Robot heckles Bill Clinton, Bill heckles back

Peaceful robot / human talks looked to be on the verge of a meltdown in Iowa on Monday. Former president Bill Clinton was treated to barrage of output from a robot seeking for an apology regarding a 1992 comment Bill made concerning rapper Sister Souljah. The robot -- or potentially a human impostor dressed to look like one -- then threw color cards in the air, and was escorted away, but not without a parting shot from Clinton about picking a more environmentally-friendly way to protest. Rumors of the robot shouting "please tase me, humans" as a parting shot are unconfirmed. The video can be found at the read link.

[mr friggles @ Dec 12th 2007 12:32AM]

APOLOGIZE DAMMIT! HE KNOW HE WRONG FOR WHAT HE DID. SISTER SOULJAH TILL I DIE!!

[Jared @ Dec 12th 2007 12:41AM]

Why does this belong on engadget?

[Fraggle.Rock @ Dec 12th 2007 12:43AM]

I'm with you there!

[mr friggles @ Dec 12th 2007 12:51AM]

Robots are getting ready to take over this shit and you sittin there wondering if this belongs here??? Geddafuggouttahere. I dunno about you but Im gunning up aint no dam tin heads taking my life or someones life I know. man up.

[Ryan Block @ Dec 12th 2007 12:54AM]

Because we, apparently unlike yourself, have a sense of humor about technology culture.

[David Piatek @ Dec 12th 2007 12:57AM]

mrfriggles: Is there a new form of English that I somehow missed?

[Jared @ Dec 12th 2007 1:18AM]

Ryan, maybe you should create a question on engadget home page... Does anyone care about robot man at Clinton speech, is this worthy of showing up in a tech blog? If more than 25% think this is news worthy, I'll appologize

[raven @ Dec 12th 2007 1:28AM]

Robot = gadget

Man pretending to be robot = engadget... it's cosplay man... cool down alittle...

they post Apple and people go fanboy fanboy... they post chinese knockoffs and people go W** is this ****...

Jared, if you're so good and have such a clue on what should and shouldn't be on Engadget, why don't you be so brave and submit your credentials when they hire new editors, then you can have your say on what should and shouldn't be on THEIR blog...

[Ryan Block @ Dec 12th 2007 1:34AM]

Jared, if you want the crowd's permission to put something on the homepage then go to Digg. If you want editor-driven content you go a site like Engadget.

[DWells55 @ Dec 12th 2007 4:08AM]

Yeah, I love Engadget and generally scoff at the "omg old," "how is this newz lolol," "lol slow news day," and "ngadgt r teh bias!!1" comments, but I gotta agree on this one. Some weirdo saying he's a robot just so he can get attention isn't really worth posting as far as I'm concerned. Maybe if he said something interesting or tech-relevant, but this really didn't strike me as being funny and instead as just immature.

Whatever though, you guys are the editors and I'm just a reader, so it's not my call to make and I'm not gonna make a scene over it.

[abomb @ Dec 12th 2007 9:56AM]

@DWells55: "Whatever though, you guys are the editors and I'm just a reader, so it's not my call to make and I'm not gonna make a scene over it. "

uh way to do a whole write up complaining how this shouldnt be on here and then say oh well whatever im not gonna make a scene about how this shouldnt be on here. lame.

[ScareyJ @ Dec 12th 2007 11:56AM]

@Jared, you're absolutely right ... Sista Souljah has nothing to do with technology or gadgets, this was just an idiot dressed in a robot outfit. Engadget will probably start including PETA news when they dress up in similar outfits to protest fishing.

Though to Ryans defense, I bet they did have an iPhone in their pocket -- heck for that matter there must be some sorta kinship there since Ryan most likely has an iPhone in his pocket. Oh the crazy ironic twists!

Maybe this was a good distraction from the typical "we hate the evil world of capitalism and especially Microsoft; well Apple doesn't count cuz Steve Jobs is sexy" routine. So bring on the politics ... even politicans have blackberries, iphones, and other great innertubes -- so they're all related too!

[daaper @ Dec 12th 2007 12:59PM]

ScareyJ, why are you here? I get the impression from your mocking tone that you don't enjoy reading their "biased" standpoint on topics. Are you a troll for pleasure or profit?

These are rhetorical questions. Please feel no need to answer them...just food for thought.

[entropyman @ Dec 12th 2007 4:08PM]

yeah, it's just a guy in a bicycle helmet- he doesn't look like a robot-

[Fraggle.Rock @ Dec 12th 2007 12:42AM]

Fantastic audio quality... it made everything clear and comprehensible, or not.

[mr friggles @ Dec 12th 2007 12:48AM]

Perfect audio quality here:

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Bill_Clinton_heckled_by_robot_1211.html

[o29 @ Dec 12th 2007 3:18AM]

Thanks, that video is much better quality.

[David Landrum @ Dec 12th 2007 12:50AM]

Don't tase me, Human!

[webon @ Dec 12th 2007 1:04AM]

I for one wellcome our... wait... er.. is this a robot or not?

[- @ Dec 12th 2007 1:21AM]

The guy is wearing a helmet and padding, I thought he was dressed for a take-down, but instead agrees to be walked out peacefully. Lame entrance, lame exit, I'm embarrassed for this guy.

[ZeroCorpse @ Dec 12th 2007 2:08AM]

Attention whore.

Seriously, this trend of college students who want some Internet Instant Fame™ (just add controversy) are just ticking me off, now. They know the cameras are rolling (or have their buddies film it for them) and they heckle some politician or famous person in order to get fifteen minutes of infamy out of it. The YouTube Generation are a bunch of attention-seeking latchkey brats, apparently.

We'd all do well to ignore stunts like this, or they'll just become more common and get more tasteless as time goes on.

[ZeroCorpse @ Dec 12th 2007 2:22AM]

We need edit functions. . .

"Seriously, this trend of college students who want some Internet Instant Fame™ (just add controversy) IS just ticking me off, now."



It's late, and my brain is on low power consumption mode.

[mr friggles @ Dec 12th 2007 3:16AM]

attention whore. you think people will actually read that scat you posted. even worse you think its worth editing, as if there is ever was some value to it to begin with.

news flash. nobody cares about somebody who rants complaints about people ranting for attention.

[DWells55 @ Dec 12th 2007 4:13AM]

Actually, I agree with him for the most part and thought he made a good point. Who are you to determine that no one will read what he posted? Clearly you did, so you're wrong as soon as you made that statement. What's with the unprovoked hostility here?

[s1pacrat @ Dec 12th 2007 2:21PM]

I believe that that was a slightly overdone attempt at sarcasm (note how "attention whore" was used previously)

[ZeroCorpse @ Dec 12th 2007 7:56PM]

Thanks. I was serious. Apparently my post interrupted mr friggles in the middle of his getting ready to film himself heckling Mitt Romney or Dennis Kucinich. So friggles, were you going to go with the scuba gear or the gorilla suit with a tiara while you screamed some one-liner that you hoped would eventually be turned into a YTMND?

I mean, that's the only reason I can figure you'd raise such a hostile little tirade against a poster who wasn't directing a damn thing at you. You don't like what I have to say? Then skip it. I'm not putting it on YouTube (yet) and trying to get on TV. I'm just stating an opinion on a blog.

That IS what blogs are for, right?

[Trowble @ Dec 12th 2007 2:57AM]

The robot got his ass handed to him. Gore would be proud of Clinton's environmentalism.

[SB @ Dec 12th 2007 3:32AM]

This incident was pretty amusing, so I decided to do some research and find out what the robot was referring to. Here's what I found:

1) This is a NY Times article regarding the 1992 incident between Clinton and Sista Souljah: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/bill_clinton/index.html?query=SISTER%20SOULJAH&field=per&match=exact

2) Here's Sista Souljah's response to Clinton (also from 1992): http://www.theroc.org/roc-mag/textarch/roc-09/roc09-07.ht

[Rususeruru @ Dec 12th 2007 3:50AM]

Student A:
Dude! Dude! I've got a great idea! What if I dress up like a robot and interrupt Clinton? It'll be hilarious bro.

Student B:
Yeah whatever. [Continues Watching Porn]

[omf @ Dec 12th 2007 11:11AM]

We would've also accepted:

Student B:
Yeah whatever. [Continues Smoking Bong]

[Lemmiwinks @ Dec 12th 2007 12:43PM]

What makes this whole thing even sadder is that "Student A" is a professor.

[kevjohn @ Dec 12th 2007 9:53AM]

hmmm, I wonder if Sister Souljah begat Soulja Boy, the guy getting all those uncoordinate Youtubers to 'crank dat'. If that's the case.... maybe this robot is trying to find a way to go back in time to kill the baby Soulja Boy to prevent this national disaster from ever happening.

God speed, robot! God speed!

[KM @ Dec 12th 2007 10:38AM]

Everybody's Engadget comments make my day :o)

[thetinguy @ Dec 12th 2007 10:42AM]

I want the time I wasted watching that video back.

[Dave @ Dec 12th 2007 11:51AM]

15 years later and this is the best retort? Man that robot can really hold a grudge. Though somehow I think the person inside the bicycle helmet was still wearing diapers in '92.

[boomhauer @ Dec 12th 2007 12:12PM]

lame heckle, lamer response.

i bet 30 minutes later bill though "dang, what I shoulda said was..."

[boomhauer @ Dec 12th 2007 12:12PM]

and robot-dude: wasnt there a GIANT list of things worth heckling bill about beside this stupid souljah thing? which is probably the *only* thing he did that I agreed with. BAM

[carl @ Dec 12th 2007 6:29PM]

Bike Helmet /= robot costume

[James @ Jan 8th 2008 12:31PM]

I'm no fan of Clinton, but why should he apologize? Sister Souljah is an anti-white racist wretch! I hate it when certain black people with a victim mentality spew out hatred towards white people under the guise of "activism." The world would be a better place without the likes of Sister Souljah, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and anyone else like them who live off the victim mentality of people. Instead of these people, the black community--indeed all people--should look up to the likes of Colin Powell, Condi Rice, Bill Cosby, the guy on whom "The Pursuit of Happyness" was based (I forget his name right now, but his story is very inspiring)and every other black American who has done well and became a success.

"There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs--partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs."--Booker T. Washington