Friday, January 18, 2008

And I Bet He Never Cheated at Golf

Bill Clinton, at last, is becoming a liability to the Mrs. and her presidential campaign. According to the New York Times, Hillary’s crew is looking for ways to “rein him in” lest he cause permanent damage owing to his ill temper, something he has been displaying a lot lately. The latest dust up occurred when a TV news reporter quizzed Bill sharply over a blatantly contrived lawsuit filed by the Nevada teachers union, no doubt at Hillary’s behest, to stop Las Vegas Casino workers, whose union had just endorsed Barack Obama, from holding separate caucuses at their workplaces this Saturday, a work day for most of them. The teachers union lawsuit claims, disingenuously, this accommodation was “unfair to other voters” and if you think the use above of “blatantly contrived” is overstating it, ask yourself the last time you saw a teacher reporting to work on a Saturday. It seems Bill, as is his wont, went ballistic when the reporter challenged him on his wife’s latest stunt, turning red, sputtering angrily and causing great concern among Hillary's campaign staff which once again had to go into damage control on account of loose-cannon Bill.

The latest farrago of the First Husband-to-be in the most disagreeable political marriage since Herod Antipas and Herodias, causes one to remember fondly the alliance between another powerful woman politician, one far greater in stature than Hillary Clinton, and her spouse: Margaret Thatcher and her late husband, Denis, who died two-and-a-half years ago. After a long and successful business career Denis Thatcher was content, preferred actually, to be in his wife’s shadow but freely offered advice to her when they were in private, advice she frequently sought and took. He strove for invisibility but was ever quick to seize and act upon any opportunity to aid and further his wife’s career, so long as he could do it behind the scenes. He loved his wife dearly; she loved him dearly in return. Denis Thatcher had another great love in his life, drinks, lots of them, usually made with gin. He insisted to his wife one morning, over her mild protests, "My dear, it is never too early for a gin and tonic." Quite so. He was the perfect executive spouse, who despite, or indeed because of, his unassuming nature and abhorrence of publicity, towers over both those small but noisome Clintons and their detestable enormities.

(h/t Riehl World View)

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