More than one reader has commented (but anonymous comments don’t get posted) that Hillary and Bill Clinton have made millions in the seven years since they moved out of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave from book sales and advances. Also that they have spent millions on houses in New York and DC.
The comments reinforce my thesis that paying millions of dollars to someone who is aspiring to public office warrants asking questions and following the money trail.
I have no issue with the former president raking in the cash from books and speaking engagements, even if I am amazed at the total rehabilitation of a an impeached – albeit subsequently acquitted on a tie vote – president most of America was joyed to see leave office. A presidency that was a national embarrassment was saved only by a successor who turned out to be equally unpopular. He does have a story to tell, however.
Someone aspiring to public office, first the US Senate and now the presidency, needs to set a higher standard. I would say the same about Barak Obama (although I haven’t tried to learn what he has made through advances and book sales), but at least he has had a career of his own before politics, and not as a “spouse of”. He had a story to tell. But if, as one reader stated, someone, before she even wrote a book, paid Hilary $20 million, that is unsettling. What story does an aspiring politician whose career before her Senate bid was as a small-town real estate lawyer and whose major claim to fame was standing by her man as he was dragged down by scandal have to tell. The book deal was no less than a personal subsidy and potentially something much more odious. Who and why? I am surprised the American media leave the questions unasked.
The comments reinforce my thesis that paying millions of dollars to someone who is aspiring to public office warrants asking questions and following the money trail.
I have no issue with the former president raking in the cash from books and speaking engagements, even if I am amazed at the total rehabilitation of a an impeached – albeit subsequently acquitted on a tie vote – president most of America was joyed to see leave office. A presidency that was a national embarrassment was saved only by a successor who turned out to be equally unpopular. He does have a story to tell, however.
Someone aspiring to public office, first the US Senate and now the presidency, needs to set a higher standard. I would say the same about Barak Obama (although I haven’t tried to learn what he has made through advances and book sales), but at least he has had a career of his own before politics, and not as a “spouse of”. He had a story to tell. But if, as one reader stated, someone, before she even wrote a book, paid Hilary $20 million, that is unsettling. What story does an aspiring politician whose career before her Senate bid was as a small-town real estate lawyer and whose major claim to fame was standing by her man as he was dragged down by scandal have to tell. The book deal was no less than a personal subsidy and potentially something much more odious. Who and why? I am surprised the American media leave the questions unasked.
