Blog Wars

Everyone seems to enjoy this story: Saddam loves Doritos.

Ed Klein's book about Hillary hits today, and National Review chats up the author:

"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 [Bill Clinton supposedly and allegedly assaulting his wife]. 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."

Salon's Rebecca Traister wonders how a former New York Times Magazine editor got to this point:

"What is a guy with Klein's background and reputation doing writing a book like this? 'The Truth About Hillary' boasts a passel of petty, sexist and plain old 'no duh' claims against Hillary: '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.' It claims to shed light on the way that 'the culture of lesbianism at Wellesley College shaped Hillary's politics' and that 'she set up an elaborate system to monitor her husband's girlfriends.' The book opens with a scene in which former White House intern Monica Lewinsky fondles Bill Clinton's penis at Radio City Music Hall.

" 'Life of Samuel Johnson' it ain't. But the fear of many Democrats is that 'The Truth About Hillary' could prove to be a powerful weapon against Clinton as she moves closer to becoming the Democratic candidate for president in 2008. Even if most of the claims in 'The Truth about Hillary' turn out to be baseless, there's a palpable fear that it could be a lethal cousin to 2004's campaign killer 'Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry.' In New York media circles, the discomfort is doubled by the knowledge that this time, the cudgel is being wielded not by some easily dismissed nut-job from a state they fly over, but by a man they know, they've worked with, and whom they may have even created."

Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol floats an idea on Dick Durbin:

"Conservatives (and, one trusts, many liberals) have been appalled by Sen. Durbin's comparison last Tuesday, on the Senate floor, between 'what Americans had done to prisoners in their control' at Guantanamo and what was done by Nazis, Soviets, and Pol Pot. Conservatives (and, one trusts, many liberals) have also been appalled by Sen. Durbin's non-apology last Friday: 'I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood.' In other words, Sen. Durbin apparently still believes there could be a proper use and understanding of an 'historical parallel' between American soldiers and Nazis . . .

"Why not put the burden on the Democrats? When Sen. Trent Lott made a far less damaging, but still deplorable, statement two and a half years ago his fellow Republicans insisted he step down as their leader. Shouldn't Democrats insist that Sen. Durbin step down as their whip, the number two man in their leadership? Shouldn't conservatives (and liberals) legitimately ask Democrats to hold their leader to account, especially given the precedent of Lott?"