Bill Clinton is wealthy. So what?

The Washington Post reports today that President Bill Clinton has earned more than $40 million from speaking fees in the six years since he left office, at $150,000 per speech. It's not news that former presidents become fabulously wealthy. What's not well-known, according to Bill Press this morning, at least, is that the $40 million is only from 20 percent of the speeches he made - the other 80 percent of his fees he either did pro bono, or he donated the money to his AIDS Foundation.

Tucker Carlson was upset the other day, saying it doesn't look good for a former president to become so wealthy. I would tend to agree with that, but it's the reality that all former presidents will become wealthy when they leave office. After going through all of the misery it takes to become elected in the first place, I say let them have their money, and that opinion applies to both political parties.

For instance, how wealthy do you think President Bush will become when he leaves office, with all of his corporate donors and friends? Anyone think he won't have tens of millions of dollars at his disposal? Good for him. Let's check back on this in a decade and see how wealthy President Bush is. I can't say I'll have a problem with it, really; former presidents are in demand to give speeches and be heard, and they have a right to earn money, too.

Funny how I didn't hear conservatives whining much when President Ronald Reagan earned $2 million for one speech in Japan after he left office. I also wonder how wealthy President Bush Sr. has become since he left office? The guy isn't hurting, that's for sure. But then again, as a one-term wonder, he might not be as in demand as Reagan was or Clinton is.

The bottom line here is that conservatives are angry that Bill Clinton has continuously beat the odds, and efforts to destroy him. I have a great amount of admiration and respect for Clinton - a whole lot more of both than I do for our current president. At least Clinton admitted his mistakes (albeit late). When is the last time Bush has publicly stated he made a mistake about anything?

People also forget that Clinton was basically bankrupt when he left office, with millions in legal bills that needed to be paid, mostly from right-wing funded witch hunts, which he needed to defend himself against in the courts.

But boy, Paula Jones sure did get a nice nose job from her settlement, didn't she? James Carville said it best about her - she's what you get when you drag a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park.