Bill's Madness Continues: Update

Full disclosure: I twice voted for Bill Clinton, and, by and large, thought him to be a pretty good president. The way he has campaigned for his wife's bid to become commander-in-chief, however, has left me scratching my head and wondering: What the hell has gotten into him?

The latest in what has been a sting of loose-cannon appearances occurred during a Philadelphia radio interview, when Bill accused Barack Obama of "playing the race card" for the way he "twisted" Clinton's remarks discounting Obama's South Carolina win. Of course, it was Clinton's remarks, not Obama's, that started the whole controversy in the first place. But never mind. Bill had a point to make.

From ABC News (Yes, that ABC News):

And as the interview concluded, Clinton turned to an associate and said, "I don't think I should take any s**t from anybody on that, do you?"

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In short, his remarks continue to keep negative stories alive and well, and that's the last thing in the world Hillary's campaign needs. Last week, the former president resurrected the Bosnia controversy, this week he's still fuming about how his Jesse Jackson comments, now three moths in the past, were portrayed. How can the man who has long been regarded as one of the most adept politicians in history continue to veer off-message on such a consistent basis?

Well, one sympathetic physician may have an answer. Meet John McDougal. In a weekly newsletter, he proposed the following diagnosis of Bill Clinton's wayward disposition:

Bill Clinton appears out of character in the speeches and interviews televised since his bypass surgery September 6, 2004--and his mental deterioration may be accelerating. Remember, this is the president who withstood public impeachment before the entire world for his relationship with Monica Lewinsky without once losing control. Now, he is easily angered by hecklers, and makes factual mistakes and racial slurs while aggressively defending his wife's campaign for presidency. Everyone sees his mental and emotional decline, yet to date, no medical professionals have spoken out about the cause or offered help.

Not a single one--not one bypass surgeon, cardiologist or psychiatrist--has stepped forward in his defense' even though all of them are trained to recognize "post bypass surgery cognitive dysfunction." One of the best-kept secrets in medicine is the brain damage caused during bypass surgery.

So is McDougal right? Or might it simply be that not a single bypass surgeon, cardiologist or psychiatrist has come forward because this theory is a crock? A quick check of the internets did confirm that, indeed, cognitive dysfunction following cardiac bypass surgery is a very real problem.

Whether or not this is what's impairing Bill's judgment, of course, is not for anyone but Clinton's doctors to decide. We'll have no over-the-television Bill Frist-like pronouncements, thank you very much. What remains painful to watch, however, is that even though his wife chastised him for his outbursts, he just can't seem to help himself.

Update: Via TPM, this story keeps getting stranger. Today, Bill Clinton has denied that he said that the Obama campaign "played the race card" on him in yesterday's Philadelphia radio interview. When asked about his remarks by NBC, Clinton stated,

No, no, no, that's not what I said. You always follow me around and play these little games, and I'm not going to play your games today.

Of course, the initial interview was taped, and that a direct transcript of his remark reads,

"I think that they played the race card on me."

One wonders, what will the third-generation spin be on this?


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