Clinton and the Pope, and the Confederacy of Dunces

Jonathan Swift said "When a true genius appears in this world, you may know him by this sign, that all the dunces are in confederacy against him." John Kennedy Toole used that quote as the title of a very funny book. I have no idea whether or not Bill Clinton is a genius, but the dunces remain lined up against him, all right; more than four years after he left office they still can't leave him alone.

Yet more evidence: Bill Clinton attended the Pope's funeral, and when it was over he said something as innocuous as you please, as quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle.

"There will be debates about him. But on balance, he was a man of God, he was a consistent person, he did what he thought was right. That's about all you can ask of anybody."

Or, according to CBS News, maybe it was

"Throughout he was always just who he was - that's all you can ask of anyone - and at that he was a great man."

Sound okay to you?

So yesterday I'm eating lunch at some restaurant with a television over the counter, and some spitting old pundit who I probably should have recognized said "Clinton had a lot to say about the Pope, all of it dumb." Then he interpreted President Clinton's remarks, about his being "all you can ask of anyone," thus: "In other words, he was mediocre but he tried." This jerk got all bent out of shape because, or course, the Pope was a great man and Clinton was supposedly denigrating him.

Hey, Methuselah, CLINTON SAID THE POPE WAS A GREAT MAN! We know you hate Clinton because he's smarter than you and got out of all the traps your type set for him, but do you think you could maybe GET THE CRAP OUT OF YOUR EARS AND LISTEN!

Oh, screw it, trying to help these people get wise is bad for my blood pressure anyway.

Benshlomo says, If you're trying to educate a fool, try educating a moron instead - you'll get farther.