Flashback:Bob Herbert is mad at the Clintons and
doesn't mince words. He's upset with the recent hard-working/white claim by Hillary, but also goes back to discuss the pardons issued at the end of Bill's term and the way they left office:
It wasn’t just the pardons that sullied the Clintons’ exit from the White House. They took furniture and rugs from the White House collection that had to be returned. And they received $86,000 in gifts during the president’s last year in office, including clothing (a pantsuit, a leather jacket), flatware, carpeting, and so on. In response to the outcry over that, they decided to repay the value of the gifts.
... class is not a Clinton forte.
For January 24, 2001,
Pat Olphant drew this cartoon:
Interesting to read the comment in the lower corner: "Just so they never come back."
NOTE: I've had that caroon saved on my computer
for years. Would look at it every so often and always thought it was funny - it's a very good illustration with lots of detail. Now there's an excuse (Herbert) to put it on the blog.
posted by Quiddity at 5/10/2008 01:50:00 AM
Re: The Clintons and the furniture and rug they returned after taking from the White House when Bill Clinton's term of office ended:
The king of gift takers was Thomas Jefferson, who drew no line between gifts given to him personally and those given to the White House. As far as he was concerned, it was his...
Jefferson was not middle class, of course, which made it quite alright to the courtiers of the time--some things don't change. While the Clintons are certainly multimillionaires these days, they were still in the upper middle class or lower upper class at the time Bill Clinton left office.
I am not a Hillary fan, but Herbert was delivering a cheap shot against the Clintons that is beneath him.
Didnt this get investigated along with the alleged damage to the offices (missing W keys on keyboards)
Wasnt the result that Hillary had to return a chair?
This is a cheap shot.
The story of the Clintons taking everything that wasn't nailed down has been discredited. I thought this was a liberal to Democratic leaning blog. There's enough out there to damn the Clintons without spreading this kind of crap. Shame.
POINT ONE: You don't think the cartoon is funny? It could be of Gandhi, and it would amuse.
POINT TWO: From a Republican Congressional investigation (which didn't find anything egregious):
...the Clintons eventually returned roughly two dozen gifts worth nearly $50,000 because the gifts were intended for the White House, and thus were the property of the National Park Service.
