46 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
wow, June 2, 2007
I am a lifelong Democrat with quiet misgivings about this year's race (and a native New Yorker a little--not hugely--unsettled that an Illinois native, by way of Arkansas and D.C., has ended up our senator). I was prepared for Ms. Buchanan's conclusions. However, I was unprepared for the depth and integrity of her research. This is a soundly written book. It's a sobering, even a frightening, assessment of the practices, policies, rhetoric, and cronyism we might face if we elected the person who emerges from these pages. I urge people to read this book before deciding whom to support as a Democratic candidate. It has rattled me sufficiently that the decision has become a matter of conscience.
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91 of 113 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Whether you like Hillary or not, lots of info direct from the source!!, May 10, 2007
Bay Buchanan does an incredible job in gathering the speeches, talks, conversations, radio/TV appearances and other sources where Hillary expounds on everything from the war in Iraq, weapons of mass destruction to abortion and "It Takes a Village." She also interviews both friends of Ms. Clinton's and other Democrats as well. Ms. Buchanan then compiles all this information both past and present to present a picture of both where Senator Clinton stands on the issues and where her advisors (for good or ill) have told her to stand.
Reading this book may not convince you either way on voting for Senator Clinton for President in 2008, but it should give you insight into her true positions on such issues as education, abortion, the military, feminism, taxes and economics to name a few.
A very informative book for votes in any political party. Highly recommended!
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121 of 152 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Trojan Horse?, May 13, 2007
Bay Buchanan, the younger sister of Pat Buchanan and former Treasurer of the United States, offers up some unique bulbs of observation amidst a larger garden of perennial wisdom. She updates the earlier tomes with an exploration of Mrs. Clinton's time in the Senate and provides a central theme that is both compelling and persuasive. Her idee fixe is that character is a monumental aspect of leadership and that Hillary Clinton is entirely devoid of it.
The Extreme Makeover illustrates Hillary's unfamiliarity with the virtue of responsibility, and that she is every bit as prolific and stunning a liar as her husband. Buchanan traces the scandals integral to Mrs. Clinton's existence and finds one element common with them all: she could have mitigated the damage in practically every instance had she admitted the truth from the outset. This was trued of her venture into cattle futures, the Whitewater fiasco, Travelgate, her collection of FBI records on "perceived enemies," and the Grand White House Looting scheme of 2001. Yet, self-admission is not something of which Hillary has ever been capable--she would prefer to blame others. The author describes her as a card-carrying member of "the National Association of Victimhood." It may take several decades to document all the mistruths inherent to a second Clinton administration...and by then, in the words of Christopher Hitchens, they'll be no one left to lie to.
Apart from style, The Extreme Makeover succeeds in warning readers of what a Hillary Clinton presidency will look like, and, more precisely, who it will target. A made over person is exactly the Hillary we see lecturing us on CNN and CBS. The real would-be queen is simply not fit for widespread consumption. The junior senator's personality revolves around a lust for power, a need to control others, and rampant insecurity. Anger and irritability are natural attributes, and but only her family, advisors, and the secret service are allowed to observe them. Mrs. Clinton's inner core is so volatile and brittle that not even a massive team of handlers and PR specialists have managed to infuse her with charisma or charm. The outcome of this bizarre makeover is a bionic mask of Lancôme and ritzy apparel cloaking the radical within, but one that ultimately renders her artificial, robotic, heartless, calculating, and inhuman. What better words could describe the buffoonish behavior she paraded in Selma, Alabama when she tried on a southern accent as if it were a new pantsuit from Bloomingdales?
Is Hillary Clinton a Trojan Horse? Frankly, I doubt it. As a charlatan she is rather primitive. It's hard to imagine her true character remaining hidden over the course of the next year-and-a-half. Her advisors will have to apply so many swats of subterfuge to the palette of her personality that she'll more resemble a Jackson Pollock canvas than an actual person. Besides, admissions like "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good" don't play well before non-Broadway audiences.
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