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Hitchens is particularly damning on Clinton's tendency to resort to divisive racial politics when it suits his purposes, as when, in the course of the 1992 presidential campaign, he refused to lift a finger to save a mentally retarded African American from state execution so he could appear tough on crime, then shortly afterwards hijacked a Rainbow Coalition conference to criticize rap artist Sister Souljah for the benefit of the attendant press. When he needs the black vote, though, Clinton will allow himself to be trumpeted as the most racially sensitive president in American history--if not, in Toni Morrison's memorably ludicrous phrase, "our first black president." Furthermore, the man who once connived his way out of the draft has become a chief executive so willing to use military air strikes as a means of foreign policy that, in the author's view, the United States is now a "potential banana republic."
Of course, there is plenty of vitriol directed at Clinton's conduct with regard to Monica Lewinsky (the woman with whom he admitted, under duress, to having had an "inappropriate relationship" consisting of multiple incidences of oral sex) and Kathleen Willey (who alleges that the leader of the free world merely fondled her breasts and forced her to touch--albeit shielded under some layers of clothing--his tumescent penis). In Hitchens's view, however, the sexual controversies are only the most prominent aspect of Clinton's shameful character, a moral condition that must be considered in toto. The book is short, with an argument that runs only about a hundred pages, but that's still more than enough room for Hitchens to serve up a comprehensive, blistering indictment suffused throughout by his dark wit. He sums up the failure of those fixated on Clinton's adultery to fully investigate his cronyism and financial shenanigans: "It's not the lipstick traces, stupid," Hitchens warns, "it's the Revlon Connection." --Ron Hogan --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
Christopher Hitchens is a remarkable commentator. He jousts with fraudulence of every stripe and always wins. I regret he has only one life, one mind, and one reputation to put at the service of my country. -- Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22
The Bill Clinton portrayed in Christopher Hitchens's No One Left to Lie To is an obscene mix of Machiavelli and Georges Bataille. -- San Francisco Guardian, Daniel Burton Rose, 28 April 1999
Well-travelled, hyper-educated, pissed-off, always funny, Christopher Hitchens has no equal in American journalism. -- Voice Literary Supplement
What a treat this nasty little bonbon is! -- Seattle Weekly
[A] slim but powerful book. -- Village Voice, James Ledbetter, 11 May 1999
[T]he prose is polished to a luminous glow, and the invective is of a high humor. ...Hitchens is fearless and erudite and blessedly untainted by conventional wisdom. -- Fortune, Andrew Furgeson, 24 May 1999
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating and shocking look at the Clinton era,
By
This review is from: No One Left To Lie To (Paperback)
Christopher Hitchens book on the Clinton presidency should be compulsory reading for anyone interested in modern politics. Hitchens gives a searing critique of the Clintons and the way they have practised the art of politics from their days in the governor's mansion in Arkansas up to Hilary's senate campaign in 2000. This book gets three stars because while Hitchens does make a credible case for Clinton being not only the liar we now know that he is, but also a rapist, he shows an unrelenting hostility to the Clintons that seems to me to go beyond reasonable judgement and amounts to a prejudice (although not without reasonable foundation). This is not a balanced and fair account of Bill Clinton's time in the White House that should be considered definitive (as Edward Said has said), but rather a more or less reliable account of the worst that can be said of this chapter in American history. There is more that can be said in Clinton's favour (at least as a president, if not a human being) than is said here, and this should always be kept in mind by anybody who reads this book, whatever their own political affiliation. Hitchens style is sharp and erudite, and it is a good read, but one feels that it is not the whole story.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Truth trumps idologicy,
By
This review is from: No One Left To Lie To (Hardcover)
Chris Hitchens is not only a brilliant writer he is an incredibly honest one. You might disagree with his premise (The Missionary Position) or you might think he doesn't have enough evidence to support his final conclusion (The Trial of Henry Kissinger) but no honest reader can state that he does not come to these conclusions honestly and based on facts and his conclusions from them.This book was his first step away from the left but as he would say in it, the left stepped away from its principles by supporting Clinton who used and abused those values which Hitchens believes in. Reading this book years after all the hullabaloo has died down gives a great insight into the operation of the Clintons now and the position of Hitchens now. His basic theme is that Clinton husband and wife were both giving lip service to the left while giving actions to the right based on their own advancement. He asks the question out loud stating bluntly why does the right hate Clinton so since he advanced so much of the agenda. I think it is precisely for the same reason why he did. He correctly points out that those in power on the right lets many things go due to either political fear or advantage, it is quite similar to the California situation today. As always the book is short and interesting. Don't read it at bedtime. It is not long enough to convince you to put it down till tomorrow yet too full to finish quickly and absorb it all. Read it before you read the other defenses and attacks on the Clintons. It is the straightest one of the batch.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
If I could rate this book a -1 I would,
By A Customer
This review is from: No One Left To Lie To (Hardcover)
The book has a fatal flaw, and that is its complete, total, absolute lack of footnotes, references or bibliographies. There is no reasonable way to verify which of Hitchens' quotes are made up and which are not made up.For instance, on page 63 Hitchens quotes George Stephanopoulos as having said "For eight months of 1995 and 1996, Morris was the president." Now, George Stephanopoulos may in fact have said that. Then again, he may not have. No way to tell, because Hitchens cannot be arsed --to use an Anglicism-- to tell us the source. Indeed, this book cites no sources whatever! Not one! As a work one could reference in researching President Clinton it is less than worthless.
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