Presidents: They're Nothing Like Us
Does anyone remember The Animaniacs? Yes? Remember that segment they had called "Good Idea, Bad Idea?" If not, hopefully this will jog your memory:
Now that we're all on the same page, I'd like to try applying this whole "good idea, bad idea" concept to 1990's politics in light of an article I read this week. According to USA Today, there is a new book coming out about Bill Clinton's presidency based on a whole bunch of secret interviews he was giving during his time in office. (I know, I know, the obvious joke is 'that wasn't the only thing he was giving while in office'). Anyway, the book is called The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With the President and is based on the author's memory of the interviews he conducted that were so secret that Clinton wouldn't let him keep the tapes, but Billy Boy reportedly housed them in his sock drawer. So in the spirit of The Animaniacs, let's try a few "good idea, bad ideas" --
Good Idea: Keeping your secrets hidden.
Bad Idea: Keeping your secrets hidden in your sock drawer.
Maybe I'm the only one whose mind is going in this direction, but Bill Clinton gave 79 secret interviews during his presidency. Wouldn't that have to be an awfully big sock drawer to house them all? Also, at the point where you get your "secret interviews" transcribed, doesn't that kind of make them more vulnerable to becoming published? I mean, I am assuming Bill did not spend his evenings staying up till all hours of the night transcribing the things himself. Not to mention the fact that once you bring in a reporter, you gotta figure he's going to remember some of what you tell him. Their minds are like steel traps! We do have to give Clinton a break, though. This was the pre-I-made-a-sex-tape-and-never-thought-it-would-get-out-but-oops-someone-stole-it-and-posted-it-on-the-internet-or-sold-it-as-an-adult-video era. Perhaps he was just too naive to realize that you really shouldn't record all of your secrets and assume they'll never get out.
Ok, let's try another one...
Good Idea: Sending Boris Yeltsin to a diplomatic meeting at the White House
Bad Idea: Sending Boris Yeltsin out for pizza in his knickers after partying at the White House.
According to the article, part of Bill Clinton's interviews discuss what a hilarious drunk Boris Yeltsin is. Apparently, Yeltsin repeatedly tried to evade secret service agents while intoxicated, once while searching for pizza in his skivvies. Now I finally know what was missing from all of the house parties my college roommates and I threw. We had the homeless people sneaking into our basement without our knowledge. We had the mean punks who stole our stuff. And we had the nerdy theater kids with an undying passion for Derrida. What we really needed was a hungry, drunk, and mostly naked world leader. I bet we could have gotten ole' Boris to do a few keg stands with us or maybe do an air guitar solo if we had just made sure to keep the snacks coming.
That's all I've got for tonight, folks. I hope you learned some lessons today.
Now that we're all on the same page, I'd like to try applying this whole "good idea, bad idea" concept to 1990's politics in light of an article I read this week. According to USA Today, there is a new book coming out about Bill Clinton's presidency based on a whole bunch of secret interviews he was giving during his time in office. (I know, I know, the obvious joke is 'that wasn't the only thing he was giving while in office'). Anyway, the book is called The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With the President and is based on the author's memory of the interviews he conducted that were so secret that Clinton wouldn't let him keep the tapes, but Billy Boy reportedly housed them in his sock drawer. So in the spirit of The Animaniacs, let's try a few "good idea, bad ideas" --
Good Idea: Keeping your secrets hidden.
Bad Idea: Keeping your secrets hidden in your sock drawer.
Maybe I'm the only one whose mind is going in this direction, but Bill Clinton gave 79 secret interviews during his presidency. Wouldn't that have to be an awfully big sock drawer to house them all? Also, at the point where you get your "secret interviews" transcribed, doesn't that kind of make them more vulnerable to becoming published? I mean, I am assuming Bill did not spend his evenings staying up till all hours of the night transcribing the things himself. Not to mention the fact that once you bring in a reporter, you gotta figure he's going to remember some of what you tell him. Their minds are like steel traps! We do have to give Clinton a break, though. This was the pre-I-made-a-sex-tape-and-never-thought-it-would-get-out-but-oops-someone-stole-it-and-posted-it-on-the-internet-or-sold-it-as-an-adult-video era. Perhaps he was just too naive to realize that you really shouldn't record all of your secrets and assume they'll never get out.Ok, let's try another one...
Good Idea: Sending Boris Yeltsin to a diplomatic meeting at the White House
Bad Idea: Sending Boris Yeltsin out for pizza in his knickers after partying at the White House.
According to the article, part of Bill Clinton's interviews discuss what a hilarious drunk Boris Yeltsin is. Apparently, Yeltsin repeatedly tried to evade secret service agents while intoxicated, once while searching for pizza in his skivvies. Now I finally know what was missing from all of the house parties my college roommates and I threw. We had the homeless people sneaking into our basement without our knowledge. We had the mean punks who stole our stuff. And we had the nerdy theater kids with an undying passion for Derrida. What we really needed was a hungry, drunk, and mostly naked world leader. I bet we could have gotten ole' Boris to do a few keg stands with us or maybe do an air guitar solo if we had just made sure to keep the snacks coming.That's all I've got for tonight, folks. I hope you learned some lessons today.
Labels: celebrities, Lady Amy, Stars: They're Nothing Like Us
This entry was posted by Lady Amy, on
Wednesday, September 23, 2009.
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I picture Obama moving into the white house and his girls come running in: "Look what we found, Daddy!" "Why, it's an old sock, it must have been left by one of the previous owners, where did you get this?" The girls show him an old room way in the back at the end of a dusty hallway, it has an old dresser and all kinds of weird contraptions hanging from the ceiling. "That dresser, it's full of these old socks." "Why that's mighty peculiar," says he, and the screen fades to black.
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