December 11, 2007
Bill Clinton Heckled In Iowa City Last Night By ... A Robot
IOWA CITY, IA, Dec 10 - A man dressed in a silver metallic suit, a matching helmet and dark glasses heckled Bill Clinton Monday at his last campaign stop.
About seven minutes into the former president’s fourth speech of the day, the man stood on a chair on the press riser and shouted that robots wanted Clinton to say he was sorry for statements he made 15 years ago.
"Bill Clinton, I want you to apologize to Sister Souljah. Robots of the world want you to apologize to Sister Souljah. We want you to apologize,” the man said as one observer gasped "Oh my God.”
A volunteer demanded to know who had let him in and the audience heckled the heckler with boos and screams of "Get out of here!” He then threw dozens of orange, green, hot pink and yellow cards into the air. A woman yanked what appeared to be a microphone out of the man’s hands, and he was escorted out of the room without further incident.
The cards read: "Robots are mad at Bill. MR-IFOBCA stands for Mad Robots In Favor Of Bill Clinton Apologizing. Mr. Ifobca says, "Bill Clinton should be ashamed of himself for slandering a Black woman named Sister Souljah," followed by a website address (www.Mr-Ifobca.org
During his 1992 presidential campaign, Clinton criticized the black rapper and community activist for statements she made about black-on-black crime. He compared her to David Duke for saying "If black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people?"
Clinton’s response to the man drew roars and applause from the boisterous crowd of several hundred.
"Look at America,” he said, apparently referring to the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. “"You need to find more environmentally responsible ways to protest than throwing graffiti around.”
The unruffled former president noted the cards the man tossed into the air: “"You can disagree with me without killing another tree,” he added, before saying “Anyway” and picking right up with his speech.
(NBC/NJ's ATHENA JONES)
As if determined not to let the protester steal the headlines, Clinton spoke for nearly 50 minutes about a wide range of issues -- from his work on AIDS to Hillary's choice to work on behalf of children after law school -- before taking questions from the audience for another 40 minutes.
He repeated what he said at stops earlier in the day about his wife having been a "change agent" all her life.
"She’s got a good vision and she’s got a good plan, but the most important thing that you need to know that I can tell you is that all of her life she’s been a change agent and we need an agent of change, somebody who has proved that they can see a problem and solve it,” Clinton told the crowd, citing as examples the work she did on behalf of children after graduating from law school and her efforts to improve the education system in Arkansas.
Polls show that many voters who are leaning toward supporting the senator's chief rival, Barack Obama, care more about who will help change direction in America than about strength and experience, which Hillary Clinton repeatedly lists as her main selling points.
Posted at 09:08 AM
Comments
I saw that robot, and he really stole the show!!!
caleb | 12.11.07 03:45 PM
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sister souljah has been avenged BY BARAK OBAMA! The Clintons are melting away.....
panama | 01.08.08 08:04 AM
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hi i was impressed at the clown bill clinton as he made a good speech . he said mr obama will remember he took an oath to stand up and protect this country .something he did not do . i was impressed a pres that was not a good pres here at all . but a grest middle east pres had a lot of praise for mr obama . makes me more likely to go out and vote for mc cain . and his wife was very funny . like a 12 yr old . she stated she wants to take the oil profits and invest it in alt . fuel . yes if you listen to her she is on acid .
bruce | 08.28.08 08:26 AM
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