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Last night was the gala dual celebration of both Clinton's 65th birthday, and the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Clinton foundation. The event had all of the trappings of excesses of the rich and powerful including command performances by internationally known artists such as Usher, Bono, Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga, who apparently not only had a Marilyn Monroe moment, but proceeded to perform a faux strip tease for the president.
Yes, yes, all the proceeds went to the Clinton Foundation, Bill's personal charity. But really now, coming in the midst of an economic downturn, this simply seems excessive to me. After all, Clinton's deregulation policies were the driving force in this economic meltdown, and while he was being feted, people were homeless and shivering. Not to mention his Foundation has problems of its own, contributions from the likes of Blackwater, the Walton Family, Freddie Mac and others. It is lacking in transparency, and recently moved its office from Harlem to an address just around the corner from *Wall St.*
To fully round out this Roman carnival, the party was heavily promoted on Yahoo and webcast by them as well. You too could peek in on the lifestyles of rich and famous from the comfort of your very own hovel. How munificent.
Frankly, all of this reeks of the old school robber barons. After making your money screwing over the peons, go out and perform charitable works in order to rehabilitate your image for posterity. Yes, Bill and his Foundation do good works. The trouble is, it wouldn't have to do so many good works if Bill hadn't screwed over this country while he was in office.
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