Regardless of whether he is remembered as a modern Achilles or just a vulnerable heel, the sight of Bill Clinton sulking in his tent before the November battle is not a pretty one.
As Hillary and Barack prepare to embrace at a Thursday night Washington fund-raiser and the next day in the cunningly chosen town of Unity, NH, the former President spent the weekend faintly praising the nominee-to-be's energy policy and pretending not to hear reporters' question about when he will making his own Obama endorsement.
Bill Clinton's petulance now evokes sympathy for what his wife must have put up with for decades, a self-centeredness that makes Joe Klein's "Primary Colors" seem understated.
If she has the maturity to deal with her disappointment, the least he could do is hide his own and his resentment that Obama's new politics may eclipse his tenure.
As he does his Achilles impersonation, Bill Clinton would do well to crack open a copy of "The Iliad" and look at Agamemnon's advice:
"(T)hough our hearts be sore,
Still let us school our angry spirits down.
My wrath I here abjure; it is not meet
It burn for ever unappeas'd."
Showing posts with label Hillary and Bill Clinton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hillary and Bill Clinton. Show all posts
Monday, June 23, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
The Clintons' Political Divorce
To end a marriage in New York, the usual grounds are adultery or "cruel and inhuman treatment." Hillary Clinton, who stood by her man from Gennifer to Monica, is finally taking steps to dump him politically for spousal abuse.
"Clinton’s Camp Seeks Gentler Role for Ex-President" is the headline of a New York Times story today that reports "Democrats inside and outside the Clinton campaign on Sunday debated and in some cases bemoaned the degree to which former President Bill Clinton’s criticism of Senator Barack Obama last week had inflicted lasting damage on his wife’s presidential candidacy."
On the editorial page, Clinton-hater William Kristol is clucking that "putting her in the White House brings a hyperactive Bill back in with her. Who needs it?"
Like any other abused wife, Mrs. Clinton tried to minimize the damage on "Face the Nation" yesterday, saying "the spouses of all three of us have, you know, been passionate and vigorous defenders of each of us and, you know, maybe got a little carried away," attributing her husband's behavior to "sleep deprivation" on the campaign trail.
It may be too late to try to "keep the big dog on the porch," as they say in Arkansas, but unless Hillary Clinton takes firm steps to divorce him politically, they can stop worrying about what to call Bill Clinton when she gets to the White House.
"Clinton’s Camp Seeks Gentler Role for Ex-President" is the headline of a New York Times story today that reports "Democrats inside and outside the Clinton campaign on Sunday debated and in some cases bemoaned the degree to which former President Bill Clinton’s criticism of Senator Barack Obama last week had inflicted lasting damage on his wife’s presidential candidacy."
On the editorial page, Clinton-hater William Kristol is clucking that "putting her in the White House brings a hyperactive Bill back in with her. Who needs it?"
Like any other abused wife, Mrs. Clinton tried to minimize the damage on "Face the Nation" yesterday, saying "the spouses of all three of us have, you know, been passionate and vigorous defenders of each of us and, you know, maybe got a little carried away," attributing her husband's behavior to "sleep deprivation" on the campaign trail.
It may be too late to try to "keep the big dog on the porch," as they say in Arkansas, but unless Hillary Clinton takes firm steps to divorce him politically, they can stop worrying about what to call Bill Clinton when she gets to the White House.
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