Synopses & Reviews
"Clintonism" is not an idea, or a program; still less is it a principle. It represents what might be termed were it not for its murk the distilled essence of consensus politics. Unremarkable in its constituent elements, which are a mixture of opportunist statecraft, crony capitalism, "divide and rule" identity politics, and populist manipulation, Clintonism has nonetheless raised these ordinary practices to the level of theory. It has succeeded, argues the author, because of a stealthy appeal to the waning and insecure forces of an American liberalism gone bad.
Christopher Hitchens followed Governor Clinton through New Hampshire in 1992, and has remained an assiduous student of his methods ever since. In Ask Not, Tell Not, he profiles the rise and decline of some prominent Clintonoids, from George Stephanopoulos to the First Lady. He scrutinizes the debased new language in which the discourse of Clintonism has been couched, and proposes that, if successful, the Clinton machine will become the model of pseudo-democracy for the coming century.
In the midst of her Senate Campaign Hillary Rodham Clinton's past has caught up with her in the form of several new reports on Travelgate, Whitewater, and extraordinary profits from trading in the commodities market. But most of all she has to contend with this new edition of Christopher Hitchens's New York Times Bestseller. While her complicity in her husband's deceptive triangulations was never ignored by Hitchens, an entirely new chapter in this edition concentrates on the scandalous public political somersaulting she has demonstrated in her Senate campaign "that is in the few occasions that her... chloroform rhetoric" has not itself been an obvious sign of falsity. In this new, paperback, edition Christopher Hitchens further bolsters his thesis that the President's behavior in lying to government, media and the electorate about his sexual encounters is consistent with his systematic abuse of power in the pursuit of personal ambition. Looking towards the 2000 election Hitchens argues more forcefully than ever that the legacy of Bill Clinton is the expiration of American liberalism. And he goes further: "In Hillary Rodham's ongoing campaign...it enters the moment of the purely amnesiac."
Review
"You don't buy Christopher Hitchens's new book because you want to find out whether Bill Clinton is really as terrible a liar as some people say he is. You buy it because you know he is a terrible liar, and the invitation to have a pungent fellow like Christopher Hitchens confirm every prejudice you ever had on the subject, plus a few you might not even have known you had, is an invitation you cannot resist." Louis Menand, New York Times Magazine
Review
"Well-travelled, hyper-educated, pissed-off, always funny, Christopher Hitchens has no equal in American journalism." Voice Literary Supplement
Review
"In this compelling, disturbing, entertaining, necessary book...Hitchens raises questions that cannot be ignored." Los Angeles Times Book Review
Synopsis
In this expanded paperback edition of Hitchen's slow motion citizen's cardiac arrest of the Clinton presidency, our protagonist looks at Clinton's baleful influence on the 2000 election, Hillary Clinton's run for a New York Senate seat, and how the net of corruption in Democratic fundraising is cast far and wide.
Synopsis
'Clintonism' is not an idea, or a program; still less is it a principle. It represents what might be termed-were it not for its murk-the distilled essence of consensus politics. Unremarkable in its constituent elements, which are a mixture of opportunist statecraft, crony capitalism, 'divide and rule' identity politics, and populist manipulation, Clintonism has nonetheless raised these ordinary practices to the level of theory. It has succeeded, argues the author, because of a stealthy appeal to the waning and insecure forces of an American liberalism gone bad. Christopher Hitchens followed Governor Clinton through New Hampshire in 1992, and has remained an assiduous student of his methods ever since.
In No One Left to Lie To, he profiles the rise and decline of some prominent Clintonoids, from George Stephanopoulos to the First Lady. He scrutinizes the debased new language in which the discourse of Clintonism has been couched, and proposes that, if successful, the Clinton machine will become the model of pseudo-democracy for the coming century.
About the Author
Christopher Hitchens is a journalist living in Washington. He is a columnist for Vanity Fair and The Nation.