If Bill Clinton is not our most intelligent president, he is, at the very least, in the conversation. A truly self-made man, Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar, graduate of Georgetown and Yale Law, and Arkansas governor before arriving at the White House. With virtually unlimited access to information, President Clinton was (is) brilliant and worldly. That said, it is entirely implausible that someone with this background could be oblivious to ethological studies that have razed historical barriers between us and so many other species. It is equally unlikely that he has been (continues to be) unaware of the inherent cruelty in factory farming. So, imagine the smiles permeating the animal rights community when one of the five most famous people on the planet declared himself a vegan. PETA, ever opportunistic, wasted little time in capitalizing. But wait, there’s a catch.

As CNN recently said, “Bill Clinton’s appetite was legend. He loved hamburgers, steaks, chicken enchiladas…,” but quadruple bypass and a couple “bent and ugly” stents later, and he is a changed man (although he still indulges a bite of Thanksgiving turkey). CNN’s Dr. Gupta: “You’re doing this for your health. Is that why you’re doing it?” Clinton: “Yes, absolutely.” While recounting his transformation, not a single reference to gestation crates, battery cages, and bloody abattoirs. Just his heart, the decidedly non-metaphorical one, that is.

There are omnivores who eat healthy and vegans who do not (although the CNN article notes that Clinton’s two health guides, Drs. Ornish and Esselstyn, “have concluded that a plant-based diet can prevent and, in some cases, actually reverse heart disease”). But what autonomous adults choose to do to their bodies is of no concern to me; in other words, and with all due respect, I am not overly interested in the state of President Clinton’s arteries. Although his new diet is a net positive for animals, let’s not fete this as another example of Clinton magnanimity; after many years of abuse, he is clearly in self-preservation mode.

For the record, though, Bill Clinton is a strict vegetarian, not a vegan. Veganism is a lifestyle or philosophy that affirms the intrinsic worth of other sentient beings and rejects their exploitation. If new studies were to promote the health benefits of certain animal products, I have little doubt that President Clinton would forgo his plant-exclusive regimen, leaving behind the 200 animals PETA says he now spares annually. On this specific issue, William Jefferson Clinton is no hero. Rather, he is but another selfish human being fretting about his mortality. Sorry, not impressed.