Jaysus Gawd please let it be over. Last night at this same time I was taking a short but nice hike in Griffith Park; jogging from rock to rock, seeing a bunny rabbit, avoiding rattlesnakes and ticks.

Tonight I and about 100 mostly older mostly "liberals" are sitting here in the Mark Taper Auditorium at the Los Angeles Central Library listening to Sidney Blumenthal pitch his book.

The downward spiral began when he was introduced as a gifted writer, a good journalist with a true sense of history. Historians of the future will supposedly peruse his work to determine exactly what went on in the Clinton years. And, we were exhorted to vote with our wallets and buy his book, for books would be available for sale in the lobby, and they would be signed by the author himself.

Now, here's Sid:

as early as 1995, Clinton ("C") was discussing terrorism... gleefully describing how C captivated Newtie and how the Repubs sent in minders when C and Newtie spoke, C had such a pull over Newtie... "pseudo-scandals" and "false stories" like Whitewater... describing the first time he met C, didn't know whether he was destined for greatness or not, but when he saw C carting around a tough book about poverty he did see that C was serious indeed... describing in nauseating detail how great and intelligent C was... even when he was playing card games (he was a card counter, by the way) he still would interrupt what you were saying to correct a nuance of your speech or proposal... C, when he needed to think, would rearrange things on his desk... Ken Starr was an inquistor, searching for a man for a crime... C loved to play games, even keeping those with whom he was to meet waiting... C was a true multitasker... Ken Starr sought to intimidate Blumenthal... supression of black vote in FL really happened... Clinton was recently polled as the third best President in U.S. history [well, not quite]... C was upset with the 22nd Amendment preventing him from winning 2000, he woulda whupped them Repubs but good...

"But," comes a question from the audience (paraphrased), "wasn't Clinton himself to blame for that minor scandal about the girl in the beret?"

"It was foolish, and it gave ammo to our enemies. I told Clinton that, and he agreed." [whether he hung his head in shame for a moment or consulted with his Spiritual Advisor was not disclosed]

Nevertheless, C soldiered on, despite this "private error."

Blumenthal wasn't involved in the Marc Rich pardon, but apparently Ehud Barak called C three times pushing for the pardon, as apparently Rich was a Mossad asset (?) Plus, C had found a loophole involving the legalities of the case.

As for the ChiComs giving money to C, he was completely absolved of any involvement in that matter.

Another audience question (paraphrased): "Why hasn't our hero C spoken out about all the evil that is the Shrub Administration?"

Well, apparently, C is proscribed in what he can say. He's thinking of Hillary.

As for the real reason I went there:

Me: "What do you think of [blogger's name deleted]?"
Sid, a slight smile creeping over his face, says that he occasionally reads that blog.
Me:"Are you [blogger's name deleted]?"
Sid: "No, are you?"
Me: "No"
Sid: "I've never communicated with [blogger's name deleted]. If you do, tell him I said hi."

So, there you have it. Sidney Blumenthal is not [blogger's name deleted].

Sully has a scathing and hilarious review of his book here, and there's a selection of quotes about it here. Chris Hitchens takes a whack here.

UPDATE: He was also asked which were the news outlets which unfairly persecuted Clinton. He put the NYT and the WaPo in the camp of those who just dug and dug into the Monica story. But, the LA Times drew praise for their fair and balanced coverage.

Also, although no one has brought it up, I want to make a couple things clear. First our exchange above wasn't hostile; it was a good-natured exchange. And, I'm omitting the name of the blogger because he's a POS, and even if I sent one hit his way it would be too many. But, it's who you're thinking of. If who I'm referring to is unclear, see the end of this interview. The blogger referred to above is the one mentioned in the interviewer's question.

I also don't think he's that unnamed blogger. He's too smart, and why would anyone who, for instance, writes books and one would think would be interested in self-promotion want to hide their identity, especially since they toe the party line? Or, maybe it's all a big publicity stunt, and Blumenthal puts himself into dumb-as-a-box-of-Philly-gym-teachers mode before posting as the unnamed blogger. Not very likely.