A Thousand Show Up for Clinton Film Debut

More than a thousand people turned out Tuesday night for the world premiere of "The Hunting of the President," a film claiming to expose "the 10-year campaign to destroy Bill Clinton."

The 90-minute documentary re-creates interviews conducted for the best-selling book of the same name by Joe Conason and Gene Lyons. Rough versions have already played at four film festivals.

The first public showing, at $50 a ticket - with the proceeds going to a couple of Arkansas-based charities - drew a large crowd to a ballroom at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, a short walk from where Clinton celebrated his two presidential election victories. It is also next door to the Peabody Hotel, formerly the Excelsior, where Clinton accuser Paula Jones said he harassed her when he was governor.

Attendees included Susan McDougal, who went to jail rather than cooperate with Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr; retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination this year; and former Arkansas Sen. David Pryor.

During the film's showing, appearances by Starr on the screen drew boos and hisses from the crowd, while Jones' image produced laughter.

Afterward, McDougal, who plays a large part in the film, got a standing ovation when she was called to the stage.

Producer Harry Thomason, one of Clinton's good friends, said Tuesday that he read the book in 2001 and thought it would make a good movie, but he had a hard time digging up money to produce it.

"I thought this is a good yarn - there are villains, there are good guys," Thomason said. "But every place I went to finance the movie, nobody wanted to touch it. They said, 'It's been eight years, there's a new president, nobody wants to hear anything about (the Clinton) administration."

A few false starts later, Thomason cobbled together the money and a distributor, sorted through hours of interview tapes and made the movie. He says the timing, out just months before the election, is coincidental.

"We're out now, not because of the election - we were just slow," Thomason said. "We wanted this movie out six or seven months ago, but we just couldn't make it."

He sees competition from Michael Moore's politically charged documentary "Fahrenheit 911," due out in theaters nationwide on June 25.

"I think Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 911' will bury us," Thomason said. "But... I think his film will take in enough at the box office that it probably might even help us some too."

The film purports to uncover a right-wing manipulation of the media, which Thomason says began with President Nixon's call to counter liberal messages in the 1970s.

This is one that really makes me angry:

To his astonishment the handshake was declined. "You are not fit to be president of the United States," said Shughart Senior. "The blame for my son' s death rests with the White House and with you. You are not fit to command.

Dead Hero's Father Tears into Clinton http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/598033/posts

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London Sunday Times
Copyright 1994 Times Newspapers Limited
May 29, 1994, Sunday
SECTION: Overseas news
LENGTH: 486 words
HEADLINE: Dead hero's father tears into Clinton
BYLINE: James Adams

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It was the moment President Bill Clinton wanted to restore his tattered
reputation with the military before his departure for the D-Day celebrations
in Europe this week, James Adams reports.

He had just presented posthumous Congressional Medals of Honour, America's
highest military decoration, to the widows of two soldiers for valour in
Somalia. After inviting the families for a moment of quiet reflection in the
Oval Office, the president approached Herbert Shughart, the father of one of
the two soldiers, and offered his hand.

To his astonishment the handshake was declined. ''You are not fit to be
president of the United States,'' said Shughart Senior. ''The blame for my
son' s death rests with the White House and with you. You are not fit to
command.''

The president reeled and the unprecedented onslaught continued for some
minutes. According to witnesses it was a ''highly charged emotional moment''
which resulted in Clinton trying to explain to Shughart,Sr. why the events
of that day last October were not his fault.

Shughart and his colleague, both sergeants, were killed trying to rescue
fellow rangers from a vicious fire-fight in which 18 died and 75 were
wounded. A later Pentagon investigation revealed that the troops had been
refused the ri ght equipment and there was no political or military plan to
justify the Americ an presence in Somalia.

Although the president has tried to escape the blame, he is largely credited
with the failure of the whole American effort to bring peace to Somalia.
According to witnesses to the Oval Office scene, the Shughart family
remained unconvinced by the president's arguments.

''The medal doesn't help anything, other than that we are grateful that
Randy will be remembered in such an honourable way,'' said Lois Shughart,
the soldier's mother.

(Here's the version told by Lt. Col. Tom McKenney, Ret.) Anyone not hating this piece of human debris really does have something wrong with him.

THE CLINTON CHRONICLES BOOK (Lt. Col. Tom McKenney, Ret.)

Eventually, after Clinton had sat on the paper work for eight weeks, two of the slain soldiers, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randall Shughart, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. As usual in such cases, the medals were presented to the next of kin.

Following the May 23 presentation at the White House, the families of the two men were invited in the Oval Office for a private visit with Clinton. Inside the office, the father of Sergeant Shughart refused to shake Clinton's hand, then he looked him in the face and calmly told him that he was responsible for his son's death, that it was for no purpose, that he was not fit to be President, and not fit to be Commander in Chief.

Clinton was visibly shocked, amazed, and momentarily speechless. It is revealing that he was surprised that the man should feel that way. Clinton really doesn't think the way most people do, seeming to lack a sense of personal responsibility. After a brief, awkward silence, Clinton caught his breath. Becoming angry, he turned to the mother of the dead hero and said, "What's he jumping on me for? I didn't kill the kid!"

Yes, he really did say that--to the bereaved mother--he really did! It was an eloquent demonstration of Clinton's insensitivity, and of his absolute inability to understand sacrifice and responsibility.

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"Attendees included Susan McDougal, who went to jail rather than cooperate with Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr; retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination this year; and former Arkansas Sen. David Pryor.

During the film's showing, appearances by Starr on the screen drew boos and hisses from the crowd, while Jones' image produced laughter."

Bill Is A Fine Man. Why he and I, we go back . .

Lemme See . . Next I'm Gonna Go After . .