The Humor About Hillary

A Hillary-ous Take on Everyone’s Favorite Democrat

by Jonathan J. Judge, Editor-in-Chief

Most politicians are the butts of many jokes, and the sources of many gaffes that, however scandal-scarred and despised one may be, immortalize their impact in that political era.

However, people in both parties have not been so in love with ridiculing a candidate as much as they are with Hillary Clinton.

This book, written by Robert Myers, successfully captures the humor behind the anti-Hillary movement of American society.

There’s a bit of anecdotal sentiments about the Senator from New York, such as a barber--also a registered Democrat--offering that he prefers John Kerry because “he only has two faces.”

Then there are the celebrity takes on Hillary, such as Joan Rivers, who quipped, “I think Hillary Clinton’s It Takes a Village refers to the number of people needed to do her makeup.”

Of course, no such book would be complete without countless slip-ups and self-deprecating one-liners from Her Aspiring Highness, like this one on her media strategy: “If I want to knock a story off the front page, I just change my hairstyle.”

All in all, it’s an entertaining read on the Democrat whom red and blue-state Americans love to loathe.

Amazon.com, $9.95, by Outskirks Press

Hillary-ous Hypocrisy

by Bob Capano, Brooklyn YRs

In the beginning of July, Senator Clinton (D) expressed all kinds of outrage over President Bush’s decision to commute the sentence of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. However, to this day, she has not expressed the same outrage over any former President Clinton’s many questionable pardons and commutations during his last days in office.

The most outrageous was her husband’s decision on August 11, 1999 to commute the sentences of 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican nationalist group that set off 120 bombs in the U.S., mostly in New York City and Chicago, who were convicted for conspiracies to commit robbery, bomb-making, and sedition, as well as for firearms and explosives violations.

Whether or not one agrees with President Bush’s decision relating to Mr. Libby, it seems clear that at least the same outrage, and I certainly believe more, should have been expressed by Senator Clinton regarding President Bill Clinton’s decision to free these members of FALN. As I noted in 1999 in a “letter to the editor” to various local newspapers, President Clinton’s decision was opposed by the two U.S. attorneys in the jurisdictions where the FALN members were convicted, and Justice Department officials who reviewed the case.

Of course, Hillary probably thought that doing so would cost her the Puerto Rican vote in New York for her first Senate race. America needs leaders who will do the right thing for the country and not a Senator (or President) who will offer commutations and pardons, or condemn them, for purely political reasons. Clearly, Hillary Clinton with her actions this week once again proves that she is not one of these leaders.

Bob Capano is Recording Secretary of the NYSYR and President of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club.