Posted on 05/25/2007 6:56:00 AM PDT by theothercheek
Washington Post staff writers Peter Baker and John Solomon put their speed-reading skills to use and burned through two eagerly-anticipated biographies of Hillary Rodham Clinton that they got their hands on just yesterday: Carl Bernstein’s 640-page, "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton," and the 416-page, "Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton," by New York Times investigative reporters Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr.
Here’s the Baker and Solomon take on the two tomes:
Two new books on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York offer fresh and often critical portraits of the Democratic presidential candidate that depict a tortured relationship with her husband and her past and challenge the image she has presented on the campaign trail.
The Hillary Clinton who emerges from the pages of the books comes across as a complicated, sometimes compromised figure who tolerated Bill Clinton's brazen infidelity, pursued her policy and political goals with methodical drive, and occasionally skirted along the edge of the truth along the way. The books portray her as alternately brilliant and controlling, ambitious and victimized.
Bernstein’s book extensively covers Hill’s activities helping Bill fend off bimbo eruptions from the AK statehouse to the U.S. White House, and "includes some damning observations from people once close to the senator," including Bob Boorstin, who worked for Clinton when she was working on her secret plan to "reform" the nation's health-care system, and White House special counsel Mark Fabiani, who defended the Clintons during Ken Starr’s Whitewater investigation. Two of Bernstein’s hottest revelations, according to Baker and Solomon:
While in Arkansas … she personally interviewed one woman alleged to have had an affair with her husband, contemplated divorce and thought about running for governor out of anger at her husband's indiscretions. …
[When Susan McDougal was imprisoned for refusing to testify] Hillary Clinton was convinced she would be next, worried that Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr would indict her for perjury or obstruction of justice arising from statements she made under oath about her work for Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, the Whitewater investment or long-missing billing records. "When I say there was a serious fear she would be indicted, I can't overstate that," Fabiani told Bernstein. …
All good stuff, but seeing as how Hillary has been going around the country claiming that she wouldn’t have voted to authorize the Iraq War in 2002 if she knew then what she knows now, Gerth and Van Natta's book is a greater threat to her presidential aspirations, as the two authors suggest that she did not read the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, "which included caveats and dissents about reports of Iraq's weapons program," before casting her Yea vote:
The book looks in detail at Hillary Clinton's Senate vote in support of the Iraq war, suggesting she may have been motivated by a desire to not abandon her husband's tough-on-Iraq policy and a need "to prove that she was tough enough" as a woman. …
Clinton's Senate spokesman, seemed to confirm last night that she did not read the NIE, saying by e-mail that she was "briefed multiple times by several members of the administration on their intelligence regarding Iraq, including being briefed on the NIE." …
The book portrays Clinton as constantly seeking the spotlight, pushing her way into Senate discussions without invitation. As Senate Democrats were wrestling with their approach to the Iraq war in mid-2006, for example, Clinton is described as inserting her name into a piece of legislation calling for a phased redeployment of U.S. troops. Although she was not originally a co-sponsor of the bill, she said she was, and after storming the floor of the Senate before her turn, she shifted her rationale for her original war vote, the authors write. Her behavior amazed Senate colleagues, they write.
Alfred A. Knopf has printed 275,000 copies of Bernstein's book, which hits bookstore shelves June 5; three days later, Little, Brown and Co. should have 175,000 copies of Gerth and Van Natta's book on sale June 8. The WaPo notes, "The size of the print runs mean both publishers expect their books to be major bestsellers."
BONUS: This Explains Chelsea Clinton
Remarkable - she really does look like that from behind!
Nothing beats “Hell to Pay” by Barbara Olson. With so much more material today, it may be possible to write even more detail about the scandal and infighting that are a part of the daily life of Herself, the Cold and Joyless.
But not more pejoratively. We lost Barbara that day in September, 2001.
Too soon. Much too soon.
I was thinking a view of Hitlery 180 degrees from that!
Sounds like Bernstein’s book doesn’t say anything about Hillary during the Arkansas years that I didn’t already say in my book, The First Partner — except the part about her contemplating running for governor, which can hardly have been a serious threat. She wasn’t popular down there.
Nor is it news that Hillary was afraid of being indicted for perjury. It was obvious that she had dug herself a deep hole and feared that she wouldn’t be able to climb out of it.
The second book sounds more interesting — and the teasers here are very typical of Hillary’s behavior. She has very large footprints and is adept at coopting other people’s initiatives. If they get good press, they’re hers. If they fail, she will be just as agile about disassociating herself.
Doesn’t sound like anything new here. People have heard all of this many times before. Hillary’s advisers will say it is all ancient history, the news media will sweep it under the rug, and the idiots who were prepared to vote for her when these scandals were fresh are still ready to vote for her now.
Hillary can be beaten, but only if the Republicans get behind a good, solid candidate—certainly not Giuliani or McCain, and I don’t think Romney, either.
WOW, thanks for your analysis and work (I read some of the reviews of your book on amazon).
Well, not having read either book and relying only on the two WaPo reporter’s decisions on what to put in their article I can’t say for sure that Bernstein’s book breaks no new ground - though Hillary’s people were quick to say so. I agree that the second book sounds far more interesting. It’s funny how Woodward and Bernstein have become such Establishment figures that their books seem never to contain blockbuster revelations, only stuff people tell them to further their own agendas.
LOL!
Agreed. I have found myself thinking of her more and more often as the election season got into swing, wishing I could see her doing analysis on Fox News. She was like Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin rolled into one - and them some!
I haven’t seen the Bernstein book either and am relying on the “revelations” mentioned in the newspaper piece.
However, let me give my take on the Ken Starr/billing records controversy:
Starr sought Hillary’s billing records because he hoped to establish that she had done a substantial amount of work for McDougal’s savings and loan and therefore should have known that he was playing fast and loose with banking regulations. (Whether this is true, I can’t say. But that was the idea.)
In my opinion, the records might have demonstrated something else. Webb Hubbell was representing his father in law — who had dealings with McDougal — in some of the same matters. The father-in-law, Seth Ward, was an older guy who liked to tell war stories and take up a lot of people’s time. Hillary had no patience for that kind of thing. Moreover, she was only representing McDougal at the this point because his business was a way of recouping some of the losses she and Bill had taken on Whitewater.
I’d be willing to bet that she let Webb take some of these meetings alone and then billed for her time for them anyway. Notice that when Webb was caught for over-billing — for much the same sort of thing — he made a point of saying that he didn’t start doing it until later on, when Hillary would not have been involved. But how many people just start to cheat one day, out of the blue? My feeling is that most cheating of this sort starts small, with acts that can be rationalized as relatively harmless.
Of course, all this is now many years in the past. The witnesses are either dead or seriously compromised.
I do think both Hill and Bill got away with serious crimes, but after the impeachment saga the American public probably feels this chapter is “closed.” Plus, Bernstein took 8 years to write his book. That’s a lifetime. However since the second book’s most damning information dates back only five years ago and involves the delicate dance she’s doing on her position(s) on the Iraq war this is the book that will get traction.
I had the great good fortune of enjoying a fairly reugualr Freepmail correspondence with her. I'd regale her with inside tidbits about all things Clinton here in beautiful downtown Chappaqua ( like the time shortly after the Clintons moved in, when Hillary caused a panic at the middle school in town, when she had a helicopter land on the ball field across the street to pick her up.) The summer of 2001, I was discussing with Barbara the chance of getting her an author's night appearance at the Chappaqua Public Library..Now THAT would have been fun.
I fell asleep before I could even finish the sentence.
“To be fair, Hillary wouldn’t be the way she is if someone: HAD NOT DROPPED A HOUSE ON HER SISTER”
huh?
Did you ever see “The Wizard of Oz”?
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