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a preview of
Citizen Clinton by Steve Gallagher (dagalagas@yahoo.com) 
The camera pans up a dark, cast iron gate. The camera zooms in on the giant initials "DW" at the top of the gate, before moving over the gate and into the park. In the distance, a decrepit mansion sits on a hill, with the only light in the park shining from one of it's second story windows. As the camera moves towards the light, we pass the broken down wasteland that was the Dreamworks Studio and Theme Park. The expansive park was obviously once the scene of much activity, but it is now deserted and overgrown. Abandoned movie sets, amusement rides, camera cranes, trailers, restaurants, and sound stages are scattered on either side of the camera shot, as it moves, slowly but unceasingly towards the lit window. Shortly, the camera moves into the dark shadow of the mansion, blocking out the moonlight, and scanning over the boarded up doors and windows. The shot tightens - until the frame of the lit window fills the frame of the screen. Suddenly, the light within goes out. This stops the action of the camera and cuts the music which has been accompanying the sequence.
The camera zooms in slowly to the bloated image of an old William Jefferson Clinton lying nude and semiconscious on his bed. Next to him, on the night table, sits some porno magazines and an almost empty whiskey bottle. The camera zooms in further, onto Clinton's hand, which is holding a whiskey on the rocks. CLINTON'S OLD, OLD VOICE: Rosebush... The hand relaxes. The drink falls out of his hand and bounds down two carpeted steps leading to the bed, the camera following. The glass falls off the last step onto the marble floor where it breaks, the fragments glittering in the first rays of the morning sun. The camera moves to the foot of Clinton's bed. Outlined against the shuttered window, we can see a very shapely form - a buxom nurse, as she pulls the sheet up over his head. The camera follows this action up the length of the bed and arrives at the face after the sheet has covered it. DISSOLVE: A NEWSREEL APPEARS ON THE SCREEN Splashed across the screen, the words are simultaneously announced in a booming voice: "NEWS ON THE MARCH!" The title fades to reveal a second title: "WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON - DEAD AT 77" Stirring, brassy music is heard on the soundtrack. What follows in an old-fashioned newsreel of the type seen in movie theaters in the 1930's. Though the year is 2023, the style has been re-popularized, due to a massive decline in network news viewership. The narrator speaks in the style of exaggerated import, popular in these newsreels, while grandiose martial music blares in the background. As the narrator intones the following monologue, we see a montage of shots, showing various Clinton confidantes in orange jumpsuits, interspersed with quick scenes from various congressional hearings, and shots like that of Bill Clinton's famous finger-pointing denial, Al Gore toasting with Chinese dictators, the Branch Davidian compound burning to the ground, the blown-up aspirin factory in Sudan, and so on. NARRATOR: Legendary was the corruption and scandals that occurred during the reign of Caligula, third emperor of Rome! Caligula, it is said, exploited the trust and power that he had inherited from the more honest and stable emperors, Augustus and Tiberius. Caligula's bizarre behavior illustrated the depravity that can ensue from the volatile mix of absolute power and a total disregard of honor and duty. Today - almost as legendary - is the legacy of William Jefferson Clinton. His administration still produces daily revelations of the depth of it's corruption, nearly a quarter century after his reign ended. TITLE: IN HOLLYWOOD LAST WEEK WAS HELD 2023'S STRANGEST FUNERAL Shot blends into a scene of a funeral in Hollywood, California. NARRATOR: Tinseltown, tarnished and tired, is the only town in America where the former president is still revered. The year of 2023 bears witness to one of the strangest funerals ever held. Laid to rest here - a potent figure of the last century - America's Caligula - William Jefferson Clinton. He was despised by his enemies, loved by his admirers, worshipped by a fawning (lowered vocal tone) - some say complicit - (normal tone resumes) liberal media. The funeral for this last, larger-than-life figure of "The American Century" is marked mainly by the spotty attendance of the entertainment industry's has-beens... and never-weres. Shot of an elderly, weeping Tim Robbins, falling into the arms of an equally distraught Bronson Pinchot. TITLE: AROUND THE WORLD, THE MEDIA TRUMPETS HIS DEMISE. Shot of a huge, screen-filling picture of Clinton. Pull back to show that it is a picture on the front page of the "New York Times" capped by the headline "CLINTON DEAD AT 77". Below that - the sub-head, "Actually - We Were Against Him The Whole Time". The NY Times drops onto a table top, followed a moment later by another newspaper. Dropping on top of each other in succession are newspapers from around the world. Each contains a picture of Clinton and headlines in English and other languages. When the language is other than English, a translation appears beneath. Most headlines use words similar to "war-monger", "traitor", or "disgrace". Diverging from this negative theme, a few papers or magazines drop randomly onto the pile: Variety - "The Death of Hollywood's Handsome Rogue Warrior"; Ebony - "America's Only Black President Mourned"; Beijing Chronicle - "Great American Leader Becomes Revered Holy Deity"; Village Voice - "Clinton Dead - Is The NYPD Responsible?" TITLE: 1992 - A POTENT POLITICIAN OR MASS HYPNOSIS? The camera shows news footage from the 1992 campaign. No audio accompanies these scenes, only the continuing music. The shots are of Clinton barnstorming through the states, shaking hands and kissing babies. Bill and Hillary's joint "60 Minutes" appearance plays briefly and silently. Then, we see a frontal shot of the Clintons and Gores - on stage at the Democratic convention, with their arms around each other. The shot switches to one from behind them, so we can see the adoring crowd. As they wave, we see Clinton's hand move down and he starts massaging Tipper Gore's buttocks. While she continues to wave with one hand, she slaps his hand away with the other. NARRATOR: Adored by millions of Americans... hated by millions more. For eight years, he held the highest office in the land. During this time, there was no issue on which he took a principled stand. And - if it could help minimize his own short-comings - there was no historical figure too revered to be slandered. Quick newspaper headlines, and network news banners: "Reagan - A Rapist Too?"; "Harding Had Chinese 'Laundry' Service"; "William Howard Taft & The Intern"; "The Bastard Child Of Thomas Jefferson "; "JFK's Bent Penis". NARRATOR: When called upon to serve his country in war - he became a sudden pacifist. When other lives were on the line - he became bellicose. Not a single declared war occurred during his administration, yet American bombs fell on more foreign countries than under any president since World War II. A map of Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa, covers the entire screen. NARRATOR: Poll numbers fading? - Iraq is bombed! (little explosion symbol appears on the map) Former lover to testify? - Sudan and Afghanistan will pay! (more little explosion symbols appear) Chinese espionage culpability? - Yugoslavia will share Clinton's pain! (many more little explosions pop up all over Yugoslavia, one lands obviously outside Yugoslavia's border) Sorry Bulgaria! Famed in American legend, is the humble origins of William Jefferson Clinton. Raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, the poor son of a single mother, he went on to become the most powerful man in the world! A faded photograph, showing young Billy Clinton in his mother's lap on a porch. The camera pulls back revealing the small house in it's entirety. The old photo of the house falls out of focus, as the focus returns it has been replaced by a stunningly beautiful photograph of the White House which slowly fades away. Video of a Congressional Investigating Committee runs silent under the narration. Janet Reno faces the committee, flanked by David Kendall. She is being questioned by a hostile congressman. A document has just been placed on the table in front of her. NARRATOR: But his reign of power was marked by scandal after scandal, culminating in charges - never wholly proven - of espionage and treason. In the years after his term concluded, an endless parade of accusations and counter accusations reverberated through the hallowed halls of congress. Newsreel close-up of Reno, the soundtrack of which now fades in. RENO: Yes, Congressman Graham, that is my signature. GRAHAM: Why is your signature on a detailed plan to cover up the theft of our nuclear technology secrets? RENO: I had to do all I could to prevent congress and the media from discovering this breach of national security. I thought it could be embarrassing to the president - if this information came out. GRAHAM: (sarcastically) Oh, and I suppose "protecting the president, while denying the American people the truth" is in your job description? RENO: (pulling out a sheet of paper) Actually, that exact wording is in my job description - President Clinton wrote it up and made me sign it before he would re-appoint me for a second term. An explosion of camera flashes and gasps from the crowd, as the chairman begins bagging his gavel. With a nod, he recognizes Congressman Bob Barr. BARR: (reading) "It is my considered belief that President William Jefferson Clinton, in every essence of his social beliefs and by the dangerous manner in which he has persistently attacked the American tradition of the rule of law and our national security is, in fact, nothing more or less than a traitor to his own country!" Video of the mall in Washington. In the shadow of the Washington Memorial, a speaker appears before a crowd of thousands. SPEAKER: The policies and corruption of William Jefferson Clinton are a menace to every decent, law-abiding citizen in this land. He is today what he has always been and always will be - AN IMPEACHED, FELONIOUS, CONTEMPTIBLE, CRIMINAL! NARRATOR: And still another opinion - Clinton's own. Clinton stands before a large gathering of delirious supporters. A huge self-portrait hangs behind him. CLINTON: The children. Their health. Their happiness. Their right to joy and beauty - each and every day of their lives. That's what I'm about. That is the most important policy goal of William Jefferson Clinton! The crowd goes wild. Clinton jumps down off the podium and reaches over the barricades to shake hands with well-wishers. Another newsreel shot, much later, very brief, showing Clinton, older and much fatter, very tired-looking, running a gauntlet of protesters outside of a movie premier. NARRATOR: After he left office, his wife left him - to pursue an alternative lifestyle. Disgraced as a statesman, he tried his hand at movie producing. But, many of his movies were seen as veiled attempts to justify, ala Woody Allen, his own myriad personal failings. Others were poorly disguised attacks against those who were allied against him. When his movie producing career crashed, he took an entire film studio down with him. In fact, he nearly destroyed the whole industry. Shot of an enormous federal building in Washington. Forklifts move pallets of boxes about. NARRATOR: An estimated two million pounds of evidence, collected by Clinton's relentless nemesis, Ken Starr, lies gathering dust in a Washington warehouse. Cost of these investigations: no man can say! Enough documents to fill ten Presidential libraries - but for Clinton, there would be none. TITLE: CLINTON SPENT THE FINAL YEARS OF HIS LIFE IN SECLUSION NARRATOR: For seventeen years he lived, alone, in his decaying, pleasure palace, on the abandoned Dreamworks lot. Aloof, seldom visited, never photographed, William Jefferson Clinton vainly attempted to sway, as he once did, the destinies of a nation that had ceased to listen to him ... ceased to trust him... A surreptitious shot, through a fence, of a very old Clinton, being wheeled about the abandoned lot by a young, beautiful nurse. She squeals as his shaky, sickly hands reach over his head and try, in vain, to touch her breasts. NARRATOR: Last week, as it must to all men, death came to William Jefferson Clinton. Title and simultaneous narration: NEWS ON THE MARCH! THE END.
Smoke fills the screening room, lit only by a small table lamp, and a brilliant ray of light spilling out through the window to the projection room. Through the haze of cigarette smoke, we can distinguish only shadows. Three men, all journalists, stand and stretch. The fourth man, Mr. Rawlston, is obviously in charge - the others await his instructions. During the entire course of this scene, nobody's face is really seen. Sections of their bodies are picked out by the table light, as their shadows move about the room. RAWLSTON: (loudly) Stay in there Louie, I'll let you know if we want you to run it again. THOMPSON'S VOICE: Well? RAWLSTON: It's a tough thing to do in a newsreel. Seventy-seven years of a man's life - FIRST JOURNALIST: Did ya see what old Sydney Blumenthal wrote about him in Playgirl? SECOND JOURNALIST: Yeah, he said that Clinton tricked him into being a supporter. Now, Syd realizes that Clinton, all along, was a disingenuous liar. THOMPSON: A revelation... twenty years too late. Syd's a bitter old queen - Clinton never got him a job a Dreamworks. Before that, that "journalist" was more than happy to overlook anything Clinton ever did... RAWLSTON: Thompson, that's a fine film you've put together, but it lacks an overlying theme. It needs something... you know... FIRST JOURNALIST: A hook? RAWLSTON: That's it - a hook. What made Clinton what he was? And, for that matter, what was he? What we've just seen are the outlines of a perverse political career - what was behind the career? What drove him? Was he truly evil or just incompetent? Malevolent or silly? Why did he do all those things? What was he after? (thinking out loud) "William Jefferson Clinton was a..." The journalists talk over each other, to get a word in - "liar!", "rapist!", "traitor!", "reprobate!", "sexual predator!"... RAWLSTON: Just a minute! Maybe he told us on his death bed... SECOND JOURNALIST: Yes, and maybe he didn't. RAWLSTON: Ask the question anyway! What were Clinton's last words? (silence) What were the last words he said on earth? FIRST JOURNALIST: What were they? (silence) SECOND JOURNALIST: (hesitant) Yes, Mr. Rawlston, what were Clinton's dying words? THOMPSON: (with disgust) Rosebush! A little ripple of laughter at this, which is promptly silenced by Rawlston. RAWLSTON: That's right, Thompson. SECOND JOURNALIST: Tough guy, huh? (derisively) Dies calling for Rosebush! RAWLSTON: Here's a man who's been loved and hated and talked about as much as any man in our time - but when he comes to die, he's got something on his mind called "Rosebush." What does that mean? FIRST JOURNALIST: A racehorse he bet on once, probably, that didn't come in - Rosebush! RAWLSTON: All right. But what was the race? You have to get out there and find out what Rosebush is. SECOND JOURNALIST: With all due respect, Mr. Rawlston, that's just not how journalism is done. We covered his death from the TV reports, what more do you want? RAWLSTON: (longing for a different day) How about an original story! How about a little hard work - rather than just writing a synopsis of the daily press conferences? There's a big story out there! Nobody's figured out what "Rosebush" meant. SECOND JOURNALIST: That would involve thinking up the right question to ask, finding the person who can answer the question, and actually taking the time to meet the person and ask the question. FIRST JOURNALIST: We might even need to think up relevant and probing followup questions on-the-spot... that's alot to ask from a journalist! RAWLSTON: Are any of you interested in doing the hard investigative work that once defined journalism? THOMPSON: Yes, sir. I'll do what I can. RAWLSTON: Hold this thing up for a week. Two weeks if you have to... FIRST JOURNALIST: (feebly) But don't you think if we release it now - he's only been dead four days - it might be better than if - RAWLSTON: (decisively) Nothing is ever better than finding out what makes people tick. Thompson, go after the people that knew Clinton well. Forget his ex-wife, though - she still has a restraining order against you. FIRST JOURNALIST: That intern... Lewinsky, she works down in Atlantic City. SECOND JOURNALIST: I pass by his brother Roger everyday on my way into work. Most people don't even recognize him. RAWLSTON: That's it! Who else is still around? Talk to Morris, if you can get an appointment. And Carville works down at the warehouse in Washington. Who was that little effete sidekick Clinton had for a while? THOMPSON: Stephanopoulis. George Stephanopoulis. I think he's up in a nursing home... applied for early admission, if I remember correctly. I'll get to it right away, Mr. Rawlston. RAWLSTON: (rising) Good! "Rosebush" - dead or alive! It'll probably turn out to be a very simple thing... Thompson grabs his coat and sets out to interview those who knew Bill Clinton well - to flesh out his character, and to try to find the meaning of Clinton's last word - "Rosebush"...
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