Clinton Wanted to Mail His Ear to NEWSWEEK? Huh?

Since Susan Page's exclusive preview of Taylor Branch's upcoming book about Bill Clinton appeared on the front page of on Monday, we've been treated to all sorts of juicy tales from the Clinton years. Courtesy of a series of recorded interviews Branch conducted with Clinton, we've heard about drunken Boris Yeltsin trying to hail a cab in his underwear on Pennsylvania Avenue and Clinton's tiffs with Al Gore after the VP lost the 2000 election. But none of these stories grabbed our attention more than this one, which we learned about from David Corn at :

Clinton insisted to Gore that he hadn't cared about how Gore had referred to Clinton─and his personal scandal─during the campaign. Paraphasing this portion of the conversation, Branch writes that Clinton told Gore, "To gain votes, he would let Gore cut off his ear and mail it to reporter Michael Isikoff of Newsweek, the Monica Lewinsky expert."

Whoa! You would have given us your ear? Gosh, Mr. President, we don't know what to say. We're flattered, but we know Isikoff, and receiving body parts in the mail rarely influences his reporting. (Isikoff declined to comment.)  

Corn has uncovered lots of other fun stuff, like Clinton's disdain for Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning, who apparently "sent shivers" up his spine, and his annoyance that Jimmy Carter never had anything positive to say. (Obama is no doubt making a mental note of that tidbit.) Ah, Clinton. He's the gift that keeps on giving.