Empty heart of Hillary

Evening Standard (U.K.) ^ | 06/23/03 | Barbara Amiel

[Pokey78]

The Hillary Clinton phenomenon is a mystery to me. She bounds from calamity to scandal only to emerge ever stronger. Elected Senator for New York State in 2000, she is now mooted as a presidential candidate. Her memoir, Living History, with its emphasis on her years in the White House, will be heavily promoted when she arrives here in Britain next week.

In fact, it is not a book at all but her business plan for gaining the highest office in the contemporary world. For those of us who find her speeches and writing disingenuous and full of cant, the book's unstated agenda makes her career trajectory doubly depressing.

It is as if we are living in the wrong world when a country as great as America can produce someone with so limited a mental landscape and yet - given Mrs Clinton's career record - entitled to some genuine expectation of landing that top job.

Her book is set in " Hillaryland", a place full of loyal, wonderful people - five pages of whom she thanks. It is the ambience here that enables her to want both to "wring the neck" of her adulterous husband and dedicate her book to him. When her life gets tough, Hillary Clinton has "healing times". She also "sobs" a lot.

She is surrounded by " wonderful, loyal staff and friends." She wants to "relieve the anguish of working people" and treat "her adversaries in life and politics with decency".

Wherever she looks there is a problem; when she tackles it, her message "resonates" and quite often "becomes a manifesto for women all over the world".

Mrs Clinton did not get an $8 million advance, however, to write only of high-minded matters. Her publishers expected her to give a bit on what really went on between her and her philandering husband as they careened through the Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky affairs - Kathleen Willey doesn't even rate a mention. Soapopera aficionados might also have hoped for a few more names of Clinton conquests.

As one of his close acquaintances who had wilted through the sexually frugal years of the Reagan and Bush Sr presidencies predicted happily to me after Clinton's election: "There's going to be a lot of pussy in Washington again."

Hillary's response to questions about her husband's infidelity shows the reticence of a vestal virgin. Such issues, she tells us, are in a "zone of privacy". The one interesting point she could make is never discussed: namely, that people have known from the first days of arranged marriages that continued sexual attraction and fidelity should not be the exclusive plank on which a marriage is built; that the Clintons developed some sort of arrangement or understanding as early as the 1970s that has allowed this partnership to function very well.

Given that Clinton's alleged womanising had been headline news for months, it is impossible to swallow Hillary's version that she knew nothing of these matters, she believed them to be the lies of his political enemies.

Hillary's great talent is to turn all to her advantage. It is not her fault that she has a husband who so publicly breaks his marriage vows but few people could make that into political capital, even in an age that so loves victims and survivors.

Everything, from her unearthly ability to make money in the fiendishly difficult commodities market to the nearly two-year-long inexplicable disappearance of her documents subpoenaed in the so-called "Travelgate" affair to her utter mishandling of health-care reform - the one official job she held under the Clinton presidency - seems only to have catapulted her ahead.

In America (unlike Europe), Bill Clinton has become a faded, almost pathetic figure. His wife seems to have drained the aura and power from him. How does she do it?

One can see that she is one of those interesting human beings who are more attractive when older than younger. This is not simply due to the advice of couturiers, fashion editors and dermatologists, though I dare say it has a lot to do with their skill and her ambitions.

The Hillary Clinton who ran for Senator had her hair blown dry every day without fail. Once elected she stopped that double-quick and reverted, rather winningly, to her frowsy look.

Napoleon used to say, when choosing a general for promotion, "Is he lucky?" Hillary is. It was "luck" that she ran against a helpless, inexperienced candidate in NY after Mayor Giuliani had to pull out of the race due to cancer.

People are swayed and impressed by a lucky person's success, though in assessing actual ability, luck and success may not be the best indicators.

On television or at a podium, Mrs Clinton is a winner. She can amass dozens of information points and link them together persuasively.

She cannot explain or justify her ideas a millimetre below that façade of surface knowledge, but she is rarely if ever asked to do so. Her notions are a mixture of half-digested, semi-socialist nonsense leavened with goody-goodness. Women need more rights. Children need more love - and legislation.

After spending time in South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Eritrea, Hillary writes that "No issue is more critical in Africa than stopping the ongoing conflicts - tribal, religious and national."

Few people writing about so unhappy a continent would dare pen quite so pedestrian a conclusion.

IN the end, one wonders what sort of a life does Hillary really have? She has been a fine mother but her daughter is now of age. She and her husband appear to pretty much go their own ways. In person, the attractive, animated face of this woman with the splendid laugh has a pair of dead calculating eyes.

One almost hopes that they conceal a clever Machiavellian mind, that behind this book and its author is a shrewd political operator and that underneath the political clichés there is a much more interesting person.

Surely, one thinks, in the privacy of her bedroom or talking to her closest friends, there is something more to her than she ever reveals? Can it be that one can achieve so much with nothing much more in her head than this?

One almost longs for a malevolent intelligence, but having said that, you turn the page and get the sinking feeling that maybe there just isn't anything else.

[zip]

Would your defense of Hitlery's heart have any thing to do with her being a comrade feminist like yourself?

Interesting take on that. I hadn't thought of it. Kuel!

[zip]

RA club now has 3 official members.

[Search4Truth]

LMAO!

[Joe Boucher]

I do know a gentleman who can't read. About 53 years old. One of the sorriest things imaginable. He has tried to hide the fact from his children.
Dave is a wonderful person with brains though.
While on the other hand I'm sure you can read and maybe better then I but I assure you there dearie, You have no brains.

[sweetliberty]

"Her memoir, Living History, with its emphasis on her years in the White House, will be heavily promoted when she arrives here in Britain next week."

Will she get FReeped in the UK too?

[sweetliberty]

"Hitlery is about as attractive as a baboon's behind."

This is a Brit. Hillary has teeth. It's all relative.

[zip]

Phenominal homepage. It always warms my heart to see a person unshamed to state they have morals, appreciate family values and believe in God. Thank you.

[sweetliberty]

Thank you!

[fatima]

Lorianne,You are right,read her actions,she is pro-abort,I freeped her today,here is the heart of her supporters= Posted by fatima to bvw
On News/Activism 06/23/2003 9:19 PM EDT #23 of 25

Thanks for the report bvw,It was nice to meet you and Doctor Raoul and another freeper on her lunch break,-I forgot her name-if your reading this ,here is a hug.A very small crowd for the shrill and as soon as I got there I was interviewed by Fox news on a different subject,then a local paper,the reporter said to me "doesn't everyone lie in their memoirs".I also had my picture taken many times,they like my sign-"Hillary where's Bill" supplied by the good Doc.Many people tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to turn around so they could see our sign and they all laughed.We did have a few in your face people on our side,the one was a young woman who could not get over the fact that we had a sign that Bill had been accused of rape.She claimed to be a reporter I think ,and was asking the Doctor many questions,he gave answers-she didn't like them.She claimed to council rape victims,I didn't believe her and she jumped from the Doctor over to bvw with the same questions.The Hillary crowd on the other side of the street liked the Doc.and seemed to be in agreement with him and were just there to read about the sex.It was a small crowd,500 tickets were available and I counted 150 at the most there.The crowd was mostly 30 to 50 year old woman,maybe she paid them to be there,no-way she sold 500 from what I saw.The pro-lifers arrived and set up in front of and standing next to the crowd standing in line.I was suprised that the cops let them but there they were.The crowd booed them and a few of the women were hot with them but the cops,CIA,and the plainclothes men were there so that was OK.On our side of the street all were glad we were there except for a few.My 17 year old daughter,Mary, went with me and I was happy she was there.I found out later that the pro-lifers may have been from generation life. Before the Doctor got there we had people leaving the bank offering us cigars,thanking us,telling us we were right on.Doctor forgot his camera and so did I,sorry,fatima and fatima's daughter.PS Hillary supporters are wimpets.

---

[Pan_Yans Wife]

"As one of his close acquaintances who had wilted through the sexually frugal years of the Reagan and Bush Sr presidencies predicted happily to me after Clinton's election: "There's going to be a lot of p**** in Washington again."

My first thought... so, was there a great deal of mischief going on in the White House while CARTER was in the Oval Office?

[Pegita]

Ping ... See Post #28

You seem to be turning her beliefs back on her heinous self, which is an answer to prayer ...

[blue jeans]

I heard Dick Morris in an interview today and he had a great line....

"Hillary is a person with Clintonian goals and Nixonian methods."

[Pan_Yans Wife]

And doesn't the Lord say that you will know them by their fruit? If Hillary truly was a Godsend for feminism and the country, she would already have GWBush beaten in the next election. I believe the fruit that the President bears is much more good for the soul and the country than any radical socialist feminism that she wishes to plague the nation with.

[Lorianne]

Whatever.

I didn't say anything about her chances of being elected. Nada. Nor did I say anything about Godsend or feminism or radical socialist agenda. None of that. I didn't say I supported her policies or politics.

If you read what I said, I said no one knows what is in anothers heart. Thats all.

I'm sorely tempted to vote for Hillary just to spite all the rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth group-thinkers on this thread however. I imagine them as spinning maniacal Tasmanian devils.

I'd hate to live with all that hate and blind rage. Frankly, Hillary is not worth it. But if you all want to get ulcers or die of massive stroke thinking about her, go right ahead.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I listen to her, read what she says, and think I have some inkling into her intentions. Travelgate, National Healthcare, It Takes a Village, the Tammy Wynette quote about standing by her man... these are the things that she brings to the table. Not awe inspiring.

Now, as for her heart... that is the Lord's domain, and I gladly leave it to Him. But, it is my responsibility to vote with my conscience and giving my vote to Hillary will only further the radical leftists. There is no easy way to paint a rosy picture, using Hillary as a subject.

[fatima]

Lorianne,She is pro-abortion,No-one can read her heart and you are right about that but actions speaks louder than words-I do not beleive in abortion,it takes a born child to make a village.Be nice to hear than from our superstar writer.

[Libertina]

Looks a little like Meryl Streep I think...

[DakotaGator]

It's called Teflon.

I think it's worse than that. The Clintoons are covered in Velcro...everything sticks to them. Problem is, no one does anything about it.

[okie01]

"But I still contend no one can say what is in someone's else's heart or that it is "empty" whether they write a book or not."

One cannot say for sure. But one can, and does, make educated guesses -- every day!

In all relationships, both personal and professional, we decide whether or not to trust one another by what we discern to be in the other's heart.

We are all well practiced in this art, though some are better at it than others, and have every right to make our judgments. Also to publish them, as Amiel has done.

[drhogan]

I think most Americans now see through Bill Clinton. His lying and womanizing are the 2 things people think about when his name is mentioned.
to do the same to Hillary, people need to get past their anger at her and focus on her vulnerabilities. she is seen by most as a cold manipulator who will walk over anybody to gain power. we need to focus "like a laser" on this aspect of her personality, and ignore most of the rest. broad-spectrum rage will not defeat her, but persistent attacks on her cold, ruthless, power-hungry side could defeat her.