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Here is the real tragedy: Hillary doesn't realize that finally she is rich, with her $8 million book advance and married to a man with massive earning potential. Just in salary and pension, the Clintons bring in about $300,000. So why did they debase themselves for gifts as if they were struggling newlyweds starting out? Some on the givers' list told NBC they weren't "wanting to give her special farewell presents," as a Clinton spokesman had claimed. They said they had been contacted by political supporter Rita Pynoos, who is married to a California developer, to send the gift registry a $5,000 check. Hillary didn't fill a pillowcase with the sterling after the last state dinner. But trolling for soup ladles you can easily afford is as irrational as the Fifth Avenue matron who filches a vial of perfume from the counter at Bergdorf's. Only Freud could sort it out.
Maybe the specter of giving up Hail to the Chief and motorcades puts you back in the nursery, frantic that your mother isn't going to warm your milk. But how can you ever have a home when it's partly filled with loot from strangers? There may be no connection between the disgraceful pardon Clinton gave Marc Rich and the coffee table Denise Rich gave the Clintons. But I'd never be comfortable putting my feet up on it.