The Case Against Hillary Clinton

Rating:
Summary: Probably therapeutic for the right, but useful otherwise?
Review: Hillary Clinton really bothers Peggy Noonan, the latter tells us, because the First Lady is bossy, self-righteous, and reminds her of the irritating student-council types in high school who use to bug her. This book takes the form of a self-described "polemic" against Mrs. Clinton, not only going after her for her annoying personality traits but also imagining scenarios where she might be even a menace to the country at large should she win the New York Senate seat.

If Mrs. Clinton really, really, really bothers you, I'm sure you'll find this book very therapeutic. Heaven only knows there are more than enough people in this country who just loathe the First Lady, and this book is just catty enough to be somewhat enjoyable for them. For the rest of the country, however, it serves mostly to puzzle us further as to why right-wingers have it in so desperately for Mrs. Clinton, and why they think writing books like this (indicting her, in effect, for crimes she has not even committed as of yet or at all, by means of Noonan's "scenarios"!) makes themselves look persuasive and rational and Mrs. Clinton look bad, when, for most of us, the reverse becomes true.

Rating:
Summary: Ways, Habits & Temperament
Review: "But what has she done? In a quarter century of power both real and derived, what has she accomplished?" Read Chapter Six.

In this straight-from-the-heart-with-a-few- twists-to-keep-the-reader-on-its-toes narrative, Peggy Noonan examines and reports on an icon who has for most of her adult life "lived in taxpayer-funded government housing" and has had both the toughness and luxury of having others do her bidding. Hillary Clinton is very good at that.

And Noonan is very good at showing us, via narrative & vignette thru 12 chapters, how devilishly skilled Hillary has become at dissembling and pretense.

Anyone who votes for her should expect much more of the same. But no one should expect substance, truth, clarity, sincerity, or skill at problem-solving. No one should expect patriotism.

Noonan needn't apologize to anyone for her 'spin' on the Hillary Clinton phenomenon that has taken America by the throat and, like the political vampire she is, won't let go.

Will Noonan's appeal to reason and common sense arouse soporific New Yorkers and Americans alike? Will her thoughtful plea unify and persuade us to recognize and understand what Hillary represents: An Agent For Our Brave New World? Read Chapter 5!

Rating:
Summary: The Soul Of Hillary
Review: This is a good but flawed book. It was not meant to be a fair book but rather a polemic. A polemic against a person of bad character in a position of public trust is a service to the public. Noonan grasps the core values of Hillary and displays them clearly for us all to see: It's all about Hillary. It's not about the United States. It's not about the various constituencies whose issues she milks. It's not about honesty. It's just about power for Hillary, a woman whose values are vastly different and inferior to the common man or woman on the street. Even though I share Noonan's disdain, even contempt, for the Clintons I thought that the passage that depicted an imaginary speech by Hillary to the Hollywood powers was disengenuous. There is plenty of perfectly awful evidence at hand with which to indict this malicious woman without recourse to fiction.

Rating:
Summary: The Case Against Hillary Clinton
Review: Beautifully written with intelligence, wit, clarity and charm. A must read for anyone interested in our country.

Rating:
Summary: Evidence Lost
Review: I have read other works by Peggy Noonan and found interesting and insightful elements in them. This book does not meet her previous standards. Noonan presents a case with virtually no evidence. She claims that the Clintons are motivated only by ambition, yet, even though the political risks were crystal clear with anyone with a smidgen of historical understanding, they tried to create a system where millions more Americans would have access to health care. Whether or not you like the plan they put forth, it was clearly politically risky, and was brought down by a 100 million dollar campaign by health insurance companies and by a Republican leadership which killed it to improve their electoral prospects (see Haynes Johnson and David Broder's excellent book on the health care policy debate, "The System"). Noonan continues to cry "scandal," even when nearly every one of the purported scandals has proved to lack evidence. It is rather a stretch to blame Mrs. Clinton for the Monica scandal, and Mrs. Clinton (see "The Hunting of the President") was largely right about the effort to destroy the Clinton presidency. Noonan also charges that Mrs. Clinton is an awful person because she did not pursue significant "missed opportunities." However, it becomes clear that these constitute taking policy steps with which Mrs. Clinton disagrees. Only if Mrs. Clinton pursued Republican policies would her efforts seem sincere and unburdened by personal ambition. While this book injures Noonan's reputation among fair-minded persons, it will clearly make her a great deal of money in book sales and speaking engagements.

Rating:
Summary: whatever happened to objectivity?
Review: Another stream of poison adding to the vast river of irrational hatred against the Clintons. Short on facts, long on make-believe "dialogue" and "real motivation" written exclusively to cash in on the lucrative anti-Clinton industry, by a petty woman who has given up any credibility she may have once had as an intelligent commentator on the political scene. Bile with no redeeming value whatsoever.

Rating:
Summary: Spew venom, call it editorial writing
Review: This bit of vitriolic character assassination gives readers an interesting perspective into a former Republican speechwriter (one hears that Noonan is a writer of achievement): she hasn't the discipline to do her homework or provide even a vague semblance of balance. This is like reading David Duke's considered opinion of Jesse Jackson.

Rating:
Summary: Leave it to Beaver's version of psychoanalysis
Review: Tim Russert's interview with Ms. Noonan about her book and the book itself only confirmed my belief that the right has strayed very far afield indeed. The right's position has always been that if we, the American people, only new the Clinton's the way they do we would hate them as well. Well, after years of misinformation, so-called scandals and this latest foray into psychobabble, the Clinton's still rate very highly in the polls, much higher than Bush or Reagan. This drives the right and, apparently, Ms. Noonan nuts. Ms Noonan's thrashing around, hands in the air, psychoanalyzing Hilary and attempting to explain why the Clinton's simply must be bad people was amusing and revealing. Never has Hilary demonstrated the degree of condescension and conceit as has Ms. Noonan in both the spoken and written word.

Rating:
Summary: Just Go Away, Clintons
Review: This book is such a great summary of some of the important reasons that Clintonism must stop now. I would hope that even liberals/Democrats could put aside their partisanship and recognize that the Clintons, and others of their ilk, are damaging to our country and our freedoms. Rejecting them does not necessarily mean you have to reject the ideas they supposedly stand for. (But many follow the opinion that many of my Democrat friends expressed during the impeachment - "Yes he's scum, but I can't stand the thought of those Republicans winning!" - and continue to support the Clintons despite the evidence of their lack of integrity and the harm they've done to this country.)

I really appreciated the way Noonan clearly portrayed Hillary's elitism, which is, I am convinced, a particular flaw of liberalism - to think that you should decide how everyone should live, rather than giving people the freedom to make what you might consider the "wrong" choice.

I loved the Hollywood mogul meeting - that speech was right on target! And unlike some of the critics below, I think it and other similar examples helped to drive her point home. This book was not written to be a comprehensive, scholarly biography, and therefore should not be compared to "Dutch."

Thank you Peggy!

Rating:
Summary: A dilemma for liberals
Review: I appreciate Ms. Noonan's statement up front about herintentions in this book. It really is a must-read for all of usliberals who want to see good done for the left-out people of this country. With the Clintons, somehow our party has been hijacked, diverted from genuine compassion, and become devoted to self-serving politicians. Noonan is gentle and provides easily verified information for us to consider.