Unflattering article about Bill C in Vanity Fair... Hillary will not be VP

[Windy]

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/07/clinton200807

The Comeback Id
Old friends and longtime aides are wringing their hands over Bill Clinton’s post–White House escapades, from the dubious (and secretive) business associations to the media blowups that have bruised his wife’s campaign, to the private-jetting around with a skirt-chasing, scandal-tinged posse. Some point to Clinton’s medical traumas; others blame sheer selfishness, and the absence of anyone who can say “no.” Exploring Clintonworld, the author asks if the former president will be consumed by his own worst self.
by Todd S. Purdum July 2008 Former president Bill Clinton campaigning in Richmond on behalf of his wife during the run-up to the 2008 Virginia primary, which Hillary Clinton would lose to Barack Obama.

It was a wedding straight out of Sex and the City: a rehearsal dinner looking out over the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero, a garden ceremony and dancing reception in a grand château outside Paris, topped off by a private fireworks display. The groom was a thirtysomething American lawyer with friends in high places, the bride a dark-eyed designer with social sheen, and the guest list a mix of family and what Noël Coward once called Nescafé Society.

But the real cynosure of the occasion last August was the smiling, snowy-haired man who is the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral he attends, the 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton. He had come to the City of Light with the motley crew that constitutes some of the post-presidential rat pack to celebrate the marriage of Douglas Band, the man who for the last decade has been his personal aide, gatekeeper, enforcer, and—more recently—counselor in the multifarious business, philanthropic, and political dealings that keep Clinton restlessly circling the globe.

MORE AT LINK

[Tinksrival]

1. I read this whole thing this morning(8 pages!)

When I finished I thought, "Man, for someone who is married to DeeDee Myers, this is 8 pages of nothing we didn't already know." You would think he got something new we never heard before.
I was sorry I wasted my time on a beautiful Sunday morning. Did I miss anything?

[karynnj]

6. Not to mention, I found the last part strange and very unbelievable

The section is labeled "Solitary Man", which in itself is rather strange after an article dealing with all the people that Clinton runs with that the author thinks he shouldn't. The section then gives a very devastating description of a man who is basically self centered to the point where he is casually cruel. It then has this paragraph;

"But for a politician with so many admirers, allies, acquaintances, faithful retainers, and hangers-on, Clinton remains a profoundly solitary man, associates say, without any real peers, intellectual equals, or genuine friends with whom he can share the sweetest things in life. (The one who has always come closest, for better and worse, for richer and poorer, is simply too busy these days.)"

Now Clinton is smart, but over time, he likely has met people who are his intellectual equal. Certainly he recruited a few for his administration. Certainly at least some of the "Friends of Bill" were genuine friends. It is hard to believe that HRC is the only one.

Now, I do not especially like the Clinton we've seen this year, but I find this almost like the author wanting to create some Puritan like fairness - that Clinton, because he didn't really care has no friends. The problem is - I think he did care and I bet he has genuine friends. Reading stuff like this makes me wonder if the authors stop to think that these are real people.

[Tinksrival]

7. That line does seem to be a contridiction to the rest of it.

So Hillary should drop out and just be Bill's friend? I'm down with that!

[roguevalley]

9. you can be alone in a crowd and I imagine he is. the fact that he's

running around with skeezes tells me that he's short in the great personal close friend department.

[Tatiana]

16. Who would be his friend, his intellectual equal besides Hillary?

Can you think of anyone?

The last true one he had, in my opinion, was Ron Brown.

[karynnj]

20. You would think that in his cabinet, the Senate or the NGO stuff he works on

there are likely people reasonably close to his intelligence. Not to mention all the people out of government.

[Tinksrival]

2. I do agree though that she won't be VP.

More because of the stories out there that Obama has been offering olive branches and her camp has been slammin' the door, per Brazil.

[Me.]

3. Zowee

He has also put her out of the veep race. I think it's safe to say he wouldn't make it past the vetting process.

[cliffordu]

4. Kewl

[Tatiana]

5. Sounds like Sen. Kennedy felt like a lot of us.

Clinton, as he felt Kennedy slipping away, would get more and more insistent, and he would make the whole conversation about how bad Obama was, not how good his wife was.”

Talkin about how bad Obama was, not how good Sen. Clinton was... Where have we seen this before?

[Raine]

8. Bill is such a sleaze

I don't know how I could've ever defended him. :yoiks:

[guruoo]

10. Could use some fact checking.

[jsmirman]

11. Really? Where?

I used to work at one of these mags and I *love* pointing out how shit they are, particularly when they fall down on the most basic level, like, in actually hiring competent fact checkers.

[guruoo]

14. I'm not sure where to start. The aforementioned contradictory passages, for one.

Of course, it's obviously intended to be a hit piece.
I'd go through it start to finish if I had the time

[stray cat]

12. Nothing negative about the Clintons is true- they've been fully vetted....

[billyoc]

13. No, she never would have survived the vetting process.

[goldcanyonaz]

15. She does not want to be vp, but thanks all the same

[Beacool]

17. It's an anonymously sourced piece.

In other words, a hit piece.

[Tinksrival]

18. It's DeeDee Myers husband

I forget his name. He use to work for NY Times.

[Beacool]

19. I'm not talking about the author of the piece,

I'm talking about his RW sources.

[Tinksrival]

21. Oh,

.....nevermind.....