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Wumione@AOL.com New York, NY, USA

''HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN LOVE?''
THE AMAZING STORY OF LOVE BETWEEN PRESIDENT AND MRS. CLINTON AND A FEW DISTINGUISHED COUPLES AROUND THE WORLD

n a recent trip to London, I took advantage of my stay at the Hyde Park Towers to take frequent walks at my favorite rendezvous in London, the famous Hyde Park corner. For readers who may not know, Hyde Park corner is a spot in London where you can say anything you want, even lambaste the Queen or the Prime Minister without let or hindrance and without any fear of reprisal. I was therefore in the Hyde Park corner state of mind when the Clinton saga just crossed my mind as I ponder the wisdom of creating that kind of spot for the "deranged" or the nihilists of the world who would always like to unwind by saying something negative about Government and about celebrities and the privileged class in general. For some reason, the controversy on Hillary’s latest book simply took my fancy as I listened with my ear phones to my small radio cassette and enjoyed the new enchanting album of the irresistible Music Diva, the one and only Celine Dion. Have you ever been in Love song is decidedly one of the best the best love song that is currently making the waves around the world. My heart melts and my adrenaline shoots up every time I hear that song, and process, in my mind, Celine‘s motivation for that song. If you have ever been in Love like Celine have asked, you will probably appreciate why I could not resist the temptation to simply make that song the title of this article. I started writing the article at the Hyde Park corner, but completed it in draft at the Hyde Park Towers, before catching my flight back to the Big Apple from Heathrow.

The Clintons are back in the news again both here in America, and around the world. Beautiful Hillary and her charismatic husband have continued to make history by their colorful and epoch making fairy-tale American success story. As a dye-in-the-wool democrat and freelance consultant and commentator for the Democratic Party, it will be out of character for me to simply ignore the ongoing debate by friends and foes alike on the amazing book appropriately titled "Living History" just released by the erstwhile first lady and now New York Senator Hillary Rhodham Clinton. I regret that Hillary was not born in Nigeria, she probably would have been deified alive by our famous music maestro, Sunny Ade who would probably have waxed for her, an album more emotionally charged and musically uplifting than "Erelu" the album that often make me wonder if Erelu Elegbede-Fernandez was really human. There is no Yoruba party I have attended in Nigeria or in America where that unbeatable lyric and rhythm had not sent party fans going wild with excitement and passion as they danced to that album. The Hillary Book project has again put the great senator in the limelight in much more profound ways than her first book "It takes a village to raise a child." "Living History," like her author, has continued to make history by selling 200,000 copies in one day at its debut. It has, in fact, attracted the highest number in sales for most nonfiction books ever recorded by Barnes and Noble.

The book is rightly generating so much attention here and around the world because the author and her husband have had a legitimate claim to being called the first citizens of the world by the kind of life they have lived as one of the most powerful husband and wife the world has come to know. The Clintons would probably rank very close to the Camelot's (John and Jackie Kennedy) in the way and manner that couple had taken the whole world by storm in their short but colorful time together as husband and wife. If you have ever heard the term "Beauty and the Beast" or "Brain and Brawn" the Clinton duo is the exact opposite. The Clinton couple is arguably one of the smartest couple in America today. I think the president himself got it right when he described his quest for public office as America getting two for the price of one. Buy two and get one free. The President knew his wife and the strength she was going to bring to the White House as First Lady. Those expectations and faith in his better half still continue to pan out even now.

I once described America in one of my articles as "the new Canaan," and a few E-mail tigers had jumped all over me accusing of being a sellout because to them America was not better than Nigeria. Some even said I was an uncle Tom. They said I should be praising Nigeria, and to leave America alone. I say "foul over the bar." It is true that Nigeria is my country but I will be delusional to equate Nigeria with America as some E-mail tigers were suggesting. So the E- mail tigers can have their field day again calling me names now for being so generous in my praise of the junior Senator of a State I am proud to call my home at this point in time. So much has been written already about Hillary and her book and her marriage, and many more are still going to be written on the Clintons by people more qualified than me. As my title suggests, I am therefore going to focus my searchlight on the aspect of the author’s life that is of interest to me, while leaving the other aspects to the juggernauts who have a more intimate knowledge of the Senator. I intend to talk about the new book and my impressions of it and the author and the very thoughtful way the First lady had handled the womanizing scandals of her husband’s presidency, including her obligations to her one and only child.

I recently watched many talk shows on the television on Hillary and her new book and more importantly about her marriage to Bill Clinton, and whether or not she had mentioned anything the public didn't know already. Many commentators had wondered if Hillary had lied or spoken the truth about when she first got to know about her husband‘s affair with Monica Lewenski and all the multiple girl friends the former President might have dated or slept with over a period of twenty-five years as the Governor of Arkansas and later, as the leader of the Free World. The controversy has arisen because many would not believe that a woman as intellectually gifted and smart as the first lady would not have known or had some inkling of the affairs her husband had been having. Some of her detractors are even cruelly suggesting Hillary might possibly have been an enabler or accomplice to her husband’s high risk encounters with women in general. As a Nigerian, and as an amateur womanizer of a kind, at one point in my life, I am even surprised the talk show hosts and their audiences are paying that much of attention to what the President and his wife may be doing behind closed doors and at their leisure time. What exactly do they expect of such a handsome and charismatic character becoming President of the greatest country on Earth at 43, the second youngest person to ever occupy that office? Nigeria is the place to go if you truly want to understand the import of what I am taking about here.

Nigerians are probably as carefree as the French about the private life of their leaders as we saw from the life of the late President Mitterand of France. A president having an affair in my country is no big deal at all. We would be surprised at a young and handsome President like "Elvis Clinton" if he is not able to demonstrate his virility and manhood by having some affairs with the salt of this world. Fantastic albums would be waxed by the best of our musicians to even eulogize the President, and his lucky sidekick who will proudly wear the fact that she is good enough to merit the President’s attention, and to even go to bed with him as a badge of honor. It is a different world out there in our own neck of the woods in Africa. All our leaders do it openly even to the extent of appointing some of his flames into the cabinet without anyone lifting a finger. With the possible exception of Obafemi Awolowo, all our leaders do it with pride and general acclamation. The military President and Governors were the worst offenders. It was an open secret. I can tell you our current incumbent would probably win an Oscar, if you go into how he spends his leisure hours behind closed doors. If Stella ever hears or reads about this, of course, it was not from me you heard it. I am only quoting from some unknown writers. All I am saying is that Presidents having affairs with women other than the first lady is no big deal in the African State of mind. I will probably do the same if I find myself in their position, judging by my track record in my Civil Service days. My wife was kind she didn‘t kill me or take me to the cleaners as the Americans would say.

I am therefore siding with Hillary who had confessed she only got to know of the inappropriate behavior the President was finally forced to admit only when it became clear to him he could hide no more. If you have ever been in love as emotionally rendered in the great song by Celine Dion in her best album to-date, you will understand why Hillary could not have been lying as her detractors are suggesting or insinuating. She had written in her book she had not believed rumors being peddled around, that her husband was indeed cheating on her and cutting corners. I totally believe that Hillary spoke the truth in her book, and I gave her kudos for the way and manner she had handled the scandal from A to Z. Political prostitutes like Dick Morris could write all they want about the Clintons, they are hurting themselves more than they are hurting the Clintons. Hillary is a "wife in a million and a mother in Israel" like Nigerians call all women of virtue in our country. When a man or a woman is truly in love like she is with her husband, she does not listen to the noise in the typical African market, she focuses attention on what is it, she has gone to the market to buy. When you are in love, the focus or the target of your love can do no wrong.

The whole world could be accusing your wife or your husband of cheating on you, his or her word, and what he or she tells you is what counts to the one that is truly in love like Hillary. I am not talking theory here, I am talking applied knowledge That is the nature of genuine Love hence the time honored adage that love is blind. If you permit me, I will even argue that Love is not only blind, it is also deaf. When you are in love your tolerance level for the person you love is limitless. You just, instinctively, believe in what you are told by the person you love without a need to second-guess or double-check what is it he or she may be telling you. When you are in love, the object of your love is everything to you, and he or she is beautiful to you in every way imaginable as very beautifully articulated and summarized by Christina Aguilera in her latest album titled " Beautiful in every way" Such is the nature of Love and there are examples to illustrate this point in several stories of great Love in every culture and clime around the world regardless of the level of sophistication or civilization. I will like to share a few such stories with you from couples around the world whose stories would deeply touch your heart like they have touched mine.

You probably recall the story of King Edward the 8th of England of the Ruling House of Windsor who had chosen to abdicate the British throne for the love of Sarah Simpson an American divorcee he had chosen to marry when he was given the choice between the love of his life and the British throne. He did not think twice before going for Sarah. What of the love story of Celine Dion herself who had fallen in love with her Manager who was much older than her. So great was the love that Celine had stood by her man when the later was believed to be terminally ill. It was even feared he might die. That did not deter Celine from going ahead to find some way to have a baby for him through artificial insemination with a frozen sperm stored in a Sperm Bank as the story goes. There was also the case of the Music Diva, Whitney Houston falling in love with Bob Brown a man believed by many to be the worse person that the beautiful Diva could have found to marry. So many unprintable things had been said and written about Bobby Brown, and why Whitney should not have gone any where near him. But because of the power of Love Whitney would just not listen regardless of the pressures on her to do otherwise. It was that kind of love that Hillary and Bill Clinton had shared ever since they first met and dated themselves at Yale

Men and women fall in love for different reasons because beauty is really in the eye of the beholder, and one man’s meat is another man’s poison? Some men love women with good legs. Some value beautiful skin while others may be enchanted by a good set of teeth while others are taken in by big eye balls, long and beautiful hair and even tooth gap like IBB's trade mark. Some value the family background of their partner or their education or their financial means or status or sheer compatibility in terms of behavior or character or even their "bedmatics" as beautifully defined by the incredible Boys to Men in their one in a life time album "make love to you, like you want me to." In the case of President and Mrs Clinton, it is decidedly a mixture of all these attributes taken together. But the Senator has confessed in her book, she was first attracted to the future President by his long fingers and his uncanny ability to engage her in a conversation. In her own words nobody has been able to reach out to the very essence of her being like Mr. President. That is a very powerful statement to make, and probing further into it is tantamount to invading the Senator‘s privacy beyond what is decent and responsible. She strongly believed the President had succeeded in lighting a fire in her soul that is hard for any scandal to quench for two good reasons. Her love for her husband and her determination to protect the interest of Chelsea, their only adorable child. If you ask the President himself he too undoubtedly feels the same way for Hillary. Of course both of them are intellectually sound and bright not to talk of their shared ideological interest in Politics. They were a different kettle of fish from the James Carville of this world and his wife who share different values, but are still no less in love with each other than some other couples we know. Only in America you will find these stranger than fiction types of Love because America the Land of the brave is something else if you really think about it. Amazing country!

The kind of love that President Clinton and the Senator Hillary had shared was unique. It was love from the heart. It was love between two friends and soul mates. It was the Love that was described in the mystery of marriage in Biblical terms which defies conventional mathematical formula where one plus one is two. In their own love configuration, one plus one is also equal to one. It was the same kind of love that Paul McCartney of the Beetles fame and her new wife Heather have shared and still continue to share. It was the same kind of Love that Christopher and Dana Reeve have shared and still continue to share. Bill and Hillary Clinton have lived and still continue to love each other in spite of Bill Clinton’s weaknesses which is legendary just like those of the Camelot before him. Some of the greatest leaders of these world were unrepentant womanizers, and that has diminished their stature as leaders. The great FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) John F. Kennedy (JFK) were all womanizers, and so was our own Nnamdi Azikiwe to mention just one name among several in our country. Hillary, in coming to the defense of her husband, has had to borrow an analogy from a theologian who has defined the two greatest sins that any human being could commit as the sin of weakness and the sin of malice. She said she was very much aware of these two sins, and her need to temper justice in reacting to the Monica Lewenski scandal which nearly brought down the presidency of her husband.

I see the response of Hillary to the Monica Lewenski scandal, and the way she had comported herself as a classic to be emulated by all womanhood around the world. Life again is all about the choices we make. If Hillary had listened to conventional wisdom, and had done what six out of ten women in similar situations in America would have done, she would easily have thrown out the baby with the bath water. I have the greatest respect for Hillary as a woman, just like the voters of New York who gave her a landslide victory to make history one more time by being the very first lady in American history to leave her ceremonial job as First Lady to become a Senator in one of the greatest States in America. She may well the first to break out of the pack to be the first woman President in America. She has everything going for her right now, a first class education in Law from Yale, twelve years as the first lady of the state of Arkansas, and eight years as the First Lady of the whole United States, followed by another six years as Senator of Empire State in the US Senate. I cannot think of any candidate of the future men and women alike who can beat that, if the truth must be told. I therefore see Hillary as a woman of Destiny. The good Lord is not finished with her yet, and it’s only a question of time before God completes His purpose for her in this world

Her enemies could say all they want about her and her husband, putting words into her mouth, and trying to blackmail her and to stop or delay what God has ordained. It will surely come to pass. When Hillary wrote her first book, "It takes a village" tongues were wagging that she was out playing politics. But she was directed by God to do that book for what America values the most, the fate of our children who are our future, because if we fail in that endeavor as a Nation, nothing else matters. Hillary has done it again in her biography appropriately titled "Living History" which is what it truly is. Some have labeled it a campaign Book. That may well be, because Hillary has touched on all points that may become an issue for future debate, should it take the next necessary step and become a candidate for the Leader of the Free World. She has actually answered all the questions n her little involvement in the Watergate, and her role in the White Water Scandal and the controversial Billing Records that her enemies were hoping they could use to tarnish her and to slow her down or derail her possible ambition to become the first woman President of this country. Why not, if not? Women becoming Prime Ministers and Presidents even in countries less sophisticated like New Canaan is now common place. Bandaranaike was Prime Minister of Ceylon years ago, Corazon Aquino was President of the Philippines. Indira Ghandi was several times Prime minister of India, the first daughter of Ali Butto the former leader of Pakistan, Bennizar had been prime Minister. So was the great Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain not to talk of Golda Meir of the first woman Prime Minister of the state of Israel. I have to say without any fear of contradiction, that none of these illustrious women of virtue will be more mentally, intellectually and politically prepared and ready for public office than Hillary when she finally enters the race.

In a country that has recorded more first than any other country on Earth, the Hillary Presidency is well within the realm of possibility in our life time. Here is a country that have had two father and son as President, a paraplegic as President, the first country to put a man on the Moon, the country with the highest number of Nobel Peace Laureates in the world, and the country where anyone could become President from a peanut farmer to a Hollywood actor. It is a country where a professional wrestler was elected Governor. It is a country that could have a president and a First lady become President in our life time. Nothing is impossible in America. That is the magic of America. Her greatest magic, however, is the way Love is viewed and lived in this country where you could be a disabled and physically handicapped person and still attain your greatest potential in life like Stevie Wonder , Uncle Ray Charles, and a host of others that time and space would not permit me to mention in this write-up. The whole observation is all predicated on Love everlasting, love of family and the kind of love and commitment to each other demonstrated by the Clinton couple. A theologian has once described Love as the stage you reach in life when "yours becomes mine, and mine becomes yours and yours and mine become ours." That is the stage that the President and Hillary have reached in their life. They both share a mutual distrust of their political enemies, and they are determined to stay focused to fight them together. I honestly believe Celine Dion had the two Clintons in mind when she sang, "Have you ever been in Love?" I have, and I can tell you the two Clintons are very much in Love.

I rest my case.