And you thought the media control freakery was in the past? Not exactly:
Mr. Scorsese’s partly finished documentary about Mr. Clinton — which once seemed likely to be released as Hillary Rodham Clinton was navigating a presidential run — has stalled over disagreements about control, people briefed on the project said. Though parts of the film were shot over the last two years as Mr. Clinton made a philanthropic visit to Africa and elsewhere, the project is now indefinitely shelved, partly because Mr. Clinton insisted on more control over the interview questions and final version than Mr. Scorsese was willing to give, those people said.
This – even though Scorsese is a total fanboy:
Mr. Scorsese clearly had a soft spot for the Clinton project. In a 2012 statement, he said the film would “provide greater insight into this transcendent figure.” Mr. Clinton at the time said he was pleased to become the subject of a “legendary director.” … Clearly, the film carried the risk that an unflattering camera angle, unwelcome question or even an obvious omission by Mr. Scorsese would become a blemish to Mr. Clinton’s legacy or provide fodder for Clinton critics as the 2016 campaign approaches. Apparently to avoid such problems, people close to Mr. Clinton sought to approve questions he would be asked in the film, and went so far as to demand final cut, a privilege generally reserved for directors of Mr. Scorsese’s stature. Mr. Scorsese’s camp rejected those suggestions and the project was shelved.
Gotta police those camera angles – even in a hagiography by a giant of cinema! Then this, from Gawker with a headline also seemingly ripped from the early 1990s:
As Jon Stewart might say: Go on:
Bill Clinton took repeated trips on the “Lolita Express”—the private passenger jet owned by billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein—with an actress in softcore porn movies whose name appears in Epstein’s address book under an entry for “massages,” according to flight logbooks obtained by Gawker and published today for the first time. The logs also show that Clinton shared more than a dozen flights with a woman who federal prosecutors believe procured underage girls to sexually service Epstein and his friends and acted as a “potential co-conspirator” in his crimes.
I do not care for a second who Bill Clinton or Alan Dershowitz want to hang out with. Or what they do. I just hope this stuff is dead dead dead by the time they run again for president. Just because it’s a horrible distraction, and will feed the right-wing noise machine (and Gawker-fueled social media) like nothing else. It could also, of course, rebound – again – to the Clintons’ advantage. Perhaps. But do we really want that kind of melodrama again? And the control freakery that makes such melodrama continue ad infinitum? Or do we have to accept the Clintons as they are – with immense abilities and profound flaws – and hope for the best?
We’ll miss Obama. Of that I’m pretty sure.
The Dish 