Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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197 of 232 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What the Clintons have been up to since they left the White House, March 27, 2007
R. Emmett Tyrell Jr. is not only the founder of The American Spectator, but according to Hillary Clinton he is one of those at the center of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. This amuses Tyrell to no end (even though the Clinton attacks have cost him plenty) and he explains why in this book. Yes, there is no love lost between the author and the Clintons. He loves to talk about what goes on behind the carefully crafted public façade and they like to rail at him for distortions and rehashing material that is old news. This book does go over some of the old stuff in passing, but most of it focuses on what Bill and Hillary have been doing since their co-Presidency ended in 2000.
If you are a Clinton supporter or at least one who accepts the public image of him as a wouldabeengreat President if not for the Republican attacks, you should avoid this book unless you enjoy getting riled up. If you are a true believer in the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and do not want to hear or accept evidence to he contrary, again, avoid this book.
If you enjoy reading about more Clinton activities and what they usually imply, well, you will certainly enjoy this book. Especially if you enjoy hearing Bill called things like, "the most low-grade lout ever elected president" or "the white-haired and shrunken Clinton is a forlorn figure, irritable, melancholy, and anxious to be remembered well" this book will be just what you want. It isn't exactly vicious or full of bile, but it isn't dispassionate either.
For me, the portions of the book worth the price are the appendices. The first lists all of the speaking gigs and the fees received by Bill from Feb 2001 through the end of 2005. Millions upon millions earned in speaking fees from all over the world and from some folks who really aren't friends of the United States. Does anyone recall the apoplexy of the Democrats when Reagan made money from speaking in Japan? The second appendix lists the pardons and commutations that Clinton gave. It reads quite strangely. I found myself wondering why rolling back an odometer was something that deserves the attention and pardon of the President of the United States of America.
I think most of the people who read this book will have their minds made up before they turn to the first page, but it is worth reading through just to catch up on what the Clintons are doing. It is hard to get that from TV and the newspapers because most of them are completely focused on either helping getting Hillary nominated and elected or undermining her. They never get into the level detail that is covered here.
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331 of 400 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Well Supported Chronicle of the Post-Presidential Clintons, March 16, 2007
I'll preface this by stating I voted for Bill Clinton but was bored to death by both "My Life" and "It takes a village".
I was astonished to learn the breadth of Bill Clinton's involvement in the Genocide of almost a million black Rwandans, and have become convinced after reading this book that this and this alone will be his legacy.
Clinton spearheaded the US decision to refuse to even to commit soldiers or money to UN efforts to control the civil war in Rwanda where a million blacks died in 100 days. Clinton went so far as refusing to even use the term 'Genocide' to refer to the massacre.
The book had some tantalizing tidbits included numerous allegations of his affairs with and preference for Asian women, along with icy and excruciating details on the Clinton marriage with some not-so-border-line spousal abuse issues. I have more empathy for the guy after reading how his wife treated him.
While I found it endearing that close friends referred to them as Hill-Billy, I was suprised that John Kerry refused to consider her as a vice presidential candidate.
And surprisingly... almost nothing about Monica Lewinsky!
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47 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
There's no news like "old news"!, June 20, 2007
Inasmuch as it seems that the Clintons, like the poor, shall always be with us, it's some consolation to know that R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., is still with us too. He has had the Clintons' number from the beginning, and remains unsurpassed in his ability to shine the spotlight on their lies, failings, pomposity, and turpitude. "The Clinton Crack-Up," the latest addition to his five-foot shelf of books, is perhaps his best, if not his most important ("Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House" gets that honor) yet.
Three things stand out about Bob Tyrrell's writing, and "The Clinton Crack-Up" is evidence of all three. First is the thorough research he does. The distinctiveness of his prose hangs on a solid structure of documentation and cataloging. The second is precisely that prose. It's idiosyncratic ... flamboyant, even ... and can take some getting used to. But personally, I think it's wonderful to read something that was written for educated adults. The obvious, even clichéd, comparison is to Mencken, but it's clichéd because it's appropriate. If Mencken were alive today, I don't think he would mind.
And the third thing that stands out about Tyrrell's writing is that he is funny. He recognizes that fundamentally, the Clintons "have always been amusing" (p. 19). While so many "Clinton-haters" seethe in anger or call down the curses of the Lord upon Pudge and Ruffles, "insensate to the full comic dimensions of the Clintons' burlesque" (p. 43), Tyrrell laughs. It's one thing to be hated or feared. It's something very different to be thought ridiculous -- which is why Tyrrell seems to occupy a place of unique vilification among the Clintonistas.
One of the important things Tyrrell did in "Madame Hillary" was reveal the Clinton's standard four-point plan for responding to criticism: (1) Vigorously deny it; (2) Launch ad hominem attacks on the critic; (3) Act personally victimized by the criticism ("Why do they hate me?"); and (4) Say the critic is obsessing over "old news."
Reaction to "The Clinton Crack-Up" proves yet again the accuracy of his assessment -- particularly the inevitable "old news" charge. But not only is the news Tyrrell is reporting particularly current, much of it has also been largely unreported. With the other half of this tag-team match now making her own bid for power, the information in this book is not only an important reminder of the facts about Mr. President Clinton, they are also an important harbinger of what we'll get should we burden ourselves with a Mrs. President Clinton.
We won't be able to say we haven't been warned.
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