Posted on 12/10/2003 4:37:09 AM PST by Elkiejg
Last Sunday, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton did something she has never done before: appear on the three morning shows on ABC, CBS and NBC, all on the same Sunday. Once viewers could see the easy sleigh ride she was getting, they might ask: Why'd she wait until now?
Foolish people -- defined as those who expected Hillary to be grilled by the networks -- were surely not only disappointed, but disgusted. In one softball pitch, Mrs. Clinton was asked to defend herself against nebulous conservative charges that it was wrong of her to tell soldiers in war zones that while everyone loved them, many question Bush administration policies.
"I think that's reflective of the efforts by this administration to deny and divert attention from what everybody knows. I mean, it is like the old children's story, 'The Emperor Has No Clothes,'" Mrs. Clinton told Tim Russert.
Can we agree that unclothed-emperor analogies are a bad metaphor -- a laughable choice -- from Mrs. Clinton? But Russert didn't even stutter or blink. As the senator representing (if not "from") New York rained criticism on Team Bush for failing to level with the American people and waging war on a political timetable, the Sunday hosts acted like they were born yesterday.
Is there anything lamer than Hillary Clinton charging someone else with not "leveling" with the American people? Isn't she the one who screamed at George Stephanopoulos that she wouldn't tolerate any stinking independent counsel examining how the Clintons enabled their business partners, the McDougals, as they robbed millions from Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan? Did she "level" with the American people about her secret health care task force or her killing in cattle futures?
If there is anything lamer, it's Hillary Clinton charging that some president other than her husband timed their military adventures on a political calendar. Don't the network stars remember how Clinton hit positively nothing belonging to Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and hit a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan to divert attention from his Lewinsky grand jury testimony? Don't they recall how he bombed Iraq just as House Republicans began considering impeachment charges?
But the lamest part of these Sunday sessions came when all three wasted their precious hard-question time by asking the Fabulous Former First Lady if she would throw her combat helmet into the ring for the White House next year. CBS's John Roberts should win a prize for keeping the suck-ups short and perfunctory. ABC's George Stephanopoulos looked like he was still trying to gain new acceptance from the old boss, and NBC's Tim Russert turned his show into a five-minute, Hillary-you're-so-popular gigglefest. They clearly know that buffing this Democratic "superstar" image only builds her clout on Capitol Hill and across the country, and they delivered.
And these people are wondering if Chris Wallace can ask tough questions on Fox?
None of these fawners has so much as dipped a toe into political reality. Yes, Hillary beats the stuffing out of the Democrats currently in the race -- but only among Democrats . When the polls turn to the general public, she's incredibly weak and very divisive. Why don't they point that out?
Well-informed political junkies like these Sunday morning hosts know that in June, ABC News posted a poll that found that only four in 10 Americans said Hillary should "ever" run for president, while a majority, 53 percent, said she should "never" run. The numbers could be viewed through an even darker glass. There was no substantive difference between men and women in their distaste for Hillary, and 56 percent of whites, 60 percent of older Americans, and 76 percent of Republicans told ABC "never" to a President Hillary campaign.
But no one cited those numbers between Hillary giggles. In fact, on Monday morning, Stephanopoulos reprised the Hillary-as-rock-star stanza for ABC's "Good Morning America." Co-host Charles Gibson observed the obvious: "It seems like a lot of us can't take no for an answer." George then added that it's "fairly realistic" that Hillary will be pressed into service as the vice-presidential nominee, and "it'll be very tough for her to say no at that point." The closest ABC came to its own poll was suggesting she was a "polarizing figure."
Twelve years after her national debut, with reporters polishing her pumps as Loyal Spouse and Mother in addition to her reputation as a Policy Genius, the networks are still treating her like an American queen, a madame-president-in-waiting, a "secular saint" in a black pantsuit. But all these years of unpaid advertising still leave a majority of Americans cold. Their soft soap isn't washing Hillary clean.
NOT!
I was on the computer when I heard that Sunday and immediately emailed Russert the same question. Good grief, the whole interview was more like a coronation.
I still contend that Monica Lewinski was the best thing that ever happened to the president. The liberal press used the entire tawdry, "all about sex" fiasco to hide the all too treasonous Chinagate scandal.
Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton
by Authors: Barbara Olson
Released: November, 1999
ISBN: 0895262746
Hardcover
Sales Rank: 43,579
List price: $27.95
Our price: $19.57 (You save: $8.38)
Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton Customer Review #1:
--------------------------------------- Heaven Help America if she is President
What an incredibly revealing and well written book by someone who had her finger on Hillary Clintons pulse.Some of the things Barbara Olson reveals is Hillarys support for Bobby Seales Black Panthers Trial to make sure he got a fair deal even though the Panthers justified the rape of white women by black men as a political act of protest against white oppression.She also interned in California one summer for Robert Treuhaft who was married to Jessica Mitford.Treuhaft "left the Communist party in 1958(Northern California Chapter)because the lack of membership made running it no longer viable".His wife,Mitford once called the Hungarian Freedom Fighters tossing molotov cocktails at Soviet tanks"grasping neo-fascist types".Hillary has never repudiated her connection with the Communist movement or explained her connection to two of its hardliners.Hillary wrote her thesis while at Wellesley and the interesting thing is neither she nor Wellesley will reveal what it is about.That,to me,is very frightening.Would revealing it show us that she is perhaps an avowed Communist or Socialist?This book shows Hillary will not answer hard questions about her past which we need to know,if in fact,one day,she runs for President.Barbara Olson,unfortunately,will not be able to keep us informed about Hillary any longer,she was onboard the plane that Terrorists flew into the Pentagon on 9-1-1
Absolutely. All this vivid fawning over her by the dems and some here thinking she is going to run in '04 to "save" the dems from disaster is ludicrous...
Heck, even among dems only 4 out of 10 want her to run for Prez anyway!
I think your synopsis is excellent and Hil is quickly becoming a nobody...
I can't write her off that easily. I believe that she has assessed that Bush can not be beaten in 2004 and will put her efforts into securing the White House in 2008. I, for one, won't rest easy until that time because the gullibility of a large percentage of the American electorate, coupled with the mainstream media's love affair with Hillary!, will not let me.
I agree with you! I have been saying for years that El Reno managed to thwart the investigations of the Klintoons' real criminal behavior by throwing Monica in the way.
Pray for W and The Election
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