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True Grit: I could hardly breathe. Gulping for air, I started crying...
TownHall.com ^ | Thursday, June 12, 2003 | by Ann Coulter

Posted on 06/11/2003 9:20 PM PDT by JohnHuang2

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True Grit
Ann Coulter (back to web version)

June 12, 2003
I could hardly breathe. Gulping for air, I started crying and yelling, "What do you mean? What are you saying? Why are the Clintons back again?"
Interviewing Hillary Clinton last Sunday night about her book Living History, ABC's Barbara Walters began with such hardball questions as:

"Are you a saint?"

"[Is it] tougher than being first lady, being a senator?"

"You know, you have been working on so many bills with Republicans. ... How do you turn old enemies into allies? ... I mean, no hard feelings?"

"How do you get on with this?"

"There were the accusations that [your husband] was a womanizer." I believe a DNA test revealed that they were more than accusations. "How'd you deal with it?"

Hillary dealt with it. Hillary is a survivor. As Walters said, Living History is a "wife's deeply personal account of being betrayed in front of the entire world." In fact, it was so deeply personal, it took several ghostwriters to get it right.
Walters brazenly probed the question on everyone's mind: How could Hillary be so brave, so strong, so downright wonderful? As Walters recounted, once our brave heroine even lived in Arkansas! Summarizing Hillary's sacrifice, Walters said: "You were young. You were smart. You had a future in Washington. But you gave it up to be with Bill Clinton, to move to Arkansas. ... Why on earth would you throw away your future?" Admittedly, even Bill Clinton couldn't wait to get out of Arkansas. Manhattanites cannot conceive of a greater hardship.
Walters also astutely observed that "in addition to being first lady, you're a mother." Will Hillary's mind-boggling feats never end? Usually such phony liberal amazement at the staggering heroism of women ends with the woman drowning all her children.
Describing interviews like these, New York Times television reviewer Alessandra Stanley said that Hillary was finally able to show her "grit, an outsize will and discipline that has nothing to do with gender." This, Ms. Stanley said, was a welcome change from Hillary's more recognized role as "an emblem of the modern female condition." So on one hand, Hillary has grit and determination. But on the other hand, she is a living, breathing icon. It's good to see the New York Times really going the extra mile to give both sides these days.
In "her" book, "Hillary" explains that the story of how Nelson Mandela forgave his jailers inspired her to forgive Bill for his infidelity. OK, but they locked up Mandela only once. Revealing more about herself than Hillary, Ms. Stanley claims that "millions of women have forgiven far worse of philandering husbands." Far worse? Really? No wonder liberal women hate men so much.
If you credit news reports, the public can't get enough of Hillary. The crush of ordinary people buying Hillary's book seems baffling in light of recent polls. According to an ABC poll, 48 percent of Americans have an unfavorable impression of Hillary, 53 percent of Americans don't want Hillary to ever run for president, and 7 percent of Americans have been date-raped by Bill Clinton.
First in line for Hillary's book at Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Center on Sunday night was Charles Greinsky, who told the New York Daily News he rushed out at midnight to get one of the first books because he supported Hillary's health-care plan. A few years ago, the Associated Press identified Greinsky more fully. It turns out he is "a longtime Clinton campaigner" from Staten Island, who has been the Clintons' guest several times both at the White House and at their home in Chappaqua, N.Y.
Lining up at midnight to buy Hillary's book is street theater for liberals. I suppose shelling out $30 to support the concept of Hillary is less dangerous than the pernicious nonsense liberals usually fund. Hillary has already gotten a record $8 million advance from Simon & Schuster for the book – the most anyone has ever received for rewriting history. Hillary's acolytes could buy enough copies of her book to rebuild the World Trade Center, and she's not going to pocket more than that.
Another average individual eager to get Hillary's book was Greg Packer, who was the centerpiece of the New York Times' "man on the street" interview about Hillary-mania. After being first in line for an autographed book at the Fifth Avenue Barnes & Noble, Packer gushed to the Times: "I'm a big fan of Hillary and Bill's. I want to change her mind about running for president. I want to be part of her campaign."
It was easy for the Times to spell Packer's name right because he is apparently the entire media's designated "man on the street" for all articles ever written. He has appeared in news stories more than 100 times as a random member of the public. Packer was quoted on his reaction to military strikes against Iraq; he was quoted at the St. Patrick's Day Parade, the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Veterans' Day Parade. He was quoted at not one – but two – New Year's Eve celebrations at Times Square. He was quoted at the opening of a new "Star Wars" movie, at the opening of an H&M clothing store on Fifth Avenue and at the opening of the viewing stand at Ground Zero. He has been quoted at Yankees games, Mets games, Jets games – even getting tickets for the Brooklyn Cyclones. He was quoted at a Clinton fund-raiser at Alec Baldwin's house in the Hamptons and the pope's visit to Giants stadium.
Are all reporters writing their stories from Jayson Blair's house? Whether or not it will help her presidential ambitions, Living History definitely positions Hillary nicely for a job as a reporter.

Ann Coulter is host of AnnCoulter.org, a TownHall.com member group.
©2003 Universal Press Syndicate
Contact Ann Coulter | Read Coulter's biography

To: July 4th

OH MY GOD...CHECK THIS OUT!!!
THE FIRST IN LINE GUY
ROFLMAO!!!!!!

27 posted on 06/11/2003 9:55 PM PDT by Hildy
From http://www.timessquare.com/bway/features/feat_guy.html:

First in Line Guy: Obsession or Art Form?
by Reid J. Epstein

Greg Packer stood in line for eight hours before meeting Brandy, the pop singer
PHOTO: David Phillips

By 8 o'clock on the coldest morning of the year, Greg Packer was already in his second hour waiting in line to go on a double-decker bus tour of Manhattan with Brandy, the R&B singer.
Spending a day waiting in line to meet celebrities is not unusual for the 38-year-old Huntington, N.Y., native, but his position so far back in the queue was. Packer has made obsessions out of being first in line and of being in the company of celebrities.
But on this day, he was 15th in line. That was good enough, for his goal was just to be among the first 50 who would make it on the Brandy bus.
If there's a global or celebrity-laden event in or near New York, odds are Packer is there, or is trying to be there. He was first in the line to see ground zero when the viewing platform opened at the World Trade Center site Dec. 30. He was the first in line in 1997 to sign the condolence book at the British consulate when Princess Diana died. He slept outside in the snow in Washington last January to be the first in line to greet President George W. Bush after his inauguration.
"This is what I like doing," he said. "You only live once, you might as well make the most of it."
When told of the lengths Packer has gone to to be at major events and meet celebrities, Robert Thompson, a Syracuse University professor of pop culture, said Packer has turned a passion into an art form.
"If you're totally obsessed with Shakespeare and James Joyce and go to the ends of the earth researching them, we call you an English professor," Thompson said. "This guy has chosen his body of art to consume, it just so happens he can't make a living off of it. The only fundamental difference is he doesn't have tenure."
In his quest to mingle with the rich and famous, Packer has met Gloria Estefan and Garth Brooks, Sammy Hagar and Hillary Clinton, Rosie O'Donnell and Keith Richards. He's been the first in line to buy playoff tickets for the Yankees, Mets, Rangers and the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones. He bribed an usher at the Georgia Dome $100 to let him into Super Bowl XXXIV and convinced a nun to give him her extra ticket to see Pope John Paul II at Giants Stadium in 1995. And he never misses the New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square, where he can be found next to the MTV stage.
Packer drops more celebrities' names than an episode of "Access Hollywood." From Billy Joel, Don Henley and Mariah Carey to the Dixie Chicks, Rage Against the Machine and the punk band Nofx, he's met just about everyone in heavy rotation on MTV. To see where the likes of Sting or Enrique Inglesias will be next, Packer searches newspaper advertisements to see who's coming to New York, and when. It is all part of his quest to meet the real-life stars behind the sequined jacket or guitar strap.
"You get to be hands-on, you get to really know them when you're sitting across from them," said Packer, who lives alone. "Sometimes its like, 'Hello, goodbye.' But sometimes I'll have a few minutes, like with 'N Sync."
It's important to be first, Packer said, because he tends to get impatient if the action begins without him. So he's always near the front of the line, and often is the first to meet Britney Spears, Ringo Starr or Winona.
"I don't want to be in the middle of the line and start getting antsy," he said. "I get there early to avoid things like that."
The obsession with celebrity started 30 years ago, when Packer's mother brought him a photograph of the actress Natalie Wood, whom she met on an airplane. A couple years later, his father presented him with the autograph of heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis.
Then came high school, when he was able to meet many of the New York Islanders while they were winning four straight Stanley Cups. After games and at malls, Packer tracked down his hockey heroes.
And for the last 10 years, when Packer has learned of a chance to meet a celebrity in the New York area, he has made it his business to be there. Consequences be damned, he takes vacation and personal days or calls in sick from his job filling potholes and mowing lawns for the Huntington highway department for the chance to rub elbows with the likes of Gene Simmons and Jimmy Carter.
"Even if when I went back to work I got fired, I know I would have the full support of the public," said Packer, who said he hopes to someday endorse products in television commercials.
While others waiting on the frigid line to see Brandy came equipped with blankets and heavy coats, Packer weathered the morning in jeans and a New York Fire Department hooded sweatshirt. For the expected seven-hour wait, he brought only The New York Post to read.
"I have all these people around to talk to," he said. "It's like having a different family every time."
As one with so much line-waiting experience, Packer preaches the etiquette of waiting in line. He'll save a spot for someone who's making a run across the street for a hot dog and a hot chocolate, as several Brandy fans did that cold morning, but vacating for more than a few minutes is strictly forbidden.
"Everybody understands that you can go get something to eat and come right back," Packer said. "But some of the girls at 'N Sync thought they could go home and get their beauty sleep. That just wasn't happening."
His line-waiting strategy depends on the relative fame of the celebrity in question. Pop culture icons like Michael Jackson require arriving up to two days in advance, but Packer has found a few hours will suffice to meet B-list stars like Lisa Loeb. For events like the St. Patrick's Day parade, he arrives before the crack of dawn to make sure he has the best spot.
"This guy has clearly found something he loves to do, and few people have done that," said Thompson. "You have to admire that. How many people have found something that they love to wake up at 2:30 in the morning to do? Not very many."