Citizen Journal Blog

The New York Times reported today that Bill Clinton, while in Rome for Pope John Paul II�s funeral, decided to use the somber occasion to do a little sightseeing, shopping, and appeasing of his adoring Italian fans. NYT reporter David Sanger writes that Clinton was �reveling in the fact that shoppers, tourists having lunch at outdoor cafes and Italian business people walking to meetings all stopped to greet him� yelling �Bill, Bill, Bill.� This vulgar disregard to occasion reminds me of when Clinton, in 1996, was seen laughing and joking upon exiting the funeral of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, whose death, to this day, remains controversial. It was only when Clinton saw the television cameras trained on him did his face contort into something even resembling mourning. It has also been reported that Clinton used the funerals of Vince Foster and Paul Wellstone to yuck it up with colleagues and friends. Clinton, oblivious in his own celebrity, has shown time and again that he does not understand that funerals are solemn occasions, and the only celebrating that should be done is in remembrance of the deceased�s life and legacy.

Replies: 7 Comments

Posted by: scooter On Tuesday, April 12th

Aaron, it's beyond a stretch to equate calling someone, essentially, a boar, with "hatred." It's an insult to people who've seen real hatred.

If you've paid attention to Bill Clinton, you know his ego and his Hollywood personna have appalled people (even his own - Mark Katz author of "Clinton & Me" speaks to quite a few instances; he's also crashed weddings (would you want him to do that to you?), watched near-porn with WH staffers (see Katz) and shown himself to be one of utterly poor taste (see speech to WH correpondents dinner in, I think, 1993).

It's hard to tackle the merits of Bill Clinton because he worked so hard to make his presidency about everything other than merit. (Not that I can blame him.)

In the end, though, Aaron I think you're cheapening the notion of "hate" when you use it like you did.

Posted by: Aaron On Tuesday, April 12th

I'm not sure that claiming ignorance is a great argument, scooter. Hate mongering is the encouraging of hatred towards a person or group, usually by false means.

Why do Conservatives find every opportunity to paint Clinton as the devil? Why don't you actually try to argue against what I said instead of going "oh this is a crazy word! what are you talking about? ha ha crazy liberal!"

Posted by: greenman On Saturday, April 9th

Aaron - "hatemongering" - look it up and explain to us how. Please. You're killing me.

Posted by: Aaron On Saturday, April 9th

So wait, Clinton goes all the way to the Pope's funeral, and after the funeral, he's not allowed to see the sights and explore the area? Wha?? I don't know about you, but if I had to flu all the way to the other side of the world for some reason, I would probably want to do more than go to a funeral.

This is ridiculous, hypocritical hatemongering. God forbid Clinton should go to a funeral and be glad to see his friends there. In many cultures, funerals are occasion for celebration. Heck, over here people can use a wake as an occasion to get drunk and socialize.

This is just another part of that "attack Clinton at every chance and ignore anything similar anyone in our own party does" BS.

Hey, I have an idea! Let's talk about something that actually matters!

Posted by: Yawwau On Saturday, April 9th

Thank you, Publicus, for never failing to make a gratuitous, inane comment.

Posted by: Greenman On Saturday, April 9th

Clinton's a better politician than any Republican I've seen. I hate him, I think he's a disgrace and I wish he'd go away, but none of this ever sticks. I think Rush Limbaugh was the only one to report Clinton's antics at Ron Brown's funeral.

Posted by: Publicus On Friday, April 8th

Republicans ought to be grateful Clinton is still with us. He's a useful distraction from the mistakes our own people make.

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