Hillary Clinton's Life Inside The Bubble

Washington Post: Minute-By-Minute Accounts Reveal So Much, And Yet So Little About Her Time As First Lady

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Libby Copeland.

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So this is what life inside the bubble looks like, in tedious, mind-numbing detail.

In the 11,046 pages of Hillary Clinton's White House schedules released yesterday, every minute is scripted, down to when she takes her seat on a bench, when she is presented with a gift (1:35 p.m.) and when she makes a speech accepting it (1:40 p.m.), when she is escorted to an elevator and by whom and on what floor.

But not why. Never the why.

This is the briefest outline of a life, all mechanics and no feeling. If there are any insights here into the presidential candidate's interior life, they are between the typewritten lines and the reader's imagination.

On Jan. 21, 1998, the day several major news outlets first reported a possible liaison between Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky, there was this on the first lady's schedule:

A private one-hour meeting with attorneys Bob Barnett and Cheryl Mills, along with several people from ABC News radio. Traveled by Metroliner to a convocation ceremony at Goucher College, near Baltimore, where FLOTUS made a speech, took part in a VIP reception and conducted a Q&A with students. She received a gift basket sometime between 3:45 and 4:35 p.m., if all went according to schedule. Then she went back to Washington for 25 minutes of [REDACTED], followed by a black-tie dinner with POTUS, complete with receiving line and champagne.

What was really interesting, in the light of history, wasn't on the schedule. It was when Clinton spoke briefly to reporters on her way back from Goucher, telling them she didn't believe her husband had had an affair with an intern, saying, "I have seen how these charges and accusations evaporate and disappear if they're ever given the light of day."

Real life upsets the best efforts of the schedulers.

Almost nothing in the first lady's life is left to chance. The weather forecasts for Washington or wherever she is supposed to be are listed in her schedules, down to the details ("Wind southerly 10-20 knots"). When Hillary Clinton flies to Copenhagen, a notation points out that while local time will be 2:10 a.m., Clinton's "Body clock time" will be 8:10 p.m.

A chat with her husband is not a chat with her husband; it's a "PVT MTG W/THE PRESIDENT" in the Oval Office, and it is duly allotted minutes, and the president's chief of staff, Mack McLarty, is listed as scheduled to attend.

The schedules reveal the scaffolding under a savvy politician's exterior. Here are all the tips and hints that a first lady and her staff use to placate supporters and show respect to colleagues. In February of 1993, Clinton meets with Wally Kunicki, the speaker of the Wisconsin state assembly, for a 10-minute photo op. The event listing includes a note: "Wally Kinicki [sic] was a very early supporter." ("Thank you, Wally," we imagine her saying. "You were such an early supporter.") For one event, the schedule attempts to avoid an awkward incident by noting the pronunciation of then-Rep. Kweisi Mfume's name: "M-foomay."

What must it be like to live inside such a script? It's as close as we mortals can get to being able to predict the future. Walking into a children's hospital, Clinton (or her handlers) would have already known that she would be "escorted to rocking chair by 4 patients who will sit next to her." This is comforting or this is maddening, depending on your point of view. For Clinton, whose poise and preparation are legendary, the bubble might be a lovely place. So cushioned. So controlled.

"You know, I think I'm probably the most transparent person in public life," Clinton said Tuesday, talking about the release of all these pages upon pages from her White House days. She went on to note how many books had been written about her, 60 by her estimate.

As a matter of fact, there's a difference between being transparent and being scrutinized. Clinton is one of the most studied figures in public life, but she's also one of the most opaque. This is why the release of these documents seems like much more of the same. Just paper. We know what she did on any particular day -- we might even know where she stood -- but not what she felt. Not what she said to her husband, the president. Not what she thought about it all.

All mechanics. On Dec. 19, 1998, the day Bill Clinton was impeached by the House, Hillary Clinton's schedule made no mention of the fact that she and her husband would take to the South Lawn to criticize the vote and to vow to stay in office. It noted that she visited the House Democratic Caucus in the morning but not that she told members there that she loved her husband.

The last item on the schedule that day was a black-tie holiday dinner for 500 guests, slated to run from 7:40 to 9:30 p.m. Every detail was spelled out: The Clintons would be announced, the president would make "brief welcoming remarks" and dinner would be served at 7:50.

And then, this note, and perhaps she was glad for the rare instance when the script left a line up to her discretion:

"Upon conclusion of dinner, the President and First Lady have the first dance (optional)."

[lukas24-2009]

Ok, this Wright stuff is disturbing, very. But the bigger problem I have for Mr. Obama is his pattern of saying one thing and then distancing himself from those words when the opposite is revealed at a later date. That is called "spin", people. We have a need and right to know Senator Obama from every angle and what he believes when he talks of equality and a "vision" for America.

To say that Clinton +/or Obama is at fault for the direction the Democratic campaign has headed, is ludicrous and short-sighted. America is a melting pot of races, genders, culture, etc. and we each have a personal interest in seeing "ourselves" in our President. With that connection comes passion and emotional investment. However, it also must be tempered with information about the candidates (good and bad, without negative "label" attached to said information) so that we can make informed choices, rather than only emotionally-driven ones. To Americans: try to take off the blinders of opinion polls, media spin, mud and excitement. That person is Senator Clinton. She has worked hard and diligently for all Americans, and spent years building strong relationships because she has a passionate vision of what America can be, not just because she''s running for President. Vetted, intelligent, tested and hardworking.

Senator Clinton is the right choice for me in ''08

[obamagrls-bf]

All who dislike OBAMA..

May be you dislike him for experience, lies, faith , spinning or for preaching false HOPE ...

but you most recognize and GIVE him the credits for following reasons...

- 1st of all when he started in the RACE he was kind of WIMBLEDON''''S wildcard entry 1st knock-out kind of player. He was there on the stage against the biggest champions of democratic party likes of Edwards, Richardson, Kuchunich, Dodd, Biden and off course the toughest player who can serve ACEs in either hands left and right ..YES i''''m talking about CLINTON-DUO..

Not only had he survived but hitting winners after winners

- He is the man never played RACE.. He understood UNITY. he appealed independents and republicans into his side ..he is quite successfully..

- He is of course BRILLIANT not only in studies but also in judgment... being the president of Harvard and stand on IRAQ proves it ...

- The last and the toughest one is his IDENTITY ... he really handled it so well..Even though he knows RACE is the issue can pull him down he did not FEAR to tell the TRUTH.. We need to move on... white, black and brown TOGATHER.he has shown the greatest quality of organizing

I ask all of you just put yourself in the context that you are challenging CLINTON, RICHARDSON, EDWARD, BIDEN AND DODD all at a time..Also being hit by republican big PUNH..

He is a GREAT leader whom u dislike.

[sosoe-2009]

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PRIMARIES, ALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES AGREED THAT MICHIGAN AND FLORIDA WOULD BE PUNISHED FOR CHANGING THEIR PRIMARY DATES. THEIR PLEDGED DELEGATES WOULD NOT COUNT. NOW, THIS WITCH WANTS BOTH STATES TO RE-VOTE, SO HER STANK A## CAN TRY AND GAIN SOME MORE NEEDED DELEGATES, BECAUSE SHE''S BEHIND BARACK IN THE DELEGATE COUNT!! AND SHE''S TRYING TO MAKE BARACK LOOK LIKE THE BAD GUY, BECAUSE, OF COURSE, HE''S NOT AGREEING TO IT. THIS HAG IS FULL OF TRICKS!! SHE SHOULD HAVE USED SOME OF THOSE TRICKS IN THE BEDROOM WITH "SLICK WILLIE", MAYBE HE WOULD''NT HAVE SOUGHT OUT MONICA!!!!!!! SHE''S THE BIGGEST "TRICK OF ALL"!!!!!!!!!!! AND THIS COMMENT IS FROM A FORMER, GET IT, FORMER, CLINTON SUPPORTER!!!! I WOULD''NT SPIT ON THAT ##### IF SHE WAS ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!

[blkpresident]

Terrorist1: If that ''lil woman wins we will destroy America.

Terrorist2: Of course, since all she has to offer to counter our wicked evil intentions is to threaten us with no more brownies from her recipe book atop her kitchen stove.

Terrorist3: And OLD man McCain is also not a challenge to us either. Wonder if he has had his geritol today.

Terrorist4: America''s only hope is Obama. At least he doesn''t wear an apron like missy, nor does he have OLD age issues either.

[j0xujahc]

We need someone who can lead not someone who can pick the new drapes. Obama is our correct choice to lead us to peace.

[larry996-2009]

The color Purple. Much as we may crave it, we do not live in a democracy. If we did then each person would have one vote in every issue, and that vote would count as much as any other. But we don%u2019t. If you participated in a caucus, your vote counted about ten times as much as someone who voted in a primary. In the general election, what ultimately matters is the votes in the Electoral College, not the popular vote, as we re-learned so painfully in 2000. So the question facing the uncommitted %u201Csuper-delegates%u201D is how do we run the best campaign with the highest probability of defeating John McCain in November, and win the majority of Electoral College votes. Cuurently Clinton has 267 electoral votes and Obama has 202 electoral votes using the same method as used in the GE. Assume that Hillary wins PA, WV, Indiana
and Obama gets SD, NC , OR , MT , Clinton will have 308 electoral votes and Obama will have 230 Electoral votes. You know who should be on top of the DREAM ticket.

[larry996-2009]

%u201CPurple%u201D states are those where, for example, the Presidential vote in 2004 was separated by about 6% or less. Those include Ohio, Florida, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and New Mexico which Hillary either already won or is leading. These are the states that the Democratic Party must win in November. It is critically important that the Democratic candidate be the one who draws most strongly in those key states. To believe that the candidate who did not attract a majority of Democratic voters in the primaries there, will somehow get not only most of those Democratic voters but also draw similar voters from outside the Democratic Party is naove and dangerous if your ultimate goal is to not have a Republican in the White House this time next year. Upto now Hillary has 2064 delegates and Obama has 1394 delegates using the same method that is used in the General election. Assuming that Hillary wins PA, WV,Indiana and PR & Guam and Obama gets SD, NC , OR , MT , she will have 2439 delegates and Obama will have 1606 delegates. If Democrats ignore this and give top of the ticket to Obama, 25% of the Democrats will vote for Republicans and we can lose both the House & the Senate. This is exactly what happened when Anti War hero McGovern was nominated and we lost all states except Mass.

[larry996-2009]

Here is a woderful video to see . Then you will know who is the better candidate :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72B3tUAqpo4

[jockh]

If Hillary couldnt control her husband from having affairs with Monica under her nose how can we trust her to control the economy?

[naosam]

nursehope
you''re really hoping got hope?

Which Hillary are you talking about the one who could''nt pronounce the foreign president''s name? ha ha ah

[naosam]

http://www.concentric.net/~ronsm/cindy_mccain.html

check this out:
It is interesting.
Who wanna be USA First Lady
Is this another Hillary?

[nursehope]

Well at least Hillary and her team, make a strong effort to pronounce names correctly, and act in a professional manner...unlike "W"

[naosam]

why did that person screen named obamagrls?
He/She might be a hillaryboy
Have you ever noticed how people post online and carry the screen name of a person who they do not support?
It is called dumb-bells

[blkpresident]

After PA. votes, ''lil Hillary has no choice but to drop out. Sorry about your ''lil pipe-dream missy of a women becoming president.

[johnny_chaos]

Anyone recall the whitewater incident? ol hilda-beast withheld documents until the last minute. shows her style. or lack of it. the woman is all backroom deals, insider trading and earmarks. i dont want her anywhere near my future or my childrens future. I strongly dislike mccain, (he appears to be some form of poorly reanimated meathead) but will happily vote for him over Hillary.

[johnny_chaos]

wow... ABC - anybody but clinton. gee, we need to study why gas prices are so high? lets see, rampant inflation? basic economics? you know, the usual stuff associated with lowering interest rates too drastically. nice to know we need to spend money to study high school level economics. dipshit.

[andrew1003-2009]

Hillary ain''t electable...

Count on it.. She was never a good candidate.. She has a poor presence and delivery and as a poltican and more baggage than an airport who had a husband that was impeacched because of Sem*n on a 19 year olds dress...

She is being toasted by a black man named Obama who is a Muslim radical who hates white poeple and jews and believes MLK was the Messiah.. He is actually an Al Qeida member with no experiance whatsoever.. Right....

Hillary needs to go home.

[whitepicks2]

Not only is all the incriminating material removed from these accounts, but we are waiting to see the list of donors for the Clinton library and her tax records.

Sen. Clinton began by saying she''d release her tax records "when she got the nomination". This wall she maintains and continues to build makes her less transparent than W, as demonstrated by her refusing to release tax records, and she would continue the obfuscation in office, like W, to leave all of us in the dark.

Whether she has something to hide in those returns or not, keeping secrets, after these last seven years, just won''t do.

[obamagrls-bf]

BY - Atlantic free press


Obama has proven repeatedly by his actions and his rhetoric that he is a natural conciliator so his failure to try to modify the explosive situation in his church is unsettling. There is a parallel in the way he acted out his undiluted opposition to the Iraq war. Once elected to the U.S. Senate, one would have expected that he would have used his position to advance his deeply held views on this matter of life and death for so many Americans and Iraqis, the way freshman Senator James Webb of Virginia did, as Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and African-American Congressman John Conyers of Michigan do, day by day, bill by bill. Obama did nothing wrong. His votes on Iraq were fine, no complaints there, but he did not seize the initiative, there for the asking, to insist, to dramatize, to demand, to be a center of dissent on Iraq. Was that a political decision to stay with the party consensus while exploring a run for the presidency? Is this the pattern of Obama''s political style: political safety in a swirl of brilliant rhetoric and analysis but avoiding decisive action? Is politics always on his mind? At the church in Chicago, at the Senate in Washington, it was and is a question of leadership.

[whitepicks2]

This is about Hillary and her bubble. Is it not?