Rating: 
Summary: I Hoped to Find New Information Here...
Review: Let me start this review by making it clear - I consider myself a constitutional conservative. I know the constitution inside and out, I have read the writings of the founders of this nation (in the Federalist Papers as well as elsewhere). Just wanted to make sure no one has any illusions as to where I stand on our former president (lower case intention here).I read this because I wanted to see what arguments would or could be made to defend what, to me, is clearly unconscionable behavior by this pair. From swindling people out of their life savings at in the Whitewater development project (the real crime, in my opinion; much more "evil" than simply robbing the taxpayers by robbing an S&L and getting us to fork over the money to fix the problem), to taking money which has been traced back to the PRC intelligence division while at the same time allowing our military secrets and particularly our nuclear missile technologies to be "leaked" to China, to yes, lying under oath (something which any of us mere "little people" would have served jail time for, moreso during the Clinton years than during any prior time), and of course the really intriguing list of the dead (the late Mr. Brown and late Mr. Foster are only the best-known of the suspicious fatalities which are in some fashion linked to the Clintons), the vandalism of the White House and the theft of public property by these two... the list goes on. I wondered if there could possibly be another side to this, that I've somehow missed. This book neatly sidestepped dealing with the facts of these issues, focusing more on why the people who opposed this pair are "villains" in every case. It is filled with the subtle and not-so-subtle name-calling which I've sadly come to expect from those who cannot otherwise defend the indefensible. I had hoped that I might glean a few new facts from this book, maybe even to have seen a defensible "other side of the story," but there were none to be found. I've now set myself up to be another villain, I suppose, but I love this nation. I love the Constitution, the document whose entire purpose was to limit the power and influence of government and to make sure that those who lead us are forced to remember that they SERVE us, they do not RULE us. Every line of the Constitution was written with this in mind, and every time that these people circumvented, sidestepped, ignored, or otherwise assaulted the intents of the founders of this nation, we moved a bit closer to totalitarianism. Every leader, regardless of political perspective, should be held to account for his behavior and actions. Rather than giving the powerful special privileges, we should hold them to a HIGHER standard of behavior. Instead, these two represent the most dangerous perspective we could ever have in our leaders - the belief that the law is only for the "little guy" and doesn't apply to them. This book is simply a support of that perspective. As such, I have to give it the lowest possible rating.
Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read For Clinton Fans
Review: I think the title of this book really gives the reader an inside to what is in the book. Two investigative reporters have done a great deal of research to find the information contained here. Basically if you dislike President Clinton you are not going to want to pick up this book, because it will not substantiate the "reasons" to think President Clinton was a crook. If you were a fan of President Clinton then you will read and reread this book and take it with you the next time there is gathering with President Clinton distracters to help you defend him. If you are one of the few that has not really made their mind up this could be a book that could change your view. The main focus of the book is to detail the campaign by a few far right conservatives to dirty the Clinton name any way they can. Sure Clinton did not help himself and gave these distracters a few items to start with, but they took it to a new level. The Whitewater real estate deal is described in the book and the false information that was put out by the far right is detailed. Some of this stuff is really something; it will defiantly aggravate you and make you wonder what good comes of all this divisiveness. The book is full of details, so many that at times it can drag. It is well documented within the book and it has a solid flow through to the end of the book. Overall it is a very interesting book, but many readers will have their minds made up before they open the book. An interesting compliment to this book is the James Stewart book 'Blood Sport", it ties in with a lot of the items these authors have found. Overall, this book is a must read if you are a Clinton fan.
Rating:
Summary: A few facts for a change
Review: It's interesting to read the negative reader reviews for this book because the suggest exactly how nonsense Conason and Lyons expose was allowed to continue for Clinton's whole Presidency. Virtually every negative review either claims that the writers are partisan (but they are not, of course) or cites a Clinton "scandal" as a reason for not believing what these writers reveal. None of these reviewers can be bothered with the facts--they know the TRUTH! Conason and Lyons do an excellent job of simply laying out the facts (with copious footnotes). They don't absolve Clinton of his affair or his occasionally unwise handling of some affiars (Travelgate, for instance). On the other hand, they don't pound him for these either since that isn't what their book is about!! (There are plenty of partisan right-wing books that gleefully pound on Clinton.) Instead, they follow every lead to see how much of Hilary Clinton's "vast right-wing conspiracy" they can ferret out. And they find--and document--quite a bit. It's a pretty ugly story, especially when one realizes how little investigation the nation's press did to verify the facts surrounding the scandals. For the true believers...like the press, though, the facts aren't as interesting as the lurid, but mostly false, details of those "scandals" promoted by the people the authors uncover. So during the 90s, facts weren't important, lurid details were. And repeat those details enough and people begin to believe them. Sad. What is truly unfortunate is the number of people who use what they believed about Clinton's behavior to justify their own mudslinging. Regardless of what Clinton may or may not have done, making and heavily promoting lies about a sitting president sullies the office as well. Whether Clinton sullied the office is irrelevant to the lack of moral behavior among those who promoted the "scandals." Those who suggest otherwise reveal their own moral flaws, not Clinton's. Ultimately, Clinton wasn't a great president, but he wasn't an evil megalomaniac bringing the country to ruin either. What he was (and is) is a politician, which means he wasn't afraid to sully his hands to get things done. There have been many politicians in history and rarely are their stories pretty though often they are needed to keep the wheels of government greased. Perhaps, though, we all get a little uncomfortable when they hold the most visible office in the land.
Rating: 
Summary: An Exhausting Defense
Review: Two stars for excrutiatingly detailed notes. However, the continuous stream of names is difficult to follow and makes for a cumbersome read. Liberals will appreciate this book (we all like to hear what we agree with) and conservatives will find it an endurance test. The authors take great pains to establish the obvious. The fact that there are many people who don't like the Clintons is a given --no book was necessary to establish that. That there are also some unscrupulous operatives on the right side of the isle is also no big surprise. (Who on the left will cast the first stone?) Although it acknowledges Clinton is flawed, at the end of the day it's the OJ defense repackaged: The Clintons are the victims of a huge, corrupt, underground network organized against them. Anyone whose character (as Bill Bennett put it) "manifests itself in patterns of reckless personal conduct, deceit, abuse of power, and contempt for the rule of law" is brought down by their own hand. As a conservative who reads "your" books, I challenge you all to read, as a contrast to The Hunting, Bennett's "The Death of Outrage." Unlike this book it is very short. It is also riveted on the facts and chases no rabbit trails. It will, however, be very uncomfortable for you and require some discipline. Regards, DEF
Rating:
Summary: A Partisan Apology, Little Else
Review: Conason has spent years attempting to defend Bill Clinton, and finally got a book deal for his loyal soldiering. Most of us are well aquainted with the history of his impeachment and have formed our own opinions regarding it. The best objective (and first-hand) account of the subject remains Schippers' "Sell Out." With respect to their efforts to affix blame for what led to the impeachment, it must have been a huge embarrasment for the authors to have their highly contrived bit of finger-pointing undermined so soon after this book's publication: by Bill's Pardongate and Hillary taking the White House silver ("gifts!" she cried). There is no right wing conspiracy, Mr. Conason - just rough and tumble politics, played by both sides. "The enemy is us," says the old saw. This book is of no historical merit - it is only for hard-core Democratic partisans needing to salve their damaged psyches.
Rating:
Summary: Where the Starr and Ray reports got their start
Review: Gene Lyons and Joe Conason, along now with the ever irrepressable David Brock, have done future historians a great service. Much of contemporary history will be gathered from contemporanious news articles and news magazine pieces. Conason and Lyons in this book graphically demonstrate why this can be very dangerous to the truth when one is writing about the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton. One of the great tragedies of the late 20th century turns out to have been the loss of the sorely missed Arkansas Gazette and its replacement by a chimera, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, whose editorial and op/ed pages make those of the Wall Street Journal look positively progressive and benign. Lyons and Conason thoroughly explore all aspects of the "Clinton Scandals" leading up to but not including the 'Affaire Monique', and debunk both the stories written in major American news publications and those passed on by a truly amazing group of slimeball reporters, lawyers, politicians, talk show commentators and right wing columnists, some, like Christopher Hitchens and Chris Matthews, cleverly disquised as Democrats or left wing populists. I read this book several months ago and have been following the reviews of the more reactionay reviewers of The Hunting of the President in this forum. I am a life long Arkansawyer and know either personally or by sight and by their poisonous fruits most of the Arkansas based characters in this story. Like most of those of my generation who know these people, I was incredulous that they were given credibility and a forum for their wild, and for the most part totally unfounded, attacks on Bill and Hillary Clinton. While I am certain that there are areas of weakness in the characters of both Clintons, as indeed there are in all of us, the fact that they were attacked on all character fronts except one, in which the Clintons were the strongest, is truly remarkable. (Bill, like the vast majority of American politicians - indeed, like most alpha males - has had a few problems keeping his sword sheathed. Why do you suppose Dennie Hastert was chosen as Speaker of the House? He was the sole Republican representative serving at the time without a zipper problem!) From Jeff Gerth to Howard Fineman, from Sally Quinn to Steven Labaton, from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette to the New York Times, from Jim Lahrer to the late unlamented John Robert Starr, from CBS news to Fox News, the American news media has much of which to be ashamed. If a free and unfettered press is truly the guardian of democracy, what are we to make of a "press" bound only by the rules of entertainment, sensationalism and the bottom line, only by self interest with little or no thought of the public interest? Lyons and Conason expose the American press in all its shame for all to see. And unlike Bill Clinton in the Monica affair, that was no biological imperative that the press was following. They were blinded by lust for money and notoriety, truth and fairness be damned! When all the books have been written about The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, there will be more than enough shame to go around. And as David Brock's exit from the liar's closet proves, it is only a matter of time before they are written. Lyons and Conason wrote just the first of what will soon be a broad laser beam of books exposing the cockroach lawyers, the sloppy reporters, the politicized judges and Justices, the venal editors and publishers and all the rest, to the light which will illuminate all their dirt and filth. And Ted Olson wants to be on the Supreme Court? Fat chance! If I could give Lyons and Conason ten stars, I would. Get this book and read it. Get David Brock's book, Blinded by the Right, and read it. And the truth shall make you free!
Rating: 
Summary: Scathing and Disturbing
Review: What kind of people are running this country?!? That question enters my mind when I think about "The Hunting of the President." This book details the dirty tricks and petty jealousies aimed at one man. The authors present Mr. Clinton as a victim of numerous people, although not an entirely innocent one. Messrs. Conason and Lyons cover the major scandals very thoroughly: Whitewater, Travelgate, the Lewinsky affair, etc. Even the ridiculous rumor about Mr. Clinton's supposed involvement with drug trafficking was explained. Some of them were downright nasty, others merely inept. Practically all are exposed as either overblown or simply untrue. Most resulted from personal agendas having nothing to do with issues. All were surreptitious and unnecessary. Perhaps worse than the dirty tricks is the slipshod reporting which covered them. Many of the reporters either had their own agendas or simply jumped on leads without investigating them. From a few unknowns back in Arkansas to nationally known operatives and journalists, most of the characters involved look like petulant, careless fools. The book itself is a highly detailed narrative. For those not heavily interested in politics, it may seem too detailed. But for those who wondered, like myself, why Mr. Clinton always seemed to be under attack, "The Hunting of the President" sheds a great light.
Rating:
Summary: Bill Clinton's Lyon tries to clean the slate
Review: The unaquainted reader needs read this book with great care. Gene Lyons, as known to anyone who spent much time in Arkansas, is a longstanding Clinton apologist. The urge of the Arkansas media to both protect their local hero from public scrutiny and to say "well, we knew he had lots of flaws all along, so you should accept him as is when you elected him," still runs strong and deep. And now that America discovered that 'the emperor is not wearing clothes', this apology is belated. And the Arkansas media were embarrassed. So be very careful. Bill Clinton often used public office to portray himself as a public servant, only he did not accept or stand up well to public scrutiny. Arkansas is a great place to hide. Like Perot said, it's not a very large state. As president, Clinton took on more public scrutiny than he expected and, rather than be responsive, he continued his Arkansas habits. But this translated poorly to a national scale. And he and his wife tried hard to become wealthy while portraying themslves as co-presidents and public servants. Clinton's claim, "I'm working just as hard as I can" is a misleading introduction. Conason and Lyons don't get that either. Sorry to say, the media, Lyons or Limbaugh, right or left, did not bring about Clinton's problems Clinton. He got himself in trouble. He promised open borders to the Haitians, then closed them. He said "gays in the military" then reversed himself. He promised health care reform and he let his wife (the "co-president") first sink health care reform and then, as a result, turn over Congress to the Republicans. And his short-sighted, self-centered policies led us to a weak military and a global breeding ground for terrorism, starting in Somalia and ending with a bombed factory. As his inside advisor, Dick Morris, noted, Clinton fiddled while problems festered. Despite the authors' protestations that others were out to get Clinton, they are just to uncomfortable to admit that a little more candor and discretion in Clinton's own behavior would have been welcomed by all Americans. It really should not matter if it was Sun Yung Moon, the Wall Street Journal or Jeff Girth who were out to get or to 'expose' Clinton. A man of character would have little to expose or the wisdom or respect for the public he serves to admit to wrongdoing when it happened. With bad voting booths, ballots and regulations, an unmoved electorate, the awkward electoral college, and third-party candidates, the majority of Americans never voted for Clinton, Bush, or Regan, so all presidents lack the support of the majority. Conason and Lyons need to open their eyes to Clinton's shortcomings, realize that presidents live in glass white houses, and expect a little more character, candor and honesty from our politicians.
Rating:
Summary: no surprise
Review: it's everything one should expect from these two--and then some. anyone who is remotely looking for an objective account should discount this book off-hand. it's akin to reading what representative Barr would have to say about the account--only the left-hand version. hardly journalism. i give them 5 stars for consistency. it reminds me of the defense one gives an obvious (by all evidence) killer by pointing out there's a bigot on his trail. . . yeah, AND, he's a killer.
Rating:
Summary: The book title says it all.
Review: An amazing eye-opening look at the true story behind all the scandals. I like that the book is well researched and offers a wealth of documentary evidence to support its claims. 27 whopping pages of cited sources, something I have yet to see in any right-wing book. ... That said, the most shocking part is how the media manufactured and distorted the facts to sell their story. While I always knew they sensationalized stories, I had no idea the blatent twisting of the truth that went on and no longer trust very much what they have to say. It is somewhat depressing that a large portion of the nation has been fed these distortions to such an extent that they are not likely to accept any other version no matter how well proven. ...
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