Over in the New York Times today, Deborah Sontag has a 2,000-word piece about a charity called the Happy Hearts Fund. There seem to be two big takeaways: (a) celebrities use their fame to promote their charities, and (b) Bill Clinton usually won’t appear at your event for free. His speaking fee is a donation to the Clinton Foundation. In this particular case, Happy Hearts donated $500,000 to the Clinton Foundation, and in return Clinton appeared at their event to receive a lifetime achievement award.
I’m racking my brain here. I know I’m partisan about this and would just as soon not attribute dark motives to Clinton. But even putting that aside, what’s the story here? Celebrities use their fame to promote their pet causes? Bill Clinton commands a high speaking fee? Is there something that’s even unsavory about this, let alone scandalous? Is there something that’s out of the ordinary or not already common knowledge? If the story featured, say, George W. Bush instead of Clinton, would I be more outraged? What am I missing?
