Spin-proof snapshots of America                           

Hillary Clinton: Bigot Magnet

Or, "How to Knee-Jerk a Punching Bag"

     She's amazing.

     Not for what's she's done. What, after all, has she done that's so bad?

     [crickets chirp]

Dr. Spade wishes to clarify. He is not asking why you hate her. If you're a knee-jerk Republican, he knows why you hate her: because your friends do.

He wants to know what she's done to make you hate her so much.

Conservative Forums typically respond with invective from every conceivable personal rumor mill on the planet: she's a lesbian, she's bossy, she's sneaky, she's a tyrant, she hates men, she's a poser.

To which Dr. Spade must ask again, what has she done?

Not the good things. We all know those.

• She's repeatedly asked for more troops in the military, both in general and to ensure safety of those already in Iraq. John McCain have praised her for this, and Newt Gingrich noted, "Unlike most members of the legislature, she has been in the White House. She's been consistently solid on the need to do the right thing on national defense."

Of course, Gingrich and McCain have drawn invective on conservative forums for such praise, and they're now called "liberal nutcases" (sample rants here). There are only two possible explanations: either it is now a "liberal" trait to want more troops, or nothing Hillary Clinton does should ever merit praise, no matter how much it fits conservative values. In other words, she's not hated for anything she does, besides being Hillary.

• She's a strong advocate for increased border security and a tougher stance on illegal immigrants, drawing kudos from even the conservative Washington Times.

Of course, it's always qualified praise, with doubt about her motives (since only liberals, apparently, ever choose their actions with an eye on the next election), as when the Times says,

"I never thought I would write the following words, but: God bless Hillary Clinton. Though her motives are cynical, their effects may well be vital both to our national security and to our sovereign responsibility to control our borders."

Her approval ratings have risen in New York, and she gets good reviews even by the (again, conservative -- Dr. Spade loves to quote conservatives) New York Post. "The relationship began to thaw the day after she was sworn in and became a senator in her own right,” said Vincent Morris, Washington correspondent for the Post.

The only flub Dr. Spade can find in Hillary Clinton's career is her failed attempt to design a national health care system. But reforming health care is no easy task, nor an unnecessary one when 40 million Americans have no health care coverage at all.

How many other politicians have no other failed items from their agenda in 15 years? Only the ones who never attempt anything.

Since then, Hillary Clinton has adopted a much more gradual approach towards universal health coverage, one Gingrich has also approved, a striking contrast to their clashes over the issue in the early 1990's. The two also collaborated on a non-partisan bill to reduce medical paperwork (introduced by Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Tim Murphy (R-Pa.).

So why hate her?

Writer Ron Lewis says it was

"One ‘act’ by Ms. Clinton" that "has forever colored my opinion of her and would absolutely dissuade me from voting her into the most powerful position in the world."

Her flub?

"Staying with Bimbo Bill in the face of unquestionable proof of his adultery....Her decision to remain was a blatantly selfish act to remain near the seat of power so that her own political aspirations could progress."

He certainly sounds open-minded, and the kind of man who otherwise would have been an enthusiastic Hillary supporter, if not for her one flub. (He later compares unfavorably with Rudy Giuliani (who had an affair of his own, but is apparently not a "Bimbo"), saying, "Ms. Clinton does not have the cahones [sic] to overcome the Electoral College loss of New York, but then, she doesn’t have cahones [sic] at all."

Of course, this puts poor Lewis in a difficult spot since Jeanine Pirro, currently running against Hillary for Senate in the next race, also has an adulterous husband (who further had a child out of wedlock, and was imprisoned for fraud). Clearly, voting for such a woman, who remains loyal to her husband, must be reprehensible, no?

Let's weigh this with a little quiz:

      If Hillary Clinton had divorced Bill Clinton after the Lewinsky affair, conservatives would

•  embrace her selfless act and continue their unbiased evaluation of her as a Senator and potential President?

            OR

•  blame her for jumping ship, dividing her family, and crassly seeking her own ends?

Slate magazine tried to understand with these observations  by Jodie Allen in 2000, including some guesses as to what kind of a Senator she would be:

"She will, first and foremost, be disciplined and diligent, well-informed and well-prepared.

She is a most accomplished public speaker with a sometimes uncanny poise.

Right after the Monica Lewinsky scandal hit the headlines in January 1998, when most of us in her shoes would have been hiding under a bed, I saw her address a packed auditorium of world movers and shakers gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

She spoke for about 40 minutes without notes and without pause--not a single "er" or "I mean" or "that is"--and she wowed 'em. Even the snotty Brits from the Economist were impressed.

And Mrs. Clinton--remarkably in this town of flacks and flunkies--does a lot of her own research, so she usually knows what she's talking about--even if you don't agree with her.... If it's dairy farms she needs to talk about, she'll know the price of every cow and the cost and distribution of every milk subsidy.

As a senator, she will be religious in impulse... She will be most concerned about "kitchen table" issues--especially children both at home and around the world.

She will be a persuasive politician. All her experience on the campaign trail--not just for herself but earlier for other candidates--seems to demonstrate that the more people see her the more they like her. Sorry!

She will be willing to compromise--this may come as a surprise.

And she will draw attention--not just to herself but to the important business of policymaking. She will be devoted to her job and to the idea of public service.

....My goodness. Who could possibly want an elected representative like that?"

Checklist? Not of things you don't like about her. Maybe you think she should have hid under the bed, or in the closet, after the Lewinsky affair, but let's look at the claims as they stand:

Disciplined and intelligent? Check.

Skilled published speaker? No question.

Does her research? Absolutely.

Cares about "kitchen" table issues and is better liked in person? Check, check.

Willing to compromise? Yep, see the issues at the top of the page.

"Who could possibly [not] want an elected representative like that?"

We all know the answer to that one.

Jodie Allen then theorizes that maybe conservatives hate her because they fear, in the words of Peggy Noonan, that

" electing Mrs. Clinton to the Senate will spread the disease of Clintonism."

"But what are the symptoms of this dread malady on the body politic? Low unemployment? High growth? Low inflation? Soaring productivity?"

Clearly, they hate it when a liberal succeeds. And Hillary Clinton, mother of a fully respectable child, Senator, wife, lawyer, deal-maker -- all under constant, vicious scrutiny -- surely has many successes.

So why all the hate?

There are I-Hate-Hillary

mugs

bumper stickers

T-shirts

hats

posters

pins

pens

dolls

sweatshirts

blogs

tank tops

action figures

aprons

screensavers

frisbees

dog bowls (insert your own high-humor joke here)

cups

whistles

coasters

scarves

calendars

masks

mouse pads

socks

and

toilets (yep).

There are hundreds of anti-Hillary websites. From a two week trip across America earlier this year, Dr. Spade found that Hillary was the most common topic of talk show radio.

She must be reaaaaaaally baaaaaaaad.

Dr. Spade recalls that Osama Bin Laden ordered the destruction of the World Trade Center, killing thousands of Americans, yet he wasn't discussed on talk show radio at all during this period. In fact, he's hard to find in the news anywhere today.

see our Security page.

But Hillary, whatever she's done, is really, really bad, and deserves daily, constant, unrelenting attacks. Dr. Spade looks out his door and can't see anything she's done to hurt him, but really, she must be bad.

Man’s best friend is his dogma.
- Timothy Leary

Responses to Edward Klein's The Truth About Hillary on Amazon.com split into two camps.

Liberals note that the book is so horribly researched that even conservative talk show hosts have distanced themselves from it.

Among its many lies are some that could have been prevented with a few minutes of research:

• that Rick Lazio, Clinton's Republican opponent in 2000 for a New York Senate seat, sent out no direct campaign mail.

            He did, as his office admitted. There's no shame in this, so why lie?

• that the $25 million Clinton planned in 1999 to raise for her Senate campaign was be an "unprecedented" amount.

            More than that had been raised the year before, in the same state.

• that she didn't want John Kerry to win in 2004, so spent her time in states such as South Dakota.

            She hasn't been to South Dakota in years.

• that Chelsea was conceived through rape.

            Here's his evidence:  that Hillary Clinton in her own book said she went to Bermuda.

            That's it.

             Even Sean Hannity (<---not a liberal) noted that merely going to Bermuda is not the same as being raped in Bermuda.

Yet many conservatives praise the book as "thorough," "accurate," "well-researched" and "true," by which they mean "It attacks Hillary, whom we hate."

One says, (all this from Amazon.com)

"Very well reseached [sic]!!!! Around 45 pages of foot notes [endnotes]. Try to debunk that you liberal, touchy, feely, want to be world savers!!!!!"

This is a favorite Ann Coulter technique, stuffing many pages with endnotes to make a book seem well-researched. That any quotations are anonymous, misleading, or inaccurate doesn't matter. 45 pages of them! Take that, you touchy-feelies!

A more thoughtful reader says,

"I like to bash Hilly [sic] as well as the next person but there are just to many anonymous sources quoted in this book for me to make a rational judgement [sic] of the truth....if everything is true then give me credible sources with a name."

     Of course, he still gave the book 3 of 5 stars, presumably because Hilly-bashing is such good sport.

Even Sean Hannity (<---still not at all liberal), who in an interview with Klein admits "I don't want to defend Hillary" says of Klein's implication that Hillary is gay, "there's no evidence of any such thing." Klein's evidence consists of the fact that Hillary has some lesbian friends. That's it. Gay friends, must be gay.

In fairness, not all conservatives used "Does it attack Hillary?" as their only litmus test for "Is this book remotely accurate in its claims?"

One thoughtful conservative went so far as to admit

"Spent the past 45 years as a Goldwater conservative, and found [Klein's book] not only lacking in genuine political material, but also larded with ad hominem attacks based on inaccuracies, misquotes and untruths.

For those who want to defeat liberals (including Sen. Clinton) at the polls, they would be better off dusting off the real "family values," beginning with Truth. And this does not mean misusing the term in the title of a book length supermarket tabloid."

Of course, Dr. Spade would argue such a man no longer fits under the label "conservative." He, like Dr. Spade, might even prefer "liberal." See Meet the New G.O.P.

"Liberal" (or "liberal nutcase") is exactly what conservatives would call him... if he praised Hillary Clinton's plans for a stronger military, increased border security, or tighter immigration laws.

Just ask Newt or John McCain about that.

And then stop blaming Hillary for whatever she does next week, since we know it isn't her actions that matter to you.

                    Let's call a spade a spade, you jealous, fearful, knee-jerk anti-Hillary bigots.