Brandon

Friday, March 24, 2006

My Encounter with Bill & Hillary Clinton

My recent post "Who Wears the Pants in the Clinton Family" reminded me that I had not told the story of my own personal encounter of the famous couple in a while.

Any of us who pay keen attention to politics and the Clintons realized the power that the former First Lady holds over her wayward husband. We didn't need to be reminded by former Press Secretary Dee Dee Meyers of how Mrs. Clinton saved Bill's fledgling campaign in New Hampshire in 1992 by appearing with him on 60 Minutes to deflect the Genifer Flowers scandal (which should have let us all know what we were in for).

And it was certainly confirmation of the role Mrs. Clinton played in his campaigns and Administration to read tell-all accounts such as "Unlimited Access" by Gary Aldrich or "Rewriting History" by Dick Morris (chapter excerpt here).

But there really is nothing like a little one on one, a close and relatively private experience of the first couple, to provide that spark of illumination which confirms what we've read and heard for so many years.

So here goes...

It was lunchtime on a fine day in late spring when I left my office at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at the Fairchild Building on South Capitol Street in Washington, D.C. I walked up Ivy Street past the Headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. I noticed a limo in the street in front of the headquarters and instantly recognized Bill Clinton, then Governor of Arkansas, standing in the street. This was a few weeks after he had sewn up his parties nomination for President and it was several weeks before the nominating convention. He did not have Secret Service protection at the time.

I thought it odd that here he was standing in this quiet side street in front of the party headquarters and there were no well-wishers or job seekers surrounding him, even though everyone in the building, looking out the rather large windows could see that he was about to leave.

There was only one individual with him, and her back was to me. All I could see was blond hair and she appeared to be giving him the business with her finger pointing him in the face as he just stood there. From the rear she looked like the typical Capitol Hill staff clone.

My first thought was "who is this campaign worker that would dare to read the boss the riot act in front of their party headquarters?"

I cannot imagine in any of the campaigns that I worked on, any staffer dare to behave in such a fashion towards the boss.

It wasn't until I walked directly past them on the sidewalk just feet away that I realized who she was: Madame Dufarge herself, Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Of course you know I had the good manners to keep on moving, and not just stop and stare at the spectacle which was visible to everyone in the office building behind the three of us. I realize that will be hard for screeching socialists to accept, since if they were in a similar encounter with one of the Bush's they might have begun protesting, or throwing pies.

Could it be that during their time inside the headquarters Bill was getting chatty with the receptionists? I can't answer for that. I can only relate what I know to be a fact.

I was too embarrassed to do much but avert my eyes and keep on walking. And no doubt, the not so subtle message I witnessed was being telegraphed to those watching inside the building: "I saved this campaign, and you owe me. You better wise up. Cross me and you are toast!"

Every eyewitness account I've heard or read since regarding the nature of Mrs. Clinton's personality has only confirmed what I saw that day when the three of us shared a moment on Ivy Street, one fine spring day.

I realize that many of our Democrat "friends" choose to be ignorant about the real nature of this woman, just as many seem to have forgotten the Clinton era concern expressed by every senior member of their party on the dangers of Saddam Hussein's Iraq.


But recall the words of Lincoln:

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)
16th president of US (1809 - 1865)
Also posted at the Wide Awakes

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