September 29, 2005

"Was I really in love or was I just pretending he was the man of my dreams?"

Nora Ephron is all out of love for Bill Clinton. It starts off with some good material about Clinton's betrayal of women and gay people but winds up as just a plea for Clinton to come out in opposition to the war.

Side note: I got to this NYT op-ed via the list of the 25 most emailed articles, which I was checking to see how the TimesSelect walled-off columnists were doing. As I've noted before, they used to dominate this list, holding most of the top spots. Today, there is only one column on the list, way down at #17. It's marked with the sad little orange TimesSelect logo, which I'm sure the Times hoped would be dotted all over this list, making readers think I've got to get TimesSelect. Oh, how I'd love to hear the screaming and crying that must be going on now amongst the star columnists! How they've been wronged! Well, it's true!

18 comments:

Sloanasaurus said...

Those who actively oppose the war will end up on the wrong side of history - just as those in the who supported the British in 1776, and those in the North who opposed the war to free the slaves.

Ann Althouse said...

Whether that's true or not, it would certainly be very unhelpful for a former President to get involved in naysaying about the President's handling of a war. Even if the war is a mistake, it would be terrible for Clinton to go around saying that! It's childish to think otherwise. We don't know what Clinton says to Bush in private.

Bruce Hayden said...

What I never got is why feminists were so in love with him. He epitomized the worst in men. He was, and probably still is, a sexual preditor of the worst sort. But he got a pass for all of that from the feminists. For Gennifer Flowers, Juanita Brodderick, Kathleen Willey, Paula Jones, Monica Lewinski, et al. (ok, Flowers and Lewinski were consensual).

The author indicated that she fell out of love with the Gays in the Military thing. Yet, I think that history will show that he did the right thing there - started the process, but didn't force it, with the potential for significant adverse affects on the military that I would suggest the author didn't care about, but in the final analysis, Bill Clinton did.

Sloanasaurus said...

Clinton is also in the strange position of still being in the "game" because of Hillary's expected run for President. As such, we should not expect much candor from him in the coming years.

Simon said...

I join Sloanasaurus' first comment in full. In write separately to note:

"Whose Fault Was It? Was it Nader's fault? Or Gore's? Or Scalia's?" - what a truly bizarre comment. Why, of all people, might Scalia be on that list? Other than, presumably, because the mere mention of the name makes liberals cower in fear at the living embodiment of the conservative counterrevolution, the bete noire of constitutional law, the dark lord lord of the sith, Mean ol' Nino (c. Dahlia Lithwick)? I think such notions rather silly, and vaguely (albeit unintentionally) hagiographic.

The answer to her question, of course, is as simple as adding together the votes of Gore and Nader in New Hampshire and Florida. No Nader, no Bush 43. Y'all fell for exactly the same gag we fell for with Perot, with exactly the same result!

Anonymous said...

I just don't understand how the Left can equate "Stopping the War" with "stopping the loss of life".

Is the Left really so comfortable saying that as long as AMERICANS aren't dying in Iraq, they can sleep at night?

Unknown said...

Nora Ephron should stick to her When Harry Met Sally retreads, and shut the hell up. Why does the Times (and, to a lesser extent, every other newspaper and magazine) inflict upon us the drivel that wafts out of entertainment celebrity mouths as if it matters half as much as a well-written, well-researched news story?

Ann Althouse said...

Scipio: The Times prints this because it represents the caring, nurturing voice of Woman. Virtually every line of the piece is saying I am woman ... hear me murmur about sex, love, and peace.

SippicanCottage said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Prof. Althouse:

Ugh. She's like Naomi Wolf in sheep's clothing.

If that's what American women are supposed to be like, I'm better off with the ladies I meet in my dreams. Or Russian amputee mail-order brides.

Ann Althouse said...

Is Scipio talking about me or Ephron?

P_J said...

I came upon something that made me think, for just a moment, that Bill might even want me back. "I've reached an age now where it doesn't matter whatever happens to me," he said. "I just don't want anyone to die before their time any more." It almost really got to me.

Jeebus! I don't know what's worse: that Clinton can spout this claptrap with a straight face, that he gets a free pass from the media, or that people really want to believe this self-serving BS when Clinton says it (no doubt with hands clasped over his heart and the puppy-dog eyes going).

XWL said...

My first reaction was, you'd think Nora would want to stay far away from the spotlight after the fiasco that was Bewitched.

My second reaction was of horror since the lyrics and tune from Air Supply's "I'm All Out of Love" are now looping in my head.

My third reaction was what a waste of valuable column inches.

Curse you Nora Ephron!
Curse you NYT!
Curse you Air Supply!

(and Prof. Althouse you get a pass since you couldn't have anticipated those terrifying side-effects when linking that article).

and as far as Scipio's comment, I believe that the colon after Prof. Althouse would suggest that he is addressing his comment to Ann so the she would most likely be referring to someone else (namely Nora Ephron).

Ann Althouse said...

LeRoy: I'm responsible for the Air Supply.

XWL said...

Well in that case whatever malediction is less severe than a curse, that is what you have earned, now to bring curses upon myself (and since misery loves company);


I'm lying alone with my head on the phone
Thinking of you till it hurts
I know you hurt too but what else can we do
Tormented and torn apart
I wish I could carry your smile and my heart
For times when my life feels so low
It would make me believe what tomorrow could bring
When today doesn't really know, doesn't really know

Chorus:
I'm all out of love, I'm so lost without you
I know you were right believing for so long
I'm all out of love, what am I without you
I can't be too late to say that I was so wrong

I want you to come back and carry me home
Away from this long lonely nights
I'm reaching for you, are you feeling it too
Does the feeling seem oh so right
And what would you say if I called on you now
And said that I can't hold on
There's no easy way, it gets harder each day
Please love me or I'll be gone, I'll be gone

Chorus

Oh, what are you thinking of?
What are you thinking of?
Oh, what are you thinking of?
What are you thinking of?

Chorus(3x)




(ain't I a stinker?)

(and who knew Clive Davis wrote songs?)

Ron said...

Nora: Are you...getting enough oxygen?


Zorak, play me to the desk!


hmmm... my verification word is "fugnlufs." Has a nice sort of vulgar ring to it, doesn't it?

Judith said...

Why should Clinton come out against the war? Bush is just enacting the Iraqi Liberation Act of 1998, which Clinton didn't have the political climate to pursue. Clinton is happy we got rid of Saddam.

Ann Althouse said...

Kirk: I have no idea how to enable more tags.