Clinton Camp Goes To War with Vanity Fair....

[americanstranger]

Man, they fightin' with everybody.

A tawdry, anonymous quote-filled attack piece, published in this month's Vanity Fair magazine regarding former President Bill Clinton repeats many past attacks on him, ignores much prior positive coverage, includes numerous errors, and ultimately breaks no new ground. It is, in short, journalism of personal destruction at its worst.

Any balanced account of President Clinton's post-presidency - which other publications have referred to as one of "a great philanthropist;" the face of "the power of philanthropy" and "a major force in fighting the pandemic " - would recognize that the lion's share of his work is his multi-million dollar charitable foundation, which works in almost 50 countries around the world. Vanity Fair, however, has chosen to publish thousands of words on former President Clinton, but to devote only a single paragraph to his enormous charitable accomplishments.

The author, Todd Purdum, acknowledges speaking to over 50 people (almost all of them anonymous Washington insiders) before contacting President Clinton's office about his piece. Though he researched the piece for several months, his first contact with President Clinton's office was several weeks before he closed the story. Most revealing is one simple fact: President Clinton has helped save the lives of 1,300,000 people in his post-presidency, and Vanity Fair couldn't find time to talk to even one of them for comment.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0608/Clinton_attacks_Vanity_Fair.html

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Nixonesque and fucking embarrassing.

- as

[slinkerwink]

1. wow. Clinton joined the RNC in attacking Obama.

[XemaSab]

2. If the Clintons were going to get all pissed at Vanity Fair,

they should have done it last October.

THAT was a hit piece.

[NC_Nurse]

3. Several weeks....hmmmmm

That seems like plenty of time to respond.

He's already gotten plenty of press for his foundation, his disaster relief efforts, etc.


:nopity:

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. As A Nurse I Would Think Saving Lives Would Impress You As Noble

"President Clinton has helped save the lives of 1,300,000 people in his post-presidency..."

[NC_Nurse]

15. Every person has several aspects to his/her personality. That part of him is

very noble. The other things he's involved in...not so much.

[Adelante]

4. Dee Dee Myers' husband nt

[roguevalley]

17. funny how they don't complain about George Snufalupagus

when he fawns over them, former employee, but now they complain because the reporter was married to Dee Dee Myers? If Bill doesn't want tawdry stuff printed about him, he shouldn't be tawdry.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

5. You don't see "tawdry" every day.

That word in any "news" story is usually a red flag.

[beac]

6. So their basic argument is "WHY didn't they publish a glowing puff piece?"

Pffffttt.





(edited for clarity)

[SwampG8r]

harold and maude?

one of my favorites

[beac]

13. A true classic.

(And I loved even it BEFORE I married a younger man... ;) )

[SwampG8r]

19. my wife lost a watch i gave her diving

i told her "now you will always know where it is"

[beac]

20. Awww.... that's sweet. :-) n/t

[babylonsister]

7. I recommend that you go

here and read the entire article; they never back down. This is a walk down memory lane...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6217014

[americanstranger]

11. Thanks, B-Sis! I missed that post.

Great article. thank you.

- as

[TexasObserver]

8. What?! Bill is an out of control poon hound?! NEWS!!

He's been skirt chasing since he left the presidency. He toned it down last year, so Hilly could run.

[Shakespeare]

14. The financial dealings are far more disturbing than the personal indiscretions. n/t

[mrreowwr_kittty]

9. So, is this Vanity Fair article Obama's fault yet?

I figure, it's coming since Obama gets blamed for everything bad that happens to the Clintons lately.

[C_U_L8R]

12. Anyone dare to go to Chappaqua?

Bill's exploits at the local inns are legendary.
I've heard it unaided from three different couples who live there.
And though this may be scuttlebutt, I tend to believe these folks on all matters.

[Rageneau]

16. This country should be ashamed of the way it has treated the best president of my lifetime.

Clinton's promlem is that he DOESN'T get even, DOESN'T attack his enemies, DOESN'T return the disrespectful hatred aimed at him. People accuse him of all sorts of stuff, but all he ever did wrong was get an unauthorized BJ and try to keep his wife from finding out about it.

[Prophet 451]

18. Oy vey, lot to get through here

Bill Clinton's legacy is pretty mixed. He did a lot of good things while in the presidency and some that were awful (DOMA, DADT, NAFTA). The work of his foundation has been excellent but I don't know how involved he is with that. On balance, his was probably a B grade presidency, did well but could have done better. As far as his womanising goes, I'm ignoring that because to be frank, I don't care. Of all the character flaws a president could have, a taste for the ladies is relatively minor.

The only piece of the Polico article that I would take issue with is the arguement that Bill has been an unambiguous asset to Hillary's campaign. While it would have looked very odd if Bill hadn't been out campaigning for his wife, Bill's larger-than-life personality and occasionally surreal comments detracted attention from the Hillary campaign that she could have used. Additionally, the fact that her husband was both a highly popular ex-president and stumping for her added to the impression that Hillary's candidacy was centred on nepotism and entitlement.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. The Ironic Thing Is If There Was An Expose Of Reagan Republicans Would Universally Reject It

If a reporter wrote that he once used a restroom after Reagan and he didn't flush the reporter would be criticized for not retrieving it and having it bronzed...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. The Ironic Thing Is If There Was An Expose Of Reagan Republicans Would Universally Reject It

If a reporter wrote that he once used a restroom after Reagan and he didn't flush the reporter would be criticized for not retrieving it and having it bronzed...