Customer Reviews

Impeachment Trial Diary

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As sick as I was of the impeachment trial, I found Huston's "sociologist spin" offered a new perspective. Namely, how could so many smart people get into such an incredibly stupid mess? Getting theoretically inside the heads of the main players made diving back into the topic worthwhile. Impeachment Trial Diary is destined to be the definitive work on a ridiculous episode in this nation's history.

Different from Posner's "An Affair of State" this account is a more casual and personalized view of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair that spotlights the impeachment trial as it unravels day by day and does not focus on the entire "Year of the Monica." An entertaining and often amusing read by a retired City University of New York academic, and a modern-day Samuel Pepys.

Huston is intelligent and witty as the ultimate outsider, sharing his thoughts as the trial unfolds on his TV screen. His streaming commentary often reads is like Mystery Science Theatre script as he lampoons the central figures -- from Monica ( the "groupie who wasn't clear on the concept. Hung around after she scored... not one to cower behind the door when the chutzpah was passed out") to Lindsay Graham ("...who comes across as a polite earnest young man...used to passing the time of day with old ladies sitting on porches sipping lemonade...coddled since birth by adoring parents and aunts and uncles and cousins, all of whom have agreed that this boy is wonderful.") to Ken "the doughboy" Starr. Even the media types covering the trial don't escape his acerbic gaze - witness "Nina Totenberg (not a lawyer, but unlike Cokie (Roberts), seems to play one on TV." A must read for those looking to find humor in a very sad situation.