A bit ahead of schedule, Bill Clinton goes batty on reporter
After his explosion at a reporter right before the Nevada caucus, someone noted that the former president seems to go nuts at a reporter's question about his race baiting, or other smearing of Senator Obama, right before the latest primary or caucus. Does he do it on purpose? Who knows. But he has been a public figure for most of his adult life, is normally quite calm and collected - if not charming - when engaged with the public or reporters. So I wonder.
So here's the latest. He went at a CNN reporter who asked him if he wanted to comment on a statement by a former chairman of the Democratic party in South Carolina:
"You live for this," Clinton snapped at CNN reporter Jessica Yellin when she asked him to comment on statements by Dick Harpootlian, the former South Carolina Democratic party chairman, who said recent distortions by the Clintons are "reprehensible."Harpootlian, who backed the Clintons in the 1990s and now supports Sen. Barack Obama, had compared Clinton's distortions to the dirty tricks campaigns run by the infamous Republican operative Lee Atwater.
Now, I like Bill Clinton. I think he's doing great things with his foundation, I voted for him twice, and my only substantial disappointment with him was his morally bankrupt tryst with Monica Lewinsky. But he should zip it up, pull himself off the campaign trail, and go sell some medicine or something. He might be helping his wife's campaign, but he's not helping his party, the country, or his legacy with the noise he's injecting into this campaign.
