Chelsea in Oxford--Special Report

The Nation ^ | 12/04/2001 | Daniel Swift

[CommiesOut]

Special Report

Chelsea in Oxford

by Daniel Swift

In his Oxford days, Bill Clinton was famously antiwar. Since her arrival at the university to study international relations, his daughter, Chelsea, has been waging war from behind the newly reinforced bullet-proof glass windows of her Oxford dorm room. She and her Secret Service guards disrupted an antiwar rally in the town hall, heckling the speakers and waving American flags. And then there's the piece in Talk magazine.

In the most recent issue of the glossy New York mag--the cover is dominated by Gwyneth Paltrow's shiny décolletage--Chelsea complains that "every day I encounter some sort of anti-American feeling. Sometimes it's from other students, sometimes it's from a newspaper columnist, sometimes it's from 'peace' demonstrators only a few blocks from where I live." This anti-Americanism has led her to avoid English students and spend her time with other Americans in Oxford.

The inverted commas around "peace" suggest that Chelsea has little time for the antiwar movement. She goes on to explain exactly what she thinks of these demonstrators:

"Many question whether the evidence pointing to Osama bin Laden is accurate and conclusive. Others wonder whether America has any genuine concern for the plight of the Afghan people. I bristle at these suggestions. The idea that anyone believes America would enter into this conflict capriciously boggles my mind, and the notion that the United States is acting without regard to the Afghan people is offensive. Finally, the suggestion that America was too quick to respond, or that the United States should for some reason not employ its right to self-defense, is an assault in itself."

At the risk of bristling Ms. Clinton, there are many who doubt America's new war on terror. She suggests that questioning the bombing, or even debating the merits of US policy, is the same as an attack on the United States. But the debate is already open. More than a month ago, the Britain-based charities Oxfam and Christian Aid called for a pause in the bombing so that humanitarian supplies could get through. The UN has estimated that there are seven and a half million Afghan refugees dependent on aid to survive. The New York Times has reported at length on how the bombing has disrupted critical relief effort. Chelsea's tortured scheme of moral equivalency doesn't seem to recognize these factors.

The English school of IR theory is more skeptical however. It's typified by Hedley Bull's famous statement in The Anarchical Society, which has become a textbook for English IR: "I believe that inquiry has its own morality and is necessarily subversive of political institutions of all kinds, good as well as bad." This doubting voice underpins the classical model of IR taught at Oxford.

Chelsea is going to have a tough time at Oxford if she bristles at skepticism toward US policy. According to the syllabus, in her first year she is required to take a course on "the origins and course of the Cold War" and "the place of law, of rules generally, and of moral concepts, in international relations"; in her second year, she will choose an optional subject from a list that includes "The International Relations of the Middle East," "The United States in International Relations since 1945" and "The International Relations of Latin America." These courses won't make much sense without mention of Nicaragua or El Salvador, of America's special relationship with Israel, of America's disregard for the UN or even of America's support of the Taliban.

Ms. Clinton has been widely feted in Britain. Tatler magazine named her as one of England's ten most eligible women. But the anti-Americanism she has found in Oxford is not simply snobbery. There have been antiwar demonstrations throughout England in the last month, including one in Hyde Park on October 13 which drew more than 20,000 people. The bombing of Afghanistan has been regularly attacked in the English media. Oxford may be anti-American, but no more than the rest of world: like Paris, perhaps? Or Teheran? If, as has been widely suggested, this is the first step of a run for office, we should watch her words.

[geaux]

Vince Foster ain't her daddy; Web Hubbell is:

[SAMWolf]

Tatler magazine named her as one of England's ten most eligible women.

Must be a shortage of Show Dogs in England.

[wtc911]

Chelsea did not link the tax cuts with the bombing itself. In the article (which is full of lies btw) she wrote that her first thought was that the tax cuts would make it difficult for us to help the victims recover.

There is more than enough nonsense and untruth in the article, even without this statement.

[mountaineer]

These courses won't make much sense without mention of ... America's special relationship with Israel, of America's disregard for the UN ...

I fail to see the problem this silly poof seems to have raised.

[Mr. Bird]

or even of America's support of the Taliban

This is a lie. The National Review, among others, has pointed out that during the Soviet/Afghan war, there were several distinct mujahadeen groups battling for control, of which the Taliban was one. The U.S. did NOT support the Taliban.

A related lie is that we are "allies" with Pakistan. They are an acquaintance of current utility, and when that usefulness is gone, so goes our kindness to that particular state. But America-Last proponents such as The Nation like to perpetuate these falsehoods to depict the U.S. as a rudderless, Machiavellian oppressor. And to think they defended Bill Clinton....

[Grampa Dave]

wtc911 is correct, I just got an email from a lurker friend and here is the NewsMax article:

With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff For the story behind the story...

Friday, Nov. 9, 2001 9:38 a.m. EST

Chelsea Clinton Feared Bush Tax Cuts as Twin Towers Fell

As the World Trade Center imploded just blocks from where she stood, former first daughter Chelsea Clinton's first fears included the prospect that President Bush's economic program would stymie any rebuilding effort.

"I was worried that with the tax cut we wouldn't have enough money to repair New York and D.C. and to help the families of the thousands I knew must have died," writes the former first daughter in an up-close and personal account of the Sept. 11 disaster set to appear in the December issue of Talk magazine.

Clinton claims she was all alone in nearby Union Square and unable to reach her parents by phone as the disaster unfolded before her eyes.

"We all thought we were literally going to have fire rain down on us, that we were the next target," the former first daughter reveals.

"I truly thought I was going to die," Clinton claims she was thinking, just before she began worrying about the impact of the Bush economic program.

The disaster has rallied Chelsea's civic-minded spirit, and she uses her Talk magazine screed to call her generation to public service. "We need to step up and serve in any way we can," she urges.

Her own war effort, however, will apparently be limited to following in the footsteps of her father, who dodged the Vietnam draft from the safety of England's Oxford University.

News that the Bush tax cuts were among Ms. Clinton's earliest concerns on 9/11 follows on the heels of a speech by ex-President Clinton Wednesday that seemed to blame the terrorist attacks on American slavery and the mistreatment of the Indians.

End of article ----------------------------------------

I guess that I read this part of the article before my old 63 year old mind went in to shutdown to prevent any more Clintoonian lies from impacting my remaining brain cells!

"Chelsea Clinton Feared Bush Tax Cuts as Twin Towers Fell"

This is the funniest and most non believeable comment from Chelsea in this News Max article, "As the World Trade Center imploded just blocks from where she stood, former first daughter Chelsea Clinton's first fears included the prospect that President Bush's economic program would stymie any rebuilding effort."

Sure, you have just witnessed the implosion of the World Trade Center. You know that there was massive loss of life, and the first thing in your mind is "GW's tax cut would stymie any rebuilding effort!" Anyone who believes this, should contact me for a Great Christmas Present, I have exclusive rights on the Golden Gate Bridge for sale!

[doug from upland]

When will the people at Oxford start referring to her properly as "daughter of Rapist Clinton."

[Paleo Conservative]

come on... don't you know that Vince Foster is her daddy?

No, she has Bill Clinton's nose.

[mountaineer]

No, she has Bill Clinton's nose.

I knew it! He had to have it replaced due to cocaine usage!

[Irene Adler]

"A lot of upper class British people, are actually quite snobbish, especially if you are Catholic and have an Irish last name."

Very anti-semitic (anti-Jewish, specifically) as well. Also, in my experience, use the N-word quite casually. Make no mistake, snobbery in Britain is not what it used to be when absolutely anyone actually making his own living (rather than living off a trust fund) was automatically sneered at (and viciously, too) right along with ANY member of ANY minority group, but it's still there, alive and well.

In my experience, the British say things, very casually, about minorities that most Americans truly cringe at.

With genuine apologies to our fine British FReepers. Present company excepted.

[PJ-Comix]

And then there's the piece in Talk magazine.

You can find another version of Chelsea's 9-11 activities HERE.

[RooRoobird14]

What a nice little girl Chelsea has turned out to be!

Watch out. It's a trap. Chelsea is probably as calculating as her cold-blooded bull dyke mother. This is all part of the long-term strategy for Hillary Junior to enter politics and become a second generation crook/moocher. It wouldn't surprise me if the Snake Head is on retainer to coach Chelsea's "career".

Gag......BARF ALERT......

[PJ-Comix]

I think Bill signed Chelsea up for one full extra year of security and some others like El Reno, got an extra 6 months.

So her SS guards allowed Chelsea to just walk near the burning Twin Towers on 9-11? She couldn't remember where she walked? Why didn't she just ask her SS guards where she went. She couldn't find a working phone on 9-11? Why didn't she ask one of her SS guards to let her use on of their special phones.

[texasbluebell]

If you look at a photo of x-42's father, named Blythe (can't think of his first name), it's obvious that Chelsea inherited that man's looks. She's the image of the Blythe grandfather.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Is she still blaming GW's tax cut for the mass murders on 9/11?

Did Chelsea say this?

No, she said that GW's tax cuts would make it so difficult to rebuild NYC and the Trade Center because the government wouldn't have any money -- or something to that effect.

[SusanUSA]

She is at that age in life when many people decide exactly what it is they want to be and be about. Maybe she will take a long, hard, 9/11 induced look at her life and the "values" her parents stand for and decide it doesn't add up. You never know, she might turn out ok.

Sometimes retribution can take on the most amazing forms, can't it?

Not to jump the gun, but it would be such a sweet revenge to have her turn out the exact opposite of her parents. They would be livid till their dying day. Think of how it would effect their standing among the other democrats, alone?

[truthkeeper]

I smell a sequel to your last one here...

[wtc911]

Chelsea's biggest lie was in her tale of not being able to find a working pay phone on the East side of Union Square. That in itself was not true but the real lie is her depiction of her journey to find a working phone. She claims to have wandered south (downtown) toward the WTC. She said that she was later told that she was about 12 blocks away from the tower when it came down. She claims that she can't really remember landmarks or any real identifying symbols that would pinpoint exactly where. Her recollection of everything that happened UPtown is clear though.....here's why....

Nobody that day went downtown, except for Emergency personnel. Chelsea would have been swimming against a steady stream of shocked, frightened and possibly injured people...to find a phone???

Chelsea started on the eastside of Union Square and came back up along Madison Ave. (which starts at Union Square). Moving south from there to a point @ 12 blocks from the WTC would have taken her right through NYC's huge Chinatown. If you are in Chinatown you know it. She didn't.

She is not a New Yorker. She doesn't have the map in her head. She wrote this in the UK. Rather than slip up, she uses selective recall to avoid describing a place she has never been to. My son was at GZ. My wife WAS 12 blocks away. One brother was 6 blocks north, the other 4 blocks south. (All are ok except for the memories). I was at the WTC in '93. Each one of us could take you on a detailed re-creation of our journey. There are some things you just don't forget. Chelsea can't remember her trek south because it did not happen. She went uptown, like everyone else. That is why her uptown memories are so clear.

This is a cold attempt to create the MYTH of CHELSEA for some future use. She is doing this on the backs of those who were there.

[Angelwood]

I believe this is the "fairytale" version of Chelsea carefully scripted by her parents who want to appear patriotic. I keep in the back of my mind the fact that she is probably being carefully groomed to keep the Clinton political dynasty in place - woe to all of us in the future if that is true. I also keep seeing visions of Chelsea actively engaging Yasser Arafat at Camp David during one of Clinton's efforts at Middle East peace.