Bubba and Me

Did my last post seem a little harsh? Perhaps you detected that I don’t exactly swoon for William Jefferson Clinton, with hands folded under chin and eyes aflutter? You would be right. Look, Clinton is a swell politician. I voted for him twice. Hell, I would have voted for him thrice, if that were possible. Anything to forestall the Dubya Dark Ages. Anyway, ‘twas the spring of 1991 when I spied the “Boy Governor” on TV for the first time. A jovial Clinton was being interviewed by a local reporter. I’ve long since forgotten what political bullshit he was spinning that day. But my initial impression has never left me. “Who the hell is this used car salesman?” I said aloud to my television set. Then I laughed. I thought: Nah uh. No way will this bozo ever get the Dem party nomination, let alone the keys to the White House. Quaintly naive, isn’t it? Well, we know how this epic movie ended. And I subsequently learned how to properly assess presidential elections. Ultimately, I came to respect Clinton. I admire his intellect and political acumen. The trouble is I never felt I could trust him, man to man. We never “connected.” I never quite knew why until L’Affair Lewinski broke over the shoals. Later, his reprehensible political behavior during the 2008 election added insult to injury. Both, in my view, speak directly to a woeful deficit of character. And so to me, Bill Clinton will always be some version of “Slick Wille.” That said, I salute the rank, not the man.