One of the prime movers of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy tells all ... well, perhaps not quite all:
A mischievous twinkle enters the blue eyes of R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. when he is asked how he managed to "crash" a 60th birthday celebration for former President Bill Clinton."You wouldn't ask a CIA agent how he infiltrated the embassy at Timbuktu, would you?" he asks, his feet casually propped atop the desk in his memorabilia-crammed office.
The editor in chief of the American Spectator divulges some secrets in his latest book, "The Clinton Crack-Up: The Boy President's Life After the White House." ....
Mr. Tyrrell is the sort of fellow whose proper description requires a passing knowledge of French. He is a bon vivant and raconteur.
A writer and editor of formidable skill, Mr. Tyrrell ("Bob" to his friends) knows how to wield the weapon of wit. Humor endears, but it can also disarm and mystify, especially when deployed against those who make the mistake of taking themselves too seriously. This seems to baffle certain friends of the Clinton administration, which in the 1990s waged a legal war against Mr. Tyrrell:
Being a notorious nemesis of the president led to rough sailing for Mr. Tyrrell and his American Spectator, which was investigated (and exonerated) by a federal grand jury during the Clinton presidency, then changed ownership and nearly went out of business before Alfred S. Regnery became publisher in 2004.Still, Mr. Tyrrell smiles as he relates his Clinton memories. "Seems like I've spent half my life with the guy," he says. ...
Mr. Tyrrell disavows his reputation as a "Clinton hater" and muses on what might transpire "as our friendship begins to blossom."
"My wife's got lots of pretty girlfriends," he says, again smiling mischievously. "We'll get Bill back on track."
That's obviously a joke. Or is it?
-- Robert Stacy McCain, assistant national editor
