OurColony.net

Customer Rating:
Summary: Driven to purchase by reminders of bitter taste of past!
Comment: I had no intention of reading anything ever again about this sordid topic. Having obsessed our
national news media for more time than it took me to gestate another human being--(which was at
least a productive event) I was only jubilant that the topic no longer came up in conversation--or
occupied the front of every newspaper and magazine.

I was so happy at the end of the Clinton
crisis, only the thought of being bound and gagged seemed slightly more threatening and
uncomfortable than the thought of being subjected for even one more day to the adolescent behavior
of a large proportion of our nation's Congress and the revolting press coverage it generated. The
fanatical pursuit of the same crimes committed daily by the hypocritical accusers (remember Henry
Hyde's defense of his 'youthful indiscretion' at an age when the average American becomes a
grandparent? )was so nauseating as to leave me permanently cynical about the practice of government
in this country.

Yet, even I have my limits where I must draw my head out of the sand. The
combination of reading the reviews of this book by some of the lunatic fringe below, plus finding
myself going through a revolving door on the other side of the glass from Ken Starr on my way to
work this morning, in addition to seeing Linda Tripp's plastic surgeried face (her reward for
being named 'Girlfriend of the Year' I guess) on the cover of a national magazine on the newstand
yesterday has driven me to the unimaginable--voluntarily reading something about this shameful
period in our history.

The impeachment's greatest relief was in the silence that followed its
pathetic end. However, the faces of Linda Tripp and Ken Starr--him live and only 12 inches in
front of me--it was like being Harry Potter staring into the eyes of VOLDEMORT!

I suppose
such experiences are meant to serve as a warning to remind us how vulnerable we remain to Medieval
witch hunts, and how it is necessary to tell and retell the story to prevent its being forgotten,
to keep it from happening again.

How anyone, least of all the poorly disguised fanatics
pretending to be serious critics below, can find justification for means so egregious gives me the
shivers to contemplate.

Few of us would find Clinton's morality defensible were it not for the
much more reprehensible tactics of Ken Starr and his henchmen. Most of us were able to perceive
the greater dangers of Starr's justification of thuggish intimidation, which was not only more
repugnant, but also a great deal more threatening to our democracy and way of life than Clinton's
sleaziness and poor judgement.

Any of us could find ourselves subject to Ken Starr's methods
of investigation if we were unlucky enough to cross the paths of the "Sheriffs" of the ONE TRUE
FAITH of moral righteousness who believe they bear the exclusive mantle of the Founding Fathers.
Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and even George Washington would roll in their graves at the
misuse of the power of impeachment which our noble Congress did not hesitate to use as a blunt
weapon of hatred and resentment.

So, here I go back into the fray--at least this books sounds
intelligently written--something I cannot say of some of the commentary on this page.

Customer Rating:
Summary: It is regretful that Amazon requires a minimum of one star.
Comment: A fascinating account of how a rapist (yes, I believe Juanita Broderick) beguiled the nation, and in
particular it's women, into thinking that he is really just a well-intentioned rogue.

Mr. Toobin
states that Clinton's crimes are "essentially private," yet he then praises Judge Wright's
contempt ruling. Odd that a lawyer would support the notion that private behavior might qualify as
contempt of court. This is the logical extension of his thinking but, not surprisingly, he doesn't
follow it. If you hold to either of those positions, the other becomes untenable. Reminiscent of
many Democratic Senators who fulminated about the personal nature of Clinton's crimes, yet
supported censure. Why should congress be censuring Presidents for private behavior? Alas, the
kneepad crowd wants to have it both ways.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Who Were the "Immoral" Ones?
Comment: Jeffrey Toobin's sober, evenhanded book is only the beginning. The truth always surfaces, and in the
case of the so-called "impeachment" of last year, it is beginning to do so, however slowly and
gradually. Toobin describes operatives who failed to understand there is a quiet, large majority
out here that they terribly underestimated. We caught on without any "White House spin." History
will tell the truth of this matter, and it will be about the Haters more than about the President.
The immorality, the viciousness of public humiliation -- of the President, his family, his lover,
his friends -- has left a stench in the air it will take decades to clear.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Not the worst book ever but in the top ten
Comment: There should be a zero star rating - this would certainly get it. This is not the worst book ever
written on a political subject but it ranks as one of the most lapdoggy treatments of a significant
part of our history. It may not have been written in the White House but it looks like they
approved the drafts - even with that it still raises some significant issues about the President's
behavior. It also raises whether the Congressional Leadership actually exercised any.

Much
better and more factual book is from Richard Posner.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Right Wing Woes
Comment: I get a kick out of these one-star amazon reviews from readers who suggest Toobin paints Clinton as
a saint in his book. Obviously, those Starr apologists haven't looked at this masterpiece, which
believe me, spares nobody, including the POTUS.

What the book does for the first time however,
is shine a spotlight on Starr's woefully inept OIC, and recount the many errors that he and staff
acculumated, as they bungled their way through impeachment.