Give It Up
“Giving” by Bill Clinton
In this age of hysteria and hyperbole, you have to take your subtle ironies where you can find them.
So, it was with a wry inner chuckle that I read a story that sales of Bill Clinton’s book, Giving, are falling rapidly.
I think the first problem arises when you try selling a book called Giving. If for no other reason than it would be a good publicity stunt, you should probably start by handing out a bunch of free copies.
In fairness, the price of the book has recently been marked down.
Another reason the book may not be doing so well is the peculiar combination of author and subject matter. Having Bill Clinton write a book about “giving” is like having Ann Coulter write a book about “tact.” You know neither one of their hearts are in it.
It’s hard to believe even hardcore Democrats are buying the attempted image makeover here of Bill Clinton as a giving person. After all, it’s not like he was going down on Monica.
Still, the former President does a very thorough job in the book of stroking donors and benefactors, lavishing them with praise and holding them up as examples of virtue to the rest of us.
You’d have to be really cynical about politics to suggest that this kind of sucking up has anything to do with Hillary’s involvement in the upcoming Presidential election.
If you’re feeling a bit shy, I’d be more than happy to toss out that first stone.
Ever the politician, the Next First Mate also devotes a significant portion of the book extolling his own accomplishments as President. He makes sure to mention legislation he influenced on health care issues, the economy, climate change and terrorism as examples of his giving nature.
Bill must have taken up yoga since leaving office because running through your resume as President and referring to it as if it were some kind of charitable service seems like a pretty big stretch.
Trust me, if any one of us got paid $400,000 a year and had a few trillion dollars of other people’s money to throw around, we could all do a pretty good Mother Theresa impersonation.
We all want to change the world.
You just have to be careful whose advice you’re taking on how to do it.
“Receiving” by Bill Clinton
humor, Bill Clinton, Giving, Receiving, threesome, Mother Theresa
October 18th, 2007 at 10:31 am
I don’t think he picked a broad enough topic. How about “Being Good”, or maybe just “Doing Stuff.”
October 20th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Maybe it’s a typo, and the publisher forgot the word “Head.”
October 21st, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Clinton only made $200,000 a year. Congress voted in 1999 to make the next president get $400,000.
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:47 am
Much love for my commenters.
(I’m taking spell-check to the mat on this one as it suggested I use “comm enters” which is clearly some kind of abbreviated stage direction for communists.)
Diesel has already been signed as ghost writer for Clinton’s next book.
Deb is a shoo-in for the next Friday Six with her take on Dumbledore. She also has the best explanation I’ve heard on why Ellen is so upset over at DebontheRocks.com
Suzy reminds us that charity begins at home and that I need to put a 100% raise in the suggestion box at work.