Tipper's an Airhead, Hillary's a Bitch - Who Knew?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Current News : One Thread

Humm... we need a category for "obvious"...

Surprise, Surpise!!!

War of the Washington wives that wrecked the Clinton-Gore partnership

Robert Tait In Washington

THE relationship between Bill Clinton and Al Gore, once close political allies and soulmates, collapsed because their wives did not like each other.

Hillary Clinton, now the senator for New York, summed up Tipper Gore as "unintellectual, a nice lady who doesn’t have a brain in her head". Mrs Gore’s opinion of the former first lady was hardly less unflattering.

She believed the politically driven Mrs Clinton was an "ambitious, rather unco-ordinated, grasping, difficult woman".

The unvarnished truth about the mutual contempt is revealed by a source, apparently close to both families, in a portrait of the Clinton presidency in the latest edition of Vanity Fair .

Their evolving dislike helped wreck a working relationship between their husbands which was once viewed as near perfect, the magazine reported.

The other body blow was the president’s affair with the Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Mr Clinton concealed his relationship with Ms Lewinsky from his entire cabinet, including Mr Gore, for seven months while insistently denying that they had sexual relations.

Mr Gore was outraged by Mr Clinton’s promiscuous behaviour, the magazine reported.

"I think he can barely even comprehend why Clinton would behave the way he behaved," a source close to Mr Gore said.

Mr Gore was also irritated by Mr Clinton’s professional habits. "Clinton drove Gore nuts," another Gore confidant said. "There’s nothing more irritating as vice-president than to be waiting around for a Clinton meeting that starts 45 minutes late."

Seasoned observers have said that Mrs Gore, who once spearheaded a campaign to stamp out obscene lyrics in rock music, was disgusted with Mr Clinton's behaviour.

The frostiness between Mrs Clinton and Mrs Gore pre-dated the Lewinsky controversy. On the surface, the two families got on famously during the 1992 presidential election campaign, when images of two youngish southern politicians and their wives and families appeared to be a sign that a new generation was taking command of the American political scene.

But all was not well. Mrs Clinton was furious that Mr Gore did not defend her husband, whose philandering was already an issue, from attack by the Republican vice-president, Dan Quayle, in a televised debate.

In the early days, Mr Clinton and Mr Gore had lunch in the White House once a week. Mr Gore was given an unprecedented degree of power .

Towards the end of the Clinton presidency, however, while Mr Gore was in the throes of an election campaign of his own, the pair were barely on speaking terms. The vice-president forbade Mr Clinton, a virtuoso campaigner, to go on the stump for him, fearing that his catalogue of scandals was a vote loser.

On the day Mr Clinton was impeached by the house of representatives in December 1998, Mr Gore said he would be remembered as one of America’s greatest presidents. But as worries escalated amongst his supporters that he might pay a high cost for such public praise, he later withdrew it, calling his boss’s behaviour "indefensible".

-- Anonymous, June 06, 2001

Answers

The Gore campaign agonized for weeks, as to whether an active campaign role for Clinton would help or hurt Gore. They decided it would hurt, and I suspect this was the right decision. Now, of course, Clinton and his people are saying that it's totally obvious that this decision cost Gore the election. I don't think it did.

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001

He who sleeps with dogs wakes up with fleas

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001

He who sleeps with dogs wakes up with fleas

That's not quite true...

During my second, and last, divorce, I ran away to Moorea, the island next to Tahiti. I rented a bungalow from Alan Kerebel, a fairly famous French jeweler and painter. He and his wife Jacqueline left shortly afterwards on a gold buying trip to Ghana, then a selling trip to Paris. His sons went to school during the week on Tahiti, but came over on weekends. He had a frenchman who had married local to look after things...

Well, one night, I got ripped over at the Kia Ora, and woke up the next morning on the beach in front of my "bungalow" surrounded by Alan's pack of dogs cuddling next to me, as hermit crabs were taking trial nips out of my ass... the empty bottle of Neuvou Boujalais on my chest (probably spelled wrong, it's late) gave me a clue.

After I came to enough to jump up and shake myself off, and stagger back to my bed, in the days that followed, this one bitch from Alan's pack was totally attached to me... she would not leave my side...

I have a complex to this day.....

AHOowhhoooooo...

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001


Carl, do you remember if you woke up with your arm around that dog who took such a liking to you after your night with her on the beach? Sort of reminds me of that old story about Coyote Ugly, huh?

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001

It's good to love our four-legged friends, but isn't animal husbandry taking it a little too far?

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001


Carl, if anyone else had told me that story I wouldn't have believed it for a second.

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001

carl, is it all over or are you two still in touch?

-- Anonymous, June 09, 2001

M. Kerebel or his chien?

-- Anonymous, June 09, 2001

M. Kerebel

The bitch dumped me for the shepard at the bottom of the page.. :)

Hadn't thought about Alain and Joselyne for a while, till the "sleeping with dogs" comment.... The walrus mustache looks good, he must have lost the last of his hair, judging from the cowboy hat :)... One fascinating feature, you can't see with the sun glasses, is his left pupil has a "tear-drop" shape coming off the pupil...

My youngest son's middle name is Alain, from this really cool man, who took me in during a rough time in my life, pretty much saved my life... when I get a new scanner, I'll post some of the hundreds of pictures I took while there.

Reading my first post, I realize I must have posted it late and had a bit to drink... I went there during my first divorce, 15 years ago, to Cheri, who died last summer... I did take Conni, who was to become my second wife, there after her and I got together during a trip back to California to visit my kids. Ever wish you had taken notes during your life you could refer to when shit-faced and rambling? :)

-- Anonymous, June 09, 2001


Carl, trust me, you don't *want* notes to refer to. Some "biographer" (aka "Enquirer" Reporter Wanna be) might publish them, and then where would you be? I learned this the hard way when there was this 20- something psych major following me around and taking notes. My screwed up summer of '85 will live forever in her graduate dissertation. I can only hope that one day the library is bombed and no one thought enough of her work to microfilm and archive it.

-- Anonymous, June 10, 2001


Oh, no, Meemur, that's really awful! We've all had summers like that--I've had a few myself ;) But to have that long-ago life documented--ouch!

-- Anonymous, June 10, 2001

Meemur, where can we get a copy?

-- Anonymous, June 11, 2001

I'm sorry, Meemur, your story doesn't pass the smell test. Noone was having an interesting life in 1985.

Of course, if you want to post a couple chapters just to indulge Carl, I'm sure there's a price at which we wouldn't let your kids know where to pick up the trail. ;^)

-- Anonymous, June 11, 2001


Carl, have you checked e-bay?

-- Anonymous, June 11, 2001

Moderation questions? read the FAQ