A Scary Deja-Vu At The White House On Friday

The press conference at the White House on Friday afternoon nearly gave me a heart attack. Which would have been fitting, since Bubba, a/k/a Ol' Pumphead, a/k/a Slick Willie was on the podium.

That's right. Bill Clinton was hauled out, invited down to Washington by Wonderboy and propped up at the West Wing podium to stump for the grand tax rate compromise which the First Rookie can't seem to stuff down the throats of his own party's House members.

If you saw White House press secretary Robert Gibbs choke on the word "triangulate" last week, then you were probably as shocked as I was that the term's notorious author was given the podium with no supervising adult in sight.

Ever since Bubba's heart surgery, he's been accused of having the oft-cited, but denied by cardiac surgeons, condition known as 'pump head.' Here's the initial description from that webpage,

"A study from Duke University, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February, 2001, confirms what many doctors have suspected, but have been reluctant to discuss with their patients: A substantial proportion of patients after coronary artery bypass surgery experience measurable impairment in their mental capabilities. In the surgeons’ locker room, this phenomenon (not publicized for obvious reasons) has been referred to as "pump head." "

Some of Bubba's more egregious statements during his wife's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2007-08 were occasionally attributed to this phenomena. He certainly engaged in some pretty spectacular public antics, including leveling charges of reverse racism at various other political notables.

My point is, who would believe this damaged former president? Of what value is the guy's backing when he's already shown serious mental disconnects in public?

Even on Friday, he began to wander off point, babbling about how great the new nuclear arms treaty currently under consideration in the Senate will be, and using the word "stimulus" to describe the pending tax rate deal.

But there's no getting around how desperate Wonderboy looked, recruiting Slick Willie to back his own unwanted compromise, then fleeing the briefing room. Clinton seized the podium, literally, with both hands and would not let go until he had personally decided to end the press conference.

Would the major networks and other media outlets be as silent were George H. Bush recalled to the White House to help sell some policy?

Doubtful.