Former President Bill Clinton, interviewed by NPR and reported by Reuters, casually insults the US Government and President Bush.

"The president says he's just trying to get the rules clear about how far the CIA can go when they're when they whacking these people around in these secret prisons," Clinton said in NPR's "Morning Edition" interview, recorded on Wednesday.

That just gets him started, he further alleges:

"If you go around passing laws that legitimize a violation of the Geneva Convention and institutionalize what happened at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo, we're going to be in real trouble," he said.

Yeah, if we did, Bill. Because everybody knows that the isolated crimes at Abu Ghraib are what this debate is all about. I’m not at all surprised Bill’s so enamored with the vagaries of the latest Geneva Convention protocols. Written in excruciating legalese, with more wriggle room than the back of a ’52 Chevy, they must suit that great legal intellect who can parse what “is” means in context or inspire his junior’s “no controlling legal authority” evasion.

CIA officials, analysts, and operatives, and now as well Military Interrogators, rightly fear for their careers and freedom in an atmosphere where US law vacillates and waffles, and US Judiciary increasingly turn to foreign jurists and International opinion, and political elites prove ever more opportunistic to hang these real public servants out to dry.

Clarity, sir. Honor first, not last. Give the men and women in the fight the tools to do the job their country demands of them. Be a fraction as loyal as they have proven, tiem and time again, despite the carping and criticism and wild-eyed accusations.

First, they ever-disappointing Jimmie Carter, and now the ever-predictable Bill Clinton.

I voted for both of them when given the opportunity, and I swear they compete for which of my Presidential votes I should consider most regrettable (if not shameful).

Have either of these men considered the price in historical terms, of so wantonly abandoned the old reticence of former Presidents from too nakedly advancing partisan interests? No military men, these, they obviously have no respect for either tradition or decorum. They insult the President, they insult the CIA, they insult the military. They don’t care how much it hurts the US, promotes enemy propaganda, or gives aid and comfort to our enemies. All because the current occupant of the White House is among their political enemies. Hence, hurting a Republican is far more important than whether, in the process, they hurt the US.

Fade away, already. If we have to wait until you die, Lord knows how much insult and disrepute you’ll bring to the Presidency. The terms you served and the messes you made were bad enough.