Molly Ivins: The hopeless hillbilly and the American Dream [View All]

[Dudley_DUright]

I like Bill Clinton's book. I feel as though I should immediately apologize for saying that. I mean, it's gotten a bunch of bad reviews -- all sorts of superior people have peed all over it and pointed out he shouldn't have said this, or he should have said that.

Let me get my claim to intellectual superiority in here right away: I was prepared to dislike the book. I was prepared to find it self-serving, inadequate, insufficiently groveling and all that other good doo. Actually, I think it's well written, interesting and informative. I'd recommend it to almost anyone who's interested in politics, including young people with any inclination toward public service.

<snip>

There's two reasons I'm an easy target for this book. One is I love political stories, and Clinton, who is a pol-to-the-bone, does, too. The Arkansas stuff alone is worth the price of admission. Doesn't matter who you are or what your politics are, if you are interested in how it works and what it takes, you cannot afford to miss the first part of this book.

Furthermore, I don't care who you are, you have to just stand back and admire the sheer American dream arc of this hopelessly hillbilly kid.

Now that I think about it, Clinton might resent that -- and he might be right. He became governor and then president in the most meritocratic way: He was smart enough. No money, no privilege, no entitlements, no big-deal family, no ticket into Yale. His description of his intellectual development is fascinating and should be well noted by those who have debated the merits of the Japanese and the American systems.

more...

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=17280