Parallel lives, parallel lies

townhall.com ^ | 6/25/4 | Jonah Goldberg

[kattracks]

As I write this, it is doubtful whether "Clinton week" will turn into Clinton month, and it is clear that it won't turn into the much vaunted "Clinton summer" Washington was buzzing about. Democrats dreaded this possibility because they believed Clinton's charisma would outshine John Kerry's - a standard that should cause them to fear 12-watt lightbulbs and most species of firefly. Republicans and conservatives, on the other hand, dreaded Clinton summer because a) we don't like Clinton very much, and b) we have not always been well-served by demonstrating our dislike in public.

Now, it's no secret that I'm no fan of Bill Clinton, and I'd say we've learned nothing since the release of the finely sliced block of wood he calls a "book" to change my opinion of the man.

Interestingly, though, Clinton himself seems to have changed his mind about his most celebrated personality trait. You may not remember, since so many of us have tried to forget so much, but there was a time when Bill Clinton bragged about his uncanny gift for "compartmentalization." To the cheers of the mainstream press, Clinton and his spinners insisted that he could keep his "worlds" separate, that his "personal" problems had no effect on his ability to govern.

[Sally II]

Lol... I don't understand why Clinton puts himself out there and attempts to self-psychoanalyze himself over and over in public. I can see that a lot of people are eating it up. But it seems like such a desperate grab for the spotlight, and a desperate attempt to patch up all the holes in his legacy. And he's starting to resemble his daughter Chelsea in her post-9/11 interview: "I was pondering Bush's disasterous tax cuts when the first plane hit 30 blocks away. After barely making it to my apartment alive, my first instinct was to call my ex-boyfriend for comfort."

BTW, where I live I still see flags at half staff. It's probably just me, but there's something weird about having all the attention shift from Reagan to Clinton so quickly. Now when I see the flags at half staff, I feel sad both because we lost a president who had such great character and because so many people define the messed up life that is Clinton's as great character.