Bill Clinton Goes Vegan

[Botany]

Source: Seattle P. I.

Second only to his sex life, Bill Clinton's hearty appetite for Big Macs and pork barbecue has for years fueled late night comics
and produced several of David Letterman's funniest skits.

Now, it turns out, our 42nd president is going vegan -- almost. In interviews with CNN and Willow Bay, Clinton says he has eliminated
nearly all meat and dairy products from his diet.

snip

Bay asked Clinton, who is 64, if No. 42 looks forward to having grandchildren.

"I'm trying to stay healthy enough to have 'em," Clinton replied. "That's what I want to do . . . My travel schedule has cut back on my exercise
some, which is frustrating to me. But, I follow a pretty strict diet and I try, you know, to limit how much I eat and what I eat . . .

"Once in a while, I'll eat fish but not often because I'm trying to be one of those experimenters. Since 1986, several hundred people, who have
tried essentially a plant-based diet, not ingesting cholesterol from any source, have seen their bodies start to heal themselves, break up the
arterial blockage, break up the calcium deposits around the heart."

Read more: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/222280.asp

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I guess you can teach an old (big) dog new tricks.

[superduperfarleft]

1. If he eats fish, he's not vegan.

Veganism is more than just what you put in your mouth.

Still, good for him on taking steps to eat a healthier diet.

[Enrique]

2. +1

it's good, but not enough to support the headline. If he went vegan, that would be news.

[gateley]

4. At least the term has made it into the national spotlight, not clumped under

"vegetarian" as it probably would have been a few years back.

Bob Barker is a true vegan.

[gateley]

6. Yeah, they should have said "vegan DIET" -- and they did say "almost". I don't

think the majority of people look past "vegan" as a way of eating, they don't realize it's a way of life.

[Warpy]

9. Yeah, he eats my diet

Mostly plants, occasional piece of fish, poultry once or twice a year.

I was a strict veg-head for about 10 years, but going back to school cut way into my cooking time. One thing about flesh food, it tastes like what it is with even the most indifferent cooking.

Some people feel like crap when they eat meat and some people feel like crap when they don't. The trick is finding out how to eat so that you feel your best so it doesn't feel like deprivation.

Good luck to him on finding that out.

[K8-EEE]

13. Well, he's 90% more vegan than before

If he's vegan most days that's a huge change....I know people who can't picture having even one vegan meal!! Especially southerners.

[superduperfarleft]

16. Just to be clear, I'm not knocking him.

And I think the headline writers are the ones in the wrong, not Clinton. If he's changing to a healthier diet, and that's what works for him, great.

However, veganism (to many of us who practice it) is a distinctly political issue with a clear meaning, and my purpose in bringing this up was to use the opportunity to educate people as to what it actually is, not just to nitpick.

[4_TN_TITANS]

30. True that, about southerners...

I have one daughter who is a vegetarian and one who couldn't fathom going a day without meat.

[Gormy Cuss]

17. Yes, and he' s not even "practically vegan" based on what is reported in the article.

"Mostly vegetarian diet" would have been a better description.

[K8-EEE]

31. "Mostly vegan diet" would be good

since a lot of people still consider cheetos and easy mac a part of a "vegetarian diet."

[Bragi]

3. Now if he could just get over his fondness for war criminals

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Bush+Clinton+talk+Afghanistan/1644777/story.html

[onehandle]

11. Speaking of unrelated. nt

[Bragi]

14. My pleasure really

I try to never overlook an opportunity to let people know that Bill Clinton shills for war criminals, and to point out his special efforts to appear at public events with GW Bush so that people will show up, and not howl him off the stage.

I presume Bill C. enjoys the money he gets for trying to publicly rehabilitate war criminals.

[Botany]

15. and look @ what he does w/ the money

Because of the efforts of CGI's members:

More than 10 million children have gained access to a better education
More than 650,000 people have learned new professional skills
The equivalent of 60 million metric tons of CO2 emissions have been cut
More than 33 million acres of forest have been protected or restored
Enough clean energy has been generated to power more than 400,000 homes
48 million people now have access to better health care
More than 12 million people have access to safe, fresh drinking water
More than $150 million has been invested in new medical research
34 million people have access to treatment for neglected tropical diseases
Nearly nine million people have new jobs or income-generating opportunities
More than $600 million has been invested in or loaned to small and medium-sized enterprises
More than three million people have better access to information technology
Almost three million micro-entrepreneurs have been empowered through microfinance

http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/commitments/default.asp?Section=Commitments&PageTitle=Commitments

[Bragi]

19. No, he mostly pockets the money and becomes even richer

Don't confuse his "charitable" work with his money.

Though I know he does confuse these things, what with him again joining arms with Bush the war criminal to:

a) try to create credibility for his war criminal PR client, and

b) to raise some money for Haiti, though less than he could raise if he wasn't partnered up with a war criminal.

[Botany]

22. Sorry that he doesn't pass your purity test but his organization gives filters ...

.... so people can have clean drinking water and 2/3 of all the aids patients world wide get
drugs so they can live because of Bill's work.

[Bragi]

23. I think you're confusing him with Jimmy Carter

When Carter supports a cause, such as international public health, it is clear he does so primarily for the people he helps, not so as to increase his own net worth.

Unlike Bill the preferred shill for war criminals everywhere.

[avaistheone1]

21. I whole heartedly agree.

I can't stand when Clinton and Bush/s do events together. It makes me puke.

The Bushs have killed this country and economy for decades to come. They are war criminals in the true sense.

Clinton sucking up to the Bushes makes Clinton big bucks, that he can spend on garish conspicuous consumption weddings for his kid. So it's all worth it.

[Zoeisright]

5. Good for him. And why in the hell do they always have to mention

his sex life? I guess I wouldn't care as much if the M$M mentioned Bush's war criminality every time they wrote something about him.

[gateley]

7. No kidding - that has absolutely nothing to do with this story. nt

[onehandle]

10. Yes. He also has an appetite for education and was a Rhodes Scholar.

Funny they didn't mention that totally unrelated point.

[SOS]

8. Good news

Chelsea is a vegan.
Perhaps she had an influence on her father.

[ensho]

12. good - wish him well

nt

[karynnj]

18. "nearly all meat and dairy products from his diet" is not vegan

First it still includes some meat and dairy. Second it includes fish.

More important than whether it is vegan, it is a diet that his doctors recommended to help him live longer and healthier. Best wishes for him succeeding in doing that. From various photos and videos, he really looks like he has been through the wringer health wise. Let's hope that this helps him gain him fight his health problems.

[niceypoo]

24. Actually vegans are quite delicious

Everybody should roast and eat at least one

[byronius]

20. Right on, Mr. President.

PS: First president to EVER use the word 'gay'. DADT may suck, but I know he was trying.

Just like Obama.

[glinda]

25. It is good he is trying and setting an example for people to think about it.

Bashing some one because they are not a total vegan yet or anything is short sighted to the overall good PR he has just given Plant-based diets.

[flvegan]

26. He looked fantastic on Letterman the other night.

I'm just glad he's taking much better care of himself vegan, almost vegan, or otherwise.

[AtomicKitten]

27. Not vegan but clearly a healthy diet. nt

[La Lioness Priyanka]

28. not vegan but sounds good for his health.

[Liquorice]

29. I've read that Chelsea is a vegetarian, so maybe she influenced him too. nt

[BlueCheese]

32. The old job-destroying Bill Clinton...

... not content with leaving behind an economy with 4% of Americans unemployed, he's now trying to put meatpackers out of business.

[Touchdown]

33. He also wants to circumcise Africa, SFW?