Or has Hillary barked out an order for him to fulfill because she can’t get her message out?
It’s hard to know why Bill Clinton suddenly appeared on a Sunday news program to deliver a sharply partisan lashing of George W. Bush and his administration. I don’t think it was caused by low blood sugar.
Bill’s verbal fire was more likely started by two possible ignitors. He is either suffering from a certain lack of media (‘world’) attention, or Hillary is getting nervous about her recent rejection by Democratic colleagues. She’s been known to do this before, and after all, Bill had his moment – it’s now time for Hillary’s closeup. In many ways, she needs the same kind of attention Bill requires, but I’ll tackle that subject another time (I’m not ready or motivated to write the ‘Hillary is a power hungry system manipulator’ meme at this moment).
Whenever former president Bill Clinton perceives that he isn’t being paid attention to, or given the credit he believes he deserves, or is the center of the universe, he acts out. We’ve seen this time and time again. He’ll make an appearance on a late night television program, like David Letterman, to project his ‘cool-ness’ factor. He’ll attend and speak at a policywonk conference somewhere and just ‘accidently’ walk over to the cameras to make a simple comment about anything asked by a reporter. He’ll seek out front page news by doing an interview with a well known newspaper reporter. Or, as he did yesterday, he’ll ask himself onto a TV show like ABC’s ‘This Week’ so he can deliver a multifaceted rant on a variety of hot button topics.
Whatever the reason, he has an insatiable hunger to be recognized, heard from, quoted, seen, and worshipped by the human race. If that’s not happening in some way, he’ll make it happen. And he doesn’t need to expend a lot of energy either. He knows better than anyone that the media will stop in their tracks to create news for him.
That’s what yesterday was all about. And like all the times before, it worked. Bill Clinton is a top story today. His face is being flashed across TV screens today, and his words are being reprinted in newspapers throughout the world. The monster has been fed.
Like the heroin addict with no cost access to pure china white, Bill will bask in the warmth of the media glory he’s created for himself, until the lights dim. Then he’ll do it again, and again, and again.
Others: PoliPundit | Blogs for Bush | The Moderate Voice | Riehl World View | Bill Clinton is Shameless, The Series |