BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
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.
Add my kudos to your review. The part about her gracious concession, just recently revealed, did not ring true, and you confirm that well enough. Your view about trashing Trump and his supporters, too, has become all too common a technique. Must be something in the “Journolist” rules of engagement, because the tendency is universal. Many so-called conservatives do the same thing.
Thanks to you, I’ll pass on buying this one and wait for the nitty-gritty insider book that truly does tell all the details about Hillary rants and the campaign’s vicious in-fighting and delusion.
Did you read Don Surber’s Trump the Press? Great read. Pulled no punches. Surber didn’t feel a need to trash Trump to make his points.
You will learn more from our “How Trump Won.”
Real analysis, real answers less the ashtrays.
I was unsurprised to read a recent piece by Ed Klein, he of numerous books about the Obamas and the Clintons with juicier - and in my view, more accurate - details.
I have no doubt that he’s working on a ‘Clinton loses’ book especially now that he and we have nothing to fear from Haywire Hillary.
Klein was fairly evenhanded about the book but secretly it had to grate on him that he had been pipped to the post.
They are rather circumspect about it despite it being the obvious hinge point of the entire endeavor.
Believe it or not, some of Team Clinton (like Robby Mook, who no doubt saw his career going up in smoke rapidly) were desperate to hang on through the night, thinking that some states might flip despite the statistical impossibility of such things.
Podesta knew that it was over when he made his silly, pointless little ‘keep fighting’ speech. The lefties are so addicted to propaganda they rely on it even when reality clearly contradicts them.
A very well written review. Good job.
After reading your well written and insightful review of this book, it doesn’t surprise me that Hugh Hewitt was fawning all over the authors in his interview this morning. I never have understood his need to embrace liberals like he does.
Thank you (and to the others).
It seems to be nigh-on impossible for politicians and for political writers and commentators not to be corrosively cynical no matter which side of the aisle they’re on.
The Bushies in particular, exemplified by Karl Rove, are happy to squeak out 50.1% in every precinct if it means a win. Ideas, policies and follow-through are just props and scenery to them but perhaps this also explains why Rove’s last victory came a full 13 years ago.
This crass view of governance also engenders a conceit among the DC swampers that they are above it all - intellectually, culturally, morally when in reality quite the opposite is true.
Well said.
OUCH! Good one!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Read
Bttt.
5.56mm
NICE JOB - THANKS!
Bill Clinton’s CURRENT girlfriend? Who, and why haven’t I read about her before?
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