Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy's Dossier on Hillary Clinton, by Amanda Carpenter


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

Is this the worst they can dig up? Frankly, I think most of these "criticisms" would be seen by liberals as "qualifications." It seems like Hillary is immune from really harsh criticism because everything here is old stuff that has been re-hashed numerous times before. Hillary's responses to her critics nowadays are along the lines of "I have shown I can withstand them," and this book doesn't do anything to disprove that. It does present a compact compendium of the standard Hillary criticism -- a nice reference book for the anti-Hillary crowd.

This book is named after Hillary's own phrase, condemning the "vast right wing conspiracy" which attacked her and Bill Clinton throughout the Whitewater scandal. The term "Dossier" is familiar to conspiracy theorists and Bush-bashers as the term of choice in Britain for questioning the Iraq War -- the "September Dossier" means the same in Britain as "the 16 words" in the U.S. (both mean "the smoking gun" of hard evidence that the governments knowingly misled the public about the facts preceding the invasion of Iraq).

The book is organized as if the vast right wing conspiracy actually existed and kept an organized set of files. The chapters are entitled "The Campaign Cash File" and "The 9/11 File" and so on; they include images of original documents as "evidence"; and each chapter concludes with a "VRWC Action Plan." It's well-organized and easy to find materials -- hence its value as a reference source.

However, the attitude of the author is so anti-Hillary that they weaken their case against her. We edited out the most nasty opinions, for any which are not substantiated with evidence. We excerpt all of the issue-based criticisms, which certainly are valid and well-documented.

The author attempts to portray Hillary's Senate career as a mere steppingstone. The author does make a compelling case that Hillary is not the star of the Senate, except for her celebrity. But even the author's critical portrayal shows Hillary as competent and reasonably productive in her freshman term.

In summary, this book summarizes all of the usual Hillary-bashing in a easy-reference format. It's not a must-read for political junkies, like the rest of our set of Hillary books, but it's representative of the future anti-Hillary books sure to follow if she gets the nomination.

-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, August 2007

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Abortion     Prevention First Act: federal funds for contraception.

Budget & Economy     Co-sponsored bills totaling $502B in spending thru 2005.

Civil Rights     Federal Marriage Amendment would be terrible step backwards.

Education     Supports public school choice; but not private nor parochial.

Energy & Oil     $50B strategic energy fund from taxing oil companies.

Government Reform     $5M in New York state “pork barrel” bills thru 2004.

Health Care     FDA should compare drug effectiveness--not just safety.

Homeland Security     Homeland security not simply about reorganizing bureaucracy.     Proposed Federal Interoperable Communication & Safety Act.

Immigration     Keep New York-Ontario border passport-free for tourism.

Jobs     Passed 2 planks of 7-plank platform, “New Jobs for New York”.

Principles & Values     Opposed numerous Bush cabinet & court appointees.     Fined $35,000 for under-reporting expenses in 2000.

Tax Reform     End Bush tax cuts;take things away from rich for common good.

Technology     Balance Internet freedom of speech against defamation.

War & Peace     Supports border security fence in Israel.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Hillary Clinton