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2007-04-17 -Short Attention Span Theater-
Bill Clinton's wasted hours -or- how Monica foiled the Middle Eastern peace process
James Taranto, "Best of the Web"

"A peace agreement between Israel and Syria could be reached within 35 minutes, former U.S. president Bill Clinton told the Lebanon-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper in an interview published Sunday," reports the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.

Bill Clinton was president for 4,207,680 minutes, which is enough time to broker more than 120,000 35-minute peace agreements. Granted, a man has to sleep and tend to other basic necessities of life, and the president has tons of responsibilities, so eight years isn't as much time as it sounds like. But Clinton's time wasn't that tight. Consider these footnotes from the Starr report:

135. Currie 1/27/98 GJ at 35-36 (testifying that Ms. Lewinsky and the President were in the Oval Office for "[p]erhaps 30 minutes."). . . .

136. Ferguson 7/17/98 GJ at 23-35 (alone for approximately 45 minutes). . . .

138. Fox 2/17/98 GJ at 30-38 (alone for approximately 40 minutes).

139. Bordley 8/13/98 GJ at 19-30 (alone for approximately 30 to 35 minutes). . . .

141. Byrne 7/30/98 GJ at 7-12, 29-32 (alone for 15 to 25 minutes).

By our count, that is between 160 and 175 minutes Clinton spent . . . well, at this late date there's no need to rehash what he was doing. Point is, if he had managed his time better, he could have arranged a peace between Israel and Syria, and who knows what other great things he might have accomplished in the remaining 125 to 140 minutes?
Posted by Mike 2007-04-17 00:35|| || Front Page|| [11131 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Middle East peace or a blow job from a fat girl?
Ah think Ah made the raht descision...
Posted by William Jefferson Clinton 2007-04-17 09:33||   2007-04-17 09:33|| Front Page Top

#2 On the plus side, it was said that after making him wait for 15 minutes, Clinton came outside and said, "Welcome to the White House, Yasser. Have a cigar!"
Posted by Anonymoose 2007-04-17 10:19||   2007-04-17 10:19|| Front Page Top

#3 This cigar smells like a dead cod.
Posted by Yasser 2007-04-17 12:39||   2007-04-17 12:39|| Front Page Top

#4 I rejoice in having the strength to forgo the obvious comment.
Posted by gromgoru 2007-04-17 15:49||   2007-04-17 15:49|| Front Page Top

#5 "Middle East peace or a blow job from a fat girl?"

Prioritized his goals based on obtainability - very reasonable.
Posted by flash91 2007-04-17 17:39||   2007-04-17 17:39|| Front Page Top

#6 the BJ would likely last longer
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2007-04-17 17:45||   2007-04-17 17:45|| Front Page Top

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