Setting the Record Straight (An open letter to Hillary Clinton)

National Review Online ^ | June 12, 2003 | Dick Morris

[rockinonritalin]

Dear Hillary,

In your new book, Living History, you correctly note that when you asked me to help you and Bill avert defeat in the congressional election of 1994 I was reluctant to do so. But then you assert, incorrectly, that my reluctance stemmed from difficulties in working with your staff. You even misquote me as telling you: "I don't like the way I was treated, Hillary. People were so mean to me."

As you know, I never said anything of the sort. I had, in fact, no experience in dealing with either your staff or the President's at that point, and had not yet met Leon Panetta or George Stephanopoulos. My prior dealing with Harold Ickes had been twenty five years earlier.

The real reason I was reluctant was that Bill Clinton had tried to beat me up in May of 1990 as he, you, Gloria Cabe, and I were together in the Arkansas governor's mansion. At the time, Bill was worried that he was falling behind his democratic primary opponent and verbally assaulted me for not giving his campaign the time he felt it deserved. Offended by his harsh tone, I turned and stalked out of the room.

Bill ran after me, tackled me, threw me to the floor of the kitchen in the mansion and cocked his fist back to punch me. You grabbed his arm and, yelling at him to stop and get control of himself, pulled him off me. Then you walked me around the grounds of the mansion in the minutes after, with your arm around me, saying, "He only does that to people he loves."

I continued to work for Bill since I felt a responsibility to do so until Election Day in 1990. But our relationship was never close and never the same. After the 1990 campaign we parted ways as a direct result of the altercation.

When the story threatened to surface during the 1992 campaign, you told me to "say it never happened."

That, and not the invented conversation in your memoir, was the reason that I was reluctant to work for Bill again.

Yours,
Dick Morris

[lainie]

Really. I missed that -- good for him.

[rockinonritalin]

Are you sure that's not Chris Farley?

[americanSoul]

Both Clintons are total psychopaths.

And she is worse than he is.

I agree, she is more lethal by a country mile.

[doug from upland]

Gary Aldrich, who is a registered member here.

[Dick Bachert]

...and what does THAT say about the MORONS who ELECTED them, not once -- but TWICE?!?

[beckett]

Has this been printed before? This is absolutely hysterical.

Raymond Strother, a Democratic political consultant, mentioned the incident during a June 1st appearance on C-SPAN's Booknotes with Brian Lamb while discussing his book Falling Up: How a Redneck Helped Invent Political Consulting. He said he was in the room with Clinton and Morris immediately prior to the incident, but that he walked out when Clinton insulted him on a related matter. The next day, he said, Morris told him that he (Morris) and Clinton had gotten into a physical altercation.

I would guess Morris is referring to Strother when he says "the story threatened to surface during the 1992 campaign." Strother had a very rocky relationship with the Clintons, apparently, and may have contemplated embarrassing them by making the story public during the campaign.

[americanSoul]

I would love it if he would. Him and the guy who wrote "Unlimited Access." His name escapes me at the moment.

His name is Gary Aldrich; good read.

[mountaineer]

[Texagirl4W]

Dick's days are numbered. He will meet with a fatal accident soon, a la Vince Foster. I've heard him bad-mouth the Clintons before, but not like this.

[windchime]

Thanks! It's in my cart.

[Liz]

Morris awhile back mentioned in a brief aside that Bill punched him ....about a couple years ago.

[windchime]

"Any idea what it's about?"

See link below.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0974028401/qid=1055432259/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-3120299-3760957#product-details

[aShepard]

Howlin, I've seen that pic before, probably in AlamoGirl's archives.

That would seem that the Goron had the relationship with Craig Livingstone four years before the evil team came to the White House.

Yet, conventional wisdom always implicates Hitlery.

??What's up??

[Miss Marple]

I am wondering how much of Dick's compensation from Fox is security.

I also bet he has things notarized and in a lock-box somewhere with instructions to open upon his death.

[Howlin]

The only thing I can recall is that I remember reading somewhere that when Clinton and Gore made their "deal" to run together one of the conditions that Gore had was that HE get to hire almost all of the White House staff.

I'm assuming he brought Livingstone in. Why it's never discussed, I have no idea.

[Maeve]

Dick Morris knows that Hillary Clinton wants him dead before her next election. So he needs to scream loudly and tell the truth brazenly so there is so much media attention on him that Hillary cannot commit/order Morris' murder/Arkancide.

[bootless]

Hi Howlin,

Since I got to the game late (post-Xlinton election #2), what is the importance/implication of Craig Livingston's hiring, role, etc. here? (There is just too much muck to wade through!) Thanks!

[Sunshine Sister]

Thank you! I didn't know that either. What is his screen name?

[Maeve]

Morris knows how resourceful the Clinton's can be when it comes to murder. I am sure that he has many backup plans -- with one of them involving the name Vince Foster.

[Sunshine Sister]

Thank you!