Mayhill Fowler Does It Again - Records Bill Clinton Having Meltdown

[K Gardner]

Mayhill Fowler Does It Again - Records Bill Having Meltdown

Remember Mayhill? You may know her better as the woman who recorded an Obama fundraiser and broke Bittergate. Today, she somehow got in with a bunch of voters and managed to ask Bill a question about the Vanity Fair article. It is not clear whether the former President knew she was a reporter/blogger. Bill answered.. vituperatively. Audio will be out tomorrow. The evening shows tonight have been all over this. It will be covered extensively tomorrow. Already there is speculation that this may further damage any small chance Hillary might have had to be part of Obama's ticket. The most remarkable thing to me about this tirade is he accuses Obama of planting Fleiger.. and he expects someone to apologize to him for Whitewater.

Snippets from Mayhill's article below:

MILBANK, S.D. -- Former President Bill Clinton today unleashed a salty stream of epithets to describe former New York Times reporter and current Vanity Fair writer Todd Purdum, calling him "sleazy," "dishonest," "slimy" and a "scumbag." The former president made the comment at a local campaign event after I asked him if Purdum's much-commented upon Vanity Fair story was weighing on his mind.

Tightly gripping this reporter's hand and refusing to let go, Clinton heatedly denounced the writer, who is currently married to former Clinton White House Press Secretary, Dee Dee Myers. " sleazy," he said referring to Purdum. "He's a really dishonest reporter. And one of our guys talked to him . . . And I haven't read . But he told me there's five or six just blatant lies in there. But he's a real slimy guy," the former president said.

When I reminded him that Purdum was married to his former press spokesperson Myers, Clinton was undeterred.

"That's all right-- he's still a scumbag," Clinton said. " Let me tell ya-- he's one of the guys -- he's one of the guys that propagated all those lies about Whitewater to Kenneth Starr. He's just a dishonest guy-- can't help it."

"You know he didn't use a single name, cite a single source in all those things he said. It's just slimy. It's part of the national media's attempt to nail Hillary for Obama. It's just the most biased press coverage in history. It's another way of helping Obama. They had all these people standing up in this church cheering, calling Hillary a white racist, and he didn't do anything about it. The first day he said 'Ah, ah, ah well.' Because that's what they do-- he gets other people to slime her. So then they saw the movie they thought this is a great ad for John McCain-- maybe I better quit the church. It's all politics. It's all about the bias of the media for Obama. Don't think anything about it."

"Thank you, Mr. President," I said attempting to end the conversation.

But Clinton continued. "He can't help it," he said. "He still hasn't apologized to me for Whitewater."

Editing to add: I'm sick of Mayhill Fowler and her "scoops" and I understand fully why President Clinton is angry about the Vanity Fair article. I think the VF Article was timed to ultimately do damage to Hillary's chances for the VP spot. I think that is wrong and underhanded and despicable. I don't like those tactics, not when they're used by the Clinton Campaign on others and not when they're used by the media - even against a candidate I don't particularly support. Wrong is wrong and that was wrong. However, Bill's accusation against Obama was uncalled for.. and it is damaging to Hillary as many of his outbursts have been.

[writes3000]

1. Apparently, a Clinton spokesperson says Bill Clinton regrets using those words.

Interesting.

[flpoljunkie]

49. Yes, one of his handlers tried to end this conversation with Fowler, to no avail.

[mod mom]

65. Shameful-beneath the dignity of a president (reminiscent of bush standards)

Apology not accepted-he should know better!

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

2. After her crap in San Francisco - I quit bothering with HuffPo

I figured that they use her to stir people up, but in an irresponsible
way.

To me, she just trashes people in a nasty kind of way.

She is part of the bread and circus crap, not decent honest journalism.

[K Gardner]

19. I agree completely.

[ErinBerin84]

21. seriously

Does she picture herself a Nancy Drew type or something? How come she is the only one sneaking into these events and recording people ( if that's what it is, and not a formal interview)? It is really irresponsible of the Huffington Post. These "stories" of hers come off as hit jobs (though I don't agree with what Bill says obviously, I find it offensive, what does Fowler seek to gain by her little "stories"? I'm sure the Republican party is very grateful. Just another bullshit story to keep the focus off of McSame).

[KittyWampus]

50. Fowler wants to get in on the cocktail circuit with Maureen Dowd

[flpoljunkie]

57. MSNBC just reported Fowler never identified herself and Bill Clinton regrets his use of language.

This Mayhill Fowler character operates in a most disreputable fashion--unethical, in fact. Intriguing she is the one who secretly recorded Obama's "bitter" comments at a San Francisco fundraiser--to which she had obviously paid big bucks to attend.

[K Gardner]

60. She didn't, and she baited him with a leading question and then just kept reeling

him in.. all while NOT revealing she was recording the conversation or that she intended to report on it. Aside from the other issues raised here about his remarks, that in itself was absolutely despicable.

[TwilightGardener]

3. He really seems crazy. He needs a brain scan, seriously.

[Darth_Kitten]

10. Well, people do have personality changes with open heart surgery....

n/t

[Why Syzygy]

44. A surgeon on teevee said personality changes are over within a few months after surgergy.

The surgery wouldn't be a factor four years after the fact, according to this doctor.

[Arugula Latte]

66. Another poster on DU said her husband had that operation

and has had anger and depression issues ever since. The operation was a few years ago, I believe. I don't know, though, it probably varies quite a bit from person to person.

[grantcart]

4. I wonder if Bill will be 'bitter' about this?

[ErinBerin84]

5. haha, thanks for pointing out the Fowler factor.

I feel like I've been the only one pointing out that this is another one of Mayhill Fowler's audio recordings. She is not to blame of course (as far as I know...), but it's just so funny that SHE keeps "breaking" these stories. The Huffington Post is popular and all, but if she snuck in like last time, it's just seriously sketchy. Is she a Republican mole or something? I'm so sick of Bill. The weirdest thing about Bill's media run ins is...when someone asks him about a comment that he made the day before, he says "You always try to do this to me! You always try to twist my words!" and wags the finger, which further makes him sound nuts.

[K Gardner]

16. All campaigns/politicians need to have a picture of her on a WANTED poster, so they

all know who she is when she sneaks in these places. Wonder if she wears wigs and such, LOL. Creepy.

[grantcart]

20. Christ no - we should just start buying her tickets to McCain fund raisers/

[K Gardner]

22. Grant !! See why we keep you around?? There ya go.. its the solution !

[dkf]

40. haha...I was thinking the same thing.

Do not let this woman get close to you with her secret tape recorder.

I highly doubt she stuck the recorder in front of Bill's face.

[krkaufman]

48. Bill just doesn't seem to have adjusted to the YouTube age. n/t

[anonymous171]

6. Fowler creates another scandal.

[K Gardner]

12. I'm sick of her.

[Doityourself]

7. How the Hell did he flip the blame to Obama and media bias against his wife?

According to the Huffington Post Web site, Mr. Clinton, as he worked the rope line at an event here, called Mr. Purdum “sleazy,” “slimy” and “dishonest.” Speaking to a reporter for the Web site — who campaign aides said did not identify herself as a journalist, said she hated the article and asked for his reaction — Mr. Clinton said the article was part of a pattern of media bias against Mrs. Clinton and in favor of her rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama.

By the end of the day, Mr. Clinton’s aides had issued a statement saying that he had been “understandably upset about an outrageously unfair article,” but that the language he had used about Mr. Purdum “was inappropriate and he wishes he had not used it.”

It was the kind of episode that has gotten Mr. Clinton into trouble throughout the campaign season, and it again overshadowed his tireless stumping on behalf of Mrs. Clinton. A day before voters in Montana and here in South Dakota complete the primary voting, Mr. Clinton plowed through five solo events Monday, trundling from one rural town to another in a small motorcade, delivering hour-long soliloquies on behalf of his wife, before he finished the day in Sioux Falls with a final joint appearance with Mrs. Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea.

The campaign events were vintage Clinton — crammed full of a dizzying range of policy details that would daunt even the most devoted wonk, but smoothed over with a healthy dose of folksy storytelling and political emoting.

Dressed in a gray suit with a blue tie, his face red, his hair white, he wagged his index finger, dropped his trademark hoarse voice to a whisper to emphasize a dramatic point, even letting it catch at times, and plunged into rope lines with gusto.

[K Gardner]

9. See.. that's the thing. Had he simply left out that smear against Obama, his tirade would, in my

opinion, have been totally justified. The VF article was a hit piece.

[ErinBerin84]

15. I agree

The Vanity Fair piece was sleazy (I mean, this is the publication that brought us the breaking news that Lindsay Lohan is a bulemic cokehead. Can we really be spared by forays into political pieces? I know that it does have credibility on some level for their political reporting, but I thought the article was pretty pointless). And then just the way Bill used it to go off on a tangent...troubling.

[democracy1st]

42. Isn't the guy that wrote the article Dee Dee Myer's husband aka a Clinton supporter

[BeyondGeography]

8. Quite the ride for Mayhill

I tried getting mad at her the last time, but all she did was pass on verbatim statements. Same here.

[K Gardner]

13. Yeah.. but these two stories she has "broken" have been VERY VERY damaging to both candidates.. she'

is an equal opportunity campaign/candidate slimer, I guess.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

24. If it is true, it is true.

Completely fair. It was audio (SF).

The crime wasn't the audio, it was the spin.

[K Gardner]

26. Excellent point, Rummy.. :-) Its the spin that kills ya !

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

28. I wasn't happy about it but I want to hear what's going on behind closed doors.

Open government.

[ErinBerin84]

31. good point

I fully expect Fowler to next sneak into a McCain event and "hear what's going on behind closed doors". I won't hold my breath though
:(

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

34. McOffTheRecord is surrounded by "reporters" who don't report.

[ErinBerin84]

35. yup. They're too busy lapping up his BBQ sauce.

[muryan]

36. Put her in the McCain camp already

God knows there will be another "trollup/cunt" moment eventually, especially if someone like her is pushing his buttons everyday.

[tularetom]

11. Looks like he's opened his piehole one time too many

and totally destroyed any chance Hillary had of being on the ticket. And probably jeopardized her chances of reelection to the senate in 2012.

For that I suppose we should be grateful, but I'd be a lot happier if he just went away.

The guy has some serious problems and he's falling apart in front of god and everybody.

[Thrill]

14. Anyone need to be reminded why Hillary can't be on the ticket?

[K Gardner]

17. I think that was the point of the Vanity Fair article.. and probably why Bill reacted so strongly..

but yes, no reminders need to be had.. certainly not for Obama.

[karynnj]

64. I agree with you

When I saw it, the first question was "why now?". HRC has almost certainly lost the nomination. This has to be an extremely tough time for all the Clintons and their supporters. What bothered me the most was that many of the ultimately worse things are unprovable and conjecture.

In the 1990s, it was always said that he had a terrible temper and no one seriously argued that he was no a skirt chaser - but where in the 1990s, these were tempered with accounts of the good parts of Clinton, this isn't. Where, the 1990s image was too positive - especially in the 1992 primaries, this is likely as far off the scale in the other direction. That he then ends it by insisting that Clinton has no genuine friends other than HRC goes too far.

So, why a hit piece now. Only three reasons come to mind. 1) Guilt on the part of the writer that he gave the Clintons the breaks that he and others did for years OR 2) a deep down sink of emotion with the idea that they could still be major powers OR 3) He felt this for a long time, but feared the power of the Clintons and this is the first time that fear is gone.

[earthlover]

27. bingo!

[City Lights]

18. Get professional help for what ails you, Bill. nt

[Skwmom]

23. Hmm.. trying to drive their base to the polls and hurt Obama in Nov.

Bill's tirades always seem to serve some purpose.

[MattP]

25. Mahill Flower is bad news

Just when we need to unite the party this Fred Thompson supporter is trying to tear us apart AGAIN!!!!!:mad:

[mod mom]

67. She didn't put the words in his mouth-did she? Place the blame where it is due-the speaker.

[Frank Booth]

29. Nothing against Hillary Clinton, but this husband of hers is a total jackass.

[greguganus]

61. There should be someone in the Clinton camp close enough to Bill to tell him to keep quiet.

It appears there is no one to run interference for him. Hillary should of done something about this long time ago.

[Cha]

30. So bil clinton hates sleazy liars as much as some

of us hate him lying.

"Tightly gripping this reporter's hand and refusing to let go, Clinton heatedly denounced the writer, who is currently married to former Clinton White House Press Secretary, Dee Dee Myers. " sleazy," he said referring to Purdum. "He's a really dishonest reporter. And one of our guys talked to him . . . And I haven't read . But he told me there's five or six just blatant lies in there. But he's a real slimy guy," the former president said."

This just reminds me again how sick I am of the clintons drama.

[K Gardner]

38. That's a good catch, zidzi... the hypocrisy is rather stunning.

[foo_bar]

45. I take that to mean there were five or six previously unpublished facts

I mean he isn't holding up the National Enquirer every time they do a Clinton w/alien baby story. And he has to have read the story, it's not like "his guys" are in a position to know which affair rumors are historically true.

[sfam]

32. Incredible!!! I cannot believe we respected this guy once...

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Talk about falling off message!!!

But with regards to Hillary, you gotta think that half of her problem is having assholes like this whisper conspiracy theories in her ear all the time. The guy is really out there. She should have left him at home.

[K Gardner]

39. They really are two peas in a pod. I remember after watching Primary Colors, I

just thought Hillary was pure evil and Bill was somewhat naieve... him thinking the rules don't apply to him and her making certain that they didn't. I'm afraid this campaign has cemented that image of them in my mind.

[Carolina]

33. Bill's description of Purdum

doesn't bother me as much as his effort to blame this indirectly on Obama. he never went after Bush I or II like this

Get a grip, Bill.

[K Gardner]

41. Exactly.. it's the only reason I paid any attention to it. He has every right to go off on Purdum..

the other stuff is just wacko.

[rainbow4321]

37. Pretty sure we can write off the "HRC will be on the ticket" rumor

For someone "not bothered" by the article, he sure gave a looooonnngggg defensive rant about it.

BC knows this race is over....and we shouldn't expect any unity attempts from him (obviously, after this tirade) or HRC, cuz if THIS is coming out of HIS mouth about Obama, imagine what is coming out his wife's.


Betting she concedes this week and she will make excuses for her not making any "support the Dem nominee" appearances between now and November. Probably using the excuse that she has so much work to catch up on back in NY. Poor NY voters..WE will be done with her in a few nights..THEY still have to put up with her for, what, 2 more years, is that right??
With all the enemies she has made in the past few months, they will be lucky if she even is just able to get potholes fixed for them during the rest of her term.

[FrenchieCat]

43. Hillary....you choose your spouse.

[goclark]

58. Right ~ a spouse is a member of your family and divorce

is the way that I believe 50% of the population has"gotten rid" of a family member.

I don't blame her for staying. I would stay too if my no good spouse was the President of the United States.

I would be counting the days and the $$'s until I could get rid of him.

Ms. goclark :bounce:

:puke:

[TLM]

46. ""and he didn't do anything about it." ???? What?

He said the comments were offensive and he did not support them.... what's he supposed to do kick open the church door and beat up anybody who doesn't like hillary?

[AtomicKitten]

47. Can't decide what I find more appalling -

... Clinton's bottomless narcissism or Ms. Fowler's youtube gotcha politics.

What stands out most for me is the fact that the MSM didn't lay a glove on the Clintons this election cycle, until now. This reminds us of all the icky stuff during the 1990s, something many Americans are ambivalent about revisiting.

I just hope this long-ass sordid mess is done tomorrow. Finally.

[KittyWampus]

51. there was NOTHING sleazy about that Vanity Fair article. Clinton's behavior has been sleazy

Face it.

[beachmom]

52. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword, BUT

The question is: What would Bill Clinton Do? (WWBCD?)

If Bill were Obama, he would RUN with this story even if it was the same reporter who got Obama a month ago. But .... seeing that this is Obama, he will ignore it. He'll even brush aside the bullshit Clinton just spewed on Obama and his church (He HAD the priest say those things? Yeah, right), and continue his diplomatic efforts with Team Clinton.

Let's just all agree that the bypass surgery has changed Bill. He would never have lost his cool like this before (yes, he always had a temper, but he knew how to use it to his advantage).

[K Gardner]

55. Good point and you're right about WWBCD. And that in itself is a shame because

especially after hearing Fowler's leading question and realizing the DEPTH of her deception ( What about that hachet job..) I'd like to give him a pass on this. However, it does give a telling insight into how the Clinton's feel about Obama and everyone else when they speak privately.

[workinclasszero]

53. Whats wrong Bill? Bitter much??

Bill cant keep a lid on his anger over the cancellation of Hillary's coronation.

It will be real interesting to see how much Bill and Hillary get behind Obama in the run up to the GE.

[Evergreen Emerald]

54. I have a problem with the characterization as "meltdown"

If the media does a hit piece on him, and he reacts angrily, I don't see that as a meltdown, I see that as standing up for himself.

[K Gardner]

56. I don't think he would have used the language he used or given the characterization he

gave of Obama had he known he was talking to "the press" or being recorded. But the fact that he would let his guard down and speak that way even to a stranger-citizen-voter is somewhat alarming. But yes, he was standing up for himself, rather inappropriately.

[npincus]

59. Some Democrat, she is. Why doesn't she follow John McCain

around and make trouble for him? All she has done is violated public figures' personal space, either at a private fuction or in a crowd without identifying herself as a "reporter", and stirred up dissention ampong Democrats.

I'd say she will do much more good violating the personal space of a Republican opponent, if in fact, she cares about electing a Dem and not self-promotion.

I think she is despicable.

[seasat]

62. a salty stream of epithets?

The way they described it I thought he was cussing a blue streak instead he just used words like "scumbag" and "sleazy". I googled Purdum and Whitewater and came up with a Salon piece that does point out that some of the reporters used false information about Whitewater in their stories and Purdum was one of them. Purdum and several reporters copied debunked accusations against Hillary that she personally benefited from a $50K loan from another story without checking it's validity.

Now, I can understand why Bill Clinton attacked Purdum. That language does't bother me. However, I don't see how he can logically attach Obama to this Vanity Fair Article. That to me is the real problem in his reply. Someone needs to let him know that the campaign is over and he needs to go back to his role as senior Democratic Party statesman.

[mamalone]

63. I don't dislike too many people...

But I do dislike this Mayhill person.... quite intensely as a matter of fact. She is the kind of person who used to go around in jr high turning all of the girls against one another.... in the process giving herself great social power and making everyone else's life a misery. She is reprehensible.

[JerseygirlCT]

68. Yeah, someone explain to me how Obama gets inserted in this?

Bill is delusional. He's off his rocker.

This sounds like a piss-poor excuse for journalism (all unnamed sources, etc.) and I can see being angry about it.

But he ought to know better. And the attempt to drag Obama into this, as if he's got anything to do with it, as if anything that happens that Bill doesn't like is automatically Obama's fault...

It just makes Clinton look even worse. Boy, he's wrecked an awful lot of careful legacy-building done after his term was over.