Barack Obama! You have my heart in your hands! But who else's heart do you hold in your hands, you little rascal, and what about this other Democratic party "heart-throb" we keep hearing about? I'm speaking of Bill Clinton, the only truly successful Democratic President in my life-time, this highly talented politician who once wooed women and sensitive men with his writhing, weaving tree-limb tongue and soft, Southern charm. He seems to be falling in stature, telling believers in Barack that they are succumbing to a foolish "fairy-tale," that Barack's win in the South Carolina primary didn't mean anything, that he only won it because he was black, like Jesse Jackson did in 1984 and 1988, and seeming to imply that Barack was still a "fringe" candidate and that the Democratic nomination was still destined to be bestowed upon his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Well, I'm writing this on July 5th, 2008; Obama clinched the nomination a month ago, so what has become of your little "fairy-tale of having your wife become the first female President, Bill Clinton? And by the way, how is your HEART? There is alot of speculation among pundits and physicians that Bill Clinton is suffering severe side effects from the quadruple-bypass heart surgery he endured in September of 2004. Many say it is this surgery that helped to damage Bill Clinton's legacy, that its lingering effects made him angry and caused him to say inartful things. It is said that during heart surgery certain arteries must be clamped down which block oxygen to the brain which has caused Bill Clinton to become somewhat inept in his judgment or to go into occasional outbursts of anger, even going so far as to call the author of a scandalous article about him in Vanity Fair magazine a "scum bag". Is this the language of a former President? Of a man so many Americans used to love so much?

So it is these two ideas, this "Tale of Two Heart-Throbs" which inspired this painting, along with the whimsical idea of Barack being a sort of metaphorical African shaman, some sort of exotic voodoo priest who holds Bill Clinton's figurative heart in his hands and twists it and turns it, squishing it as he makes Bill's blood boil and causes him to further damage his legacy by saying inappropriate things or behaving in strange ways. I've always liked Bill Clinton and it pains me to see him tarnish his public perception the way he has. He is still a great guy and he campaigned like hell for his wife but I think he is just getting "too old for his brand" and that such a major campaign run opened him up to too much scrutiny, the proverbial "too much information" which has long been the problem with Bill. He is better off just doing the occasional late-night talk show interview, or something. Like an athlete who stays on the field past his prime, I think his trying to get into the White House for another 8 year run was too much to ask, a simple case of someone "staying at the party too long". But in a funny way I do respect and admire him for trying and have a hope that he can give a nice speech at the Democratic Convention in August, restore his legacy somewhat, and then just sort of fade into the sunset again along with all of those pleasant '90s memories many of us Americans still have.

I also made much of this painting while watching news coverage of the recent salmonella outbreak. With its potential link to Mexican food I felt obligated to include documentation of it in this painting and apologize for any untoward or crude imagery it may have inspired.

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