Saturday, August 4, 2018

Slow Saturday Special: Excusing Bill Clinton

"Arc of Bill Clinton’s political career will be on display during his RFK commemoration" by Annie Linskey Globe Staff  June 01, 2018

WASHINGTON —  The questions about Bill Clinton’s personal behavior have recently become more pointed and uncomfortable as Americans rethink the way powerful men historically have treated women, particularly when a pattern has been established. Titans like movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, journalist Charlie Rose, and former New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman have been felled after multiple women went public with detailed accounts of misconduct or abuse.

Related: "Eric Greitens’s resignation is part of a deal with a St. Louis prosecutor to drop a felony charge alleging misuse of a charity donor list to raise money for his 2016 gubernatorial campaign. His voluntary departure also avoids the potential of becoming the first Missouri governor to be impeached by the House. The governor has been accused of taking a nonconsensual photo of a partly nude woman with whom he had an affair in 2015 and warning her that he would distribute it if she ever spoke of their encounter....." 

The Clintons just kill you.

In this new light, Clinton’s worst impulses — and the familiar pattern of the accusations against him — are haunting him again in the twilight of his public life. He’s been shunned by Democrats who don’t want him appearing at their campaign events.

Isn't that what you are supposed to do to low life scum?

While the Kennedy event is more of an homage to the past, historians say, it could also serve as a springboard for Clinton’s latest rehabilitation effort. Ever the “comeback kid,” Clinton is trying to again dust off his image and recapture some of the glory from his past. This month he also held a fund-raiser — with tickets priced from $2,500 to $100,000 — for the Clinton Foundation, which was battered by conservatives during the 2016 election.

OMG, that pay-for-play ce$$pool of corruption is still open for bu$ine$$? 

Where is the DoJ investihgation?

Over the summer he plans to ramp up his public appearances as he launches a book tour for the political thriller “The President is Missing,” which he co-wrote with James Patterson. It’s due out Monday, and Clinton plans a 15-city tour this month to promote it, but as he tries to reemerge in public life, Clinton is encountering a different political landscape. New research by the Barbara Lee Foundation in Boston found that voters harbor doubts about candidates when they question the validity of the #MeToo movement and downplay the importance of sexual harassment.

Poor Bill!

Other women who have accused Clinton of sexual misconduct voiced disappointment that he will speak at the Kennedy event. “I just do not understand why they still give him a pass,” said Juanita Broaddrick, who has accused Clinton of raping her. Broaddrick surmised that the Kennedy family does not believe the women who’ve accused Clinton of sexual misconduct. “What else could there be? What on earth could be the answer?” Broaddrick said.

He's part off the club.

Clinton, through his attorney, has denied any misconduct with Broaddrick. Leslie Millwee, who accused Clinton of assaulting her when she was a TV reporter in Arkansas, said, “When is this man going to be held accountable for his behavior over the years?”

Never.

But even some who’ve called out Clinton say that he should be judged by his full record, and argue that the accusations of sexual assault are part, but not all, of his biography. Moreover, some say it’s unfair to apply today’s norms to Clinton’s past.

Then why must General Robert E. Lee's statues be torn down and removed?

“We do have to recognize the context,” said Jane Eisner, editor in chief of The Forward, who led the Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board in the 1990s when the newspaper called on Clinton to resign for lying over the Lewinsky affair. “We have standards that are different now.”

OMG, look who is defending him!!

Still, she said she’d like to see Clinton atone more fully for his past. “What’s been missing is tshuva — it’s repentance,” Eisner said. “He’s not really done a public accounting of this. I think if he had at some point along the way, I think America would forgive him.”

Think again!

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UPDATEIt’s the end of the line for Bill Clinton

At least he didn't batter women, right?

"Athenahealth’s Jonathan Bush faced workplace complaint, report says" by Andy Rosen Globe Staff  June 01, 2018

Athenahealth chief executive Jonathan Bush is confronting another potentially damaging allegation from his past amid a takeover attempt from a New York hedge fund, after a news report uncovered a 2009 workplace complaint in which an employee accused him of inappropriate behavior.

The New York Post late Thursday reported that Bush had been accused of “ogling the breasts of a female employee.” The account cited a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. The agency Friday did not respond to request for copies of documents in the case.

This is the second years-old allegation against the embattled CEO to emerge in just the past week. On May 26, a British tabloid reported Bush had physically attacked his then-wife on multiple occasions, according to filings related to his 2005 divorce. In response to the Daily Mail story, Bush issued a public apology and said the two had since worked amicably to raise their children.

On Friday, athenahealth declined to discuss the incident from 2009, which the Post reported was settled.

The recent revelations have come as Bush and athenahealth directors are under pressure to sell the company to a New York hedge fund. In May, Elliott Management offered to buy the company in a $7 billion deal, arguing its share price had lagged and that Bush and its current leadership have not done enough to grow the business, which sells Internet-connected tools to help doctors manage their practices.

The investment company has not said whether it would replace Bush as chief executive of the company. It has also not commented about the recent allegation against Bush.

Bush has said little about the takeover attempt, but people close to him say he is not likely to leave without a fight.

He acknowledged the 2005 incidents, and had to step down

He never had a shot as the pressure mounted, and it just underscores the power of hedge funds.

Other shareholders have recently joined Elliott in backing for a sale.....

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