Well, out of curiosity I will be buying “My Life”. I figure… it would be cool to get it signed if he’s coming to this area. Anyone know where he will be signing? I’ve heard he’ll be in LA and Chicago… is there a list of cities anywhere?
Also, has anyone bought the book yet? Read it? Preliminary reviews?
The NYT says it’s “unreadable.”
The guy is still trying to get the suckers to believe he’s not a worthless lying scumbag. The legacy that he’s working so hard to create is that he’s working hard NOW, because he was too busy goofing off in the WH.
The jury is already in. Clinton will be regarded as one of the mediocre presidents… sort of like Millard Fillmore. I think that’s being kind.
I sure hope Pooks isn’t offended by that!
It’s that kind of vitriol that makes me want to buy the book.
I’ll probably also buy Bush’s book when all the liberals complain about it.
Better yet, I’ll skip buying both books and buy bike stuff…
“It’s that kind of vitriol that makes me want to buy the book.”
The most sage advice comes from the Tibbster just above. If you want the straight scoop, never read an autobiography.
“I’ll probably also buy Bush’s book when all the liberals complain about it.”
“Better yet, I’ll skip buying both books and buy bike stuff…”
I’m the fool for responding. My apologies to everyone.
“The jury is already in. Clinton will be regarded as one of the mediocre presidents…”
That’s not entirely correct.
According to the Washington Post’s polls, Clinton did a better job than Bush. Approval rating of 62%. See Q.28 on the link below.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/trend_062104.html
Also, a Gallup Poll from last year asked “Who do you regard as the greatest United States president?”. Clinton was 5th on 9%, behind Kennedy, Lincoln, Reagan and FDR. GW was in 7th at 3%, but that was before the wheels fell off his train…
You can also get the book at www.audible.com. Just the thing for those long runs. 
I just downloaded it.
-Robert
Buy bike stuff and check the book out from the library.
“According to the Washington Post’s polls, Clinton did a better job than Bush.”
"Also, a Gallup Poll from last year asked ‘Who do you regard as the greatest United States president?’. Clinton was 5th on 9%, behind Kennedy, Lincoln, Reagan and FDR. GW was in 7th at 3%, but that was before the wheels fell off his train… "
Some (people, not historians) will talk about the “Clinton Economy,” but historians will note that the “Clinton Economy” started booming nearly a year before he took office, and the wheels fell of while he was still in. His many attempt to create a “legacy” will be noted as such, the desperate attempts of a man consumed by his own ego.
The NYT says it’s “unreadable.”
If NYT refers to The New York Times, I’m going to have to call you on this one. The word “unreadable” doesn’t appear in their review (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/23/books/review/0623books-mcmurtry-clinton.html?pagewanted=all&position=). On the contrary, here’s the first sentence:
“
illiam Jefferson Clinton’s “My Life” is, by a generous measure, the richest American presidential autobiography - no other book tells us as vividly or fully what it is like to be president of the United States for eight years. Clinton had the good sense to couple great smarts with a solid education; he arrived in Washington in 1964 and has been the nation’s - or perhaps the world’s - No. 1 politics junkie ever since. And he can write - as Reagan, Ford, Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson, to go no farther back, could not.”
Prove your statement.
Do you believe everything the NY Times says? I’m currently reading it and it’s hardly unreadable.
I bet you’re a republican, right?
Bustin out the Fillmore insults now…that is *CLASSIC! *Was he not the only president to do NOTHING while in the White House? No new laws or anything? (or was that Taft?)
The funny part of your comment is that the New York Times is about as far from being conservative as it gets. Clinton is / was a used car salesman and is a master at telling people what they want to hear.
Be careful, Ken. The first NYT review (Michiku Kakutani) was not kind to Clinton’s autobiography.
As for Elwood, I do find it amusing that somebody who takes the time to start a post defending his own “pure” debating tactics likes start a post suggesting that the former President was a “lying scumbag”. That’s a quite a debate tactic there. Nothing like stating facts, is there?
As for W, he’s already had a couple of books written about him from unbiased sources - his old crony and flack, Karen Hughes, who had the gumption to write her own book about herself, “Ten Minutes from Normal”, which begs the question, if a PR weasel writes a book and nobody reads it, was it actually written? If you want a laugh about her, just google her name and Tucker Carlson’s together. While I’m not a big fan of Carlson, who I think can be a bit snarky, he did have some choice words about Hughes, referring to her as a form of liar that ventures into the realm of mental illness.
Bash Clinton all you want. The huge crowds indicate that he’s, even in Republican-driven infamy, an extremely popular President.
Be careful, Ken. The first NYT review (Michiku Kakutani) was not kind to Clinton’s autobiography.
A quick search of NYTimes for Kakutani and Clinton didn’t show a review; can you point me to it? Thanks.
If I were not being careful, I’d have called him a lying a****** from the get-go.
Here you go.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/books/20CLIN.html
As you know Ken, Kakutani’s reviews are legendarily harsh. I guess it’s like movie reviews - nobody takes you seriously unless you bash most stuff.
As for Clinton-hating and Bush-loving (which seem to be largely the same thing), I do find it interesting that they seem to focus on Clinton’s personal failings (of which there are many), while ignoring Bush’s failures of leadership, which at this point are too many to name, and ongoing. Sort of tells you where priorities are, eh?
As you know Ken, Kakutani’s reviews are legendarily harsh. I guess it’s like movie reviews - nobody takes you seriously unless you bash most stuff.
No kidding. Here’s a snippet that might put her attitude into perspective:
“But the very lack of focus and order that mars these pages also prevented him from summoning his energies in a sustained manner to bring his insights about the growing terror threat and an Israeli-Palestinian settlement to fruition.”
I can’t think of any President (save perhaps Carter) who invested more time, effort and political capital into addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than Clinton.
Thanks for the link. I wonder why the search I did failed…
What’s it like to go through life with so much hate? Go for a run and let the endorphin buzz set you free.
Funny you should mention his popularity. Here’s a little survey for you…Willy wasn’t as popular as you think he was.
The survey results you posted reflected leadership qualities, of which popularity was not one. Did you bother to look at the criteria used in the C-SPAN survey? I didn’t think so.
Also, if you were to discount the criteria “relations with Congress”, Clinton would have scored a bit higher…
And the criteria which measured popularity was? Do you think I would state that the survey you cited did not address popularity if I hadn’t already read the survey criteria? What am I missing here?