The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Hsu Manipulations

9.14.07 @ 12:01AM

EASY FIT
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.'s If the Hsu Fits:

Of course this won't have any negative impact on Hillary's campaign. Did you somehow forget that she's a Democrat? Charges, no matter how serious, will be dismissed as more smear from the VRWC. Republicans are expected to obey laws. Democrats aren't.
-- Dennis Bergendorf

The press will continue to be manipulated, and happily. Access is a powerful enticement, and ratings are an even more powerful aphrodisiac to the press. After the first election of President Bush, the press howled for months about how secretive this new administration was. Access denied. No longer was the press invited to classified briefings, cabinet meetings etc. Now that they have the scent of access again, they will do anything to regain access to the White House.
-- Greg Mercurio
Vacaville, California

Considering the number of illegal Chinese donors involved in his own illegal campaign contributions, I am surprised that Bill Clinton is "shocked" -- shocked! -- at this latest revelation. I should think it would give him a feeling of nostalgia and everybody else that sinking feeling of déjà vu.
-- John Krogstad

How do we know if Hillary or Bill ever return illegal campaign funds? What happened to all that illegal money in the '90s? Who follows up on that? Who would they return it to? Chinese Generals? A windfall for the perhaps unsuspecting Paw family? Isn't the IRS interested in all this? Her brothers got caught some years back for promising to return ill-gotten gains, and then didn't.

Inquiring minds want to know.
-- Tom Smith
Austin, Texas

R. Emmett Tyrrell ended his recent catalogue of the Clintons' questionable ethics and legality with the (I assume) rhetorical question, "The press cannot be manipulated forever, can it?"

The most applicable definition of "manipulate," found in several sources at dictionary.com, is "to influence or control shrewdly or deviously; 'He manipulated public opinion in his favor.'"

Perhaps the problem with Mr. Tyrrell's question is this: the media, by and large, does not require "manipulation" by the Clintons. Shrewdness, nor deceit, is required to effect behavior in others that they are already disposed to exhibit. The long and deep Clintonian history of scandalous behavior without the ensuing media frenzy that one might expect is the result of the simple reality that most members of the media have very little interest in embarrassing the Clintons, nor in providing the rhetorical rail for riding them out of the public sphere that they so (Marc) Richly deserve.

The Clintons get a pass not because they are devilishly clever about how they "manipulate" the media. They get it because, when it comes to recognizing Clintonian perfidy, most members of that class are deliberately obtuse.

And deliberate obtuseness, alas, can go on forever. In fact, it usually does.
-- Robert E. Heiler
Alexandria, Virginia

"The Democrats could save themselves a lot of disappointments by finding a cleaner presidential nominee than Hillary. The press cannot be manipulated forever, can it?"

I am afraid I can answer that question for you. YES the mainstream media can be manipulated FOREVER as long as it is a Clinton doing it. When Clinton ran for President the second time I thought there was no way that many stupid people lived in America, but boy was I wrong.

What really surprises me is the fact that Hsu is still alive; wonder what made him sick? Would love to know if it was something he "ate."
-- Elaine Kyle

Two comments on Mr. Tyrrell's article.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Hillary Clinton, Mainstream Media, Islam, Books, Law, Military, Iraq, NATO, Socialism, Conservatism