Althouse: Bill Clinton, in self-reflective mode.

February 8, 2008

Bill Clinton, in self-reflective mode.

Are you perceiving sincerity here? If so, are you thinking: Sincerity — if you can fake that, you've got it made?

28 comments:

Rich B said...: OK, I give up. Where is the sincerity? Was it behind the salt & pepper shakers?; 2/8/08, 11:15 AM
Anonymous said...: It might have been behind his hand.

There's a covering of his mouth before and after the statement.

I don't now but that is sending a certain non-verbal message-maybe that he's afraid to even let that sentence escape?; 2/8/08, 11:21 AM
Anonymous said...: Well, sure. What else would someone like that reflect on, if not himself?; 2/8/08, 11:22 AM
Rich B said...: That video does reward repeated viewings. First he starts up with self-justification - everything I said was factually accurate. Then he says (I paraphrase) that like any husband, he defends "his candidate". As a husband, I sometimes do the same, but for my "spouse". Then he goes on to talk about the two AfroAms in his cabinet. No matter what, it's always about the Big Adorable Lug.; 2/8/08, 11:32 AM
George M. Spencer said...: I love the way the folks in the diner ignore what's going on....former President is there and the TV lights are on...and everyone looks like they could care less!

It's this kind of stuff that makes our country a pretty good place to live.

If Hillary's elected, she should appoint him ambassador to China. He'll be useful, but not around so much....; 2/8/08, 11:58 AM
john said...: Always be honest. Once you prove your honesty, you can get away with anything.

Ann, being a constitutional scholar, is there anything prohibiting Senator Clinton from naming her husband vice president (aside that he might not legally be able to succeed his wife if she should die in office)?

I don't think our framers ever thought of this, since women were hardly thought of as being suitable for public office way back then.; 2/8/08, 12:10 PM
Rich B said...: Now that George mentioned it, I was amused by how carefully the guy in the back is eating. He appears to be cutting something on his plate, but does not bring it to his mouth. Talk about pausing between bites.; 2/8/08, 12:11 PM
Rich B said...: Add a leather jacket and Bill could pass for Rutger Hauer's character from Blade Runner, at least for a Halloween party.; 2/8/08, 12:14 PM
MadisonMan said...: Clinton looks so old.; 2/8/08, 12:21 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: Bill Clinton is a master of prevarication. His only sincerity, if one can call it that, he is sorry he did not get away with his negative, smearing, and dishonest campaign tactics.; 2/8/08, 1:27 PM
ricpic said...: A naturally fat guy semi-starving himself: that can be wearing.; 2/8/08, 1:46 PM
Roger J. said...: Anyone recall the scene at Ron Browns funeral when President Clinton went from laughter to tears when he realized the camera was on him? And we should believe him....why?; 2/8/08, 2:07 PM
rhhardin said...: He's sincere but lying.

He used, for example, the same line about somebody with him asking him how the press could be so unfair to him, talking about bewildered heads of state in Europe and the American media treatment he was getting at the time.

It's one rhetorical tic among many.

Hillary must be able to spot each one when the first syllable comes out ; and vice versa with ashtrays and lamps.; 2/8/08, 2:19 PM
JackDRipper said...: Roger said...Anyone recall the scene at Ron Browns funeral when President Clinton went from laughter to tears when he realized the camera was on him?

Here's Rush Limbaugh on his TV show talking about the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf8TOGrq8Bo; 2/8/08, 2:21 PM
Rich B said...: That Ron Brown clip always get big laffs. Bill was so much older then, he's younger than that now.; 2/8/08, 2:37 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Deny Deny Deny. Same old same old.

Try as they might, I guess the MSM just can't find those poor casino workers who (according to Bill Clinton's account) were going to get their work-shifts changed if they dared to vote against Obama and for Hillary.; 2/8/08, 2:44 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: jackdripper:

Thanks for the link to the Clinton video- first time I had ever seen it.

It is almost too good to be true. Are you sure it was not doctored by the VRWC? heh.; 2/8/08, 2:49 PM
Roger J. said...: I kinda like the big Dawg--he serves as a role model for dirty old men everywhere, and he's such a liar--but he's a big lovable and utterly transparent liar. Part of his charm, I guess--sure works on NOW members.; 2/8/08, 2:53 PM
blake said...: That funeral clip reveals nothing. I hate it every time I see it.

I've laughed and cried at the same time at a funeral.

Yeah, maybe he cries because he sees the camera. But if he didn't, then there'd be a clip of him laughing at the funeral. And he'd be condemned for that.

Pfeh. Any wonder our candidates are so artificial?; 2/8/08, 3:00 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Blake:

If you hate it every time you see it, I suspect it at least reveals something about you.; 2/8/08, 3:07 PM
Rich B said...: Blake-

But there is a clip of him laughing at the funeral; the tears just made it ludicrous. If this were just an isolated incident, I could see your point. But Bill has been caught with his pants down (figuratively speaking, of course) so often that it's just one more incident to add to the pile.

If Bill Clinton had been my next door neighbor, I might have been amused by his antics (and made sure my beloved spouse was never alone with him). But as a President, he was a disgrace. And now he's just tiresome.

BTW - Ann: Did you think he was sincere?; 2/8/08, 3:16 PM
Roger J. said...: Would someone 'splain to me why some progressives and truthers consider themselves the "reality based community?" The Video clearly shows clinton laughing until he looks up, sees the camera, looks away, and wipes his eye--No one, to my knowledge, has ever asserted that video has been doctored. So back to the original question about "the reality based community...."; 2/8/08, 3:22 PM
JackDRipper said...: Roger said...I kinda like the big Dawg--he serves as a role model for dirty old men everywhere, and he's such a liar--but he's a big lovable and utterly transparent liar. Part of his charm, I guess--sure works on NOW members.

Women like the bad boy they say. Even the hairy legged lesbian feminists at NOW.

That was Romney's problem. He needed a touch of anger mixed with rumors of sexual promiscuity to make women more attracted to him as a candidate.; 2/8/08, 3:54 PM
rhhardin said...: I had forgotten that Rush sold Rush Limbaugh neckties.

That must be one that he's wearing.; 2/8/08, 4:42 PM
blake said...: Yes, it reveals that I've seen it three times in the past, what, 14 years--far enough apart to not remember what it's going to be until I've seen it again.; 2/8/08, 11:37 PM
blake said...: I agree that the "reality-based community" is anything but. I haven't heard any of them chime in here, though.

And maybe it is just ol' Bill playing up for the cameras. I suppose we are to presume then, that, what, the death of a longtime friend meant nothing to him, or was even part of a larger sinister plan?

Is there anyone who didn't think Clinton was a big phony before seeing this who says, "Wow! This really opens my eyes!"?; 2/8/08, 11:45 PM
Fen said...: I suppose we are to presume then, that, what, the death of a longtime friend meant nothing to him

Nah. I've laughed with friends at funerals: Remember that time Bob brought an escort to his ex-wife's wedding? Hah! What a character he was.

Its not Clinton's laughter, its how easily he morphed into "despair" once he saw the camera's were on him.; 2/9/08, 7:51 AM
SGT Ted said...: Are you perceiving sincerity here?

"I never had sex with that woman...."; 2/9/08, 10:21 PM