February 22, 2003

Ex-pres
So The Atlantic is running an absurdly long interview with Bill Clinton, although to say that it's an interview is kind of a sloppy use of the word. The 42nd president has a speaking style that can only be described as exhaustive, and he manages to compose entire short essays on the spot, in his head. Dave Eggers said about him, "You can see his semicolons!" From the interview:

[Q: What about the recent speech by Al Gore, in which he criticized the Administration for using the prospect of war for political ends?] Well, I neither heard it nor actually read it. All I read were the press reports. And [here Clinton pauses for perhaps 15 seconds, the only such break in the conversation] my observations would be three.
and then the guy proceeds to actually answer the question from (roughly) three perspectives over the course of about 750 words. Spoken, impromptu. It makes "I feel your pain" and other doggerel that he'd periodically emit only that much more painful to recall. Alas.
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