Newsmax, the magazine-cum-list-rental-cum-advertising service run by Chris Ruddy is touting an exclusive interview with Bill Clinton in its next issue. 
Ruddy himself conducted the interview. In an introduction, he writes that the ex-president is doing "exemplary" work.
To anyone familiar with the partisan wars of the 90s, the hair on the back of your neck just stood up.
Ruddy was one of Richard Mellon Scaife's "Arkansas Project" investigators. He has spoken of Clinton's "personal corruption." The day after September 11, Ruddy wrote this:
Clinton Responsible for UnpreparednessThe Clintons were supported vociferously by the media through the worst imaginable scandals.
During that time I was one of the lead reporters opposing the Clintons. I was mocked and vilified by my colleagues for doing so.
I said throughout that period that Bill Clinton's personal corruption was wholesale and mirrored how he was corrupting America's national security.
Most shocking of all: Ruddy is the author of The Strange Death of Vincent Foster, in which he hints that Clinton participated in a cover-up of some sort.
Six years later, and Ruddy had moderated his feelings, if just a bit.
So, to Andrew Sullivan and others: explain what's happening here....
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This is a combination of the Clintons learning that some of the "partisan" press -- especially Drudge but also portions of the Murdoch empire, and now Newsmax -- can be manipulated. It's also The Village being The Village, as the political elite rally around One Of Their Own rather than let that redneck John Edwards or upstart Barack Obama or any of the Republicans in after they destroyed Saint McCain.
Posted by Nicholas Beaudrot | November 1, 2007 12:39 PM