The Book No One Wants To Be Read
We have been reading, listening, and watching as the controversy concerning Ed Klein’s new book, The Truth About Hillary, and have been quite puzzled.
We have heard his book ripped by the left and the right. We should say at the outset, that we have not read the book, and are not necessarily promoting the book, but want to offer some of what others have had to say about it.
The following links are from some of most trusted writers in both old and new media, and they are divided in their reviews.
Captain Ed, said in, Ed Klein Goes Too Far, the following:
“Someone needs to ask Ed Klein why he felt it necessary to include this accusation as part of his biography. It’s hardly germane to her politics, or to her life in politics. It’s the kind of tawdry Weekly World News gossip/hit piece that serves no purpose but character assassination. It also makes Hillary into a victim, this time almost certainly for real — not of this purported rape, but of Klein’s base attack.”
John Podhoretz has written in the New York Post, an editorial, Smear For Profit, where he said this:
“Though Klein suggests in his subtitle that he has written a study of a power-hungry politician — “What She Knew, When She Knew It, And How Far She’ll Go to Become President” — he’s produced something quite different. An unduly celebratory biography is called a “hagiography.” Klein’s book is a “hate-eography.”"
On the other hand, some on the right have had slightly different views.
Kathleen Parker has written in Town Hall an editorial, There’s something (else) about Hillary. In her piece, she said the following:
“That liberals dislike the book comes as no surprise, but that conservatives are distancing themselves from Klein is interesting. As a former New York Times Magazine editor, part of the liberal mainstream media that members of the VRWC (Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy) love to hate, he would seem a proper new darling for conservatives.
As an apparent crossover, he might have expected a warm embrace. Instead, he got a Baghdad welcome. Short shrift from the natives, in other words.
This rejection from some (though not all) on the right suggests a couple of things:
One, that Americans of all stripes are tired of nasty, and Klein’s treatment of the Clintons is reminiscent of a time we’re trying to forget. He focuses overmuch on Hillary’s alleged lesbianism, for instance (she didn’t shave her legs and underarms at Wellesley!), and even writes that Chelsea was conceived one night when Bill raped Hillary.
Only the fringiest Clinton-haters could find pleasure with that level of prurient tabloiding of a former U.S. president and a present-day U.S. senator. After a few paragraphs, you find yourself reaching for the Brillo.
Another possible explanation may be that conservatives understand Hillary Clinton is a serious presidential contender in 2008 and that Klein’s book is not helpful. By attacking her in ways that fair-minded Americans find indecent, Klein helps burnish her image as victim.”
Tony Blankley also wrote in Town Hall a column entitled, Inside Hillary’s mind. Mr. Blankley’s article is by far the least scathing. Here is some of what he had to say:
“It was worth my time. This is not a scandal book intended merely to gratify the reader’s salacious interests. Instead, Mr. Klein has written a serious political and psychological biography of the most likely next Democratic nominee for president — and thus, quite plausibly, I fear, the next president of the United States.
Although this is a heavily researched book that includes amongst its sources almost a hundred people who are or were personally close to Mrs. Clinton, this is not a peek through a keyhole. Instead, it is a peek — and more than a peek — into the mind of Hillary. And, whether you like or hate Hillary, the inside of her mind is a fascinating place in which to rove about. Hillary haters will certainly find further evidence to support their sentiment. Principled liberals, I suspect, will be deeply disconcerted by what they will find out about her mind in this book.
But for people who like their presidents ruthless, expedient and very smart (in a dangerous time, those are not all bad features), the portrait Mr. Klein paints may well not be seen as negative. In fact, as the author notes, Mrs. Clinton has more than a little in common with Richard Nixon.”
As you can easily observe from the above comments, there are those who think the book is not worth publishing, let alone worth reading, and those who think it was a worthwhile read. The following two pieces provided a convincing argument as to why the reader should make up their own mind as to whether they should purchase and read this book.
First, in a Newsmax article, Carl Limbacher Jr. has written an article entitled, Hillary Pressures Networks to Cancel Klein. If Senator Clinton’s “machine” has put this much pressure on the MSM, there must be findings which she doesn’t want the public to read. The following are the cancellations:
“Klein’s original schedule had him appearing on several top-rated TV shows. But all of them have cancelled. Among the cancellations: “Extra;” MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews;” and CNN’s Paula Zahn show.
Several shows apparently expressed a keen interest in booking Klein until pressure from the Hillary camp stopped them, among them ABC’s “Good Morning America,” NBC’s “Today” show, and CNN’s “Aaron Brown.”
Still more shows were expected to sign on after the book began hitting the bestseller lists. It has done just that, but Klein’s publicist’s phones are still not ringing.”
Finally, we found this blog today for the first time. The Boot’s Blast, who wrote in, Right vs. Right some pretty compelling reasons why the book should get an airing. He wrote the following yesterday:
” There are also some very courageous conservatives who have had the guts to stand behind the Ed Klein book. Among them:
• Rush Limbaugh, the very first radio host to see that the Hillary Spin Machine was censoring Ed Klein and his book. Rush is a genius at analyzing the motives of the Left.
• Sean Hannity, who had the guts to withstand pressure and put Ed on both his radio show and Fox’s Hannity & Colmes.
• Radio host Mike Gallagher who also withstood tremendous pressure.
• The Washington Times’ Editorial Page Editor Tony Blankley - who actually read the book - and wrote a fair and honest review.
• Laura Ingraham who interviewed Ed Klein and was very supportive.
Thank goodness some people have the intellectual honesty to read a book before commenting on it!
Those on the Right who attacked “The Truth About Hillary” ought to be ashamed of themselves. They are intellectually dishonest with a separate - and selfish - agenda.
This book is exposing the fault lines in American politics. You are either on one side or the other.
As was once said, “All that is required for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” By doing “nothing” to take on Hillary, these so-called conservatives are helping the Clintons return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
For the sake of this nation’s future, we cannot allow this to happen.
We must have the courage to fight.”
As we stated in the beginning, we have not read the book, “The Truth About Hillary”. But we felt we should allow the reader to make up their own mind. To get the entire flavor for what these journalists have written, we encourage you to read all of their respective articles.
