"Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it." Ann Landers
January 6, 2016
By: Linda Case Gibbons
They shouldn't have to dim the lights in the banquet hall to tell you the party's over.
And it's over for Bill Clinton, at least his role in politics. He should not wait until they have to haul him off the stage.
The fella' we used to know, the one who could charm the birds from the trees, is gone. The guy who used to wolf down cheeseburgers while out jogging, claims he's a vegan now, although there are reports that he sneaks a steak from time to time when nobody's looking.
But that's Bill.
The new Bill Clinton is older, of course. That's something that happens to all of us, but it's only part of the story. He looks older, frail and pale, but more shockingly, he doesn't seem to be able to make good sense when he's speaking in public.
He's off one beat.
The old smile is there, and so is the southern accent, but the voice sounds old-man reedy. The thrill is gone.
For anyone who has watched for signs of aging in someone you care about, when you finally see it, it's heart breaking.
Revenge, if this is what this is, is never sweet.
The people who did what they did aren't there anymore. But the harm they inflicted still is. It's very sad.
Who could enjoy watching an aged, scruffy-bearded Bill Cosby, stumbling into the courthouse with a cane, and tripping in front of the world and its cameras?
Nobody.
The same goes for Bill Clinton. He shouldn't be forced to be out in the public eye anymore. But the two Bills' chicks have come home to roost and that's just the way it is.
We all know Bill is his own worst enemy, but then, so is Hillary. She doesn't like anybody and Bill, unfortunately, likes everybody.
Use whatever cliché you want, the writing is on the wall, their time in the sun is over. Hillary cannot inherit Bill's charisma, because, now, Bill has nothing left to give.
It's time for the Clintons to dial it back and let a new crop of center-stagers in.
The media thinks it's all about optics, and some of it is. We watch, we see, we judge. It's what advertising and the movies are all about.
But times have changed and so have the public's sensibilities.
Hillary and Bill together, optically, look like yesterday's news. The way they dress, the way they speak, their ideas.
Their non-answers, that were acceptable minutes ago, no longer are.
The public doesn't have the interest in parsing "what is, is," or in considering if "there's no there, there."
It's like watching old reruns of the Three Stooges. It's still entertaining, but dated.
Hillary thinks she can avoid answering questions, even from soft-ball interviewers like Chris Matthews.
When asked, she would not answer what the difference is between a Socialist and a Democrat. She thinks she can continue to obfuscate her misdeeds as secretary of state. She thinks she's above the law.
But those days are over. All the old tricks don't work anymore.
Along with the Kennedys, and yes, the Bush family, the Clintons are old hat for a brave new world, where the Second Amendment is being challenged at the highest governmental levels, and where the term "Islamic terrorists" has to be said out loud in order to protect Americans.
It's not easy to become irrelevant.
It happened to William Jennings Bryan, one of the most eloquent orators in our country's history.
A respected member of the U.S. House of Representatives, three-time presidential candidate, and a powerful and frequent speaker on the Chautauqua circuit in the 1900's, the Scopes Monkey Trial proved to be his downfall.
Bryan opposed the Darwinian Theory of Evolution and appeared as a witness at the trial as a representative of the World Christian Fundamentals Association.
The trial was covered nationally in great detail, and Bryan was publicly humiliated by his examination on the witness stand by defense attorney Clarence Darrow.
The questioning revealed his lack of knowledge of the Bible, although Bryan was a man whose credo was, "Give me that old time religion."
Bryan won the case, but lost the war.
Some in the media said Darrow made a monkey out of him, some that he died of a broken heart because of the public humiliation. They later made a movie out of it, Inherit the Wind.
But whatever the case, Bryan was never the same again.
There's no doubt, there comes a time to leave the public stage and walk away. Because even though you may want the music to play on forever, sometimes you can stay too long at the fair.
Hold the line, America.