View Full Version : The Truth About Hillary (merged threads)
Roguish Lawyer
04-11-2005, 16:36
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3hb.htm
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN APRIL 10, 2005 19:25:02 ET XXXXX
PUBLISHER FIGHT OVER 'HILLARY IN THE RAW'
**Exclusive**
A book battle has broken out on Publisher's Row over the ultimate Hillary-attack!
The project being billed as "Hillary in the Raw", like you've never seen her before, is set to drop in September by liberal Ed Klein, former NYT MAGAZINE editor, VANITY FAIR, PARADE contributor and author of multiple works on the Kennedys.
"The revelations in it should sink her candidacy," a source close to Klein warns the DRUDGE REPORT.
MORE
Last week, Clinton stalwart Ann Lewis fired off an email to supporters warning of the 'Swift Boat' tactics coming against the former first lady turned senator.
Now the coming sales pitch for ' THE TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She’ll Go to Become President' reads: 'Just as the swift boat veterans convinced millions of voters that John Kerry lacked the character to be president, Klein’s book will influence everyone who is sizing up the character of Hillary Clinton...
'Despite more than a dozen years in the national spotlight and more than a dozen unauthorized books about her, she has managed to keep many secrets from the public -- especially about her turbulent marriage and its impact on her career. There have been plenty of rumors about what Hillary and Bill Clinton did behind closed doors, but never a definitive book that exposes the truth. Bestselling author Edward Klein draws on rare access to inside sources to reveal what Hillary knew and when she knew it during her years as first lady. Klein’s book, embargoed until publication, will break news about the choices and calculations she has made over the years.'
MORE
A fight has developed over the book inside the giant publishing house PENGUIN, sources tell DRUDGE.
A publishing source attending the PENGUIN sales conference last week describes high emotions surrounding the coming publication of 'THE TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY.'
There has been a bitter and hostile reaction to the book among top PENGUIN editors -- editors who last year published John Kerry's official campaign book.
One top Hillary source claims the book is nothing more than "sex and trash" from a desperate author.
Developing...
Peregrino
04-11-2005, 16:59
Let's see - "Deny Everything, Admit Nothing, and File Counter-accusations!" Spin control at its finest. :rolleyes:
Dustin03
04-11-2005, 17:29
i just found this out this weekend, i had no idea how anti military she is. Many service members would visit the White House with their families, and of course wear their service uniforms. Well, she did not like this so she banned the wearing of uniforms by visitors on tour at the WH. Man, that would make me ill right there :eek:
tyrsnbdr
04-11-2005, 18:29
I hope she goes to hell!! :mad: Chalk her up as my second least favorite female.
Swindleous
04-11-2005, 19:09
she banned the wearing of uniforms by visitors on tour at the WH.
I was sure you were kidding, until the first link on google proved otherwise. That's completely asinine, and horrendously disrespectful to those who serve. Screw her.
no, thanks...
I wasn't going to go there, but glad you did... :D
I wasn't going to go there, but glad you did...
i have no intention of going anywhere...especially given said subject matter...
Dustin and Swindleous. Check out this thread. Doesn't require a ton of typing from me. I was aware of the fact while the ________ (fill in the blank) was in office.
On second thought, hold on. I'm not all that proficient with this computer stuff. I'll do it my way. Thread to follow. Maybe. ;)
http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2655
Damn! It worked. :lifter
Swindleous
04-13-2005, 01:55
Thanks for the link 12B4S. That was a great story, thanks for sharing it Captain!
Damn! It worked.
nothing is beyond the reach of an SF Engineer...usually...except that whole universal field theory thing...
Roguish Lawyer
06-12-2005, 18:20
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1595230068/002-0220914-0269618
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN JUNE 12, 2005 20:02:25 ET XXXXX
RAGE AT AUTHOR AFTER CLAIM BILL RAPED HILLARY, CONCEIVED CHELSEA
**Exclusive**
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton turned furious and considered legal action after learning bestselling author Ed Klein would allege in a new book: Bill Clinton raped her -- resulting in the conception of daughter Chelsea Clinton!
"[Author] Klein is going to rot in hell for this," a well-placed source close to Hillary said over the weekend.
The explosive charge comes in THE TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY: WHAT SHE KNEW, WHEN SHE KNEW IT, AND HOW FAR SHE'LL GO TO BECOME PRESIDENT -- set for release next week.
[The book ranked #179 on AMAZON.COM's hourly sale chart late Sunday.]
MORE
"I'm going back to my cottage to rape my wife," Klein quotes Bill Clinton as saying during a Bermuda getaway in 1979.
In the morning, the Clintons' room "looked like World War III. There are pillows and busted-up furniture all over the place," an unnamed source tells Klein.
Klein source claims Bill later learned Hillary was pregnant reading about it in the ARKANSAS GAZETTE.
"The fact that his wife didn't tell him that she was pregnant before she told a reporter doesn't seem to phase him one bit, because he says, 'Do you know what night that happened?"
"'No,' I say. 'When?"
"'It was Bermuda,' he says, 'And you were there!'"
MORE
The rape claim is just the beginning of Klein's alleged revelations, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.
TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY marks the most aggressive attempt yet to investigate Hillary.
The former first lady turned senator fumed as a close aide offered details of the book, an insider explains.
"Mrs. Clinton told me she would considering suing him for outright libel," the top Hillary source explains. "This is the right wing attack machine on crack!"
MORE
But Hillary and her camp may have a hard time typecasting Ed Klein as a Clinton-crazed right-winger. Klein is the former foreign editor of NEWSWEEK and former editor in chief of the NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE. He is a frequent contributor to VANITY FAIR and PARADE.
He is also the author of THE KENNEDY CURSE; FAREWELL, JACKIE; and several other NEW YORK TIMES bestsellers.
VANITY FAIR has already commissioned an excerpt of the embargoed Hillary book, exploring Hillary's senate runs.
Developing...
Hillary Clinton can rot under Hitler's grave for all I care. However, I don't see this book as being any different than Kitty Kelly's books on G.W. Bush or Reagan.
Outlandish accusations from unnamed sources are never a good idea...just ask Newsweek.
The Swiftboat guys are a great example of how to do it right. Everything they said about Kerry, they could back up. It doesn't matter what kind of scumbags they are, I don't get the feeling Klein can solidly back up the claim that Bill raped Hillary with any more than heresay from unnamed sources.
That's my ¢2 anyway.
NousDefionsDoc
06-12-2005, 19:10
You know, you put the rape thing in with Monica and the stories out of Little Rock - the only logical conclusion is that Bill Clinton is a predator...
Roguish Lawyer
06-12-2005, 19:13
The rape thing seems a little over the top, but I just pre-ordered the book anyway. :D
NousDefionsDoc
06-12-2005, 19:37
Why over the top? He has a history of abusing his position for sex. I don't find it hard to believe at all. The man is a psychopath IMO. It is about the power.
Why over the top? He has a history of abusing his position for sex. I don't find it hard to believe at all. The man is a psychopath IMO. It is about the power.
EXACTLY!!!
Goggles Pizano
06-13-2005, 06:34
This is textbook deviant behavior. The man (Billy the C) has a track record to boot. I'm not sure this will fall into the Kitty Kelly realm though. In fact I believe it will open more investigations that were otherwise glossed over due to his position (Gov, Potus) at the time. I do enjoy that the queen of cankles is squirming, and is presently kicking the "right wing fantasy" spin machine into turbocharge.
...queen of cankles...
LMAO :D
I think NDD is on to something, the outwardly handsome, charming psychopath.
RUBBISH!
Who is the author? Former editor of the NYT and Newsweek, and - barf - Vanity Fair.
The accusation that Bill raped his wife to spawn Chelsea is not only ludicrous, I personally would beat his ass if I were Bill.
I dislike both Clinton's. In fact Hitlary is second on the list of women I hate.
But this going way to far, and if I were a conservative of note I would say as much. This sounds like a plant among liberals to see if conservatives will bite.
Hopefully we haven't lost are heads as a party to fall for this.
And what a shame to bring Chelsea into this.
Disgraceful!!!
Roguish Lawyer
06-13-2005, 16:59
In fact Hitlary is second on the list of women I hate.
You know my question already. :munchin
You know my question already. :munchin
Take a poll here. Therein lies your answer.
Roguish Lawyer
06-13-2005, 17:32
Take a poll here. Therein lies your answer.
JF?
The Reaper
06-13-2005, 17:38
JF?
Who else could it be?
The Traitor B**** herself.
TR
Even the initials piss me off.
Peregrino
06-13-2005, 18:07
Sorry guys - I think we're overreacting (as I'm sure the author intended) to the "rape" comment. The idea is reprehensible, the act unpardonable and the author is obviously counting on that reaction. While the story might be "literally" true; it's also probably not what really happened. In my opinion the author has taken the comment out of its original context for the deliberate purpose of inciting more "modern" sensibilities with what we (now) consider outrageous imagery. The comment itself sounds to me exactly like the kind of arrogant, insensitive, braggadocio that would have been commonplace in the context of 1979, Bermuda "getaway", time out with the "boys", probably with significant quantities of alcohol involved. Add the general belief that theirs is/was a loveless marriage of political expedience and the accusation becomes even more credible. Of course it doesn't help that most of conservative America holds both individuals with supreme contempt and would be willing to attach almost any negative connotation to their actions/motives. All told the entire incident just reinforces my attitude towards journalists and "journalistic integrity" - gives added meaning to the term oxymoron. My .02 - Peregrino
Roguish Lawyer
06-20-2005, 11:21
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN JUNE 19, 2003 19:02:52 ET XXXXX
BOOK CLAIM: HILLARY HUMILIATED AS BILL HAS NEW AFFAIRS
**Exclusive**
Besieged author Ed Klein is preparing to defend his work this week when he hits the promotional circuit for TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY.
Klein's publisher has upped the book first printing to nearly 350,000 copies, sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.
[The book ranked #26 on AMAZON.COM's hourly sale chart late Sunday.]
Klein will sensationally claim Bill Clinton is flagrantly cheating on his senator wife.
"Hillary's aides noticed that Bill seemed to grow even more reckless after his memoir MY LIFE became a big bestseller. Thanks to his record-shattering $12 million book advance plus another $10 million in speaking fees, he was rolling in money -- and hubris," Klein writes.
"Throwing caution to the wind, he started a torrid affair with a stunning divorcee in her early forties, who lived near the Clintons in Chappaqua. There was nothing discreet about the way he conducted this illicit relationship; he often spent the night at his lover's home, while his Secret Service agents waited in a car parked at the end of her driveway."
"It's one thing to go out to California with his wild buddies and stuff there,' said someone with intimate knowledge of the former president's philandering. 'But being indiscreet with a woman in Chappaqua steps over the line. That's the place Hillary calls home.'"
The book presents a photo of the former president 'mouth-kissing' an unidentfied woman.
As this space reported last week, Hillary turned furious and considered legal action after learning Klein would allege in his new book: Bill Clinton raped her -- resulting in the conception of daughter Chelsea Clinton.
"Mrs. Clinton told me she would considering suing him for outright libel," the top Hillary source explains. "This is the right wing attack machine on crack!"
VANITY FAIR commissioned an excerpt of the embargoed book, exploring Hillary's senate runs.
Klein is the former foreign editor of NEWSWEEK and former editor in chief of the NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE.
Developing...
Roguish Lawyer
06-20-2005, 11:28
http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/klein200506200754.asp
June 20, 2005, 7:54 a.m.
The Truth About Hillary
An author tells his story.
Q&A by Kathryn Jean Lopez
TThe Clintons will always make headlines — for both their larger-than-life aspects and the simple facts of presidential history (and future presidential history?). The prospect of the former First Lady and current junior-but-star senator Hillary Clinton running for and (sit down) possibly becoming president has in part meant a little bit of a publishing bonanza of Hillary books. Among the most talked about — if not the most talked about — is one coming out this Tuesday: The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President by Edward Klein, published by Penguin's conservative imprint, Sentinel.
About "the most fascinating woman in America" as Klein puts it in an interview with National Review Online, The Truth About Hillary Clinton has already been in the news with lurid headlines. Is it sex, lies and footnotes, this time without the necessity factor — details uncovered about Bill Clinton's sexual behavior as it related to abuse of power during a federal criminal investigation?
NRO editor Kathryn Lopez asked Edward Klein — former New York Times Magazine editor-in-chief — about this and more. In an exclusive interview — the first of The Truth About Hillary Clinton, Klein explains and defends his book, and gives his read on where Hillary Clinton has been and where she is going.
National Review Online: In a sentence, what is "the truth about Hillary"?
Edward Klein:Hillary is not a victim (not of sexism, not of her husband, and certainly not of this book); she’s not a moderate (despite her effort to re-brand herself in the Senate). Even my sources on the left admit she’s positioning herself as a victim and moderate in order to win the White House.
NRO: Matt Drudge has highlighted the "rape" claim in your book. Which, to be upfront here, I thought was a terrible story to be highlighting, about a child and her parents. Why on earth would you put such a terrible story in your book? — that looks to be flimsily sourced at that. But even if it wasn’t — why tell it?
Klein: Let's set the record straight here. Actually, I don't make that claim in the book. I included the story about their 1979 trip to Bermuda because Hillary herself brings it up and spins it in her own book as an example of their supposedly romantic marriage. The point of the story is that my source, who was with the Clintons in Bermuda and quoted Bill’s boastful remarks to me, was stunned when Bill phoned him a few months later and told him he just learned of Hillary's pregnancy by reading about it in the newspaper! Those who read the book will see this is hardly a “rape story” — rather it's yet another example of a bizarre political union where a pregnancy is leaked to the largest newspaper in the state and treated as political gain rather than shared privately as a couple.
NRO: You do relay Bill Clinton claiming he was going off to rape his wife, however — and then a morning-after report that suggests that might, in fact, have happened. Surely you see how that would become the "rape chapter" of the book — and maybe the most obvious headline from the book? Might it have been more trouble than it was worth simply to relay that the Clintons have a "bizarre" relationship? Surely there are more polite examples.
Klein: Here's why it's not a rape claim: I don’t imply the source was in the room with the Clintons, for all my source knows they could have had a massive fight and then reconciled. My source doesn’t speculate, I don’t speculate. This whole story, "the rape story" as it’s being called by others, speaks more to how the Clintons communicate, their bizarre relationship. And, of course, the whole point of the story is how she leaked her pregnancy to the press — didn't talk about it with her husband first.
NRO: Do you think more is being made out of some of the "dirt" — the more salacious gossipy stuff in your book — than should be?
Klein: The Truth About Hillary is a comprehensive biography, encompassing both her personal and political life. Vanity Fair chose to excerpt a part of the book about political life, while other news sources have chosen to focus on the personal. My book is much broader than any representation that has appeared in the media so far.
NRO: How many times do you use the word "lesbian" in your book? Why point out she had friends who were lesbians? Do we need to go there?
Klein: Hillary’s politics were shaped by the culture of radical feminism and lesbianism at Wellesley College in the 1960s. This is paramount in exploring the political life of Hillary Clinton.
How could someone write a comprehensive biography of Hillary Clinton without investigating the rumors that have long circulated about her? I've gone further than any other journalist in exploring the question of her sexuality, which is often the first thing people wonder about her: Is she misrepresenting herself as a doting wife to Bill Clinton? How can she stand his chronic infidelity?
As for the number of times the word appears in the book, I don't know. But I'm sure there are some in the Clinton campaign counting right now.
NRO: One more sex thing. You write: "Hillary Clinton only had herself to blame for the talk about her sex life." Can there ever really be a good reason for this, never mind in her case?
Klein: The Clintons themselves made sex an integral part of our national political discourse at the turn of the century. There’s no way of getting around sex when it comes to the Clintons.
NRO: Are you nervous putting out a product that seems to be based on a lot of anonymous sources?
Klein: Were Woodward and Bernstein?
Look, no reporter likes to use anonymous sources. But most people are afraid of invoking the wrath of Hillary Clinton, and so they will talk about her only on condition of anonymity.
I interviewed nearly 100 people who know Hillary, including classmates from high school, college, and law school; Democratic activists and party officials; White House support staff, speechwriters, and military aides; Cabinet officers, senators and congressmen; and other intimates of the Clintons.
I have had more than 40 years of experience as a serious journalist dealing with sources, both Left and Right, on and off the record. And while writing The Truth About Hillary, I scrupulously checked all my sources for fairness and accuracy.
NRO: You've got good liberal credentials. Is this book the end of that?
Klein: I have never had an ideological ax to grind. I’m a registered independent — a reporter who goes where the truth leads me. And I intend to stay that way and let the chips fall where they may.
NRO: Do you believe, as Hillary expressed around impeachment time, that there was a "vast-right-wing conspiracy" out to do her husband in?
Klein: The only conspiracy that existed during impeachment time was Bill and Hillary’s attempt to hide the truth.
NRO: Are you now part of some "Republican scream machine"? What was your intention in writing the book?
Klein: I’m a journalist who writes about fascinating people. I spent many years writing about the Kennedys. But the Clintons have eclipsed them in national interest. Right now, Hillary is the most fascinating woman in America.
I don’t know if all Republicans will like this book, but I call them as I see them.
NRO: Did you vote for Bill Clinton?
Klein: No.
NRO: You're a New Yorker. Did you vote for Hillary for senator? Would you vote for Hillary for president?
Klein: No and no.
I think Elizabeth Moynihan, Senator Moynihan’s wife, had it right when she told me that Hillary is “duplicitous.” Hillary acts as though she is chosen by God, and that gives her the right to use any means to justify her ends.
If she becomes president, it’s going to be deja Clinton all over again. And as far as I’m concerned, we’ve already had the Clinton presidency for its full constitutional eight years.
NRO: Is Sidney Blumenthal still "Hillary's brain"?
Klein: I don’t know, but he’s still her pit bull attack dog. Blumenthal was the first person to attack my book as soon as Vanity Fair’s excerpt appeared.
NRO: A Sentinel spokesman said recently that The Truth about Hillary could be Hillary's Swift Boat Vets. Do you intend that or expect that?
Klein: I intended my book to take a good hard look at Hillary’s true character, and if the book is being compared to the Swift Boat Vets’ book on that account, then I am proud of the comparison.
NRO: Was the health-care disaster really "the most humiliating defeat of her life"? The impeachment saga wasn’t?
Klein: The health-care disaster knocked Hillary out of the box and out of a position of day-to-day power in the White House for nearly four years. It was the biggest defeat in her history.
The impeachment saga was manipulated by Hillary to turn herself into a sympathetic victim, and led directly to her Senate victory. In that sense, the impeachment saga was actually a plus for Hillary.
[continued next post]
Roguish Lawyer
06-20-2005, 11:28
[continued from previous post]
NRO: Hillary wanted to be an astronaut, you report, but her mother encouraged her to set a more reasonable goal: a seat on the Supreme Court. Could that still be a reasonable goal? Student of Bob Bork — how ironic that would be. And painful for some of us!
Klein: Hillary has bigger fish to fry. She wants eight more years in the White House.
Should she fail in that ambitious effort, she might “settle” for a seat on the Supreme Court — as long as it was the seat of chief justice.
NRO: Hillary has tried to position herself as a moderate. Is she? How much of the "radical" Wellesley girl is still in her?
Klein: Hillary has been a woman of the ultra-Left ever since she entered Wellesley College 40 years ago this year. She’s been consistently anti-military (despite her recent votes), pro-nationalized health care, and pro-abortion without parental consent.
You can take the girl out of Wellesley, but you can’t take Wellesley out of the girl.
NRO: Hillary's story about how she and Bill met is "blatantly untrue"? How do you know?
Klein: Because like so many of Hillary’s stories, her version (that she walked across the Yale Law School Library and introduced herself to Bill), this story is an example of Hillary making herself more important than she actually is.
One of Bill Clinton’s law-school classmates told me that it was Bill who made the first move. Bill arranged to meet Hillary, not the other way around.
NRO: Pat Moynihan's family says your legendary-senator-hated-Hillary story is bogus. What say you?
Klein: I have known Elizabeth Moynihan for 30 years; we first met in New Delhi when Pat Moynihan was ambassador to India.
I spoke with Liz Moynihan and told her I was writing a book about Hillary. Liz agreed to be interviewed by me on the record regarding the Moynihans’ meetings and relationship with Hillary.
I have a record of this interview.
NRO: Why should anyone trust or believe your portrait of Hillary Clinton?
Klein: Because it is written by a journalist with impeccable credentials (Newsweek, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Parade), who has no political agenda.
My previous book, The Kennedy Curse, was also the object of disparagement and vilification — and it has since become clear that everything I wrote was true.
You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but you sure can judge a book by the author’s track record, and my record is impeccable.
NRO: Why should a fair-minded voter read your book before 2008?
Klein: Because Hillary’s 2006 campaign for reelection to the Senate is a dry run for her 2008 campaign for the White House, and the time has come for her opponents to size her up and devise a strategy to stop her.
NRO: Is there any chance she won't run for president, knowing what you know (or claim to know) about her?
Klein: Barring an act of God, Hillary will seek her party’s nomination in 2008 for the presidency.
NRO: If she runs, will she have a "woman problem" like she did when she ran for Senate?
Klein: She already has a woman problem. Many women don’t like Hillary. They don’t think she has earned her place in the sun.
Hillary will try to counter that problem two ways: First, by showing how hard she has worked as a senator, and second, by portraying herself as a victim of sexism.
She will try to keep Bill Clinton in the background.
But don’t let her fool you. A vote for Hillary will be a vote for Bill Clinton. As far as the Clintons are concerned, it’s still two for the price of one.
NRO: Could she have beaten Rudy for senator? Could she beat him for president?
Klein: Rudy could have beaten Hillary for senator, and he could trounce her for president.
NRO: How is HRC like Nixon?
Klein: Like Nixon, Hillary is paranoid and has an enemies list.
Like Nixon, Hillary has used FBI files against her enemies.
Like Nixon, Hillary believes that the ends justify the means.
Like Nixon, Hillary has a penchant for doing illegal things.
NRO: Would Hillary have had a political future if Kerry won?
Klein: Maybe on the Supreme Court.
NRO: What's the most interesting thing you learned about Hillary while working on your book? The most disturbing?
Klein: That even today, Hillary is aware that Bill Clinton is carrying on sexual affairs with other women, and she doesn’t do anything about it.
NRO: Is The Truth About Hillary on bookshelves or under brown paper, behind the cash register?
Klein: The Truth About Hillary will be prominently displayed up front in every major bookstore in America, with its cover proudly facing forward.
Roguish Lawyer
06-23-2005, 09:41
I never thought Peggy Noonan was the great speechwriter the media portrayed her to be. But here's her opinion, since we are fair and balanced here at ps.com. ;)
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110006855
PEGGY NOONAN
Eine Kleine Biographie
We need a serious book about Hillary Clinton. Ed Klein's isn't it.
Thursday, June 23, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT
I have read the Hillary book by Ed Klein, which has been heavily dumped on by conservatives, and understandably. In terms of political impact it is not a takedown but a buildup. Dick Morris says its sensational charges will only "embolden" her. They will certainly tend to inoculate her against future and legitimate criticism and revelations. The book is poorly written, poorly thought, poorly sourced and full of the kind of loaded language that is appropriate to a polemic but not an investigative work.
Here are some significant things about Mr. Klein's book: It comes from an establishment journalist who's had his professional ticket punched at the New York Times magazine and Newsweek. He has no conservative bona fides; he says he is and appears to be essentially apolitical. This is an anti-Hillary book by the MSM. It has been heavily promoted not by a conservative publication but by Vanity Fair magazine, which published a big fat juicy chapter in its famous "Deep Throat" issue. Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair's editor, is the author of an anti-Bush book, passionately opposed to Iraq, and no one's idea of a wing-nut. (Mr. Carter also bought serialization rights of Gail Sheehy's book on Hillary, which managed to be both accusatory and politically sympathetic.) Previous successful Hillary books were written by Barbara Olson, Joyce Milton, Dick Morris and me, righties all, and David Brock, who had not a philosophy but employers. The Klein book looks to be a big success in terms of sales (350,000 first printing). This suggests there is a big market for a Hillary biography.
Mr. Klein's problem is that he assumes the market is conservative and conservatives are stupid. They're not, actually. They want solid sourcing and new information that is true.
Here is something good about the book. Klein treats Hillary as if she were a man. Remember the stories that said Dan Quayle was a cocaine salesman? That George W. Bush was a coke-sniffing, girl-chasing lush? That John F. Kennedy was a coke-sniffing, girl-chasing cynic? That Lyndon B. Johnson had a roving eye and held meetings with aides as he sat on the toilet? This is hard-guy politics: Run for office and we'll throw everything we can that will stick and things that won't stick too. Mr. Klein's book is in this tradition. It treats Hillary as she has claimed she wants to be treated: not as a special case but like everyone else; not as a minority, not as a woman. Mr. Klein isn't scared by her sex.
Mr. Klein's central theme is not original. Hillary Rodham, committed left-wing operative and college radical, recognizes the raw talent and promise of the crude, yearning, cynical and attractive Bill Clinton. She marries him, and each receives something from the arrangement. She ties her wagon to a star and will rise to power with him; he receives ideological ballast, which he perceives as moral ballast, from a woman his equal in ambition and his superior in self-governance.
They rise. He compulsively chases women and is politically popular if unserious; she makes money, networks and burnishes their movement credentials. She knows of his philandering and looks the other way. They achieve the presidency and come in time to be seen as main-chancing Ivy League grifters.
He is a sentimental liberal who'll do what he has to do to maintain his viability in the system; she is his ideological soul, and somewhat zany in her assumption that the United States of America elected her as co-president and desires her to redesign its medical system. They both have a degree of genuine human charm. He was truly warm, at least for a while and at least until he got bored. She was genuinely funny, with a quick wit and an ability to listen.
In the presidency he floundered and she flailed. Then he moderated and she disappeared. Then he embarrassed the country, she joined or led the coverup, they were found out, and she emerged as a patient, loving wife who stood by her man. (For those who'd enjoy an excellent fictional gloss on their story, see Charles McCarry's "Lucky Bastard.")
This is, essentially, the story Mr. Klein tells. It has been told before and will be told again.
But he ignores the Rosetta stone of Hillary studies, the senior college thesis she wrote on leftist organizer Saul Alinsky and how to change the American political culture, which her alma mater, Wellesley College, obligingly continues to suppress on her request. There is little on the Rose law firm. There are canned and seemingly cut-and-paste cameos of Hillary aides who are shady and bad because they are Hillary aides.
There is a certain disconnect. Mr. Klein famously suggests again and again that Hillary is, was or will be homosexual. He dwells on this, it seems, to further bolster the charge that the Clinton marriage was from day one a political deal and not a serious and traditional emotional bond. But he also seems to suggest a serious romantic relationship with Vince Foster.
The real problem with Hillary biographies is that the picture they paint, if it is true, is difficult for a normal person to believe. No one could be that bad. No one who has risen so high in American politics could possibly be that bad. To believe is to go to a dark place.
And the charges seem so at odds--so utterly at odds--with the nice, smiling woman who calls abortion a tragedy and enjoys speaking of how much she prays. This is the problem all Hillary biographers have: It's too grim to believe. To believe that her story as presented by the books so far is true is to believe that she has clung to a premeditated plan for 40 years, that she is ruthless in the pursuit both of her own ambitions and of a deep and intractable leftist political agenda. And that she found her equal in a partner sufficiently hardhearted to stick with the plan, and the secrecy, and the weirdness. It's too over the top. It seems hard to believe, not because it isn't true but because it isn't likely, usual, expected. It isn't the kind of biography we are used to in our leaders. That is her great advantage.
What is needed is a big and serious book by respected reporters who can dig, think and type, and whose sourcing standards are high and unimpeachable. Will that happen? It would be big if it did. This book is not that book.
Ms. Noonan is a contributing editor of The Wall Street Journal and author of "A Heart, a Cross, and a Flag" (Wall Street Journal Books/Simon & Schuster), a collection of post-Sept. 11 columns, which you can buy from the OpinionJournal bookstore. Her column appears Thursdays.
Roguish Lawyer
06-24-2005, 13:33
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/politics/24biography.html?ei=5090&en=a84187e484428b47&ex=1277265600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
Biography of Senator Clinton Has a Few Unexpected Critics
By EDWARD WYATT
A fast-selling, unflattering biography of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is drawing fire from some prominent conservative commentators, including Peggy Noonan and Bill O'Reilly, surprising both the author and the head of the conservative book imprint that published it.
Edward Klein, the author of "The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President," and Adrian Zackheim, publisher of Sentinel, the imprint of Penguin Group USA that released the book this week, said in separate interviews yesterday that they were bewildered that some of the harshest criticisms of the book have appeared in the news outlets that they expected to be more friendly, including The New York Post, Fox News Channel and the opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal.
"I think a lot of conservatives are worried that a strong frontal criticism of Mrs. Clinton will elicit sympathy for her and turn her into a victim, as the Lewinsky matter turned her into a victim, and that will strengthen her hand," Mr. Klein said.
Indeed, that is one argument made by Ms. Noonan in a column published yesterday on OpinionJournal.com, the Web site of The Wall Street Journal editorial page. The book's sometimes-sensational charges "will certainly tend to inoculate her against future and legitimate criticism and revelations," Ms. Noonan wrote. But Ms. Noonan's criticism is also much more direct. "The book is poorly written, poorly thought, poorly sourced and full of the kind of loaded language that is appropriate to a polemic but not an investigative work," she wrote.
Mr. Zackheim said he had expected that the response to the book would fall along political lines, with it being embraced by the right and abhorred by the left.
"Obviously there is some sentiment on the right that these assertions are more helpful to Senator Clinton than not," Mr. Zackheim said.
Of course, as many a public relations professional has said, there is no such thing as bad publicity, and even criticisms of the book that repeat its more salacious charges about Mrs. Clinton's personal and marital life could help its sales. Since its release on Tuesday, the book has appeared high on the best-seller lists of online booksellers. Yesterday afternoon it was No. 3 on Amazon.com and No. 4 on BarnesandNoble.com.
Penguin's Sentinel said it had printed 350,000 copies of the book and shipped almost all of them to bookstores.
A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, Philippe Reines, said that any criticism of the book stems primarily from its content. "This is a book full of blatant and vicious fabrications contrived by someone who writes trash for cash," said Mr. Reines.
Conservative commentators have not been much more generous. Writing in The New York Post this week, John Podhoretz said the book "is one of the most sordid volumes I've ever waded through." Mr. O'Reilly, the Fox News television host, said he would not invite Mr. Klein on his show because of the book's "personal attacks" on Mrs. Clinton, the same reason that he said he gave for not inviting Kitty Kelley on the air after her gossipy book "The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty" was published last year. Two other Fox shows had booked Mr. Klein as a guest, but this week they cancelled his appearances.
Irena Briganti, a spokeswoman for Fox News Channel, said there was no Fox conspiracy against Mr. Klein. Noting that the author was interviewed on "Hannity & Colmes," she said, "We had him on one of our highest-rated prime-time shows, but interest in this book has been tepid at best - it's dropped off everyone's radar screen here at this point."
Mr. Klein said that some of his reporting of events and comments about Mrs. Clinton has been taken out of context, and that some conservatives who have defended her have either been dazzled by her star power or fear her wrath.
"A lot of people have written or plan to write books about Hillary," Mr. Klein said. "As 2008 approaches, there is an understandable competition and jealousy on the part of fellow writers."
Just finished The Truth About Hillary by Edward Klein, and I have to say "what a riot." She is a gigantic piece of work. It's a book that confirms, not illuminates. One of her staffers describes her as "soulless" which is so appropriate.
The really ironic thing is that her approval ratings are so high. I recently had breakfast with a college roommate who loved Bill Clinton and can't wait for Hillary to be elected. He also thought anyone who joins the military was an idiot. This did not surprise me as I always believed he was a jerk off, but the other guy at breakfast is his best friend and was with me in the 25th ID . I guess it was a bit of an eye opener for him.
Back to Hillary, the chapter about her college days is incredible. Apparently she entered college as a Goldwater fan and left a communist. However, it apparently all started with her youth pastor. The church and the university. Thanks for nothing.
The rape thing seems a little over the top, but I just pre-ordered the book anyway. :D
I read the book two days ago and gave it to wally yesterday. NDD is right on the money with the predator label. According to the book the rape thing ain't over the top as you will see when you read it.
It's a very revealing read if you ask me.
Doc
NousDefionsDoc
07-07-2005, 18:03
Bill O'Reilly is not a conservative.
Roguish Lawyer
07-07-2005, 20:55
Bill O'Reilly is not a conservative.
I am confused.
Bill O'Reilly is not a conservative.nope...he's a journalist, which if i recall my college course on evolutionary biology, ranks just above politicians on the evolutionary ladder...
NousDefionsDoc
07-07-2005, 21:03
I am confused.
Why?
nope...he's a journalist, which if i recall my college course on evolutionary biology, ranks just above politicians on the evolutionary ladder...
The lowest rungs of the ladder...
Roguish Lawyer
07-11-2005, 11:29
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100587.html
Hillary Author Frozen Out
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 11, 2005; 8:36 AM
Despite the enormous hype surrounding Edward Klein's scathing and hearsay-filled book about Hillary Rodham Clinton, the author has been ignored by all but two television talk shows.
This collective cold shoulder hasn't stopped "The Truth About Hillary" from hitting No. 2 yesterday on the coveted New York Times list. "It's the biggest example to date of how major media censorship doesn't stop a book anymore from being a bestseller," Klein declares.
"It's just been a total blackout," says Klein, adding that talk radio and some Web sites, including the Drudge Report, have driven sales of the book. "I definitely think there's something organized going on here."
Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines says Klein "didn't even rate a full 15 minutes of fame on national television" because the book is "full of blatant and vicious fabrications."
"There's been an effort to make sure people know about the inaccuracies," Reines says. "Anyone who has called, we've made the case: 'Why would you even give him any airtime at all?' People have editorially made the decision it doesn't warrant airtime. It's beyond the pale."
The book's tone is clear from the second page of Chapter 1: " Was it true they slept in separate beds? Were there any telltale signs on the presidential sheets that they ever had sex with each other? For that matter, did the Big Girl have any interest in sex with a man? Or, as was widely rumored, was she a lesbian?"
Klein did not get a warm reception in his two cable interviews. Fox's Sean Hannity asked whether, in questioning the former first lady's sexuality, Klein was being "too personal" and had crossed "a boundary that ought not to be crossed in political dialogue." CNN's Lou Dobbs told Klein it was "extraordinary" that the author was "suggesting that she is a lesbian" and noted that Maura Moynihan, daughter of the late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "said you were lying when you said that he despised Hillary Clinton."
Klein says that MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and Chris Matthews, CNN's Paula Zahn, Fox's John Gibson and ABC's "Good Morning America" were among those who had tentatively booked or expressed strong interest in him, only to drop him like a hot potato. "I can't prove this," he says, but "the Hillary people" have told the networks "she would be mightily displeased if I got on."
"The book is uninteresting to Fox News," says spokesman Paul Schur. "We've moved on." Klein "has kind of just fallen off everybody's radar screen."
Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, said his staff "thought I'd be excited about it because it was obviously a hot booking." But when he looked at the book, "the deciding factor" was a tale in which "an unnamed guy who happened to be on vacation" at the same time as the Clintons was quoted as saying that Bill Clinton boasted he was going to "rape" his wife, and that is how Chelsea was conceived. Scarborough says he also called Reines, Clinton's spokesman, and said: "Send me everything you've got."
"I just applied the Kitty Kelley test," Scarborough says, referring to the celebrity author who published a harsh biography of George W. Bush last fall. "If it was inappropriate to have Kitty Kelley on because of unsubstantiated charges, it would be improper to have Ed Klein on." Fox's Bill O'Reilly made a similar point.
Kelley's book "The Family" also relied on numerous unnamed sources. Bush's former sister-in-law, Sharon Bush, disputed allegations of past drug use by the president that were attributed to her, and the White House communications director dismissed the book as "garbage." Yet Kelley was granted a three-part interview on NBC's "Today" and appeared on a spate of other television shows.
Klein, whose book has a major first printing of 350,000, is a man with solid journalistic credentials. He is a former editor of the New York Times Magazine and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, which excerpted "The Truth About Hillary," and has written four previous bestsellers on such topics as the Kennedys, which he promoted on a wide range of shows. He calls himself "a non-ideological person" and not "part of the vast right-wing conspiracy."
But the publisher, Penguin's Sentinel imprint, described the book in its catalogue as one that would do to Clinton's 2008 presidential chances what the Swift Boat Veterans did to John Kerry. ("A bit of marketing hyperbole that probably went too far," says Klein.) And while the right has embraced a steady stream of anti-Clinton books, some conservatives have denounced Klein's assault.
Wall Street Journal contributor Peggy Noonan, the author of a Hillary book, called Klein's volume "poorly written, poorly thought, poorly sourced and full of the kind of loaded language that is appropriate to a polemic but not an investigative work." New York Post columnist John Podhoretz branded it "one of the most sordid volumes I've ever waded through. Thirty pages into it, I wanted to take a shower. Sixty pages into it, I wanted to be decontaminated."
Asked about such criticism, Klein defends the use of unnamed sources as necessary. "Did I go too far on a personal level? I've asked myself that. I've come to the conclusion that no, I didn't go too far. The question of Hillary's sexuality, which seems to have bothered a lot of people, I didn't invent that question. . . . If I did anything wrong, I violated the politically correct standard by talking about lesbianism."
With the book in bestseller land, why does Klein sound so perturbed? With more television exposure, he says, maybe it could be No. 1. Next week it slips to No. 4 on the Times list.
Roguish Lawyer
08-22-2005, 11:59
OK, I read the book.
While there is some interesting material, I really didn't find much of it to be terribly new or newsworthy. And for those people who don't already know that Hillary is a radical feminist neo-Marxist pretending to be something else for political reasons, the book does not come across well because it reads like a hit piece written by a Republican. While there are footnotes, it does not say anything positive about her and really doesn't come across as an objective piece.
So even if everything in it is true, I am not surprised that the press isn't giving it any credibility. It really doesn't deserve much. The author really made a mistake writing in this manner IMO. Too bad.