{"quotes":[{"text":"Nine had heard whisperings that the secretive Bilderberg Group was effectively the World Government, undermining democracy by influencing everything from nations' political leaders to the venue for the next war. He recalled persistent rumors and confirmed media reports that the Bilderberg Group had such luminaries as Barack Obama, Prince Charles, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, Tony Blair, Bill and Hillary Clinton, George Bush Sr. And George W. Bush. Other Bilderberg members sprung forth from Nine’s memory bank. They included the founders and CEOs of various multinational corporations like Facebook, BP, Google, Shell and Amazon, as well as almost every major financial institution on the planet.","author":"James Morcan","tags":["amazon","amazon-com","barack-obama","bilderberg","bill-clinton","clinton","conspiracy","conspiracy-theories","conspiracy-theory","facebook","george-w-bush","google","hillary-clinton","microsoft","morcan","the-ninth-orphan","the-orphan-trilogy","thriller","tony-blair"],"id":59871,"author_id":"James+Morcan"},{"text":"The President is also captured in a well-worn TV news clip, making a boilerplate response to a question on terrorism and then asking the reporters to watch his drive. Well, that's what you get if you catch the President on a golf course. If Eisenhower had done this, as he often did, it would have been presented as calm statesmanship. If Clinton had done it, as he often did, it would have shown his charm.","author":"Christopher Hitchens","tags":["bill-clinton","charm","double-standards","dwight-d-eisenhower","george-w-bush","golf","hypocrisy","statesmanship","television","terrorism","united-states","war-on-terror"],"id":94667,"author_id":"Christopher+Hitchens"},{"text":"One might come up with other and kinder distinctions (I shall not be doing so) but the plain fact about the senator from New York is surely that she is a known quantity who has already been in the White House purely as the result of a relationship with a man, and not at all a quixotic outsider who represents the aspirations of an 'out' group, let alone a whole sex or gender.","author":"Christopher Hitchens","tags":["2008","21st-century","bill-clinton","feminism","first-lady-of-the-united-states","hillary-clinton","new-york","politics","united-states","united-states-elections-2008","white-house"],"id":97199,"author_id":"Christopher+Hitchens"},{"text":"This brings us to the crux moment in the supposed 'Show Trial' melodrama. Employing the confusing and confused testimony of Jude Wanniski (who he also describes as a political nut-case, if not a nut-case flat-out, and to whom he introduced me in the first place) Blumenthal suggests that I concerted my testimony in advance with the House Republicans, notably James Rogan and Lindsey Graham. Feebly bridging the gap between sheer conjecture and outright conspiracy, Rogan is quoted as saying: 'Hitchens may well have called Lindsey..' I did not in fact do any such thing. Why should my denial be believed? It's not as if I care. I probably should have colluded with them, if my intention was to land a blow on Clinton (which it was) let alone to plant a Judas kiss on Blumenthal (which it was not). But every other fragment of Blumenthal's evidence and description shows—even boasts—that Congressman Graham was essentially punching air until the last day of the trial. That could not possibly have been true, especially in his cross-examination of Blumenthal, if he knew he had an ace in his vest-pocket all along. Only a tendency to paranoia or to all-explaining theories could suggest the contrary. I'd even be able to claim for myself, I hope, that if I'd truly wanted to gouge a deep or vengeful wound I could or would have made a better job of it.","author":"Christopher Hitchens","tags":["bill-clinton","conspiracy-theories","impeachment-of-bill-clinton","james-e-rogan","judas-iscariot","jude-wanniski","kiss-of-judas","lewinsky-scandal","lindsey-graham","politics","presidency-of-bill-clinton","republican-party-united-states","sidney-blumenthal","united-states","us-house-of-representatives"],"id":118281,"author_id":"Christopher+Hitchens"},{"text":"Don't write in to ask whether I would prefer Gingrich to Clinton. Ask, rather, whether Clinton prefers Gingrich to you. Go triangulate yourself.","author":"Christopher Hitchens","tags":["1997","bill-clinton","newt-gingrich","politics","politics-of-the-united-states","triangulation-politics","united-states"],"id":132187,"author_id":"Christopher+Hitchens"},{"text":"George Bush made a mistake when he referred to the Saddam Hussein regime as 'evil.' Every liberal and leftist knows how to titter at such black-and-white moral absolutism. What the president should have done, in the unlikely event that he wanted the support of America's peace-mongers, was to describe a confrontation with Saddam as the 'lesser evil.' This is a term the Left can appreciate. Indeed, 'lesser evil' is part of the essential tactical rhetoric of today's Left, and has been deployed to excuse or overlook the sins of liberal Democrats, from President Clinton's bombing of Sudan to Madeleine Albright's veto of an international rescue for Rwanda when she was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Among those longing for nuance, moral relativism—the willingness to use the term evil, when combined with a willingness to make accommodations with it—is the smart thing: so much more sophisticated than 'cowboy' language.","author":"Christopher Hitchens","tags":["absolutism","al-shifa-pharmaceutical-factory","anti-war","ba-ath-party","bill-clinton","democratic-party-united-states","evil","george-w-bush","iraq","iraq-war","leftism","liberalism","madeleine-albright","moral-absolutism","moral-relativism","morality","opposition-to-the-iraq-war","peace-movement","presidency-of-bill-clinton","presidency-of-george-w-bush","rwanda","rwandan-genocide","saddam-hussein","sudan","united-nations","united-states"],"id":137138,"author_id":"Christopher+Hitchens"},{"text":"Inevitably came the time when he angrily repudiated his former paladin Yasser Arafat. In fact, he described him to me as 'the Palestinian blend of Marshal Petaín and Papa Doc.' But the main problem, alas, remained the same. In Edward's moral universe, Arafat could at last be named as a thug and a practitioner of corruption and extortion. But he could only be identified as such to the extent that he was now and at last aligned with an American design. Thus the only truly unpardonable thing about 'The Chairman' was his readiness to appear on the White House lawn with Yitzhak Rabin and Bill Clinton in 1993. I have real knowledge and memory of this, because George Stephanopoulos—whose father's Orthodox church in Ohio and New York had kept him in touch with what was still a predominantly Christian Arab-American opinion—called me more than once from the White House to help beseech Edward to show up at the event. 'The feedback we get from Arab-American voters is this: If it's such a great idea, why isn't Said signing off on it?' When I called him, Edward was grudging and crabby. 'The old man [Arafat] has no right to sign away land.' Really? Then what had the Algiers deal been all about? How could two states come into being without mutual concessions on territory?","author":"Christopher Hitchens","tags":["1993","arabs","arafat","bill-clinton","christians","corruption","edward-said","extortion","francois-duvalier","george-stephanopoulos","israeli-palestinian-conflict","new-york","ohio","philippe-petain","territory","united-states","vox-populi","white-house","yitzhak-rabin"],"id":170748,"author_id":"Christopher+Hitchens"},{"text":"Foreigners are mystified by the whole business while thoughtful Americans – there are several of us – are equally mystified that the ruling establishment of the country has proved to be so mindlessly vindictive that it is willing, to be blunt, to overthrow the lawful government of the United States – that is, a president elected in 1992 and reelected in 1995 by We the People, that sole source of all political legitimacy, which takes precedence over the Constitution and the common law and God himself.","author":"Gore Vidal","tags":["bill-clinton","politics"],"id":193458,"author_id":"Gore+Vidal"},{"text":"Since Jimmy Carter, religious fundamentalists play a major role in elections. He was the first president who made a point of exhibiting himself as a born again Christian. That sparked a little light in the minds of political campaign managers: Pretend to be a religious fanatic and you can pick up a third of the vote right away. Nobody asked whether Lyndon Johnson went to church every day. Bill Clinton is probably about as religious as I am, meaning zero, but his managers made a point of making sure that every Sunday morning he was in the Baptist church singing hymns.","author":"Noam Chomsky","tags":["2008","atheism","baptism","bill-clinton","born-again-christianity","christianity","church","fundamentalism","hymns","jimmy-carter","lyndon-b-johnson","piety","political-campaigns","politics","politics-of-the-united-states","religion","united-states","united-states-elections-2008"],"id":215551,"author_id":"Noam+Chomsky"},{"text":"The accomplishments of the women in 'The Counselors' are a testament to the power and promise of the American Dream and are sure to resonate deeply with many young women who have the desire and the ability to make their own unique contributions to this legacy of progress. . . . Just as the women in this book were empowered by the efforts and example of those who came before them, a new generation will be inspired and encouraged by the spirit and achievements of this remarkable group.","author":"Bill Clinton","tags":["bill-clinton","feminism","leadership","politics"],"id":220155,"author_id":"Bill+Clinton"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":16,"pages":2,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}