Something to chew on

Am I missing something? Are there lies or mis-representations in that article? I didn't see any, but would be open for soem to be pointed out. I thought it was an insightful peice on Shrillary's book.

Shrillary's book.

I read this and thought it would be nice to discuss a nice fresh topic that doesn't scandalize our current president.

Quote:

Christopher Ruddy
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Despite the media frenzy helping to put Hillary's new book, "Living History," onto the best-seller lists, her PR efforts have backfired on her political ambitions.


The intent of Hillary's "Living History" was to rewrite history and create a fairy tale version of her life with Bill Clinton - a story that would mask her and her husband's greedy climb to power.


The purpose of this rewrite of history was also clear: to recreate Hillary as her own "lady" - a viable presidential candidate of her own.


But the publicity so far for "Living History" indicates that she and her handlers may have badly misjudged public opinion.


For one thing, the book has reminded Americans that she was, and remains, in the shadow of her husband, an impeached former president.


Bill Clinton's coattails did not work well for Al Gore, who should have glided into the White House in 2000.


Gore lost, and press reports say that Gore and his wife, Tipper, blamed Clinton and his scandal-riddled administration for the loss.


Watching Barbara Walters, one might believe that the Clinton "scandals" were all about sex. During my years covering the Clinton White House, I never reported on Clinton's bedroom politics.


But the litany of real Clinton scandals are almost endless: Travelgate, Vince Foster's death and office cover-up, Waco, Whitewater, Madison Guaranty, Chinagate, Lippogate, illegal fund raising, Cattlefutures-gate, Ron Brown's death, pardongate and on and on.


Even the so-called "sex scandal" was really no such thing: The scandal was about a sexual harassment lawsuit and the Clintons' efforts to obstruct justice in that case.


As it turned out, it was a minor scandal, but one a very timid and inept prosecutor named Ken Starr latched onto.


While Hillary and her husband were never indicted, it is outrageous for her to claim, and for reporters like Barbara Walters to meekly accept, that the investigations "never found anything."


As it turned out, dozens of the Clintons' aides and associates had to resign, were indicted, went to jail or were referred for criminal indictment.


Hillary would like to whitewash this chapter in her and her husband's history.


But her new book does serve to imbed in the public's mind that Hillary Clinton, both as first lady and now as senator, was upstaged by a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky.


This book gave Hillary a tremendous opportunity. It was time for her to have the public forget about Monica and focus on her own achievements.


Instead, Hillary put Monica back into the headlines, with all of Bill's women problems.


For sure, Hillary is smarter and more disciplined than her husband. It was clear to me, during my years covering the Clintons, that she actually ran the White House. Bill Clinton was too busy with other matters, as the Monica transcripts so well demonstrated.


The spin from this book should have been a repositioning of Hillary. It should have revealed her as the gray power behind her husband - and by doing so, subtly suggesting to the American people that she, too, could be president of the United States.

But Hillary bungled this one.


Even her critics must admit that Hillary has shown remarkable political skills. She helped her husband become governor of Arkansas and stay in office. She helped him win the presidency in 1992 and salvaged his presidency during his first term.

She herself then ran for Senate in a state she had no connection with - and won in a landslide, beating a well-financed Republican. Hillary even won in many Republican districts.


Make no mistake about it: Hillary is a force to be reckoned with, but her book may have just laid the groundwork for her undoing.

Who's Ruddy? This is from a Salt Lake City newspaper article, that starts off about boy scouts (Ruddy got that one wrong, too)...


"Another Dec. 19 article, written by Ruddy, claims the "exclusive" that Bill and Hillary Clinton are selling their Chappaqua house because their neighbors have put the home under 24-hour video surveillance on the off-chance of being able to sell something to the tabloids. His source? Anonymous sources "at some of America's most notorious supermarket tabloids" -- which, like NewsMax, are based in Florida.

These would be the same tabloids that a NewsMax article trashed a few months back as being controlled by Democrats and for writing "smear stories" about Republicans "that bounce up to the networks." But since the tabloids have joined NewsMax in making the Clintons a target, Ruddy and Co. suddenly have a different attitude toward them.

Indeed, Ruddy's article points out that "the entertainment media, especially the tabloids, have discovered a bonanza with Hillary," quoting one "tabloid insider" as saying, "Hillary is our new Lady Di." Any frequent NewsMax reader knows they have discovered the same traffic-building magic, building Hillary into the new bogeyperson for conservatives, complete with a folder of articles about her and a sub-folder to hawk NewsMax-produced tapes of an interview with a former Arkansas state trooper who says all sorts of unkind things about her. You can't accuse NewsMax of not knowing what side their bread is buttered on.

Ruddy's only other sources for this story are the New York Post gossip column and "a source close to Clinton pal Vernon Jordan" -- "

Since the pre-publication figures were tremendous, and this book is obviously going to sell, I figure the repubs are going to have all kinds of strokes and attacks. What are they complaining about? The repubs are all about money, and you'd think they would be proud to say an American author has hit it so big. Listen, they tried hard to push Bush's book, Gingrich's books, Lynn Cheney's books - nothing has come close. Some of their efforts were on the book racks at Odd Job. After being maligned for years, made fun of, hounded...oh boy! And next comes Bill's, which should sell as well.

There's a Spanish saying - "The best revenge is living well."

. . . a story that would mask her and her husband's greedy climb to power.

. . . The scandal was about a sexual harassment lawsuit and the Clintons' efforts to obstruct justice in that case.

For sure, Hillary is smarter and more disciplined than her husband. It was clear to me, during my years covering the Clintons, that she actually ran the White House. Bill Clinton was too busy with other matters, as the Monica transcripts so well demonstrated.

She herself then ran for Senate in a state she had no connection with - and won in a landslide, beating a well-financed Republican. Hillary even won in many Republican districts.