Customer Reviews

Anatomy Of A Scandal

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This calm, well-researched book takes up where Gene Lyons's irreplaceable "Fools for Scandal" left off. Mr. Retter reveals in patient detail the utter disregard for truth or fairness, and the lack of the most elementary sense of justice that characterize Mr. Clinton's enemies. Mr. Retter indulges in little editorializing--he merely lays out the facts in exhaustive and compelling detail. He documents the fact that these people are organized, well-financed, and entirely without scruple. Mr. Retter does not characterize the people whose behavior he examines; he lets their actions, his facts, and their own quoted words, do the job for him. Every American needs to see the havoc that can be wrought when the media abandon their responsibility for telling the truth. Most of the mainstream media and the Washington pundits have missed the biggest scandal of the decade, but Mr. Retter nails it.

I'm a Radio Talk Show host. This book reads like a who's who guest list of folks I've had on my radio program over the last five years. Out of a sense of balance & fairness I felt compelled to bring this book & the Author to my listeners attention. James Retter does an outstanding job of unmasking this Rogues gallery of Clinton critics. He examines their motives and exposes their skeletons. He also lashes out at the deplorable state of journalism in the US. This book is as Paul Harvey likes to say "The Rest Of The Story". If you want to have a full appreciation of whats been going on for the last 7 years you owe it to yourself to read this book. This book has been ignored by Talk Radio because a lot of hosts have egg on their face & they don't want to admit that they've been used. (Pat Campbell Host of WSTV TALK)

This book was quite an interesting read. Clinton-bashers are likely to consider it liberal pap, but there are some serious points presented in the book. It is unfortunate that the information found in the book had to be presented in this format and not in the public media. If the media had fulfilled its obligation to provide balanced news instead of only news that sells, today's current events might look very different. The book presents, in my opinion, a good starting point for those wishing to pursue the possibility that there might actually be something resembling a "vast right-wing conspiracy" that Hillary Clinton alluded to on the Today Show, January 27, 1998. The book is well written, well documented, and very readable. I would recommend it to those who wish to explore the possibilities of how we have arrived at the pinnacle of Clinton's demise.

In a easily readable, fully footnoted, concise and scary depiction of dirty politics gone crazy, James D. Retter describes how the underpinnings of the 'great right-wing conspiracy' entrapped more than a President and his family and friends and associates.

It entrapped the media into a frenzy of one-upping each others headlines, overplaying rumor into fact, and turning innuendo into case law. It will debunk much of the pop-culture concepts of the evil Clinton empire...so don't read it with a closed mind.

Particularly surprising was the fact that John Lund, the outspoken Wall Street Journal writer appearing on talk shows with the WSJ editorial banner over his head, was the co-author of Rush Limbaugh's "Way it Ought to Be." Lots more! Enjoy.

It never ceases to amaze me how the people who complain the most about the ten commandments not being posted in the public schools are the same people who don't hesitate to make up false charges against their political opponents (Didn't the ten commandments say something about not bearing false witness against thy neighbor?)

James Retter's book is a clarion call to those who who are put off by the lies and smears of the Right. The book is full of facts about how the American Right has manipulated debate in this country.

One item from Anatomy of a Scandal that struck me as particularly ironic was Pat Robertson's dealings with and ringing endorsements of the ruthless Zairian dictator Mobuto Sese Seko,who--among other things--had Christians massacred at a pro-democracy rally. The Reverend Robertson characterized Mobuto as "a good man. He got his power from God." This is from the same Pat Robertson who juxtaposed the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi with those of Ayatollah Khomeini (see Robertson's New World Order, page 219). Go figure.

It is a shame that a Retter's sober and revealing analysis hasn't received the media play that sensational and slapdash books from the Right receive.

Whatever your politics Retter's work helps to clarify many of the issues surrounding the events in Washington. Especially interesting was his list of agencies, etc. who receive significant funding from Richard Mellon Scaife. When you watch the "talking heads" on MSNBC, CNN. Larry King, etc. you can see from where the experts from "Judicial Watch"- "Independent Woman's Forum", and the "Landmark Legal Foundation" are coming. The word spin is used each time someone defends the President and yet all these experts have ties to a single individual and what they say is not spin????? Steven Brill's article "Pressgate" in the first issue of "Brill's Content" is also an eyeopener especially when he points out some of the journalists who seem to get all the scoops. Retter's book was very well-written. Should be read by those on both sides of the issues.

The confusion, obfuscations, innuendos are not part of this book. I appreciate it, and its author, for giving the reader an intelligent version of the facts.

I never voted for Bill Clinton, but now I wished I had.

This book is ignored by the CNN's, MSNBC's, Fox's of the world- simply because it explains what really goes on in Washington. Open-minded Clinton-haters will have no place to hide after they put this book down. And the author proves that it's no wild "conspiracy" when everyone is thinking the same way.

I knew, as I would assume most people did, that the public was being fed a bunch of whoppers, but I didn't know the details. The author takes us step by step revealing the lies and liars and how they were perpetrated. I don't know about you all, but I like to be told the truth so that I can base my decisions and actions in an objective, fair and logical manner. It hurts when you defend someone or a cause and then find out you have been lied to about it ( I wasn't happy to learn about Clinton/Lewinsky, surprised, not really. But what he did did not affect his job,was not illegal and it was a private matter to be dealt within his family. I just wished he'd come clean earlier and then we wouldn't have had such a to do.)I was really upset when I found out the extent that certain individuals and groups went to spread tabloid lies etc. And this was done by people we usually think are honest and straight forward like the evangelist Jerry Falwell, the media who we expect to gives us non-partisan facts, members in our judicial system,etc. Then there were the women who were brought out from the woodworks by political pimps, segregationists who resented Clinton's efforts in promoting Civil rights, opponents who lost, rich people like Richard Mellon Scaife, politicians, Starr, Gingrich, etc. They all have their own agenda and throughout it all I have seen in no place where it was done with the good of the average citizen of this country in mind. It was pretty much their own private agendas through which ultimately, we, the people, ended up suffering as a result. Money, greed, revenge and power. He takes us on a revealing trip through the Clinton Chronicles, listing and exposing lie after lie told by them. What is sad is that there are still many people that believe these lies because we have been a too trusting country. The media wouldn't lie to us, but they did. He will detail how people spread the lies implying that Clinton was responsible for several murders. The same people that were responsible for the lies in this book have been just as guilty, even more so, of the same things that they accused Clinton of doing. Clinton did not use the same tactics, he did not resort to tabloidism as you will see if you read the book, "The Clinton Wars". Other people would speak out now and then, like Larry Flynt who publicized the immoral acts of a certain Congressional member and the husband of the woman who had an affair for years with the Judge who would preside over Clinton's trial and, of course, Clinton got the blame even though the people who leaked the stories said he had nothing to do with it. Of course when it happened to them they were outraged. Retter will list several of these people in the book and their misdeeds. What we need to look into is, who is publishing these kind of stories and why would they? We need to know who owns the various media outlets (t.v, newspapers, radio) and what their stand is on various issues, because our news is extremely biased anymore. But read the book and if you think he hasn't told the truth, look the facts up yourself. I have read several books and they have all told the same story and I haven't noticed a bunch of lawsuits, so that says a lot.

You will never look at media news coverage the same after reading this book. I am eager to recommend "Anatomy of a Scandal" for its diligent documentation of events coupled with a historical perspective. Listen, in the mother of all information ages, the media comes up short on crucial facts. Mr. Retter fills us in with facinating background on participants and timelines, keeping the reading fast paced. I sincerely hope Mr. Retter will continue to share his research and write more books.