The Case Against Hillary Clinton. - Review - book review

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Sept, 2000 by Raymond L. Fischer

THE CASE AGAINST HILLARY CLINTON BY PEGGY NOONAN REGAN BOOKS 2000, 181 PAGES, $24.00

When Hillary Clinton decided to run for the Senate from New York, she invited the state's citizens to give her their views. In this book, Peggy Noonan, a former speechwriter for both Ronald Reagan and George Bush, offers Mrs. Clinton much more than just her views. The Case Against Hillary Clinton is a polemic, an aggressive attack on the opinions and principles of Mrs. Clinton. Actually, the author takes on both of the Clintons because she has contempt for them and for "Clintonism." A native New Yorker, Noonan resents the intrusion of Hillary Clinton, an outsider whose recent, self-serving political interests have no historical connection with the state. "An act of mad boomer selfishness and narcissism, Hillary Clinton's run for the Senate is a thing of utter and breathtaking gall," she maintains.

After viewing the public record, writings, and speeches of Mrs. Clinton, Noonan concludes that not only is the First Lady unworthy to be a senator, but she is fundamentally dangerous. Noonan believes that, although the Clintons have shown no consistent loyalty to any political philosophy, party, person, or ideology, their impulses, assumptions, and beliefs belong to the left-liberal wing. They endorse a kind of paternalism that assumes ordinary citizens must be led and guided by those who know best--the Clintons and their friends. As demonstrated by her health care plan, Mrs. Clinton thinks in terms of "command and control," and she operates behind the scenes to manipulate issues,

Clintonism misleads constituents on crucial issues; evades responsibility for mistakes, derelictions, and scandals; takes actions that are damaging to others, but beneficial to the Clintons; and smears opponents and critics. Proficient prevaricators, the Clintons lack the grace and humility expected of America's leaders, Noonan argues. The scandals are not all the President's--some, such as Filegate and Travelgate, involve his wife. The author enlightens her readers about both of these issues.

In examining Hillary Clinton's self-acclaimed boast of 25 years in public service (she never uses the term politics), Noonan asks the question, "What has she done?" According to Noonan's assessment, the answer is not much. Mrs. Clinton's reputation for accomplishment seems to be just another fiction. Like her husband, she tends to confuse words with deeds.

Noonan considers the content of Hillary Clinton's speeches and articles very radical. For example, in 1977, she wrote that the decisions of a minor "about motherhood and abortion, schooling, cosmetic surgery, treatment of venereal disease" should be made, not by parents, but by children who should have the right to decide their own lives.

The most chilling revelation in the book details Mrs. Clinton's ideas espoused during her years as first lady of Arkansas. Her "special baby" was the governor's school for gifted students, special summer semesters seemingly designed to make religious students feel that their beliefs were backward and unsophisticated, free market economies were bad and government control good, and, while "ministers might be suspect and strange, left-wing radicals, feminists, and witches were not." Hillary Clinton told the students that she would trust big government over big business anytime. Never once in succeeding years has she moderated or negated these radical ideas.

Why does Mrs. Clinton think the way she does? Having acquired her education in Ivy League colleges and law schools, been in "public service" so long, and spent most of her free time with individuals like herself, Mrs. Clinton thinks of "other people" as lower-class--less educated, less civilized, and less successful. The author feels that the Clintons are disturbed--he thinks he is John F. Kennedy, and she thinks she is Eleanor Roosevelt. Their lack of stability contributes to their extreme actions and behaviors.

In establishing her case against Mrs. Clinton, Noonan reminds New Yorkers that there are plenty of other women in the state who would make excellent senators instead. She warns voters not to elect a person who wants only to use New York to become president. She explains that her distaste for Hillary Clinton is not over the carpetbagger issue, but the candidate's failure to share or understand the concerns of New Yorkers.

This is a book for Republicans to chortle over, although many Democrats will want to read it as well, especially as Noonan predicts what Mrs. Clinton will say and do on the stump and if elected.

Reviewed by RAYMOND L. FISCHER Mass Media Editor