Posted on 04/19/2017 10:10:06 PM PDT by relictele
Despite the grim, fatalistic title make no mistake: this is a hagiography. These authors, after all, produced ‘HRC: State Secrets And The Rebirth Of Hillary Clinton’ in 2014. That book, of course, was an unabashed hagiography featuring information gleaned from the so-called inner circle. The authors employ the same method here, guaranteeing interviewees that they will be ‘on background’ and not identified by name.
Had Allen & Parnes been Atlanta-based sportswriters covering Super Bowl LI, they would have provided painstaking detail of every aspect of the Falcons’ game preparation and playcalling – and the New England Patriots would simply be the mysterious opponent who somehow came out on the winning side of the scoreboard. No credit would be given to the Patriots and their coaching staff for staging a furious comeback, forcing the first overtime in Super Bowl history and actually winning the game. Instead, the focus would be on the Falcons who squandered a huge lead.
So it was with Clinton-Trump and so it is with the writers and ‘Shattered.’ Insider tales and direct quotes are catnip to political observers, such as Hillary’s apologetic phone call to President Obama. But this book is decidedly liberal in its slant and eagerly repeats some of the most simple-minded, easily disproven and/or derivative claims about the campaign: ‘misogyny’ was a significant factor in her loss, Putin tampered with the election, it’s Comey’s fault etc. The authors are happy to heap scorn on the campaign but treat the very flawed, very incompetent candidate herself with a strange, undeserved deference. Like most cynical DC denizens, the authors view politics and campaigns as divide-and-conquer. A precinct here, a region there…lie, cheat and steal to get the electoral votes.
Then there is the authors’ view of Trump. They clearly share the views of the Clinton team, who obviously abhorred the now-sitting 45th President. The smears, lies, and lazy attribution errors are familiar to all so no need to repeat them here. They disdained the man, his family, his campaign, and his accomplishments. They actually believed the paranoid fantasies of their base that Trump would ‘target’ Muslims, gays, even children.
The list of bad actors in the Clinton camp and their transgressions would fill another very thick book but the authors treat the likes of John Podesta, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Cheryl Mills as clock-punching, hard-working, sleeves-rolled-up types who might be designing the next Ford sedan instead of subverting their party’s nomination process and manipulating the already-compliant press.
Even Hillary’s collapse at the 9/11 ceremony is given every benefit of the doubt despite the obvious severity of it and the panic it engendered. The authors are quite happy to repeat the cock-and-bull story about pneumonia and accept as ironclad proof that Hillary was ‘fine’ simply because she traipsed down to give a brief statement later.
Throughout the book we are told that Hillary is cold, unemotional, business-like, and able to focus on the goal. But this is a far cry from the many corroborated tales of Hillary flying into foul-mouthed rages at the slightest provocation. Bill Clinton’s now-legendary multiple infidelities and his well-publicized current girlfriend are mentioned but the authors pointedly refuse to link cause and effect beyond citing some campaign e-mail traffic on the issue.
It’s interesting to note that perhaps the most damaging and definitely the most ill-timed Hillary blunder came at an LGBT fundraiser. So much for tolerance, inclusion and ‘pride.’ Apparently Hillary did not know or expect that it would be recorded since previous similar events were not. There she launched into her now-infamous Basket of Deplorables denunciation of what she considered to be Trump’s base. To be fair, the authors note that Hillary used the D-word frequently in private.
The Election Night chapter is a risible, obvious Bowdlerization of what really occurred. Hillary is portrayed as remaining calm throughout, just a little sad and disappointed. This is a jarring contrast with multiple reliable reports that Hillary, unsurprisingly, lost the plot when her late-breaking shocking loss became a reality.
‘Shattered’ is a less a cold-eyed political postmortem and more a weepy memorial service – with the authors shedding the most tears. Hillary’s baseness of character and cynical, premeditated machinations to bypass or ignore the laws regarding charitable/non-profit organizations, political campaigns and, of course, national security are barely discussed beyond stultifying timelines and travelogues meant to blunt objections with fine print. The authors gormlessly include Hillary-centric treacle about ‘being a champion for little girls’ and the shopworn ‘fighting for’ phraseology.
In the end, the nearest the authors will come to blaming Hillary Clinton for the defeat of Hillary Clinton is to quote yet another insider on the culprit: ‘We lost because of Clinton Inc.’ Well, at least it isn’t Putin, Russia, Comey or the Deplorables again. Thank heaven for small favors. And big ones too – like her loss in the 2016 Presidential Election.
Still ... your sacrifice in reading this crap for the rest of our sakes' is noted.
You can't spell hagiography without a hag.
I had to look it up. ;-)
hagiography
1.
a. The writing of the lives of saints.
b. A biography of a saint.
2.
a. The writing of an admiring or idealized biography.
b. An admiring or idealized biography.
Thanks for saving me the money to buy it.
Ty well done. Do they address her embarrassing failure to show up in public on election night?
Very good writing.
LOL — I had to go to the dictionary also!
That is a good question.
Hillary was so bad that the media, massive voter fraud, spygate, and the fact that a lot of her votes were just because she was a woman; could not drag her over the finish line.
Shattered
Like a windowpane
Broken by a storm
Each tiny piece of me lies alone
And scattered
Far beyond repair
All my shiny dreams
Just lying there
I’m broken but I’m laughing
It’s the sound of falling glass
I hope that you won’t mind if I should cry in public
While I wait for this to pass
Cause sweet darling I’m shattered
Into fragments cold and gray
Sweep the pieces all away
Then no one will ever know how much it mattered
Something deep inside of me
Shattered
Hillary made the “deplorables” comments also in an interview the Thursday before that event with an Israeli television station. That was not the first and only time she used that term publicly. I still want to know who was the fireworks canceler.
Nice review. Thanks.
I didn’t realize it was a real word. I thought it was made up as hag+biography, lol.
That’s the third item in the definition, specifically for this case.
Hah! You win post of thread!
No matter what your grade on the Hundred Days (30 April), thank the Lord, the Crooked Skank lost the election!
Like music, movies and any other form of media this book is already on the Internet for free. PM me and I will send you a download link.
Nice take. Your comments are right to the point.
In all, a book about herself Hillary could certainly endorse.
Nothing like a backward-engineered story...
Glad I did not buy the book. Thanks for the review.
Good review - Imagine the bride of Benghazi trying to stare down the Ill-one in NK?
I don’t knowingly buy books written by Clintonists.
Recommended reading: How Trump Won, by Pollack and Schweikart.
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