The Daily Muse: Bubba 7

Room

for the in

If the ghost of Abe Lincoln should float in to the White House (and run into the spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt), he might ask: "Who's been sleeping in my bed?"
Lots of people, according to the Washington Post. Lots of rich people, in fact.
With Bill Clinton and the Democrats scrounging to raise gillions to finance this year's campaigns, the president decided to let just about anyone--with 6 figures to spare--sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom, the newspaper reports.
And for an extra $5,000 or so, we imagine the Bubster and Hillary probably let the special donors jump up and down on the bed.
The White House says there's nothing troubling about this. Presidents have long hosted special guests at the Executive Mansion.
But what worries us is that, while the White House is the people's house, (and folks lined up at dawn to get the grand tour prove that it's so), ordinary Americans don't get the privilege of being personally tucked in and read a nice bedtime story by the First Couple.
"Oh gee, Mrs. Clinton. Just one more please."
"Oh, all right. One more: Once upon a time not so long ago, a boy named Bill lived in an out-of-the-way place called Arkansas..."

Reader Randy's room rates

Moneymoneymoney

Folks who work for Bill Clinton are not stupid.

They knew something was awry when a Brinks truck pulled up to the offices of the president's (Whitewater, etc.) legal defense fund and a man in a re d suit and white beard dumped a bag full of checks on the front steps.

Turns out the money--some $640,000--had to be given back because of mysterious connections to an Asian-Arkansan friend of Bill. Many of the checks were sequential and written by a similar hand, the head of the fund says.

Strangely enough (even amid all strange things related to Clinton's money troubles), this happened last spring--not the normal time for Santa to pay a visit. And stranger still is that it took all this time--conveniently after the November election--for the world to find out.

The president now says he did the right thing, returning the money and all, even though it leaves his legal fund close to bankruptcy.

But Clinton and his money can't seem to stay out of trouble (his middle name?). All this stuff is getting knottier by the day.

What's next? Do tell us.

Readers connect Bubba to Motel 6, Elmo

Drop

zone
Maybe it was a strong breeze that brought down the Windy City's William Daley at the very moment when all those years of political favors were about to pay off big time.
The Democratic power broker had just accepted the nomination to be U.S. commerce secretary when he suddenly fell ill and collapsed (a cross between Bob Dole and Gerald Ford?) in front of the president and all the world to see.
Surely Daley, son of the late Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and brother of the current mayor, had been given the short list of what not to do when receiving such a higher honor:

Do not throw up on the president.

Do not break wind in the presense of the president.

Do not fall down on the president.
To his credit, Bill Daley managed to miss the Bubster by several feet when gravity came a calling.
But what a way to make an impression on the new boss...

Happy Thanksgiving to
you too, Mr. President.

Money talks
In his usual dramatic style, President Bill kicked off post-election budget talks with Congress by dropping a bombshell.
In what had been billed as a "feeling-out" session where not much of substance would be accomplished (this describes 99.9% of all meetings in Washington), the Bubster leaned over to Senate Majority Leader Trent ("Used Car") Lott, tapped him on the knee and let it fly...
"Here's the deal, Trent--may I call you Trent? We've got this budget deficit that we're trying to wipe out by the time the Al Gore's presidential election rolls around.
"As you well know, I have a few...friends who are very adept at raising lots of cash on short notice. Why not have John Huang work his magic over at the IRS? A few phone calls and fund-raisers and we'll have this deficit licked in no time..."

The Bag Lady

We feel her pain.
First Lady Hillary says it's tough hiding in the shadow of fame, having a brilliant mind of one's own and being unable to say what's on it.
Sometimes, she says, one in her position has to "totally withdraw" from the limelight. "Perhaps have a bag over your head when you come out into public..."
But now, she tells Time, she may whip that bag right off her head and hit the bricks in search of a job during the First Hubby's second term.
Despite the drubbing she took over health care, Hillary (that's Mrs. Kervorkian, to you) says she's interested in championing another cause: welfare reform as she knows it.
So much for that cause...

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