Desert Eagle v. Replica

I was recently reading a Dick Armey interview where he stated that the problem for Republicans in the 90’s is that they kept trying to fight Clinton in public, and how they usually lost because that was Clinton’s forum.  Clinton was really good at politics and if you tried to go toe-to-toe with him in the public arena, you’d lose.  I’m not sure if that was the main problem, but that was what Armey said in his criticism of Gingrich and other leaders who he think blew it.

I just started thinking about that when I saw the headline Bill Clinton defends bin Laden handling on the Yahoo main page.  And then it all came to me: This is exactly what Clinton expected.  He knew that Wallace was likely to do what he did with his accusations of guilt for 9/11, and was ready for the ambush with one of his own.  Wallace thought he could go toe-to-toe with the Big Dog and clearly showed the world why he wasn’t worthy to be in the same studio with the former president.  

And in one fell swoop, Clinton was able to defend himself on Fox News while getting headlines to tell us that he defended himself.  Even if you think his defense was weak, getting Repubs to denounce Clinton’s defense is certainly a big shift from their original position that there was no defense at all.  And for those looking for the right defense of Clinton, they’ve now got a famous one to cite.  This was a complete win-win for the man.

And I have few doubts that Clinton didn’t expect all this when he agreed to the interview.  I won’t say he’s the greatest person ever, but he sure does his homework.  Wallace, on the other hand, got caught flat-footed and had his ass handed to him.  And rightly so.

And this reminds me of my favorite scene from the movie Snatch:

Bullet Tooth Tony: Now, dicks have drive and clarity of vision, but they are not clever. They smell pussy and they want a piece of the action. And you thought you smelled some good old pussy, and have brought your two small mincey faggot balls along for a good old time. But you've got your parties mangled up. There's no pussy here, just a dose that'll make you wish you were born a woman. Like a prick, you are having second thoughts. You are shrinking, and your two little balls are shrinking with you. And the fact that you've got "Replica" written down the side of your gun...

[Zoom in on the side of Sol's gun, which indeed has "REPLICA" etched on the side; zoom out, as they sneak peeks at the sides of their guns]

Bullet Tooth Tony: And the fact that I've got "Desert Eagle point five O"...
[Withdraws his gun and puts it on the table]

Bullet Tooth Tony: Written down the side of mine...

[They look, zoom in on the side of his gun, which indeed has "DESERT EAGLE .50" etched on the side]

Bullet Tooth Tony: Should precipitate your balls into shrinking, along with your presence. Now... Fuck off!

And that’s how I felt of that interview.  If only ex-presidents were allowed to talk like British criminals…