President Bill Clinton Greets Nam June Paik -- June 9, 1998

[motoranimalis]

impressive that the marine in the background could keep from laughing!

[fungito]

absolutely genius!

[GranitePlox]

Artists suffer for their art I suppose haha. At least both took it in good nature. Probably never seen this before out of the respect of not subjecting the public to this awkward moment. Yikes!

[xjqjrl]

푸하하하하하하하ㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎhahahahaha­hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh



[samuraikarasu]

Say what you want about the dude getting a blowjob, Clinton was charismatic as fuck and he was unflappable.

[hchnm]

the effort and respect by the man to the president is amazing.... well done sir.

[s3norshake]

dude at the bottom was about to take a picture but decided against it. lol

[kmlee2011]

Bill surely had american quality.

[redkitten311]

Haha. Slick willy handles the sitch.

[RMNCOfficial]

Was that his dick?

[tegrenath]

@RMNCOfficial Indeed it was.

[FlameAdder]

It almost feels like that one cameraman knew it was gonna happen ahead of time.

[rodericickes14]

I don't remember this. Can you imagine how Bush would have handled this?

[Dashwsk]

NPR sent me as well, and sure enough Slick Willy barely breaks eye contact.

Well played.

[zigzigerblat]

My god, that must have been a nightmare! That is a worst case scenario.

[myusernameistaken23]

If you listen closely, Nam June Paik says "Mr President, is this what happens when Monica is around?"

[Levitikai]

NPR sent me.

[jpatch3]

Read Clintons lips he's saying, "slow down budy Monica wont be here till later".

[jaapaap5]

That's the clinton effect...;-)

[irvingwashington22]

Well done Bill. Done well there, mate.

[doyoureallythinkso]

everybody saw his pee pee

[leenathan]

Hooray for Wait Wait for educating all of us young-uns!

[Lezolias]

The balls are a nice touch.

[roserover]

The man who pulled this trick is Nam June Paik, a renowned conceptual artist. It should be clear from the fact that a photographer was crouching down aiming at his legs before the pants drop, that this was a conceptual art event, not George Takei in his dotage! Watch it again....

[NICKATOMIC666]

@roserover

Wow, you're right! I heard about this last weekend on a radio show and checked to see if YouTube had a video (sure enough, it did!). After reading about the artist's prior art presentations, it is very likely that this is another conceptual art event. The guy's been wheelchair-bound after a stroke, but forced himself to walk just to do this. Some artists do suffer for their art, I suppose.

[mvr80]

Oh sh*t! How could they keep a straight face??? I agree with maryisntgay's comment =D

[VideoJargon]

Looking like a fool with your pants on the ground...

[LudicrousBarchart]

@OddlyMaison THUMBS UP IF YOU DONT GIVE A FUCK. STOP ADVERTISING.

[JoshSundquist]

Thumbs up if you agree Ray William Johnson should review this video.

[harrypotterfan9768]

@JoshSundquist Definitely! 

[LloggyT]

@JoshSundquist a voiceover for Bill Clinton would be good for right then.

[Dleger13]

@JoshSundquist Absolutely!

[momoandmiz]

@JoshSundquist

How about no

[TurdFurgurgleson]

HAHAAH!

[jimmyPain2121]

tehehe

[maryisntgay]

bill clinton is amazing if for no other reason, than because he NEVER STOPS LOOKING AT THAT MAN'S FACE even when his pants are AROUND HIS ANKLES and he is NOT WEARING ANY UNDERWEAR

[mar88ia]

omg what? is this real life????? LOL

[ultrapirtle]

NJP is an awesome artist (his work appears in several places here in DC) and I think that Clinton handled this amazingly well. The man is unfazed.

[TheWonderfulWombat]

Oh god, what a day to go without underwear.

[drgdrf]

WHY HAVE HIS TROUSERS FELL?????

[lavishlyDecorated]

"Slides into second, maybe Rick's pants come down a little ..."

[AIAZISten]

poor guard tries hard to keep teh srs face the whole time

[MuNkaPOtaMuS]

I've not always been a fan of his politics, but as a Man, Bill's awesome. He's a true diplomat and a smooth talker. We need more people like him who can handle the absurd, the embarassing and uncomfortable with poise and dignity.

It's a shame his wife isn't as well adapted to diplomacy as he is.

[goken0]

Clinton's stilll got it....even men's pants fall in his presence

[datsik]

I like how the photographer gets RIGHT IN THERE, PERFECTLY, for the shot of Mr. Nam June Paik's junk. Hilarious!

[djdogjuam]

The cameraman/paparazzi at 0:19 should be fucking ashamed of himself. The disabled mans pants fall down and this dickhead makes sure he immortalises his embarassment. He reminds me of Ricky Gervais' speech in the final episode of Extras, about the gutter press complaining about Lindsay Lohan's panties being on show, whilst having their cameras on the floor pointing up her skirt. Fucking paparazzi have no shame.

[sovietstan]

@djdogjuam ure really fast for justice. he didn't take a single shot. look at flashes - they cover him too.

[Madadder2]

lmao



[nameofthepen]

What a smooth criminal.

Bush, Sr. must have sent Clinton, his "adopted son" back for a refresher course in "Public Behavior for Politicians 101" after these two fails:

/watch?v=lf8TOGrq8Bo

/watch?v=BpEckWHSvXk

[Xweetie2]

You can imagine how much time and effort it takes for the handicapped to get to and use a toilet, which includes easy-drop pants and no briefs.

In his pride to greet the President standing, Nam June may have forgotten this or that he'd have to let go of them to shake hands.

Clinton's poise and grace is amazing. Goes to show. Basic empathy & a lot experience comes in handy more than you think. Take note Tea Party candidates, Joe Wilson, et al.

[THEbeastlySTIG]

wait wait!

[MidBosque]

Ken Hatuka, Nam June Paik's nephew, is the man immediately behind June who re-elevates the fallen trousers. His recollections of this event, which he shared at Paik's funeral, can be read at artnet Magazine (NO REWIND

by Alexandra Anderson-Spivy). Was this an accident or performance art? Either way, given the context of the times, which were mildly insane, Bill Clinton poise is striking.

[MChav7]

WAIT WAT

[tml17]

performance art?

[coscientology]

Bill is a smooth operator

[vivalatuna1]

@coscientology and has the sweetest taboo.

[TheSteakJustice]

George Takei hasn't aged well at all has he

[JudeTO]

Both handled this awkward moment. (involving. as it did, a disablity) with aplomb. If only the pirahna press could let such things happen without undue comment these days. I could see Fox having endless cruel, politically tinged amusement at the expense of Clinton...and I suppose John Stewart and Stephen Colbert would weigh in, as well. Lesson: listen to your mother about clean (or ANY) underwear.

[GranitePlox]

@JudeTO Though justified Stewart and Colbert are comedians. Fox would do because they THINK they're comedians. );

[necromancer6]

not at all laughable. It must have been so embarrassing for him

[mactep911]

How embarrassing for Clinton. Paik seems to not even notice.

[emperormax]

anything can happen

[solorock624]

lol