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Bush 43 And Bill Clinton To Face Off In 'Uncensored' Debate
Rachel Slajda | November 3, 2009, 5:36PM
Fmr. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton
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How much would you pay to watch former president George W. Bush and Bill Clinton take the stage in an "uncensored, unedited and unpredictable" debate?
How about $1,250?
That's the high end for tickets to the debate, scheduled for Feb. 25 in New York City, according to the New York Post. Seats start at $60.
The debate, at Radio City Music Hall, is part of a series called "Minds That Move The World." The speakers series has also hosted A-list political celebrities such as Karl Rove and Al Gore.
MSG Entertainment is billing the event as the "hottest political ticket in history."
Maybe. But Clinton and Bush met for a "moderated conversation" in Toronto earlier this year, where they had a pleasant, friendly chat. Bush jokingly welcomed the audience to the "Bill and George Show," and Clinton promised to "thwart" a spectacle many hoped to see.
Tickets for that event went as high as $2,500.
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Unmitigated Audacity
November 3, 2009 6:15 PM
More like "Mind vs. Never Mind".
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lousgirl84
November 3, 2009 6:33 PM in reply to Unmitigated Audacity
ROFLMAO. That was too fucking funny., I just spit my water all over my computer screen.
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Sambam
November 3, 2009 6:25 PM
Is this for real? This would truly be a battle of wits with an unarmed man.
Only way to make this a fair fight - charades.
Unless I'm misunderestimating Junior and he's got a strategery to win ...
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Turnaround
November 3, 2009 6:31 PM
I think Bush must have actually been suckered by some of the motivational speeches he recently sat through at the "Get Motivated" scamarama down in Fort Worth.
Pass the popcorn.
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millebornes
November 3, 2009 6:58 PM
With expectations being what they are I imagine if Bush does not poo poo in his pants or start masturbating on stage Fox News will declare him the winner.
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rambler american
November 4, 2009 5:31 AM in reply to millebornes
Masturbating on stage?
Emission Accomplished.
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dickday
November 3, 2009 7:21 PM
This is amazing. I mean it is like a sixth grader debating a professor of history at a major university.
If I had any money, I would pay to see this one. It all depends on how courteous Bill decides to play this.
WOW
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ShawninMo
November 3, 2009 8:38 PM in reply to dickday
You mean great liberal minds like Gore a Kerry got twarted by a sixth grader? Man, I'm glad they didn't get the white house. We would be totally screwed right now, rather than about to be totally screwed.
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loria
November 3, 2009 10:27 PM in reply to ShawninMo
Apparently you suffer from selective amnesia and actually believe that the Bush years were good for the country.
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ShawninMo
November 3, 2009 10:36 PM in reply to loria
Selective amnesia? I thought amnesia was an involuntary thing.
Bush, another winner. Hmm, big spending by a republican. Yep, those were good ole days. Big deficits, government drug programs, and illegals galore!!!
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Keatsian
November 4, 2009 1:08 AM in reply to ShawninMo
Isn't that every Republican? Reagan, Bush Sr., and Bush Jr, all drastically increased the deficit. There hasn't been a fiscally conservative Republican in 100 years. They are like unicorns, but unicorns are more likely to exist.
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ShawninMo
November 5, 2009 12:37 AM in reply to Keatsian
Amen to that! But it's the same with both parties. The bad thing about it, is that with dems, at least you expect them to spend more than they make, so they're not misrepresenting who they are. Republicans have no excuse.
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Cool Blue Reason
November 4, 2009 7:13 AM in reply to ShawninMo
Gore and Kerry were thwarted by Karl Rove and the electorate's own insipid tendencies -- not by the affable sixth grader on the ticket.
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JohnW1141
November 4, 2009 9:11 AM in reply to ShawninMo
ShawninMo said:
isn't it obvious that it wasn't Gore or Kerry that got thwarted but people like you who voted for the Bush/Cheney gang. After all, just look at the 8 years they were in office.
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ShawninMo
November 5, 2009 12:29 AM in reply to JohnW1141
No lie there. Bush wasn't much of a conservative. Even worse, the republicans ran McCain after that. There's no wonder prople are leaving the party in droves. You'll probably see more New York 23's in the future.
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Matt Jones
November 3, 2009 7:52 PM
The only thing better would be Shrub on the Daily Show.
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midnight rambler
November 3, 2009 8:05 PM in reply to Matt Jones
That would be FAR better. Clinton is exactly the kind of person who would be "courteous" enough at these kind of "debates" to milk them for as long (and as much $$$) as possible.
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rambler american
November 4, 2009 5:29 AM in reply to Matt Jones
Me, I'd love to see * on the Rachel Maddow show.
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kash79
November 3, 2009 8:01 PM
Am I reading the Onion?
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mentata
November 4, 2009 12:14 AM in reply to kash79
Dude, I thought the same thing. For Bush perhaps a better gig than the motivational speaker absurdity, which was my last "Onion?" moment.
For Clinton, if he's not in it to excoriate the neocon perspective, then it is in fact a shameful paycheck. The optimistic view would be he'd bait W with softball private events, get him to agree to a public one, then hand him his intellectual ass for a hat while at least gesticulating positively towards a progressive alternate worldview.
Optimism is a luxury, seldom felt but on Wall Street some of these days.
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JohnW1141
November 3, 2009 8:27 PM
Debate? It will be a farce, Clinton will condescend to Bush, everyone will see it and be bored out of their minds.
I'm not a big fan of Clinton's, but Bush shouldn't be on the same stage with Clinton in a debate.
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ShawninMo
November 3, 2009 8:49 PM in reply to JohnW1141
That is of course that they don't debate on how to get Osama to quit bombing us. I think Billy would lose on that one
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loria
November 3, 2009 10:29 PM in reply to ShawninMo
Just when was 9/11 and who was president? That's right, it was Bush and 9/11 happened right after his month long vacation where the CIA flew to Crawford to warn him of their concern over an attack.
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ShawninMo
November 3, 2009 10:41 PM in reply to loria
Oh crap, you must have forgotten about getting attacked every two years in the '90's. Bush was slow, but not quite that slow.
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hollywood
November 4, 2009 1:35 AM in reply to ShawninMo
Clinton specifically and exactly warned Bush PERSONALLY that Osama was the #1 foreign problem and biggest threat. Bush and Cheney ignored that advice because they thought they knew better. They demoted the top terrorist expert in the White House, the man who was proven correct in his urgency, hair on fire, Richard Clarke. Clinton was in Australia on 911 and said immediately "Osama" because he understood the threat. Bush was sitting on his ass somewhere on vacation. That's the facts.
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ShawninMo
November 5, 2009 12:42 AM in reply to hollywood
You have got to be kidding. Clinton, who had Osama offered on a platter but turned it down, and got attacked again, was on his game with this one? Remove the blinders.
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rambler american
November 4, 2009 6:18 AM in reply to ShawninMo
Just a quick reminder. When the WTC was bombed in 1993 the perps were caught, tried, convicted and imprisoned. They remain in prison to this day. Where did you say Osama was? Oh right. Bush let him get away when he was cornered in Tora Bora because he had a hard on for Saddam.
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ShawninMo
November 5, 2009 12:54 AM in reply to rambler american
No need to remind me, but thanks. First, the "perps" for 9/11 are all dead, so no court for them. Second, the planner for the first attack was the planner for the second attack. So, thank you Clinton for taking care of that one for us.
You're right, Osama is on the loose. Our military may not have had to worry about missing him if Clinton would have taken Osama when he was offered.
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JohnW1141
November 4, 2009 10:18 AM in reply to ShawninMo
Shawn,
oh crap, we were attacked every hour in Iraq.
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JohnW1141
November 4, 2009 10:22 AM in reply to ShawninMo
Shawn,
by the way, more Americans were killed by our enemies under the Bush/Cheney gang than under; Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton COMBINED. Hows that for protecting Americans?
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ShawninMo
November 5, 2009 1:01 AM in reply to JohnW1141
Where to start. How about the obvious. More Americans were killed under Roosevelt than all other presidents combined when fighting foriegners, but that's irrelevant.
As for Americans dying every hour, the military is doing what they signed up for. Keeping American civilians safe. Dealing with terrorists in their backyard instead of ours is a good thing. Sorry you don't see that.
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JohnW1141
November 4, 2009 9:03 AM in reply to ShawninMo
ShawninMo;
Clinton kept us safer from Islamic bombers for a longer period of time than Bush/Cheney gang. The first attack on the WTC occurred 28 days after Clinton took office. Bush was President for 9 months before the second attack.
Or, all Bill has to do is ask Obama, after all, OBama too has kept us safer from Osama bombing us for a longer period than Bush/Cheney gang.
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ShawninMo
November 5, 2009 1:06 AM in reply to JohnW1141
You are hillarious with your spinning. Obama hasn't changed anything about us dealing with terrorism. He's allowing the "Bush plan" to continue. That's a pretty sad response.
As for the "second" attack, try the fifth attack. You seem to forget about Osama and his three other attacks under the Clinton administration.
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JohnW1141
November 5, 2009 1:24 PM in reply to ShawninMo
Shawn,
Obama hasn't changed anything, he's still using Bush tactics??
Hasn't Obama changed Commanders in Afghanistan?
Hasn't Obama been attacking inside Pakistan almost on a daily basis?
Hasn't Obama forced the Pakistanis to a more offensive action in the border areas?
Hasn't Obama pulled troops out of the combat zones in IRAQ?
Isn't Obama talking to IRAN?
Isn't Obama taking a strong stance against Israeli settlements?
As to Roosevelt being responsible for the loss of life, that's laughable to compare to Bush. Neither Afghanistan or Iraq attacked us or declared war on us.
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rbeats
November 3, 2009 9:31 PM
Just found the listing on Tickmaster. Most tickets are under 100
But pre-sale happened a month ago, so it remains to be seen what remains.
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VexSmith
November 3, 2009 10:22 PM
When is Clinton going to stop propping up this family? They --the whole lot-- should be left to themselves.
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Democracy Boy
November 3, 2009 11:10 PM
Can we all agree to stop using the word "debate" to describe this, um, "thing"?
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jcd
November 3, 2009 11:43 PM
Snore... As the story actually notes, they did this once already--not a "debate," but this won't be either. I believe the technical term is "paycheck."
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sherifffruitfly
November 4, 2009 12:27 AM
Uh... there's only one mind there.
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gharlane
November 4, 2009 1:36 AM
Fixed that for ya.
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Daddy-O
November 4, 2009 4:00 AM
IF he shows up.
IF.
Whatever they do, they'd better not pay Bush in advance...they'll never see that money again.
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Rootman
November 4, 2009 7:31 AM
I want Sarah versus Hillary.
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loria
November 4, 2009 8:56 AM in reply to Rootman
Just the visual makes me smile. I would love to see that debate. I wonder who would be the "pitbull with lipstick" and who would be the chihuahua.
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ivy22
November 4, 2009 7:44 AM
The only thing Bush is good at is leaning on the podium with his left arm, smirking, and stammering. Watched that for 8 years. More of the same? How underwhelming.
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tmccarthy0
November 4, 2009 8:09 AM
Okay I might be up for blowing the money just to see this.. but I fear it will not be as much fun as it could be.
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JohnW1141
November 4, 2009 9:06 AM in reply to tmccarthy0
tmccarth,
I'll wait till it comes out on video.
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