Bill Clinton: Awesomely Awesome

h/t for stolen headline

Bill Clinton sends a message to Barack: I pity the fool who calls me a racist!

Hillary Clinton sends a message to Barack: Don't f@#% with me.

Utilizing perfect political timing and the perfect venue: Bill Clinton today sunk Barack Obama's campaign. TheHill.com:

The former president, speaking in Denver[...]: "Suppose you're a voter, and you've got candidate X and candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything, but you don't think that candidate can deliver on anything at all. Candidate Y you agree with on about half the issues, but he can deliver. Which candidate are you going to vote for?"

Then, perhaps mindful of how his off-the-cuff remarks might be taken, Clinton added after a pause: "This has nothing to do with what's going on now."

This is not even a knife in the back: this is a deep slash across the jugular.

I believe this is damaging, and is a politically memorable statement. Pres. Clinton's comments tap into a meme with a lot of truth behind it. The comments might become ranked amongst the most famous Pres. Clinton has ever uttered:

1. "I did not have sex with that woman...."
2. "It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is."
3. "Suppose ... you don't think that candidate can deliver on anything at all .... Which candidate are you going to vote for?"

Speculation: This has been planned for a long time. For weeks, as Hillary made nice, Clinton operatives have been sending out the message: Bill just can't get over his anger at the way the primaries played out. Ten days or so ago, appropos of nothing, Bill said this in an interview: "I am not a racist."

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I saw, just a day or so ago, on the Travel Channel, some desert Muslims ritually slaughter a goat. They faced the goat northeast, towards Mecca. They slashed it's neck, then hung it upside down, then allowed all the goat blood to drip out of the jugular and onto the sand.

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Barack got his start in politics via a powerful and long time Illinois State Senator: Alice Palmer.

When Palmer decided to run for higher office, she a) introduced Barack to the sharp Chicago political operatives he would need, and b) publicly endorsed his candidacy for her longtime state legislative office.

When Palmer subsequently lost the Dem Primary for her newly sought office, she asked Barack to step aside so she could be re-elected to her long-held office in the Illinois State Senate. Not only did Barack refuse to step aside for his patron, he set his new friends - the sharp Chicago political operatives - to work getting Alice Palmer thrown off the ballot. The sharpies succeeded at their task, and Barack ran unopposed for his first political office.

When asked for comment, Alice Palmer said (quoting from memory): "This is politics. You gotta have sharp elbows."