting our soldiers in Iraq.

Yet another success of the previous Democratic Administration. I'd love to see some of these Irish on the nightly news tonight. Nothing better than a Bill lovefest to throw the ROG into a tizzy.

[Karenina]

19. Tee-hee!

:kick:

[lottie244]

23. Hey, I didn't see or hear this anywhere from our media? What's up?

I guess we really have to get all our news from abroad. Was this event mentioned in the US media?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

25. But there is an LRAD available, just in case. Right?

Right?

[ignatius 2]

26. Damn, wishin' I was there..

n/t

[oasis]

29. Best president ever, Bill Clinton has more friends overseas than here

at home. Freepers have really missed the boat with their hatred.