On January 7 at Washington's Foundry United Methodist Church, Bill Clinton gave a short speech expressing his deepest, sincerest, most heartfelt gratitude to all us little people who've showered him with love and respect these past eight years. And what better way to cap off this bit of ersatz sentiment -- and his presidency -- than with the ersatz quotation he has forever made his own? Yes, SCRAPBOOK devotees, it's Clinton's fake Tocqueville gambit, for the umpteenth time:
"I thank you all for your prayers and your welcome to all of us in the storm and sunshine of these last eight years. I will always have wonderful memories of every occasion where we passed the peace -- for all the people, young and old, who came up to me and said a kind word of welcome, to remind me that no matter what was going on in Washington, D.C., at the moment, there was a real world out there, with real people and real hearts and minds, reaffirming the timeless wisdom of de Tocqueville's observation so long ago: that America is great because America is good."
That "timeless wisdom" business is a particularly mordant touch, given that the quotation is timelessly bogus, as has been repeatedly pointed out on this page and elsewhere. Anyone who employs it thus reveals himself an ignoramus. Speaking of which: Just for the record, Mr. President, when you're referring to his family name, the non-author of your favorite non-aphorism is simply "Tocqueville," not "de Tocqueville."