20080601 Bubba Trouble by Todd S. Purdum for Vanity Fair

Former president Bill Clinton campaigning in Richmond on behalf of his wife during the run-up to the 2008 Virginia primary, which Hillary Clinton would lose to Barack Obama. By Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images.

20080601 Bubba Trouble by Todd S. Purdum for Vanity Fair

Bubba Trouble by Todd S. Purdum for Vanity Fair

If you have not had a chance to read, “The Comeback Id,” - Bubba Trouble by Todd S. Purdum for Vanity Fair, you are missing a compelling walk on the wild side that reminds one of the fascination folks on the highway have for a bus accident with multiple injuries.

Someone much brighter than me once said that “Politics is high school drama taken to a new level.” This is more like a “B” movie about middle school.

It is cringe worthy, disconcerting, tawdry, salacious, and may have reset the bar for personal attacks on national figures. To be certain, I have never – ever been a fan of President William Jefferson Clinton or his wife, New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. I have read material I have written of them in the past and have been embarrassed that I chose to be so indelicate and disrespectful.

Having been the subject of several attack–hit-pieces by the Baltimore Sun in the past, I must admit – - at this - a weak moment – - I almost feel badly for the former president.

Then again, objectively speaking, there is quite a strong argument that President Clinton, (aided and abetted by liberal Democrats and the liberal mainstream media,) played a significant role in the “victimization” of the former president.

Not to be overlooked is the fact that Mr. Purdum is married to former Clinton Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers. What role that may have played in the writing of this expose is in the eye of an individual presidential observer.

Whether you are a sycophant Bill Clinton supporter or a deranged Bill Clinton hater – the piece is a must-read.

Please clear the room of younger children and the innocent before you pull it up. Having a can of Lysol available may also prove prudent.

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The Comeback Id

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/07/clinton200807?printable=true&currentPage=all

Old friends and longtime aides are wringing their hands over Bill Clinton’s post–White House escapades, from the dubious (and secretive) business associations to the media blowups that have bruised his wife’s campaign, to the private-jetting around with a skirt-chasing, scandal-tinged posse. Some point to Clinton’s medical traumas; others blame sheer selfishness, and the absence of anyone who can say “no.” Exploring Clintonworld, the author asks if the former president will be consumed by his own worst self.

by Todd S. Purdum July 2008

It was a wedding straight out of Sex and the City: a rehearsal dinner looking out over the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero, a garden ceremony and dancing reception in a grand château outside Paris, topped off by a private fireworks display. The groom was a thirtysomething American lawyer with friends in high places, the bride a dark-eyed designer with social sheen, and the guest list a mix of family and what Noël Coward once called Nescafé Society.

But the real cynosure of the occasion last August was the smiling, snowy-haired man who is the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral he attends, the 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton. He had come to the City of Light with the motley crew that constitutes some of the post-presidential rat pack to celebrate the marriage of Douglas Band, the man who for the last decade has been his personal aide, gatekeeper, enforcer, and—more recently—counselor in the multifarious business, philanthropic, and political dealings that keep Clinton restlessly circling the globe.

Also in attendance was Ron Burkle, the California supermarket billionaire and investor who is Clinton’s bachelor buddy, fund-raiser, and business partner. Burkle had come with an attractive blonde, described by a fellow guest as “not much older than 19, if she was that.”

Burkle’s usual means of transport is the custom-converted Boeing 757 that Clinton calls “Ron Air” and that Burkle’s own circle of young aides privately refer to as …

Read the rest here after you buckle your seat belt – there’s lots of heavy breathing ahead: The Comeback Id

Click here to read Todd S. Purdum’s blog and watch his “Capital Conversations” with Dee Dee Myers on VF Daily.

20080601 Bubba Trouble by Todd S. Purdum for Vanity Fair