Monday, October 1, 2007

Former president Bill Clinton yesterday continued to back away from his position that the president should have the authority to approve the torture of a terrorist in a "ticking time bomb" scenario.

The issue arose during a Democratic debate last week when moderator Tim Russert asked the candidates if they backed such an exemption to a torture ban. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said she opposes an exemption. It was pointed out that her husband had backed one. "I'll talk to him later," she joked.

On NBC's "Meet the Press," Bill Clinton said, "The more I think about it, and the more I have seen that if you have any kind of a formal exception, people just drive a truck through it and they'll say, 'Well, I thought it was covered by the exception.' . . . It's better not to have one."

He said he thought his wife's response was "terrific." He said he has seen the look she used -- "Several times over the last 35 years."

Fox's TV show "24," about the travails of counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer, has attracted conservative viewers. But the former president appears to be quite a fan too, saying: "There's a one in a million chance that you might be alone somewhere and you're Jack Bauer on '24' -- that's the Jack Bauer example, right? It happens every season with Jack Bauer, but in the real world, it doesn't happen very much."

Gingrich: Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) appeared on ABC's "This Week" to explain his last-minute decision not to seek the presidency, saying he couldn't continue to chair his political group, American Solutions for Winning the Future, while running for office.

That said, Gingrich put on his political pundit hat, predicting that Clinton will be the Democratic nominee and will come out of the convention ahead -- but that the Republicans will close the gap by Election Day.

By Zachary A. Goldfarb