-Caveat Lector-
Let's hear it; aaahhh. Hopefully, these two symbiotic, loveless and wholly
repugnant people are finally going their sperate ways. Gavin.
www.telegraph.co.uk/
Clintons 'close to separating'
By Hugh Davies and Hugo Gurdon in Washington
All about Hillary
Clinton - The
AllAbout Centre
Hillary Clinton: The
good, the bad and the
painful - Womens
Wire
Heart to heart: The
respect and passion
Hillary and Bill have
for each other - AdZe
Bill Clinton at a summit for
Central American leaders in
Guatemala yesterday
THE Clintons' marriage may finally be on the rocks,
according to reports yesterday.
Friends leaked graphic details of Hillary Clinton's
unhappiness, provoking speculation that while divorce
is not contemplated, the couple may be thinking of
separating. The First Lady is at the end of her tether,
with her hopes of a successful political career
apparently sinking as fast as her affection for her
husband of 24 years.
They returned early without plausible explanation from
a skiing trip in Utah last week, during which they were
never seen together. Mrs Clinton is this week
boycotting the President's trip to Central America.
It is reported that friends have quoted her as saying: "I don't want to be in
the
same room with him, let alone the same bed."
The First Lady is also thinking of going to Morocco and Tunisia next week
instead of joining Mr Clinton at the annual radio and television
correspondents' association dinner, a high-profile event in the Washington
calendar.
Mrs Clinton's solitude is attributed to a bad back. But she showed no signs of
discomfort in New York recently when she tested her popularity for a
possible bid for the Senate next year.
Her poll numbers there are slipping fast. She is now no better than even with
Rudolph Giuliani, the probable Republican candidate whom she was tipped
just weeks ago to beat in a landslide if she ran.
The event that is reported to have snapped Mrs Clinton's patience with her
husband and her chances of a prominent political career, is the televised
interview given by an Arkansas nursing home owner, Juanita Broaddrick,who
claimed that Mr Clinton raped and battered her 21 years ago.
The charge has apparently devastated the family. Mrs Clinton gave up on her
husband and their daughter, Chelsea, was incensed. Mrs Broaddrick, who
had five witnesses and other corroboration, is widely regarded as credible.
Her testimony has darkened Mr Clinton's image after the Monica Lewinsky
case. He is now seen as a dangerous, serial sexual marauder rather than a
happy-go-lucky Lothario.
Mrs Broaddrick's charges strike at the heart of Mrs Clinton's feminist
constituency. The National Organisation for Women, hitherto a steadfast
supporter of the abortion-supporting President, has said the rape allegation
has to be properly investigated. Mr Clinton's dark sexual past has cast Mrs
Clinton less as a wronged wife than as an "enabler" who covered up his
behaviour.
Mrs Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and Miss Lewinsky were flushed out by the
Paula Jones 1994 sexual harassment case. Their evidence suggested a pattern
of predatory behaviour, in which Mr Clinton had women brought to him to be
pressed for sexual favours and then persuaded to deny it under oath.
The conservative Weekly Standard magazine said this week that Mrs
Broaddrick's testimony had cemented Mr Clinton's legacy. And it may also
be the final straw which has broken Mrs Clinton's support. In an oft-quoted
remark of 1992, Hillary saidshe was not the "stand by your man" type,
although she has indeed stood by Mr Clinton for more than two decades.
But now she is tired of being the butt of late-night jokes. Events came to a
head in Park City, Utah, when the Clintons flew in for a long weekend to
celebrate Chelsea's 19th birthday. In a confrontation at the secluded estate
of
the Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chelsea was crying and depressed.
She told her father: "I wish you weren't here."
George Stephanopoulos, the former White House aide, said he did not know
if Mrs Clinton had a bad back or not. He said: "But it's got to be killing
her.
Hillary has put up an awfully good front for so long. It must be painful for
her."
Mr Stephanopoulos took time out from dishing the dirt to say Mrs Clinton
"adored" her husband. But others have seen their marriage as one of
convenience.
There have long been reports that she had an affair with Vince Foster, the
deputy White House counsel who apparently committed suicide in 1993. And
it may be that Mrs Clinton now finds it inconvenient, not simply
heartbreaking.
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