Debunked: "you become the leader of a country, someone else makes all the decisions."

Mick West

Administrator
Staff member
Typical usage:
By the time you become the leader of a country, someone else makes all the decisions. You may find you can get away with Virtual Presidents, Virtual Prime Ministers, and Virtual Everything. - Bill Clinton


Actual Source:

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=54862

Remarks to Employees at Gateway, Inc., in Santry, Ireland
September 4, 1998

Thank you for the wonderful welcome, the waving flag, the terrific shirts. I want one of those shirts before I leave. At least shirts have not become virtual; you can actually have one of them. [Laughter]

I want to say to the Taoiseach how very grateful I am for his leadership and friendship. But I must say that I was somewhat ambivalent when we were up here giving our virtual signatures. Do you have any idea how much time I spend every day signing my name? I'm going to feel utterly useless if I can't do that anymore. [Laughter] By the time you become the leader of a country, someone else makes all the decisions; you just sign your name. [Laughter] You may find you can get away with virtual Presidents, virtual Prime Ministers, virtual everything. Just stick a little card in and get the predictable response.

It was a joke about how much signing his name he does.

Of course there's a degree of truth behind it. Much of the things he signed were acts of congress, and not his decisions at all. But that's just the way the government works. Nothing like the implied conspiracy of shadowy figures behind the presidency. Such as in this mis-usage:

Late August 1998, Bill Clinton speaking in Ireland in response to a question as to what would he do if removed from office through impeachment:
".....You know, by the time you become the leader of a country, someone else makes all the decisions."
People like me who have done extensive research on the issue of a one world government, one world bank, one world religion and one world police force [UN Hessians], understand that the international bankers have been running the show for a couple hundred years.

Not only is the quote taken totally out of context, it's got a new setting as an answer to a question. Unfortunately fake usages like this tend to propagate in conspiracy culture.
 
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