Day by day, Bill Clinton is inducing more nostalgia for Ronald Reagan, whose post-presidency was a dignified retreat into Alzheimer's and public silence.
As Hillary and Barack do their reconciliation dance in New Hampshire, here is the former Leader of the Free World having a temper tantrum in London, telling friends that Obama will "have to kiss my ass" to get his support for the campaign.
This charming image evokes memories of previous anatomical inappropriateness on the part of the man for whom bands used to play "Hail to the Chief" but is now, in the words of Maureen Dowd, "in a self-pitying meltdown about not being Elvis anymore, trying to shake down Obama for more--more apologies for perceived snubs and more help paying off the $22 million Clinton debt."
Even Joe Klein, who must have thought he was telling the worst about the pre-presidential Clinton in "Primary Colors," seems taken aback.
"It's time for him to get over it," Klein says "or go off and do his charitable work. He knows the rules of the road. What's going on now is kind of strange. I think his behavior is really, really shocking."
In the 2000 campaign, Al Gore was criticized for keeping Bill Clinton in the closet. At the rate the former President's stature is shrinking these days, Barack Obama would be well-advised to try to keep him out of the continent.
Showing posts with label Joe Klein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Klein. Show all posts
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
"Primary Colors II"
In the climactic scene of the movie from the Anonymous Joe Klein novel, John Travolta-Jack Stanton-Bill Clinton importunes a young, idealistic African-American young man, "We can do incredible things. We can change this country. I'm gonna win this thing. Look me in the eye, Henry, and tell me that you don't want to be a part of it."
In the sequel, Henry has morphed into Barack Obama, and he is still in it, this time not as part of the steamroller but as its target.
In an early scene of the original, a politician talking to the candidate asks the aspiring First Lady, "You don't mind us talking business, do you?" and she answers wryly, "No, no. How else could I learn?"
As we play out "Primary Colors II," how much has Emma Thompson-Susan Stanton-Hillary Clinton learned? The moral dilemma of the original--whether or not to destroy the opposition with dirt--has been transmuted into a team operation to smear Barack Obama with mud about drug use, doubts about his opposition to the war in Iraq and accusations of racial opportunism.
The 1998 movie was in theaters during the impeachment and left viewers with mixed feelings about the ruthless charmer who connected with Americans by feeling their pain while inflicting some of his own on them. Now the whole cast is back, and after years of the George Bush horror movie, the audience may be looking for something a little more elevating.
In the sequel, Henry has morphed into Barack Obama, and he is still in it, this time not as part of the steamroller but as its target.
In an early scene of the original, a politician talking to the candidate asks the aspiring First Lady, "You don't mind us talking business, do you?" and she answers wryly, "No, no. How else could I learn?"
As we play out "Primary Colors II," how much has Emma Thompson-Susan Stanton-Hillary Clinton learned? The moral dilemma of the original--whether or not to destroy the opposition with dirt--has been transmuted into a team operation to smear Barack Obama with mud about drug use, doubts about his opposition to the war in Iraq and accusations of racial opportunism.
The 1998 movie was in theaters during the impeachment and left viewers with mixed feelings about the ruthless charmer who connected with Americans by feeling their pain while inflicting some of his own on them. Now the whole cast is back, and after years of the George Bush horror movie, the audience may be looking for something a little more elevating.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
W the Centrist: Right-Wing Robotspeak
If Wikipedia did not indicate that he had a heart attack in 2004 at the age of 39, there would be no reason to believe Michael Gerson exists other than as a code name for a right-wing robot programmed to manufacture faith-based non-sequiturs unburdened by logic or facts to sanctify George W. Bush, for whom it served as a speech writer.
The latest is this week’s assertion that both parties are abandoning the centrism of Clinton and Bush. George W. Bush? Centrism? The machine that ground out “Axis of Evil” and “smoking gun/mushroom cloud” just keeps spewing rhetorical rubbish.
The only interesting question about all this is why the Washington Post is printing these pre-recorded messages, the first of which last month upset Republican Congressmen opposing Bush’s immigration initiative by comparing them to 19th century nativists.
This week’s conflating of the past two Presidents riled Joe Klein into asking a question on his Time blog about how Gerson’s current opinion of Clinton as a centrist gibes with the Republicans’ impeachment.
“I'd ask him,” Klein wrote, “if he'd acknowledge that it was Republican political consultants, talk show hosts, freak-pundits like Ann Coulter and leaders like Newt Gingrich who were the pioneers of the rhetorical poison now afflicting the extremes of both parties.”
Save your breath, Klein. Machines don’t do dialogues.
The latest is this week’s assertion that both parties are abandoning the centrism of Clinton and Bush. George W. Bush? Centrism? The machine that ground out “Axis of Evil” and “smoking gun/mushroom cloud” just keeps spewing rhetorical rubbish.
The only interesting question about all this is why the Washington Post is printing these pre-recorded messages, the first of which last month upset Republican Congressmen opposing Bush’s immigration initiative by comparing them to 19th century nativists.
This week’s conflating of the past two Presidents riled Joe Klein into asking a question on his Time blog about how Gerson’s current opinion of Clinton as a centrist gibes with the Republicans’ impeachment.
“I'd ask him,” Klein wrote, “if he'd acknowledge that it was Republican political consultants, talk show hosts, freak-pundits like Ann Coulter and leaders like Newt Gingrich who were the pioneers of the rhetorical poison now afflicting the extremes of both parties.”
Save your breath, Klein. Machines don’t do dialogues.
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