Bill Clinton: No, I Really Didn't Inhale, Guys
CLAREMONT, N.H. -- No, he says. He really didn't inhale.
New Hampshire has fought to preserve its first-in-the-nation primary, arguing that no where else do candidates, or their surrogates, get the kind of direct scrutiny that comes with the primary tradition. And so, during a town hall meeting this afternoon, Bill Clinton was asked for some clarification on an issue that dogged him some years back.
"Did you or did you not inhale?" someone asked him.
The crowd, at least those who stayed despite the former president being over and hour and a half late, laughed at the query, as Clinton quickly responded.
"You know actually I didn't," he said. "But the press – that was a classic example of the disparate press [coverage]."
He referred to a book written by a British journalist as his evidence. But he hinted that there was more to the story. "I thought it was funny that I didn't inhale. I didn't say that I didn't try," he said. "It was something I could not do, that didn't have anything to do with the way it was spun out to you. It was a joke."
The question was the last one Clinton took at the event in the western part of the state. Or at least it was supposed to be. After thanking the audience, Clinton began shaking hands and the music started blaring. But he quickly returned to the podium, saying someone had asked him something personally he wanted to answer publicly – what can be done to stop Barack Obama's momentum.
"The answer is, there might not be enough time," Clinton said. "New Hampshire made a decision, that I didn't agree with, to basically give up a lot of their independent judgment by going five days after Iowa, when there in a wash of all this publicity. We are just now getting to the real differences with some of these candidates."
(NBC/NJ's MIKE MEMOLI)
Bill Clinton just can't help himself. If he really thinks he convinced anyone that he did not inhale he is fooling himself.
And to claim that they spent over $50 million without showing us the real differences with Obama, shows that he is still have problem with telling the truth.
He should accept that his brand of politics has been rejected now and for ever. It is a damn shame that for the lust of power Bill Clinton will be for ever damaged.
Poor Bill, never say die, things will be better by and by. By the way what happened to that poisoned wine? I gave it to you, you drank it. Poor Bill, neath the stars that shine, washing them dishes, feeding them swine.
You know, when I was in high school, and EVERYONE smoked dope but I didn't, when it was passed around to me, I didn't inhale. After high school that changed, but that's another story.
Bill didn't inhale. He also didn't have sex with that woman.
It depends on what your definition of "inhale" is. Actually, it also depends on what your definition of "I" and "didn't" is.
Also, it depends on what your definition of "is" is.
"Yeah, but I didn't inhale" marked the moment I fell off the Clinton bus. Crikes. Newly elected with piles of political capital and a chance to make a difference on a stupid issue like smoking a joint when he was young, and he couldn't do it. Same punk-ass he always was as it turns out, worrying that he'd get caught, even when he's President of the United States, for crissakes. Even Gore fessed up when asked about the same thing; made a joke about it on Letterman - "oh I tried it... but I inhaled"; everybody laughed and the world didn't end. Fifteen years and a disgraced legacy later and Bubba still can't own up. What a wuss. Please just go away, Bill.