October 16, 2017

Reading Hillary's book, Part 2: "wax."

As you may remember from Part 1, I am not reading Hillary Clinton's  book ("What Happened"). I put it into our Kindle because Meade wanted to do some proto-blogging. That's my term for his reading and searching and talking to me and sending me links. That sometimes gets me to things I want to blog, and that's what we're doing with this book.

For Part 2 in the "Reading Hillary's book" series, my note for getting to the material I want to talk about is "wax." Beginning at page 5, Hillary writes about what I would call her friendship with Donald Trump. As you can see she denies that she was ever friends with him, even though she and her husband, former President of the United States Bill Clinton, attended Trump's wedding:
I had known Donald Trump for years, but never imagined he’d be standing on the steps of the Capitol taking the oath of office as President of the United States. He was a fixture of the New York scene when I was a Senator—like a lot of big-shot real estate guys in the city, only more flamboyant and self-promoting. 
I think she should mention that Trump was a big donor to Democrats. Wasn't that the relevant "scene"? 
In 2005, he invited us to his wedding to Melania in Palm Beach, Florida. We weren’t friends, so I assumed he wanted as much star power as he could get. Bill happened to be speaking in the area that weekend, so we decided to go. Why not? I thought it would be a fun, gaudy, over-the-top spectacle, and I was right. I attended the ceremony, then met Bill for the reception at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. We had our photo taken with the bride and groom and left.
She makes it sound as though she's all about having "fun," but then why get your photograph taken and then bug out? If you came to the big lavish party for fun, wouldn't you have wanted to eat the food and dance to the music and so forth? You just had your photo taken with the couple and left? That sounds kind of mean and rude. Why are you saying it like that? It seems as though you just want to elbow us into believing that you were never friends and assume we won't be thinking that this is a game of extracting money from a rich guy by making him think he was your friend.
The next year, Trump joined other prominent New Yorkers in a video spoof prepared for the Legislative Correspondents Association dinner in Albany, which is the state version of the more famous White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. The idea was that the wax figure of me at the Madame Tussauds museum in Times Square had been stolen, so I had to stand in and pretend to be a statue while various famous people walked by and said things to me. New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg said I was doing a great job as Senator—then joked about running for President in 2008 as a self-funder. When Trump appeared, he said, “You look really great. Unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it. The hair is magnificent. The face is beautiful. You know, I really think you’d make a great President. Nobody could come close.” The camera pulled back to reveal he wasn’t talking to me after all but to his own wax statue. It was funny at the time.
It's actually pretty funny now. And Trump was gamely self-deprecating (while also, until the punchline is revealed, gushing compliments at her). Maybe he only did that to get attention, but I think it shows that they had a friendly relationship. She goes into no detail denying that they were friends. Trump's making a joke at the Legislative Correspondents Association dinner immediately becomes segue to: "When Trump declared his candidacy for real in 2015, I thought it was another joke, like a lot of people did." And the book is off into a discussion of Trump's political rise.

But I want to stop at the comic sketch that has Hillary playing the part of her own wax dummy. It's an old comedy idea, documented at TV Tropes. It's a subcategory of a trope called "Paper-Thin Disguise":
A character that the other characters should recognize (or at least recognize as out of place) dons a disguise and is treated as neither recognizable nor conspicuous. This disguise is so completely transparent that the audience wants to shout "For the love of God, it's him!"...

While not a Dead Horse Trope, these days Paper Thin Disguises are parodied as often as they are used seriously. The trope is still an important dramatic convention in live theater and opera productions — where a really good disguise would render the character unidentifiable from the cheap seats, and be beyond the scope of the prop budget to boot — but is usually employed along with some kind of nod to audience acknowledging the absurdity. This can sometimes be exaggerated for comedic effect, for example wearing bunny ears and becoming indistinguishable from a real rabbit, or pretending to be an ancient statue by simply standing still in a specific pose. Children's shows still employ this trope regularly without any parody element.
The link on "standing still in a specific pose" goes to "Nobody Here but Us Statues":
Alice tries to hide from Bob, so she pretends to be a statue (or, in more cartoonish settings, even a painting or a relief) in a museum, art gallery etc. Sometimes she has to Walk Like an Egyptian to fit in, or get in a suit of armour, or end up holding an empty picture frame in front of herself. Bob typically doesn't catch on, though he looks at Alice suspiciously (bonus points if he says "I'll never understand this modern art" or "What an ugly statue!").
In the Legislative Correspondents Association dinner sketch, Hillary didn't pretend to be a wax statue of herself to hide. Rather, the set-up had her enlisted to cover up the problem that the real wax figure had been stolen. It's a nice sketch and it was funny — I can tell even from reading the leaden waxen prose — because Trump was funny. He was funny in part because he made fun of himself, and Hillary didn't have to do anything except stand there. She didn't have to stand still for any jokes at her expense. Nobody said "What an ugly statue!" or anything like that but Trump allowed himself to seem like a ridiculous narcissist for saying "I really think you’d make a great President. Nobody could come close."

They all laughed...



ADDED: The first comment on this post, from sodal ye, is: "Hillary just broke a toe in the UK." I do a quick search and get to The Daily Mail and the headline begins: "I was running downstairs in heels with a cup of coffee and fell backwards!" I sincerely hope she's feeling better, but I've got to say that strikes me as really freaky — falling backwards in high heels — just after I've made a big leap from Hillary Clinton to Ginger Rogers, whose most famous quote is that she did everything that Fred Astaire did but "backwards and in high heels."

And I've already written about "backwards and in high heels" — and it was in a post that began by being about Hillary Clinton and then leaped into Ginger Rogers. It was September 4, 2016 and people were questioning whether Hillary was doing enough when her favorability rating had dropped as low as Donald Trump's. ABC News chief political analyst Matthew Dowd said:
[Hillary] is judged -- she is judged a little bit, I have to say, all of the controversy surrounding her and they're both -- Donald Trump and her, she's judged a little bit on a Ginger Rogers standard, which is, is that the bar is so low for him. I mean, Ginger Rogers, the famous like she did everything Fred Astaire did but backwards and in heels.
I said: "Suddenly, Trump is the Fred Astaire, judged by an easier standard when what his opponent/partner is doing is actually harder?"

There's more good stuff at that old post, including the debunking of the idea that Ginger Rogers is the source of the quote, the Ann Richards use of the quote, and Trump on "SNL" dancing like Fred Astaire Drake.

85 comments:

Mr. Groovington said...

Hillary just broke a toe in the UK. Headline news.

mccullough said...

Foreshadowing. Even funnier now.

Darrell said...

Hillary went through five pounds of wax a week during the campaign.

Achilles said...

She didn't break her toe falling into a burning building?

Damn.

Mr. Groovington said...

Here’s her surgical boot. Lol

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/16/hillary-clinton-breaks-toe-falling-stairs-misses-bbc-interview/

MadisonMan said...

I can guess why the Clintons left Mar-A-Lago and the wedding quickly: They were getting on each other's nerves and didn't want to quarrel in public.

Wince said...

When I read "wax" atop this post i just stopped reading.

The image of a dried clump of wax adhered to a divot of scraggly pubic hair that definitely does not match the drapes immediately pervaded my mind.

Darrell said...

I shouted "Break a toe!" because I didn't think she could handle a broken leg.

Mr. Groovington said...

Cheating husband, unpleasant looking daughter, looses election, breaks her toe. Wow, what a mess.

Wince said...

sodal ye said...
Hillary just broke a toe in the UK. Headline news.

From wiki... kinda

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is a American drama that focuses on a disparate group of characters desperate to win a election.

Or something like that.

buwaya said...

I wonder if the Trump bit in the sketch was Trumps idea or some writers.
I'd say its 50/50.
The man has a sense of humor not typical in magnates and politicians.

Laslo Spatula said...

Hillary had Vince Foster waxed.:

I am Laslo.

rhhardin said...

The Lady Is A Queen by Lazlo Toth (for Queen Elizabeth)


She likes America even when it's cold and damp,
She's real classy, that's why she's on all the stamps,
She eats all they give her but she always stays lean,
That's why the Lady Is A Queen.

The pound may be falling, but her nose, it remains high.
It's like she's from the House of Wax, except she's alive.
She's really something royal, if she was a he she'd be a King,
That's why the Lady Is A Queen.

jwl said...

Daily Mail - Oct 10 2017:

Bill and Hillary Clinton are not speaking to each other after a blazing argument over her election book, it has been claimed.

The former President threw a manuscript in the trash after Hillary ignored his advice not to publish it, according to author Ed Klein. Bill had red-penned the book in an attempt to improve it, a friend allegedly told Klein, but flew into a rage when Hillary refused to read any of his notes.

According to Page Six, the friend said: 'He told her the book made her look bewildered, angry and confused, and that those were poor qualities in a person who aspired to be a world leader.

'He hated the title because calling it "What Happened" would only make people say, "You lost."


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4965858/Bill-Hillary-Clinton-haven-t-spoken-months.html#ixzz4vh90cEJU

Darrell said...

How do you break a toe falling backward on the stairs? Wouldn't the toe be pointing up? And wouldn't the full Depends cushion the fall?

rhhardin said...

We must then grant that I could not even understand through the imagination what this piece of wax is, and that it is my mind alone which perceives it.

Descartes

Fred Drinkwater said...

TV tropes link, eh?
Say good bye to half your commenters for the next dozen hours.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Lazlo is thinking "Wax on, wax off."

Or something along those lines ...

Ann Althouse said...

First, Aaron Rodgers. Now, Hillary.

Achilles said...

Ann Althouse said...
First, Aaron Rodgers. Now, Hillary.

Aaron Rodgers is a douche. But including him with Hillary isn't really fair.

Mr. Groovington said...

There’s an up market grooming service a few doors down from me. Frilly Lilly. They offer four basic styles from Brazilian to Alaskan (just a little off the sides please)

I’m amazed how busy they are. Friday’s are crazy. Women can be very brave.

Curious George said...

"First, Aaron Rodgers. Now, Hillary."

Hillary's gay?

Professional lady said...

I'm a Fred and Ginger fan. I think Ginger was fantastic and I love her. But Fred did more to put those fabulous dance routines together. Not only that, but he often sang while he was dancing. He was very active in developing the choreography and he had to lead. As someone who likes to dance, I have to say that when you're dancing with a man who is a really good dancer with a really good lead, it's hard to go wrong. They subtly let you know exactly what they want you to do and they put you in just the right position to do it. I'm not saying that Ginger wasn't great - she was, but to say she had it harder just doesn't ring true.

tcrosse said...

She is waxing wroth.

Rabel said...

"I was running down the stairs..."

Mistook them for her SS detail.

Hillary hasn't "run" in a long time.

Sally327 said...

Reason no. 8437 why Hillary lost: she thought Trump's candidacy was a joke. I don't know how she writes that without going on to admit that she didn't take him seriously, or didn't soon enough, and it cost her the election. Maybe she does write that, I'll never know I guess because I'm not going to read the book. But I bet not because....the Russians.


RMc said...

In 2005, he invited us to his wedding to Melania in Palm Beach, Florida. We weren’t friends, so I assumed he wanted as much star power as he could get.

So...Trump wasn't your friend, and you distrusted his motives for inviting you. So you go? And get a picture taken with him? Why?

She is waxing wroth.

Is Roth out there, too? Let Roth wax Hillary for a while.

stevew said...

Thanks to Meade for doing the nasty and dirty work of reading the book so I don't have to.

Reading this stuff I am struck by a thought: if this is the real Hillary, how is it that she has any friends or supporters? Other than the obviously power hungry and gold diggers.

-sw

donald said...

Bingo Curious George!

tcrosse said...

Hillary in high heels ? Talk about tempting fate.

CWJ said...

"Alice tries to hide from Bob, so she pretends to be a statue (or, in more cartoonish settings, even a painting or a relief) in a museum, art gallery etc."

Didn't Comey allegedly try to hide from Trump by standing still near some curtains?

Jupiter said...

"I tried to get up and it really hurt. I've broken my toe. I've received excellent care from your excellent health service."

So, they didn't pile her on a gurney in a freezing hallway and start a euthanasia IV?

readering said...

I read Trump has a phobia about stairs. This accident should feed into it. Didn't Bill also injure himself on stairs at Greg Norman's? Old people and stairs a big problem.

John Nowak said...

>Daily Mail - Oct 10 2017

I don't like the Mail much, but this feels plausible.

I think Insty said that Hillary had to be the only Democrat who would ignore Bill's political advice.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Private Server for international pay to play.

Shut up and go away, Hillary.

tcrosse said...

I think Insty said that Hillary had to be the only Democrat who would ignore Bill's political advice.

I've heard whispers that Al Gore ignored Bill's political advice in 2000. But at least he won the Popular Vote.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

When she drops dead, I'll be happy.

William said...

I read the interview in The New Yorker that Remnick did with Hillary in order to puff her book. A few harsh observations in order to maintain credibility as a journalist, but most of the questions were gentle and soothing. Harvey never got a better massage. I think that's the treatment Hillary was expecting in England. All those nasty questions came as a surprise. This broken toe comes at a convenient time.

Ann Althouse said...

"Didn't Comey allegedly try to hide from Trump by standing still near some curtains?"

LOL. (I was surprised at how much that made me laugh.)

Ron Winkleheimer said...

And Trump was gamely self-deprecating

Trump actually has a pretty good sense of humor. Here he is at the Emmys, before he became, literally, Hitler.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiZqFGLAeAc

He's introduced by Ellen, because she is so anti-gay.


John Nowak said...

>But at least he won the Popular Vote.

Ah, the consolation prize.

n.n said...

She's waxing and waning, but mostly whining.

Ralph L said...

I thought Trump was a Clinton (unpotted) plant to disrupt the Republican primaries.

It's funny they put Hillary on stage and told her to keep quiet. Probably she avoided losing votes that way.

Portlandmermaid said...

I'm still laughing at the term "star power".

Quaestor said...

Althouse wrote: I can tell even from reading the...waxen prose...

Waxen prose, I love it! So much more colorful than the much over-used leaden (irony intended). People here tend to dislike Madame Clinton passionately and with some undeniable justification, but labeling her as evil may be overstating to an unseemly degree more fitting of the hysterical left which has wrought so much mischief on this republic. Perhaps Clinton should be dismissed with the one word that suits her to a tee — banal.

johns said...

I just heard a teaser on the radio saying that Bill and Hillary are not speaking to each other. Does anyone have any info on that?

Dagwood said...

"I attended the ceremony, then met Bill for the reception at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. "

So Bill was really off canoodling with somebody else while Hillary attended the vows?

Ralph L said...

johns, here's this from pagesix

MaxedOutMama said...

Sigh. The woman is making a caricature of herself - and it doesn't seem as if anyone can stop her. The broken toe story is bad enough, but injuring herself like that just brings back other incidents in the past, and then the controversy during the campaign.

And sadly, even if it should be true, no one will ever believe that she was running down the stairs with a full cup of coffee in high heels while talking back over her shoulder, caught a heel, and fell backwards, while breaking a TOE. It's hard to simulate that scenario in our minds. Nor do we believe that Hillary runs or trots up or down steps - we saw too many times in the campaign in which she was helped up or down.

johns said...

Trump is winning the NFL protest issue partly because of Roger Goodell's incompetence. It's so much like campus demands, which are met by throwing money at "social justice" issues. I think that the NFL will make a deal with the players to end the protests by establishing a "NFL Justice Foundation" funded by, I'm guessing, at least $20 million.

Fernandinande said...

Prease to bite wax tadpole.

JaimeRoberto said...

C'mon, we've seen the pictures of Hillary being helped up steps or carried into a waiting car. I doubt she's running anywhere, and I doubt she's wearing high heals. Unless there's video I'm calling BS.

Mary Beth said...

""I was running down the stairs in heels with a cup of coffee in hand, I was talking over my shoulder and my heel caught and I fell backwards."

I'm trying to picture how that works, but it seems to me that if your heel gets caught, you'd fall forward. This, like most of her explanations of her illnesses and injuries, seems to be a grain of truth with a lot of fabricated details.

tcrosse said...

Occam's Razor: she gnawed her own foot off in a fit of pique, and they had to reattach it.

Mary Beth said...

Fernandinande said...

Prease to bite wax tadpole.

10/16/17, 3:06 PM


"Prease"? I'd like to see the world for once, All standing hand in hand, without racist stereotypes.

Yancey Ward said...

The only thing missing from that description of the accident was the chewing of bubble gum.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Bill happened to be speaking in the area that weekend, so we decided to go. Why not? I thought it would be a fun, gaudy, over-the-top spectacle, and I was right. I attended the ceremony, then met Bill for the reception at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. We had our photo taken with the bride and groom and left.

What a shitty thing to say. To admit to, proudly, no less!
"I thought it'd be fun to laugh at the tasteless rube, eat some of his free food, and laugh as he bowed and scraped ingratiatingly towards me and my husband--the actual powerful and important people he could only hope to really be pals with."
Like, I understand feeling that and maybe even laughing about that amongst your rich Lefty friends, but what kind of an asshole writes that up in her own book, presumably in order to make herself look better?!

Way to keep that common touch, Hilldog.

FullMoon said...

In 2005, he invited us to his wedding to Melania in Palm Beach, Florida. We weren’t friends, so I assumed he wanted as much star power as he could get.

Hardy har har !
When Trump was asked why Bill and Hillary was at his wedding, hesaid"
"Because I paid them"
Honest answer, no doubt.

Christy said...

The Daily Mail has shots of her from last night that show a 2(?) inch heel.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

she's cried wolf so many times with her health and she lies about anything even the "ands and the 'buts" are lies - hard to know if she really fell like she described. sounds fishy. Too bad she didn't drop dead.

SDaly said...

The Daily Mail has shots of her from last night that show a 2(?) inch heel

... But enough about Sid Blumenthal, what about her shoes?

pacwest said...

So the dog ate the wax impression (and no doubt donated it to the National Trust). That still leaves Meade sorting through through the pile so we don't have to. Waxy. Ewww.

Comanche Voter said...

I believe that Trump said he paid the Clintons to attend. Now it may take more than James Carville's nasty crack about Paula Jones, "You should see what you get when you troll a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park", but you can dang well believe that the "fun" part of the affair for Hillary was pocketing that Trump check for her attendance.

Quaestor said...

...she gnawed her own foot off in a fit of pique, and they had to reattach it.

The gnawing off of one's own foot is an urge that overtakes me whenever I see or hear the Hildebeest. If it were not for Trump's victory last November I would have been forced to retire my moniker in favor of Pegleg.

David said...

Backwards and in high heels? Bill Clinton like that I bet.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

She kicked an immovable object in a picque.

Wince said...

Ann Althouse said...
"Didn't Comey allegedly try to hide from Trump by standing still near some curtains?"
LOL. (I was surprised at how much that made me laugh.)


An example where the Comey didn't match the drapes?

rcocean said...

She probably got dehydrated and fell down the stairs. Y'know like when she collapsed and was helped in the Van.

According to Bill she just "Forgets to drink liquids, unless they have alcohol"

I made up that last part. Bill made up the first part.

rcocean said...

"Didn't Comey allegedly try to hide from Trump by standing still near some curtains?"

That was tailor made for a SNL sketch. But of course, it was never done. Comey is a "New York Thing".

Ken B said...

Sly but disturbing Althouse: Astaire and Rogers — Flying Down To Rio — Brazil — Brazilian — wax — Hillary

rcocean said...

Every time i see Hillary, I think:

If it had been up to the Nevertrumpers, life-long Republicans, and assholes like McCain and Ryan - this silly, crazy, old bag would be POTUS.

rcocean said...

"Astaire and Rogers — Flying Down To Rio — Brazil — Brazilian — wax — Hillary"

Even more disturbing:

Wax - Bikini - Hillary.

Ann Althouse said...

I find it really weird that the main association you people have with wax is the removal of pubic hair.

Wax is a pretty general topic.

tcrosse said...

Wax is a pretty general topic.

Wax smells different to Catholics and Lovers.

rcocean said...

"Wax is a pretty general topic."

I agree. Can we talk about Floor wax or Candle wax?

Or what about the Moon waxing but not waning?

rcocean said...

Its a floor wax AND a desert topping.

Ralph L said...

I find it really weird that the main association you people have with wax is the removal of pubic hair.

We're all underwear and swimsuit models.

Clyde said...

Re: Hillary's latest fall, it's not surprising to those of us who watched the 2016 presidential campaign, which had her tripping, stumbling, collapsing and falling like the SNL parody of Gerald Ford, back in the day. Whether it was caused by ill-health or perhaps overindulging in her favorite tipple is up for debate.

Clyde said...

I was more thinking of wax and wane, like the phases of the moon. Hillary's been in eclipse for almost a year. The darkness suits her.

Zach said...

It reminds me of how Saturday Night Live will pair up an especially stiff celebrity guest with a staff member who leads them through a skit and sets up all the punchlines.

Speaking of which, Donald Trump is apparently the most parodied person in the history of Saturday Night Live.

At some point, we really should have noticed that Trump is a natural at this stuff, and Hillary isn't.

Zach said...

The former President threw a manuscript in the trash after Hillary ignored his advice not to publish it, according to author Ed Klein. Bill had red-penned the book in an attempt to improve it, a friend allegedly told Klein, but flew into a rage when Hillary refused to read any of his notes.

Also, at some point we really should have noticed that Bill is a natural at this stuff, and Hillary isn't.

robother said...

Sounds like the unnecessarily complicated explanation liars come up with to cover a truly embarrassing situation. Maybe even her toe sucker is revolting.

Valentine Smith said...

How do you move in a forward motion have your momentum stopped and fall in the opposite direction? Why not say I stubbed my toe and broke it like the brittle thing I am? Why describe an event that defies the laws of physics? She really is a compulsive liar. She's truly demented. Now that I think about it, her being able to stand with that fat ass also defies the laws of physics so I could be wrong.

Ralph L said...

She might have kicked the handrail or banister in the act of falling backward.

Will she sue McDonald's for the heat of the coffee?
Let's think about Hillary's burning crotch for a minute.

I hope she tipped whoever got to clean up the mess.

Unknown said...

If your heel gets caught while you're going forward, you will fall forward. Every. Time.