clintonian the adverb

[Plane]

Political sense[edit]

President Clinton spoke after the Lewinsky scandal broke: "There's nothing going on between us." In fact there had been a sexual relationship, which was later proven. Clinton later excused his deceptive statement as 'not false' on the meaning of the word 'is' in the immediate sense of the present tense, confessing to a crafty evasion rather than to a lie. This after-the-fact and lawyerly nit-picking is commonly referred to as a Clintonian defense. The term has entered the lexicon to mean a defensive or revisionary argument which may be legally or logically correct, while the defense remains obscure and foolish to a reasonable person's assessment of content and ordinary meaning.


It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the—if he—if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not—that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement...

—?Bill Clinton during the independent counsel testimony.[1]

Following the Lewinsky scandal and the Impeachment of Bill Clinton, the term "Clintonian" has also carried the connotation of verbal craftiness, usually in a political or legal context, intended to deceive or obscure the truth.


"The word Clintonian is in our lexicon and means being sneaky, and tough." -Tony Blankley[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clintonian

About a year ago I discovered that "clintonian" was recognized by my spellchecker, and was in most online dictionaries as a term for a particular sort of prevarication that President Clinton became famous for, to wit very finely parsed wording to mislead with statements that are in some sense technically true.

My spellcheck no longer recognizes the word.

Most of the dictionaries I consulted now have  more archaic references to a much earlier Clinton.

This is being cleaned up.

This is a very clintonian event and process, if you do not like the words , change the dictionary.

[Xavier_Onassis]

"Is" is the present tense. What Clinton obviously meant was that "is" did not means the same as "was", though "is" is often used to refer to something that happened in the past and is ongoing.

There were better ways to say this, but no one can be expected to always use the most effective words.

Lewinsky has nothing to do with Hillary's candidacy.

[sirs]

Clinton's use of "is" was about as smarmy a semantics someone can get, as he tried to wiggle his way from telling the truth under oath.  His frequent parsing of words, is precisely why the term. Clintonian, now exists in our lexicon

But you're right about one thing....Lewinsky has nothing to do with Clinton's candidacy.  Merely reinforces the ongoing poor judgement she so often exudes and showcases for all to see

[Plane]

"Is" is the present tense. What Clinton obviously meant was that "is" did not means the same as "was", though "is" is often used to ................

You detected no intent to deceive?

I got a distinct impression that President Clinton had a low level of respect for your and my intelligence.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I did not get any of that.

I really did not care whether he got blow jobs or not. That was his private life.

[sirs]

Nor does this have anything to do with the President of the United States, being unfaithful & getting a BJ     

[Xavier_Onassis]

Of course it does. Everyone lies about sex, most often to themselves.
Starr was given the task of bringing Clinton down, and that was the only way he could have done it.

Clintonian is an adjective.

The adverb would be Clintonianly, Clintonesquely. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs, not nouns.

[sirs]

Of course it doesn't

You can lie about sex all you want.  You just can't lie in a court of law, regardless the reason.  THAT'S the issue, and not about the unfaithfulness of Clinton in getting on with his executive BJ's

[Xavier_Onassis]

It was simply deliberate entrapment.

The result was that the taxpayers had to pay millions, and Clinton was not convicted. A waste of time and money.

[Plane]

  Even if it was only sex, that would be enough.

   If rape is only sex.

[sirs]

It was simply deliberate entrapment.

How the hell was it entrapment?? Someone made him lie??  He was being blackmailed?? 

You either tell the truth UNDER OATH, or you suffer the consequences.  And he was DISBARRED as one of those consequences.  You don't get disbarred for lying about sex.  You get disbarred for lying under oath, regardless of the subject matter.  That's why this was never about a BJ

[Xavier_Onassis]

You are, of course, dead wrong.

[sirs]

So, couldn't bother to address how the hell he was made to lie under oath I see.  Not to mention what other reason he was disbarred for.   Thank you for that added bit of validation