Clinton's brother turns tiger to defend President

PRESIDENT Bill Clinton's younger brother Roger seems to be on the road to becoming the most embarrassing First Brother since Billy Carter, the jokey, beer-swilling, freewheeling sibling of Jimmy.

At a basketball game in Madison Square Garden, Roger, 37, had a confrontation with a Wall Street stockbroker who had made irreverent remarks about the President.

The conversation went something like this, according to published accounts: The stockbroker, Devin Arkison, kept on calling President Clinton a 'pussy' (source: Roger). Roger lept out of his seat and grabbed the broker by the neck shouting: 'I'll kick your ass' (source: stockbroker, who told the New York Post Roger looked 'like a raving lunatic').

According to fans, the stockbroker also teased Roger, saying, 'Bill's outta here in three years and your 15 minutes of fame are almost up'. Roger's manager, who is helping the First Brother in his quest to become a rock star, said the stockbroker then made 'very negative comments' about Roger's father, and his mother, too.

The manager observed that the stockbroker, who woke up with a sore neck, got off lightly. 'When you're from the South, you tend to maim people who say things like that,' he remarked, referring to the Clintons' home state of Arkansas.

Presidential siblings who play goons can be a boon as well as an embarrassment. At times Billy Carter was light relief from his ever-so- serious older brother. Running for mayor in the Carter home town of Plains, Georgia, Billy had his election HQ in his petrol station, which doubled as a cold beer store. A sign said 'Naked Women Drink Free'.

But Billy did cause red faces in the White House with Libyans among his business pals at a time when Libya was being accused of international terrorism. He also once owed the taxman rather a lot.

At least Roger later apologised. 'I'm sorry for my actions but no one is going to call my brother a pussy without me going off,' he told a couple next to him at the basketball.