as soon as I heard about it yesterday, my quick response was "good." and while there are indeed many things to say about him, there's a shorthand that covers a LOT of it. namely, "prick."
a friend of his was quoted in today's NYT as saying that he was an amazingly sweet guy and a remarkably ethical lawyer. fuck them both.
Obviously, Starr's "friend" is deaf, blind and spent the latter part of the 90's in a cave. Starr was pursuing a political vendetta and when he found nothing incriminating in the Whitewater "scandal", he went looking for something--anything--else with which he could play a game of "gotcha" on President Bill Clinton.
There was lots to get Bill with, but Starr wasn't a advocate of the people.. There was a many miles long line of incarcerated Black men and their families; folks cut off from Welfare checks, a passel of women... I couldn't possibly count them all.
I completely agree; WJC was an astoundingly bright man...but he also had a baggage load of faults and blind spots--one of which was being an alumnus of the Democratic Leadership Council.
Worse, he bought the whole line, hook and sinker included. Having been brought up fairly poor, by a single mother, I kinda expected better things from him and was very disappointed--particularly with the welfare reform measures. So was Ms. Ivins and she did not spare him in any of the scathing columns that she wrote about his follies and missteps.
the second time he ran (in '96) I was so irritated with him for his cynical crime and welfare bullshit that I had to do my usual protest vote, which (as I recall) was for the SWP candidate. no way was I gonna vote again for Bill, who was certainly really smart and competent, but also more than a little bit of a neoliberal scumbag.
I didn't vote for him twice, on the grounds I only vote for Democrats. That and reading the way he weaseled and conned with his draft board (there's getting out of the draft and there's..... bullshitting everyone, which is what he did) was a "character tell" for who/what he really was. And eight years of him proved the observation was accurate. I'm pretty sure he'll end up in the record books as the Least Democratic President of the 20th Century. And to tell the truth the only reason I could bring myself to vote for his wife was her opponent. I'd be very happy if they'd both shut up and enjoy their strangely-obtained wealth.
,I am curious to know why you consider B. Clinton 'astoundingly' bright. It is the 'astounding' that stumps me. Compared to Obama, Pelosi, McConnell, Raskin, Whitehouse (R. I. senator), Elizabeth Warren... and so many others, Clinton's mind does not stand out, but his salesmanship was outstanding.
His salesmanship. The term "cracker" comes from "cracking trader," and it's not generally a compliment. Bill was/is a definite "cracker" in the old definition.
I had exactly the same reaction you've had...the article (today's NYT obit) failed to specify the party affiliation of these friends, but I'll wager they're NOT Democrats.
Har har. Was thinking similarly. Never speak badly of the dead, but don't avoid the opportunity to wish them Gospeed. And, maybe a little nudge, extra burger, "sweetened diet coke," a visit from Garland's wet workers as it sleeps.
Fred, are the extra burger and 'sweetened diet coke', along with a visit from Garland's wet workers for the living or the dead or for someone in between?
YES!! And thank you for saying so. I read the NYT article on Starr (well, just the headline) and I was disappointed the comment section was not open because I wanted to post “Good. The world is a better place without the likes of that slimy salacious bastard.” How many lives did he gleefully ruin in his tenure? This is how he will be remembered.
I don’t have any problem speaking ill of the dead. But with some people you just don’t know where to start. Ken Starr is one of those. He screwed up so much stuff, either through malice or incompetence, sometimes both, and hurt so many people, that you just have to mark him as vile. And he was a big contributor to our political disfunction. If Starr has a place in history, it will be adjacent to people such as James Thomson Callender, Robert A. Taft and Joseph McCarthy, people who did nothing positive and diminished everything they touched. (Yeah, I know, tfg too.) Good riddance.
Boy howdy are you telling me! Rochester, NY law enforcement does not take too kindly to a 66 year old gray haired, flabby, losing to gravity, white woman shaking her naked fat ass booty up and down the street shouting, "Fuck Yeah!"
as soon as I heard about it yesterday, my quick response was "good." and while there are indeed many things to say about him, there's a shorthand that covers a LOT of it. namely, "prick."
a friend of his was quoted in today's NYT as saying that he was an amazingly sweet guy and a remarkably ethical lawyer. fuck them both.
His friend? Ken Starr had friends?
Obviously, Starr's "friend" is deaf, blind and spent the latter part of the 90's in a cave. Starr was pursuing a political vendetta and when he found nothing incriminating in the Whitewater "scandal", he went looking for something--anything--else with which he could play a game of "gotcha" on President Bill Clinton.
There was lots to get Bill with, but Starr wasn't a advocate of the people.. There was a many miles long line of incarcerated Black men and their families; folks cut off from Welfare checks, a passel of women... I couldn't possibly count them all.
I completely agree; WJC was an astoundingly bright man...but he also had a baggage load of faults and blind spots--one of which was being an alumnus of the Democratic Leadership Council.
Worse, he bought the whole line, hook and sinker included. Having been brought up fairly poor, by a single mother, I kinda expected better things from him and was very disappointed--particularly with the welfare reform measures. So was Ms. Ivins and she did not spare him in any of the scathing columns that she wrote about his follies and missteps.
the second time he ran (in '96) I was so irritated with him for his cynical crime and welfare bullshit that I had to do my usual protest vote, which (as I recall) was for the SWP candidate. no way was I gonna vote again for Bill, who was certainly really smart and competent, but also more than a little bit of a neoliberal scumbag.
I didn't vote for him twice, on the grounds I only vote for Democrats. That and reading the way he weaseled and conned with his draft board (there's getting out of the draft and there's..... bullshitting everyone, which is what he did) was a "character tell" for who/what he really was. And eight years of him proved the observation was accurate. I'm pretty sure he'll end up in the record books as the Least Democratic President of the 20th Century. And to tell the truth the only reason I could bring myself to vote for his wife was her opponent. I'd be very happy if they'd both shut up and enjoy their strangely-obtained wealth.
🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
,I am curious to know why you consider B. Clinton 'astoundingly' bright. It is the 'astounding' that stumps me. Compared to Obama, Pelosi, McConnell, Raskin, Whitehouse (R. I. senator), Elizabeth Warren... and so many others, Clinton's mind does not stand out, but his salesmanship was outstanding.
His salesmanship. The term "cracker" comes from "cracking trader," and it's not generally a compliment. Bill was/is a definite "cracker" in the old definition.
TC, you pinpointed that 'cracker'. My broadest smile of the day is thanks to you.
I had exactly the same reaction you've had...the article (today's NYT obit) failed to specify the party affiliation of these friends, but I'll wager they're NOT Democrats.
'Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.'
___Mel Brooks
Fern wins the intertoobz!
Do I get a trophy?
Here you go. 🏆
😉
Camilla, Thank you. I adore the trophy. It will go on the mantel. Mel Brooks thanks you, too!
Or as with Homer Simpson’s epitaph as proposed by Patty and Selma:
We are Richer For Having Lost Him
“Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone.”
Dorothy Parker.
🗽
Damn, TC, that’s concise.
Har har. Was thinking similarly. Never speak badly of the dead, but don't avoid the opportunity to wish them Gospeed. And, maybe a little nudge, extra burger, "sweetened diet coke," a visit from Garland's wet workers as it sleeps.
Fred, are the extra burger and 'sweetened diet coke', along with a visit from Garland's wet workers for the living or the dead or for someone in between?
For YKW.
Who'd have guessed? 😲
Once again, I actually Laughed Out Loud, Fern.
For the fine gentleman, so in the news who presently resides in Florida.
Thanks for the chuckle, Tom.
First I felt shock. Then I felt other things. He did so much harm in so many venues. A model of the Grand Inquisitor. Or Baron Scarpia.
YES!! And thank you for saying so. I read the NYT article on Starr (well, just the headline) and I was disappointed the comment section was not open because I wanted to post “Good. The world is a better place without the likes of that slimy salacious bastard.” How many lives did he gleefully ruin in his tenure? This is how he will be remembered.
Off this coil he shuffles, to appear wig-wringing before the great star chamber in the heavens.
I don’t have any problem speaking ill of the dead. But with some people you just don’t know where to start. Ken Starr is one of those. He screwed up so much stuff, either through malice or incompetence, sometimes both, and hurt so many people, that you just have to mark him as vile. And he was a big contributor to our political disfunction. If Starr has a place in history, it will be adjacent to people such as James Thomson Callender, Robert A. Taft and Joseph McCarthy, people who did nothing positive and diminished everything they touched. (Yeah, I know, tfg too.) Good riddance.
Yes indeed.
Boy howdy are you telling me! Rochester, NY law enforcement does not take too kindly to a 66 year old gray haired, flabby, losing to gravity, white woman shaking her naked fat ass booty up and down the street shouting, "Fuck Yeah!"
My thought was 'couldn't happen to a better guy'.... can't help but wonder who he saw in his mirror?
“There is no shortage of fault to be found among our Starr.” What John Green should have written