And Her Ankles and Butt Are Gorgeous, Too

By Clarice Feldman

The psycho-dynamics of the marriage between Hillary and Bill continue to fascinate and appall me. Bill Clinton now claims that he was responsible for the failure of the health care plan which Hillary authored and which spectacularly cratered.

(AP) - Former President Clinton said Thursday that he is to blame for his administration's failed health care plan, not his wife, who spearheaded the effort.

Clinton was asked about the plan during a campaign event, where he spoke to about 600 people crowded into a YMCA gymnasium. The health care effort was led by then-first lady Hillary Clinton, now a New York senator and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"She has taken the rap for some of the problems we had with health care the last time that were far more my fault than hers," the former president said.

It is possible to have fun with this patently disingenuous blame taking, as Tom McGuire does:

In his extended remarks, the former President also explained that Hillary deserved credit for the magnificent job creation and budget surpluses during his two terms; the collapse of the Palestinian peace talks occurred only because her invaluable advice went unheeded; and one of his great regrets is that he didn't listen more carefully when she made the case for aggressively pursuing Osama Bin Laden.

MORE: I 'fess up - he didn't really say those other things. Yet.

But the dynamics of what is really going on are not as benign as one might imagine, I think.

We know that he must be the center of attention, and that by claiming her failures were his, Bill Clinton is only drawing attention to her shortcomings while reminding voters of how much better than his wife he is.

Surely, you know -- I do -- couples where the husband demeans his wife by overblown praise. Noting publicly how gracious and beautiful she is when everyone has just observed a very disheveled looking wife, for example. The game allows him to seem praiseworthy while drawing attention to his wife's shortcomings and reminding her how far short of an ideal she is.

I suppose when Bill starts praising her shapely ankles and butt, the game will be obvious to all.