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Uncovering Clinton : A Reporter's Story

Uncovering Clinton : A Reporter's Story

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A well written account
Review: Finally there is a definitive book on the events of the past year. Isikoff has written a thoroughly engrossing book that will be used for generations to come to explain why Bill Clinton was impeached. There is a lot to hate in this book if you are a die-hard partisan. Clinton supporters can react with righteous indignation about the conduct of Tripp and Goldberg while Clinton haters can relish in the accounts of the preditory womanizing and probable sexual assault of the President. There is a lot to learn in this book that has not been reported before. If the reader can take off the polital blinders for a moment and read this wonderfully written book objectively they will understand why the president deserved to be impeached and why Linda Tripp deserves to go to jail. This book finally establishes that:

1) Paula Jones is totally vindicated and deserves the most sympathy. No one deserves to be treated the way she was first by Clinton, then by the feminists and finally by the media.

2) Kathleen Willey was almost certainly assaulted by the President.

3) The President used private detectives to smear and intimidate women with whom he had sexual contact (consentual or not). Abuses of power that should disturb even the most strident Clinton defender.

4) Linda Tripp illegally and immorally set up Monica Lewinsky and the president. She and Goldberg's actions should disturb even the most rabid Clinton-hater.

5) The investigation by the Office of the Independent Counsel was probably beyond their scope and should be looked into further.

There seem to be no heros in this book but very clear villains. In the end I think Clinton and Tripp deserve each other.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Isikoff suggests Clinton's possible personality disorder
Review: This is a powerful book. As a social and economic conservative member of the "vast right-wing conspiracy", and a psychologist, I feel vindicated by Michael Isikoff, as I was by David Maraniss. My from-a-distance impression based on Isikoff's and Maraniss' books, along with media coverage and my personal observations, suggests that President Clinton shares a personality disorder with many politicians on the "vast left-wing conspiracy" side of the aisle. This disorder fuels their reach for power, prestige, and control, in the name of "democracy and justice". Clinton's personal war on the Serbs is a symptom of this, and his possible, dissocial and narcissistic personality disorder, as illuminated by Isikoff. Clinton's abuse of Monica Lewinski, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willley, et al, and attacks on powerless people such as Linda Tripp, and his blatant insult of the U.S. Constitution and the justice system by his lies and coverups are also the result of this possible personality disorder. To a greater and more dangerous degree, this personality disorder dominated Ted Bundy and his behavior. I knew Bundy for a short time. Like Bill Clinton, he was charismatic, charming, manipulative, handsome, and very intelligent. Clinton's fun-loving and crowd-pleasing ways are assets in the same entertainment field represented by buffoons the like of Rivera and Flynt, but not in the U.S. Presidency. I see his public demeanor as a facade which may well cover up a lot of deeper and more deadly psychological motives and mental processes. Thank you, Michael Isikoff for further examining this very complex and potentially dangerous politician. Personally I never did trust Clinton and I am enraged that he is hiding behind his Serbian War to cover up his own failures as a man and human being. In this highly readable and must-buy book, Michael Isikoff validates my distrust. To both the "vast right-wing and left-wing conspiracies", and all the rest, I say, buy and study this book.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Five years later: big story, big ego
Review: The fifth anniversary of the Monica Lewinsky scandal came and went without little media coverage or public reaction. People seem to have forgotten how the whole world briefly revolved around a blue dress and Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff.

It is a safe bet Isikoff hasn't forgotten.

The title and author's name appear in equal size type along the spine of Uncovering Clinton/A Reporter's Story. This technical touch is an appropriate tribute to Isikoff's monumental ego. The reporter's megalomania is on display from the first page to the acknowledgements; one two-page footnote is dedicated to a relatively inconsequential detail that involves Iskoff. The journalist is pretty full of himself.

So why give such a vanity project three stars? The answer lies in the epilogue. The last pages of Uncovering Clinton probably best summarize the scandal and subsequent impeachment and acquittal of Clinton more than anything written at the time or since. One line about the press coverage, in particular, stands out:

"Sometimes the best stuff comes from the most unpleasant people."

Isikoff's summation is dead on.

Few heroes are to be found here. The "most unpleasant people" make the best sources, the best investigators, the best villians, the best liars, the best conspirators, and the best characters. New details emerge in these pages about Matt Drudge, Sidney Blumenthal, Lucianne Goldberg, Linda Tripp, Monica Lewinsky, Vernon Jordan and assorted others, but none are rehabilitated by the fresh information. President Clinton is oddly absent from most pages. Yet when Clinton does appear he is a dark and furtive figure.

Iskioff, apparently unwittingly, portrays himself as a reporter with an oversized ego and just enough grandiosity to see his work as always for the greater good. Oddly, Paula Jones comes across as a very sympathetic character. Isikoff finds a surprising degree of merit in Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton. On the other hand, Isikoff's acceptance of Kathleen Willey's dubious tale throws this and other observations into some question. The Betty Currie the author portrays is potentially more culpable than she appeared. Without actually stating it, Isikoff's outrage at cyber-muckraker Drudge is an acknowledgement of the transition from the old era of the Establishment press to the Internet age of instant information. Drudge's scoops are a portent of things to come.

The book effectively is divided into three sections: the Jones lawsuit against the president, which started it all; the Willey accusation, which interjected Isikoff into the story; and the sexual scandal and subsequent cover-up that led to the president's impeachment. The author neatly ties them all together.

As the title indicates, this is a reporter's story. Neither scholarly nor shallow, Uncovering Clinton chronicles how one egotistical and dogged journalist covered, and in the process helped shape, a historic event that most people seem eager to forget. Given the sordid calamity Isikoff describes, the public reaction is understandable---and regrettable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Totally engaging.
Review: I barely followed the whole Monicagate story. I watched not one minute of the impeachment trial. Why not? Because it didn't interest me and I'm a Clinton supporter. I cant stand the rightwingers who were out to get Clinton. But this book is amazing. I read it in two days. It puts the whole story together for you and it made me realize that a pretty sick dude is running our country. Isikoff is totally fair. Although the reader develops new sympathy for Paula Jones, the villain of the book has got to be Linda Tripp. And Clinton. But the bottom line: this book is so well written and so engaging that I recommend it to Clinton admirers and Clinton haters both. Although, I gotta say, it's hard to be an admirer after reading this book. Bravo, Isikoff!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Isikoff suggests Clinton's possible personality disorder
Review: This is a powerful book. As a social and economic conservative member of the "vast right-wing conspiracy", and a psychologist, I feel vindicated by Michael Isikoff, as I was by David Maraniss. My from-a-distance impression based on Isikoff's and Maraniss' books, along with media coverage and my personal observations, suggests that President Clinton shares a personality disorder with many politicians on the "vast left-wing conspiracy" side of the aisle. This disorder fuels their reach for power, prestige, and control, in the name of "democracy and justice". Clinton's personal war on the Serbs is a symptom of this, and his possible, dissocial and narcissistic personality disorder, as illuminated by Isikoff. Clinton's abuse of Monica Lewinski, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willley, et al, and attacks on powerless people such as Linda Tripp, and his blatant insult of the U.S. Constitution and the justice system by his lies and coverups are also the result of this possible personality disorder. To a greater and more dangerous degree, this personality disorder dominated Ted Bundy and his behavior. I knew Bundy for a short time. Like Bill Clinton, he was charismatic, charming, manipulative, handsome, and very intelligent. Clinton's fun-loving and crowd-pleasing ways are assets in the same entertainment field represented by buffoons the like of Rivera and Flynt, but not in the U.S. Presidency. I see his public demeanor as a facade which may well cover up a lot of deeper and more deadly psychological motives and mental processes. Thank you, Michael Isikoff for further examining this very complex and potentially dangerous politician. Personally I never did trust Clinton and I am enraged that he is hiding behind his Serbian War to cover up his own failures as a man and human being. In this highly readable and must-buy book, Michael Isikoff validates my distrust. To both the "vast right-wing and left-wing conspiracies", and all the rest, I say, buy and study this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Good Story
Review: Isikoff is able to pull off something unusual, not getting placed into the loop of "Bill-Haters". He tells the story with much facts and gives us an excellent view of the players in this drama (L. Tripp, M. Lewinsky, V. Jordan, R. Bennett, B. Clinton, P. Jones, B. Currie). I learned about the "vast conspiracy against WJC", but was disappointed in the lack of any info regarding Hillary. Obviously, she was tangental to the story, but it would have been nice. There was a earlier comment about Isikoff not taking an attorney to task over a blatent lie (Obviously not the first in this case). I would tend to be a bit more charitable: I think Isikoff had an error in judgement. I believe overall Isikoff acted with a great deal of integrity... Far more than you could say about the ex-president.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Shocking insight into the character of Bill Clinton
Review: Although Isikoff is a bit overzealous, he does bring some shocking personality traits of Bill Clinton into light. "Uncovering Clinton" is told in story form and keeps you interested.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Way, way, way Inside-the-Beltway look at Clinton scandal.
Review: It doesn't get any more in depth than this folks. Michael Isikoff, the Newsweek reporter largely acknowledged as having broken the Monica Lewinsky scandal, gives all the sordid details, and not just about Monica...

The book lays out the pre-scandal hub-bub. Closed door editorial meetings in New York. The ins-and-outs of how cyber journal-hound Matt Drudge dredged up the story. The checking and rechecking of facts and sources. Sure it's a riveting story. Sure, we all know how it ends. But if you're into the muckety-muck of Inside-the-Beltway politics and Big Journalism, 'Uncovering Clinton' will not disappoint. Years after the fact, the whole affair seems almost surreal.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Rightwing cannon drivel
Review: Ishlkoff attempts to come off as neutral, hollier than thou and bipartisan but fails miserably because the majority of Americans know the real story behind the investigation and impeachment of the Clinton presidency.

It had much less to do with wanting to protect the country and everything to do with exacting revenge from a man who won the White House through the electoral system. Although he is also unflattering toward Tripp, the author blows Clinton's flaws way out of proportion and thus becomes his own worst enemy in the long and painful process of reconstructing (or even making up) the facts.

The embittered tone of the book makes it perfectly clear that the author is largely mad because he got scooped by internet tabloid mogul Matt Drudge. This implies he cares about little else and the "investigative" attitude was just a fantastic cover-up so he could get his name on the "A list" by any concievable means possible.

The majority of people knew about Clinton's penchant and did not care because he was not pointing accusatory fingers at us or attempting to act like he was better than us simply because he was president. We rationalized if Starr and Tripp could do all of those things to the president, there was no telling what they would eventually do to the average citizen.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best Political Book I have EVER read!!!!
Review: The author writes in a friendly engaging manner, a page turner, don't put it down book. Its the best political book that I have ever read. I intent to read all of Isikoff's books as well as his columns in the newspapers!


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