Bill and Hillary's conjugal psychodrama

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"Just when I thought I was out, the Clintons pull me back into their conjugal psychodrama," writes N.Y. Times columnist Maureen Dowd in a truly fascinating column. The thrust of her 12.23 entry is that Bill Clinton, for the strangest and most tangled-up of reasons, may be subconsciously sabotaging Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

The seed of this suspicion is a friend of the Clintons having told Dowd that "for the first time since the Marc Rich pardon, Bill is seriously diminishing his personal standing with the people closest to him."

"Is Bill torn between resentment of being second fiddle and gratification that Hillary can be first banana only with his help?," Dowd wonders. "Their relationship has always been a co-dependence between his charm and her discipline. But what if, as some of her advisers suggest, she turned out to be a tougher leader, quicker to grasp foreign policy, less skittish about using military power and more inspirational abroad? What if she were to use his mistakes as a reverse blueprint, like W. did with his dad?

"When Bill gets slit-eyed, red-faced and finger-wagging in defense of her, is he really defending himself, ego in full bloom, against aspersions that Obama and Edwards cast on Clintonian politics?

"Maybe the Boy Who Can't Help Himself is simply engaging in his usual patterns of humiliating Hillary and lighting an exploding cigar when things are going well. 'They're not Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, who had jealousy as the lifeblood of their marriage,' said one writer who has studied the pair. 'The lifeblood of their marriage is crisis, coming to each other's rescue.'"

Exploding cigars! Reverse blueprints! Sturm und drang! Terrific stuff.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 23, 2007 at 7:36 PM

comment #1

Matthew Lucas says ...

In 10 years, Stephen Frears will make a great film about this.

Posted by Matthew Lucas at December 23, 2007 8:42 PM

comment #2

MAGGA says ...

If Hillary learns fom Bill the way Bush did from his father then may God, Allah, Buddah and Santa Claus have mercy on our souls

Posted by MAGGA at December 23, 2007 9:25 PM

comment #3

nemo says ...

"What if she were to use his mistakes as a reverse blueprint, like W. did with his dad?"

That alone is reason enough to fear the Bush and Clinton dynasties. W. has managed to make his dad's mistakes look like successes.

"... quicker to grasp foreign policy, less skittish about using military power ..."

She's certainly been quick to grasp what the Beltway Establishment, both Republican and Democratic, thinks is smart foreign policy. Of course, the Beltway Establishment, both Republican and Democratic, has been totally wrong.

Posted by nemo at December 23, 2007 9:28 PM

comment #4

MAGGA says ...

Using more millitary power and being less skittish about using millitary power are direct contradictions.

Posted by MAGGA at December 23, 2007 9:33 PM

comment #5

MAGGA says ...

Uhm, that should be using more millitary power and being more inspirational abroad, of course. My last sentence obviously made absolutely no sense.

Posted by MAGGA at December 23, 2007 9:51 PM

comment #6

MAGGA says ...

Or maybe it does on som level... (Note to self:

Posted by MAGGA at December 23, 2007 9:52 PM

comment #7

Craptastic says ...

I'm adding this just so MAGGA doesn't feel lonely.

Posted by Craptastic at December 23, 2007 11:02 PM

comment #8

D.Z. says ...

'The seed of this suspicion is a friend of the Clintons having told Dowd that "for the first time since the Marc Rich pardon, Bill is seriously diminishing his personal standing with the people closest to him."'

That's starting to look mild, considering Bush's commuting of Libby's sentence....

"But what if, as some of her advisers suggest, she turned out to be a tougher leader, quicker to grasp foreign policy, less skittish about using military power and more inspirational abroad?"

Yes, because being a hawk is really what made Clinton popular with most Americans. Just look at Somalia.

"What if she were to use his mistakes as a reverse blueprint, like W. did with his dad?"

If Bush Sr. really tried to make up for his dad's mistake, he'd compensate the families of dead Nicaraguan civilians his dad murdered, as well as the families of Kurds his dad encouraged to attack Saddam.

Posted by D.Z. at December 24, 2007 1:24 AM

comment #9

Movie Watcher says ...

It was a good Dowd article. I can almost see Bill moving his presidental desk into the oval office, right next to Hillary's. If she is elected, he will be a good advisor, probably helping her through some rough spots. Plus he can use his intelligence to figure out how to get things done. It must be hard for him; maybe he believes Hillary will be more popular than he was. Oh yeah, Hillary's banner ad, nice touch.

Posted by Movie Watcher at December 24, 2007 2:37 AM

comment #10

le corbeau says ...

Bill Clinton is in the process of going from being Jimmy Carter... to being Billy Carter.

Much as I enjoyed the moderate policies and high entertainment value of the Clinton era, you know, there just might be one or two serious issues that ought to take precedence over the Clinton marital psychodrama on the next president's agenda. Electing Hillary now could be sort of like electing Eleanor Roosevelt in 1940, and watching her and FDR bicker through the management of WWII.

That's starting to look mild, considering Bush's commuting of Libby's sentence....

No, actually trading with our enemies the Islamic dictatorship of Iran, as Marc Rich did, still looks MUCH worse than anything Scooter Libby is supposed to have done to anyone who isn't so blinkered anti-Bush that they don't really take the real fascists of the world seriously and are just totally, pigheadedly Americacentric in their dislikes.

Posted by le corbeau at December 24, 2007 7:09 AM

comment #11

Movie Watcher says ...

Mgmax, it will be worse when Bush bombs Iran in about...October of 2008. The republicans are reeling: They can't get it together or decide on which candidate. Romney-Flip-Flopper. Rudy-Take you pick. Huckabee-Doesn't belive in evolution, etc.
I know the Dems are have a 3 way fight. In the end, it will be Hillary and Edwards on the ticket, and Obama will run in 2016. Yes, Bill is in the way, right now. Soon he will realize he has to back-off and let Hillary run the campaign the way she wants to. Next summer, Bill will be going all across the country, and the crowds will be big. He will be able to give Hillary an extra 2 million votes. Wait and see.

Posted by Movie Watcher at December 24, 2007 8:27 AM

comment #12

Mr. Muckle says ...

Oh, Maureen Dowd is a cat, IMO. Don't let your worldview be influenced by her. She inadvertently makes a case for letting women have nothing to do with politics at all, even (or especially) as pundits.

Posted by Mr. Muckle at December 24, 2007 8:29 AM

comment #13

christian says ...

Dowd is not to be trusted.

"No, actually trading with our enemies the Islamic dictatorship of Iran, as Marc Rich did, still looks MUCH worse than anything Scooter Libby is supposed to have done "

Take it up with freedom fighters Reagan and North, FOX heroes. And what looked worse than Libby's perjury (Clinton?) was Bush commuting his sentence. Because they were complicit.

And Mgmax, since once again Bush lies to the world about WMD's regarding pissant Iran, it's not Anti-Americanism, it's Pro-Democracy. Y'know, what we're trying to achieve.

Posted by christian at December 24, 2007 9:54 AM

comment #14

le corbeau says ...

Forgive me for doing a DZ line by line, but take it as a tribute to the substantiveness of MovieWatcher's ost.

Mgmax, it will be worse when Bush bombs Iran in about...October of 2008.

Boldness is unlikely to make a return in this administration's last days.

The republicans are reeling: They can't get it together or decide on which candidate. Romney-Flip-Flopper. Rudy-Take you pick. Huckabee-Doesn't belive in evolution, etc.

Oh no, the decision might actually be made by voters and not in advance by the punditocracy...

I know the Dems are have a 3 way fight. In the end, it will be Hillary and Edwards on the ticket

She won't pick a second Slick Willie to run with. She already has a far better one at her side. Evan Bayh, Mark Warner, look in that direction. If she gets that far.

and Obama will run in 2016.

Wow, you've already got her elected twice. That's optimism.

Yes, Bill is in the way, right now. Soon he will realize he has to back-off and let Hillary run the campaign the way she wants to.

About like FDR realized it was Jack Garner's turn to be president, or Barbara Bush realized it was time for some other family to dominate the Republican party.

Next summer, Bill will be going all across the country, and the crowds will be big. He will be able to give Hillary an extra 2 million votes. Wait and see.

He'll be giving her plenty of publicity, that's for sure....

Posted by le corbeau at December 24, 2007 10:50 AM

comment #15

D.Z. says ...

Mgmax: "Bill Clinton is in the process of going from being Jimmy Carter... to being Billy Carter."

Jimmy Carter was able to negotiate a treaty, which won't happen with Bush in Annapolis. Ironically, Rice is asking Carter and Clinton for advice, too.

"Electing Hillary now could be sort of like electing Eleanor Roosevelt in 1940, and watching her and FDR bicker through the management of WWII."

Yeah, what do wives of gimps know about being leaders, anyway? The people were stupid to go for a party which wasn't making illegal land deals while creating a wide income disparity.

"No, actually trading with our enemies the Islamic dictatorship of Iran, as Marc Rich did, still looks MUCH worse than anything Scooter Libby is supposed to have done"

It only looks worse to you, because he's not doing it as a Republican like Reagan.

"to anyone who isn't so blinkered anti-Bush that they don't really take the real fascists of the world seriously and are just totally, pigheadedly Americacentric in their dislikes."

Yes, covering up for whoever revealed one of our secret agents' identities, and thus making them likely to be attacked by terrorists, is petty stuff.

Moviewatcher: "In the end, it will be Hillary and Edwards on the ticket, and Obama will run in 2016. "

Obama's more popular than either of them, but people keep claiming only the white people will win, even though they don't know a damn thing about how the public votes.

"Yes, Bill is in the way, right now. Soon he will realize he has to back-off and let Hillary run the campaign the way she wants to."

He already did earlier, and she's slipped in the polls.

"Next summer, Bill will be going all across the country, and the crowds will be big. He will be able to give Hillary an extra 2 million votes.'

No he won't, because people remember the manufacturing jobs they lost because of him.

Posted by D.Z. at December 24, 2007 11:43 AM

comment #16

Movie Watcher says ...

Mgmax, where do I start?
The VOTERS ALREADY KNOW THOSE THINGS I SAID ABOUT THE REBPUBLICANS. How do you think I know about them? You didn't make any sense there, not that I am surprised.
Bayh/Warner? Too unkown. She needs someone the electorate is familiar with. Too bad Bill can't be, what with that pesky 22nd amendment. She can't afford to pick an unknown. I thought you would have figured that out, at least.
With this president, how can you not be optimistic about his replacement? It is going to take her 8 years to fix the screw-ups this guy has made. I know you know what they are.
You're right about one thing(I know you're surprised I wrote that) Bill will get a lot of publicity...for Hillary.
So just sit back, watch Fox news, and relax...

Posted by Movie Watcher at December 24, 2007 11:47 AM

comment #17