The Media Interview

Ok, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to sweat the small stuff, especially if it’s going to distract from the real story or create fodder for critiics; like making sure your pants don’t hike up above your socks.

Sounds silly, I know, but take Bill Clinton’s infamous interview, which aired on Fox this past Sunday. While they lasted no more than a few seconds in total, wide shots showing the former U.S. President’s bare calves got a lot of attention:

What surprised me most about the Clinton meltdown yesterday was that no one told him to pull up his socks. This is a man who never goes anywhere without staff, lots of staff. Was there no one there to see that his pants were hiked up too high and his socks were pulled down too low and the flesh on his legs was showing? [Nora Ephron's opening lines about the Clinton interview]

Meanwhile, he seems unaware of his own ungainly body. He’s gotten quite fat, and his suits — which he keeps buttoned — don’t fit him properly anymore. He’s sitting with his feet apart and planted on the floor, and the pantlegs get hiked way up so that a wide band of white leg shows above each sock. [post by Ann Althouse]

Clinton, his pant legs hiking above his socks to reveal the flesh of his calves, leaning forward and angrily tapping the papers Wallace held in his lap. [on the blog Rathergate]

Bill Clinton’s bombastic interview, besides being great television, reminded me of….. Socks the cat. (Spare me those pasty white legs!) Yes, Suzanne, you’d think a multi-millionaire jet-setter, so concerned with image, could afford proper socks. [Comment on Free Republic]

Key takeaway or learning from his [Bill Clinton's] interview this morning, non-partisan:

If you are on national TV, being interviewed, wear over the calf socks.

You heard it here first. [from the blog What Would Dad Say]

UPDATE - Tuesday September 26

Wow, MSNBC actually ran a short segment on Clinton’s exposed leg - even asking the opinions of a guest commentator. There’s a clip of it here [thanks to Think Progress] with lots of comments from blog readers. Here’s a short quote from the MSNBC host:

The former president showing off a little leg during the sitdown with Chris Wallace. We’re going to show you that, and that’s left some — see, there it is, a little glimpse of leg. Well, how does this happen? … I mean — is this a travesty or what?

UPDATE - Wednesday September 27

The CJR Daily blog has a good summary of the media reaction to Clinton’s socks - even calling it SocksGate.