we find it interesting that the vsw (vast stupid wing) media was jumping all up and down about reagan's death somehow giving a
wol a bump in the polls (hardly any) but today we heard
kyra "no milk of magnesia" phillips on cnn wonder if bill clinton's current book tour will take away from the current democratic presidential contender, john kerry.
now, we don't blame kyra. we've had special fantasies about her when she was on kcbs here in los angeles before making it to the big time in atlanta, center of the news world. she was only reading from her teleprompter, we know.
but why would one president being in the news (by dying) be good for one candidate, but another president being in the news (by living) be bad for the other? where's the logic in that?
here's our take on it, and it doesn't look good for awol: we think that any news about any president (ie, legally elected) makes people long for a time when presidents actually were engaged in reality and made policy that would help the world fix its problems, instead of making bigger ones because the policies were grounded firmly in mid-air, along with the end of the world fantacies they were based on.
be that as it may (and it may, we give it permission to be), the self-righteous are
apoplectic over the current hoopla about bill clinton's book.
nbc4 describes the lines in washington, dc:
one d.c. bookseller has described the lines of people forming to buy former president bill clinton's autobiography, "my life," as harry potter mania for adults.
several stores in the national capital area stayed open past their usual closing times so customers could get a copy of the book as soon as it went on sale.
at politics and prose bookstore on connecticut avenue northwest, managers set up tables outside on the sidewalk, as hundreds of people lined up to by the book, eager to see the details of clinton's personal life, including his affair with monica lewinsky.
the nytimes talks about the lines to see the president sign books in manhattan:
with all of the publicity it has received recently, it may seem as if bill clinton's memoir, "my life," a chronicle of the years leading up to his presidency and his time in the white house, had already been in circulation for weeks. but anyone passing by the barnes & noble bookstore in rockefeller center this morning would guess from the banner bearing the former president's name, the images of mr. clinton in the windows and the line of people snaking from fifth to sixth avenues, that the book's official release date is today.
even before the clock struck midnight, clinton fans, history buffs and those who were simply curious were lining up to get a wristband, which would guarantee them entry to mr. clinton's signing appearance at 12:30 this afternoon.
some had secured their spot by spending the night in sleeping bags while others sat on the sidewalk in neon-colored lawn chairs reading mr. clinton's memoir as if they were seaside. books went on sale at some locations beginning at 12:01 a.m. today.
though the reviews have dissed it (the nytimes hated it, but failed to mention the fact that clinton specifically took the nytimes to task for bad reporting, can you say "conflict of interest"?), the american book-buying public is eating it up with a spoon.
and swallowing!