NP: Ed Mann, Perfect World

With all the talk over the last year and a half about Sarah Palin exaggerating the truth, I found an interesting little nugget about another prominent political truth-benders in a story about the Kennedy Center honors. I think Bill Clinton was clearly more the sort of liar who would just tell you what you wanted to hear to make you like him, but he had that reputation already after being in office for two years. Which is apparently when he met jazz musician Dave Brubeck:

Former President Bill Clinton, a saxophone player, offered a moving toast for Brubeck. He said he first saw Brubeck's quartet in concert when he was about 15 years old and was "utterly captivated."

Later when Clinton invited Brubeck to the White House in 1994, the musician quizzed the president on what songs besides "Take Five" he liked from Brubeck's album, "Time Out," which was released 50 years ago this month. He even asked Clinton if he could hum the bridge to "Blue Rondo a la Turk." And Clinton passed the test.

A week later, Brubeck sent the president an autographed picture and chart from the song.

Seriously, I love this story. The President of the United States tells you he's a big fan, and you ask him to prove it? The guy has more spine than mostly everyone in the mainstream media, I'll tell you that much.