The Case Against Hillary Clinton

Rating:
Summary: An American Classic
Review: The case against Hillary Clinton is well known. She's a lying, enabling, trashing, condescending, egotistical reprobate--a virtual clone of her spouse. A book devoted to her plethora of negatives could easily get bogged down into pleonastic screed, but this work soars. Anyone who read Peggy Noonan's recent widely distributed op ed piece "Why Did They Do It?" about the government's nazi-style kidnapping of Elian Gonzalez knows that she is nothing short of a maestro with the written word. She does with a paper and pen what Michaelangelo did with a slab of concrete.

Even though Hillary is the title character, Ms. Noonan realizes that the Clintons--unconventional as their marriage may be-- are inextricably intertwined. They may not be the typical man and wife, but they are full-fledged partners in slime whose misery and misdeeds will keep them together unhappily ever after.

Unlikely many political conservatives, the author reveals an initial respect for and hope that the Clintons would prove successful and good for America. Like many liberals (as well as conservatives and moderates) she became disgusted by the profligate shenanigans to which they subjected the country that he was entrusted to guide. The book subtly captures the irony of a militant feminist who demurred disinterestedly while the world learned the perverse details of her husband's sexcapades with an intern barely older than their daughter. Hillary, whose disdain for the uxorial role is well-known, must have boiled over privately that her greatest public support came when she was forced to play the part of a wronged wife.

Especially delectable is the description of a fantasy palaver between Hillary and Hollywood's most powerful magnates at Michael Eisner's house. Although the scene is too bizarre for belief, Peggy perfectly captures the cadence of Hillary and her show biz cheerleaders that readers are completely pulled into the surrealism of it.

Suffice it to say that this is a must read. In Peggy Noonan's magical manner, she masterfully outlines the enigma of the Clintons. Their depravity is their strength. They do not have a willingness to lie; they have a need to. They are experts at believably telling the most brazen stories without any hint of verisimilitude and are equally skilled at condemning anyone who dares to scoff at their nonsense. While Hillary may not share in her husband's unrestrained concupiscence, her lust for power is every bit as potent.

Ms. Noonan has written many great speeches and mind-expanding columns, but this could be her most important effort yet. If it convinces any open-minded, wavering New Yorkers not to select Hillary as their next senator and retire both Clintons to New York, Arkansas, or whatever state draws the short straw, then we will all owe her a huge debt of gratitude.

Rating:
Summary: Peggy vs. Hillary
Review: Peggy Noonan does a masterful job of dissecting Hillary Clinton's motives and strategies. Of course Hillary wants to be President, and, if she achieves that goal, as the author so skillfully suggests, we will find it infinitely more painful than the first Clinton Era. After 8 years of Hillary's self-created and self-promoted image of herself as just about the smartest woman alive, it is refreshing to see other intelligent women pointing out how mundane, ineffective and just plain mean Ms. Clinton has proven herself to be. Ms. Noonan writes beautifully, and her comments regarding Hillary's use of language to obscure rather than enlighten echo a similar and equally beautifully-written essay by Janet Scott Barlow in her book, The Nonpatritoic President: A Survey of the Clinton Years. Both Ms. Noonan and Ms. Barlow have Hillary's number. Let's hope the voters beyond New York do, too.

Rating:
Summary: Star System -- Schmar System
Review: Like the one star fakers, liars and dopes, I have not read this Book ! But I liked the author interview and so am buying it.

Until amazon puts some kind of Proof of Purchase requirement on the ability to review a book, I'll give all the books I am buying five stars so as to average out at least one of the liars.

Review to follow.

Rating:
Summary: They're Never Going to Leave
Review: In this delightful book, Peggy Noonan uses the speechwriting skills that she lent so effectively to the Reagan White House to hilarious effect by getting into the mind of our first co-president, the most powerful and unaccountable woman in the United States.

Though written before Hillary Clinton's election to the Senate, the book opens with an imagined account of a victory speech where she finally snubs the serial adulterer. But the rest of the book demonstrates her political unfitness to represent a state she has "no connection to, no history with, no previously demonstrated interest in." Anticipating the charge usually leveled against anyone who doesn't stomach their prevarications as a 'Clinton hater', she quotes Christopher Hitchens: "I do not hate them, I have contempt for them."

Of course, it doesn't hurt to have on your side an all-forgiving press that doesn't mind being played for a fool. The media were willingly complicit because they shared the Clinton's left-wing utopia of big federal and world government, and their distrust of working-class citizens to make decisions regarding their own lives. This distrust was reflected in the Hillarycare fiasco, where the courts were required to crack the obsessive secrecy surrounding her Task Force. In the end, the lack of public consultation produced a behemoth of unworkable complexity that was doomed from the beginning.

Nor does it hurt to install a staff with steamroller mindset, utterly and blindingly loyal, unafraid to flatten anyone that gets in your way, chewing up anybody who is not willing to sacrifice their integrity to the cause. Hillary showed no compunction about destroying the lives of the White House travel office staff who had served loyally for decades. Hillary's staff illegally held hundreds of classified FBI files that could be used against Republican officials. Years of Clinton governorship and presidency taught that you can get away with absolutely anything if you deny, evade, prevaricate, attack, and smear.

And it certainly doesn't hurt that your husband barters his office for your campaign. The book goes into some detail about the Americans killed or injured by the FALN terrorists who were pardoned by Bill Clinton in return for campaign donations.

Peggy Noonan drives home the obscenity of their behavior by an ingenious application of fictional device. For instance, we see how the Clintons debased our own standards of governance when she transplants George and Barbara Bush into their roles. When she presents a hypothetical meeting of Hillary using her influence with the entertainment industry, we begin to comprehend the tragedy of a squandered presidency. The Clinton legacy is the pursuit of power for its own sake, having no perceptible loyalty or ideology, and having no other goal than to perpetuate itself.

Peggy Noonan with an endearing tone relates a story about the woman who channels Eleanor Roosevelt, and sadness at the lack of humility that is the mark of a great leader. It is the story of a woman who sold her soul and our trust for a shot at power. "Then there came the moment when I realized: They're never going to leave."

Rating:
Summary: The Truth Speaks for itself
Review: Ms. Noonan has written a damning indictment on the Clinton legacy and Senate Candidate Hillary Clinton. The truth speaks for itself, and in this book, we see Mrs. Clinton for what she really is. I know that all her life she has cared about New York and its problems! Spare me! This book chronicles the constant scandals coming from the White House that Mrs. Clinton has been involved in. How could anyone with a sense of decency support Mrs. Clinton? She is an opportunist and Ms. Noonan makes that very clear. Mrs. Clinton can't be trusted. Anyone who has been to New York City recently realizes that Mayor Guiliani has saved that city. He has a more proven record than Mrs. Clinton. New York has had liberals before in their politics, but at least they were honorable people. Mrs. Clinton along with her husband have made a mockery of some of our national institutions. Overall, this book is great. I am a democrat who will not vote for Mrs. Clinton. She has disgraced our party and Ms. Noonan in a clear and convincing way has shown us why.

Rating:
Summary: BILL IN THE U.N., HILLARY IN THE WHITE HOUSE
Review: Hillary Clinton is very smart. Too smart. She makes few mistakes, and leaves little room for conservatives to pick apart her Senate voting record as liberal. The Clintons have always known how to erase their paper trail, which is why they got away with Whitewater, Mena, drug-smuggling, the killing of their rivals and witnesses, and other bad acts. Now we are faced with the prospect of their return to power, only this time their power will make the Bill Clinton Presidency look like nothing. Bill wants to be Secretary-General of a U.N. infused with greater international power in light of American unpopularity, which the Clintons are delighted about. Imagine Bill in charge of the U.N. and Hillary in the White House. This is a scenario that should make people become religious, because if it happens, God alone can help us!

STEVEN TRAVERS
Author of "Barry Bonds: Baseball's Superman"
[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: opinionated gossip
Review: How can "the truth speak for itself" when Noonan's whole writing is opinionated? Nothing she ever says is nice and she puts too much pressure on simple things that have the oportunity to be taken in a negative outlook. she's riddicilous on writing a 181 page book just raging on how she doesnt like the Clintons. I was hoping to learn something rather than struggle through gossip like, "i know for a FACT she's a loser because so-and-so from this office working at the white house said he didn't like her!!" unbelievable. Noonan starts her "book" off by saying how she was willing to give Hillary a chance but if that's true then why is she ranting so much? If you were willing to give her a chance then don't step down on her so hard. This book is gossip and opinionated facts. If you enjoy hearing someone complain about the Clintons for 181 pages then ofcourse- this book is THE one for you!!!! otherwise Noonan is an over the top comma happy woman in her writing, who needs to keep her head out of the clouds.

Rating:
Summary: The Case Against Hillary Clinton
Review: Noonan, a former speechwriter for President Reagan, argues that Clinton's Senate campaign is simply the beginning of a long-term try for even more power, which must be stopped. To do that, Noonan sets out the problems she sees in Hillary's character, including a duplicitous nature, insincerity, and dishonesty. However, the author concentrates more on her own impressions and feelings than the facts leading to those conclusions (she even acknowledges, after rehashing the "Filegate" and "Travelgate" matters, that "nothing that I have written here is new," and the information about those events could be found in myriad sources). Noonan speculates at points on what Hillary was thinking, or why she did certain things. She also includes a strange 30-minute segment detailing a meeting of entertainment industry moguls at which Hillary spoke at length about moral responsibility, which Noonan was able to record surreptitiously; only at the end of the chapter does she reveal that this was simply her fantasy.

Rating:
Summary: Poor writing betrays a tired rage
Review: I was hoping to read an informative, yet entertaining study on the history and impact of Hillary Clinton, whom I'm no fan of. But the author constantly digresses into a pendantic rage. And ruminations follow one after another on Hillary's powers and why they should be stopped. Yet she fails to make a case for why one should support or not support her views on Clinton. The final 200+ pages take the reader through a thoroughly boring, month by month overview of Hillary's duties as First Lady. By the final chapters I could barely keep awake.

Rating:
Summary: An incompetent hatchet job
Review: Noonan makes a proforma statement up front that "Hillary could have been a strong and encouraging presence..." but don't be fooled: Noonan had no intention of writing a balanced appraisal of Hillary. This is after all a dyed-in-the-wool Reaganaut who specializes in hagiography of her idol, having written two worshipful books about the Reagan administration. She even went so far as to entitle one "When Character was King," apparently unaware that her hero was reportedly having an affair with Christine Larson, a starlet, at the same time Nancy was giving birth. This is character?
The major failing of this book is that it is all rant and few facts. What really seems to gall Noonan is Hillary's sense of entitlement, allegedly deriving from a secure life of privilege.
To her credit, she doesn't repeat some of the more outrageous charges bruited about by the right wing against the Clintons (murder, drug-smuggling and the like). But most of the other charges are recycled here, frequently with imaginary conversations that are supposed to be persuasive.
If readers want to know what really happened they will need facts, not fictional conversations that Noonan ginned up to discredit Hillary. The best documented case is presented by Joe Conason and Gene Lyons in The Hunting of the President. A primary source for that book is David Brock's Blinded by the Right. If you think Bill and Hillary had ethcial lapses, wait till you read how the Rabid Right practices "politics." Downright scary!

As for The Case Against Hillary Clinton, I'm pleased I got it from the library instead of buying it.