I'm agnostic on the subject of Hillary but reading the recent
Salon article about the book, its author and the circumstances around its creation, I feel I need to shower. Amazon* says, "...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."
Some of the charges leveled at Clinton:
"She shows no wifely instincts," "She isn't maternal," "She's a feminist, but she rode to power on her husband's coattails," "She has abetted decades of chronic infidelity," "Many of her closest friends and aides were lesbians."
Oh, please. Why not just come out and say, "I don't like her attitude?" Or how about, "I'm a winger with an axe to grind?" The author, Edward Klein, compares her to Nixon, saying she's just as paranoid, has pursued her 'enemies' in the same way, and has a 'penchant' for doing illegal things. Now she's developing those Nixonian jowls! Apparently, she can't do anything right:
"I think she lied to the country when she said that this Monica Lewinsky matter came as an utter and complete surprise to her."
But lying about Lewinsky was not illegal. "Well, technically it's not," replied Klein. "But it certainly strikes me as, if not illegal, then at least immoral."
Oh, yea, and lying about your knowledge of an embarrassing affair is pretty much morally equivalent to lying to get the country to enter an illegal war. See, everyone does it!
Again with the lesbian thing, the author says, "She surrounded herself with many women who were either openly lesbian or suspected of being lesbian or appear to be masculine." So, being openly lesbian is roughly equivalent to being suspected of it (because what others think of you matters ever so much) or appearing masculine? In the article, the author says he loves strong women, but then he can write something like this about Hillary's college years:
They "refused to wear pretty dresses, style their hair, use coy remarks, or deploy any of the trappings that might make them appear subordinate to men. As a result, they sometimes appeared mannish."
Stupid bitch, be more coy!
One amusing aspect of all this (if you're not already ROFL) is the comments on Amazon from obvious conservatives. Klein worked for both Newsweek and the New York Times in the past and the conservative reviewers are eating it up. He's a member of the liberal media, they say, and he's saying this stuff! But ask yourself, when was the last time they gave credence to anything printed in Newsweek or NYT? Uh huh, see the funny?
Again, I'm neutral (leaning to negative) on Hillary as a national nominee for the Dems, but crap like this just boils my blood. If Hillary gets the nod, it looks like we can expect the race to be catty, catty, catty. I'd suggest skipping the book, but do read the latest excellent article by Rebecca Traister on the subject.
*Shan't link to this piece of crap--you know how it works if you really need to see it.