Clinton's bracelet? It's not what you think
Regarding the red-and-blue woven bracelet Bill Clinton has been seen wearing while promoting his autobiography, "My Life": Yes, the bracelet has a connection to a "magnificently attractive" (his words) woman he once entertained at the White House.
No, it isn't what you're thinking.
Nevertheless, it's hard to keep a good rumor down, especially where our 42d president is concerned. Thus, tongues have been wagging and Internet chat rooms have been chatting since Clinton launched his publicity blitz last weekend by waving the bracelet -- what in the name of Bob Marley is that thing? -- in Dan Rather's face while discussing Kenneth Starr, Monica Lewinsky, et al.
On "60 Minutes" last Sunday, America's first close-up look at the man in quite some time, the bracelet stuck out like a pierced tongue. It could be seen during Clinton's stroll through his presidential library and on a trip to his mother's grave. One minute it was accessorizing his smartly tailored business suit, the next a pair of blue jeans.
When the bracelet stayed fastened to Clinton's wrist like a flea collar to a hound dog as the week marched on, Oprah to Larry, interview piled upon interview, inquiring minds wanted to know.
Was this some sort of monitoring device? (And who would be monitoring him? Hillary? Jenny Craig?) A token of Chelsea's affection, perhaps? A keepsake from last year's Hempstock festival?
No explanation seemed too improbable.
"Looks like one of those color-coded sex bracelets the grade schoolers wear," ventured one website visitor, referring to a recent urban legend. Another thought it might be "one of Monica's old ties," a reference to Clinton having worn a necktie given to him by Lewinsky -- allegedly as a sign of solidarity -- on the day she testified before a grand jury about their affair.
One cynic guessed that Clinton keeps a pocketful of such bracelets on hand so he could give one to anybody he wants to impress, or who buys extra copies of his book. That the real story behind the bracelet is less salacious and more uplifting than any of these scenarios may disappoint some Bubba detractors. So be it.
The story:
Clinton was asked about the bracelet in an interview published Monday in The Guardian of London. He gave an emotionally charged account of its origins, a fuller version of which is contained in a separate interview posted on the Clinton Presidential Center website (www.
clintonpresidentialcenter.org). In that interview, with Leaders magazine, Clinton recalls having visited Colombia in June 2002 as a guest of President-elect Alvaro Uribe. The Clinton administration had sponsored a $1-billion-a-year program to fight narcotics traffickers and terrorists there, and the invitation was an acknowledgment of his support.
Clinton says he asked if a group of street musicians known as the Children of Vallenato could meet him. The group had performed twice before for him, once during a visit he had made to Colombia in 2000 and again at a White House Christmas party, when they traveled "under the wing of the then-cultural minister of Colombia, who was known only by her first name, Consuelo," says Clinton. In the Guardian interview, Clinton describes the minister, Consuelo Araujo, who was in her 60s, as being "magnificently attractive."
The children, age 5 to 14, "come from a very violent area, and they've been a real force for peace," Clinton says in the interview. "They were crowding the terrorists who didn't think they could kill the kids . . . so instead they kidnapped and killed the cultural minister. I spoke long distance, via video, at the event they had for her."
Upon returning to Colombia in 2002, Clinton was given a welcome bracelet by the children, and he has not taken it off since. It is, he says, a daily reminder of "why it's important to work for peace and stand together against terror."
There you have it, America. Of the many gifts he has received as a president and ex-president, a crocheted bracelet is the one (the one we know of, anyway) he chooses to keep with him at all times.
True, it's not as sexy as a yellow necktie with a hidden message. Or a Hillary-embroidered scarlet "A." For now, though, that explanation will have to suffice.
Joseph P. Kahn can be reached at jkahn@globe.com. 