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on October 9, 2013
I've always respected Jeffery Toobin for the legal opinions he gives on CNN...short, concise, and easy to understand. However, his skills as an author leave much to be desired. There is no plot or obvious organization to the book. Every chapter seems to be totally disconnected from the next one. Monica Lewinsky, undoubtedly the primary subject of the book, is introduced in so haphazard a way as to almost wonder why she's in there at all! Last, Toobin implies that the sexual contact she had with Clinton was all her own "fault" -he was simply responding to her advances! Personally, I don't care - as far as I'm concerned, both of them were at fault. The fact is, he was President of the United States at the time - regardless of whether or not a young female intern flirts with you - you don't accept it, and you certainly don't leave a little "something" on her dress! As a man, I won't ever vote for Hillary Clinton for President. While she may be very qualified, the fact remains that I have no desire to see Bill laughing his way right back into the Whitehouse. Case closed, end of story.
on May 26, 2000
As comprehensive as it is, this book has already been revealed to contain several errors, one regarding Isikoff's journalistic practices, another (big one) regarding whether Lewinsky asked Tripp to lie. (Toobins says she didn't; the evidence suggests the opposite.)And there may be more corrections coming.
This can still be a great book if the errors are addressed, but I advise readers to wait for a corrected future edition to come out.
This can still be a great book if the errors are addressed, but I advise readers to wait for a corrected future edition to come out.
on February 13, 2000
There's really nothing factually new here we haven't read before....which means the thrust of this book is Toobin's spin on it all. Frankly, that does not make for interesting reading and it's definitely not enough to carry an entire book. As you can tell from the other reviews, your own personal opinion on Bill Clinton will determine how you veiw this book - love Bill, love the book; hate Bill, hate the book. Still, I imagine even the Bill lovers tired 2/3 the way through this book.
I think Michael Isikoff's "Uncovering Clinton" is a far better book for getting a handle on the whole Lewinsky affair.
I think Michael Isikoff's "Uncovering Clinton" is a far better book for getting a handle on the whole Lewinsky affair.
on March 25, 2000
My first reaction to this book is what many of Clinton's defenders said throughout the whole debacle of the Clinton presidency, SO WHAT? Perfectly legal coalitions of people to use the legal system to bring about change is the bedrock or our system. I list several examples that Toobin should examine and check his hypocracy quotient.
1. The impeachment of Richard Nixon. There was a whole network of powerful Nixon haters in the press, academia, and Congress. Yet it was a perfectly legal collaboration. Does Toobin think that Hillary Clinton was part of a conspiracy to destroy Richard Nixon? It's pretty clear that she was.
2. Clarence Thomas. Toobin and his ilk apparently thought that a few off color remarks constituted the "most important issue in America" only 10 short years ago. Now, why isn't a credable charge of rape and a history of using and destroying friends and employees worthy of discussion and possible legal action? The real source of the hostility to Clinton is his former betrayed friends, associates, and victims. In Clinton's case, there is good evidence that he broke several felony statutes that as a lawyer he should have been aware of. In Thomas' case, the worst allegation was a few off color remarks. By the way, didn't Anita Hill join the Rivera conspiracy and argue that Clinton should get off the hook?
3. The conspiracy of the White House, its taxpayer funded spin machine, and certain lawyers and journalists to deflect every criticism of Bill Clinton, to cover up his past abuses and crimes, and to silence his accusers. Regular good old fashioned harassment, unlike sexual harassment, is an old crime in many states and slashing tires, making threatening statements to potential witnesses, and offering perquisites to witnesses to change their story or remain silent, these are REAL CRIMES. This is another shameful tactic used by the Clinton network, to imply that victims of real crimes by powerful individuals aren't "nice" people and therefore don't deserve the equal protection of the law. This tactic is taken right out of the play book of organized crime and is fundamentally destructive of our legal system.
Basically, Toobin presents a description of people loosely collaborating to use the legal system to bring to justice a man who they believe on good evidence to be a fundamentally corrupt and felonious individual. If the legal system allows them some measure of success and Toobin doesn't like that, then the legal system is to blame! This is the fatal flaw in the book, its failure to follow to a logical conclusion the fundamental flaw in sexual harassment (and a host of related civil rights) laws that makes all this possible. It is the idea that objective facts don't matter, its the feelings of the alleged victim or the perpetrator about what happened that determine whether there has been a crime committed. This is the whole basis of hate crimes legislation. If Toobin was consistent, he would be seeking reform of these laws that regularly snare people whose only crime is saying something that someone else takes offense at, or not being a "nice" preson.
And now for the really explosive issue: the shameful way lawyers (recall Rivera is a lawyer in addition to being a supposedly reformed trash TV host) regularly use the legal system to allow the guilty to walk free, to punish those pursuing legal but politically unpopular businesses, or (Yes, Mr. Toobin), to persecute those whose only crime is exercising their religion or their first amendment rights. And this is the worst aspect of Clinton's fundamentally corrupt administration, it has undermined the faith of at least a very large minority of the people in the equal administration of the law and certainly in the content of many of the very laws Clinton and his network of supporters in the press advocate to cure the nation's ills.
1. The impeachment of Richard Nixon. There was a whole network of powerful Nixon haters in the press, academia, and Congress. Yet it was a perfectly legal collaboration. Does Toobin think that Hillary Clinton was part of a conspiracy to destroy Richard Nixon? It's pretty clear that she was.
2. Clarence Thomas. Toobin and his ilk apparently thought that a few off color remarks constituted the "most important issue in America" only 10 short years ago. Now, why isn't a credable charge of rape and a history of using and destroying friends and employees worthy of discussion and possible legal action? The real source of the hostility to Clinton is his former betrayed friends, associates, and victims. In Clinton's case, there is good evidence that he broke several felony statutes that as a lawyer he should have been aware of. In Thomas' case, the worst allegation was a few off color remarks. By the way, didn't Anita Hill join the Rivera conspiracy and argue that Clinton should get off the hook?
3. The conspiracy of the White House, its taxpayer funded spin machine, and certain lawyers and journalists to deflect every criticism of Bill Clinton, to cover up his past abuses and crimes, and to silence his accusers. Regular good old fashioned harassment, unlike sexual harassment, is an old crime in many states and slashing tires, making threatening statements to potential witnesses, and offering perquisites to witnesses to change their story or remain silent, these are REAL CRIMES. This is another shameful tactic used by the Clinton network, to imply that victims of real crimes by powerful individuals aren't "nice" people and therefore don't deserve the equal protection of the law. This tactic is taken right out of the play book of organized crime and is fundamentally destructive of our legal system.
Basically, Toobin presents a description of people loosely collaborating to use the legal system to bring to justice a man who they believe on good evidence to be a fundamentally corrupt and felonious individual. If the legal system allows them some measure of success and Toobin doesn't like that, then the legal system is to blame! This is the fatal flaw in the book, its failure to follow to a logical conclusion the fundamental flaw in sexual harassment (and a host of related civil rights) laws that makes all this possible. It is the idea that objective facts don't matter, its the feelings of the alleged victim or the perpetrator about what happened that determine whether there has been a crime committed. This is the whole basis of hate crimes legislation. If Toobin was consistent, he would be seeking reform of these laws that regularly snare people whose only crime is saying something that someone else takes offense at, or not being a "nice" preson.
And now for the really explosive issue: the shameful way lawyers (recall Rivera is a lawyer in addition to being a supposedly reformed trash TV host) regularly use the legal system to allow the guilty to walk free, to punish those pursuing legal but politically unpopular businesses, or (Yes, Mr. Toobin), to persecute those whose only crime is exercising their religion or their first amendment rights. And this is the worst aspect of Clinton's fundamentally corrupt administration, it has undermined the faith of at least a very large minority of the people in the equal administration of the law and certainly in the content of many of the very laws Clinton and his network of supporters in the press advocate to cure the nation's ills.
on January 24, 2000
If you're a fan of President Clinton, you'll love " Vast Conspiracy ". If you're interested only in the facts behind Clinton's impeachment, you may want to save a lot of time and just read Bob Woodward's " Shadow" which does a much better job without wasting a lot of your time.
Toobin deplores the focus on sex in the Monica Lewinsky affair and criticizes Ken Starr and Rep. Bob McCollum's presentation of the case before the Senate, but can't resist the temptation to tell you much more than you ever wanted to know about the personal lives of Paula Jones, Lucienne Goldberg, and others. While he has little good to say about anyone,he goes easiest on the President. In fact, Toobin could easily be accused of ghostwriting the book for the President by a person more cynical than me. Unless you're interested in Paula Jone's graphic description of the President's anatomy, ( which is available all over the internet for free) there is little new in this book. Toobin took the opportunity to slam other journalists and seems willing to repeat rumors if they've been printed in at least one other source. Save your money, and save your time.
Toobin deplores the focus on sex in the Monica Lewinsky affair and criticizes Ken Starr and Rep. Bob McCollum's presentation of the case before the Senate, but can't resist the temptation to tell you much more than you ever wanted to know about the personal lives of Paula Jones, Lucienne Goldberg, and others. While he has little good to say about anyone,he goes easiest on the President. In fact, Toobin could easily be accused of ghostwriting the book for the President by a person more cynical than me. Unless you're interested in Paula Jone's graphic description of the President's anatomy, ( which is available all over the internet for free) there is little new in this book. Toobin took the opportunity to slam other journalists and seems willing to repeat rumors if they've been printed in at least one other source. Save your money, and save your time.
on January 15, 2000
It is admirable that Toobin give his book a title that clarifies the quality of its thinking: The phrase "A Vast Conspiracy" unwittingly reflects and perfectly captures the McCarthyism of the Clinton defense. A host of false accusations against the independent counsel (which have been proven both in court and in other books on the Clitnon crimes--we now know that the leaks that the Clinton team accused Starr of came from the Clinton team itself) and others. The projection of one's own actions onto one's enemies. The constant use of false testimony. The "list"--it was the Clinton defender Larry Flynt who said he "had a list of 11 names." The use of the political party to launch retaliatory prosecutions--the Democratic party of Maryland and the United States, ordering the prosecution of an immunized witness. And, of course, the accusation of a "vast conspiracy" that, surprise, doesn't and never did exist.
When a governor and president is as careless, venal, and contemptuous of the law as Clinton has been throughout his career, it doesn't take a vast conspiracy to bring his crimes to light. Far from showing the connections between the dots, Toobin does what conspiracy nuts have always done: Smeared dozens of people with false accusations and gulled fellow true believers by positing vast webs of tendentious and vaporous connections.
When a governor and president is as careless, venal, and contemptuous of the law as Clinton has been throughout his career, it doesn't take a vast conspiracy to bring his crimes to light. Far from showing the connections between the dots, Toobin does what conspiracy nuts have always done: Smeared dozens of people with false accusations and gulled fellow true believers by positing vast webs of tendentious and vaporous connections.
on January 15, 2000
Toobin's insights into some of the "players" were interesting. Other than that, it was a re-run of everything we heard and saw during the whole dismal affair.
on January 13, 2000
Toobin's thesis is interesting--that the conspiracy involved the left, the right, and the media, but he fails to develop it. His politics are transparent, his logic faulty, and his prose, painfully glib. Smart and smarmy.
