The Destruction of Hillary Clinton
It was on hearing certain phrases used over and over again on Australian TV programs talking about the 2016 US election campaign that I became suspicious that we were witnessing a lazy press.
Almost daily the media was taking the same phrases and words and using them over and over again – with no evidence that they could be accurate except that they were the words and phrases being used by most journalists and commentators at the time.
On the basis we were supposed to accept their words as fact.
This is how Hillary Clinton came to be defined through the Australian media. And as it turns out – this was yet another example of the Australian media taking their cues from their colleagues in the US media – and we all know how reliable that has become.
Later in 2016 and well before the election, I came to the conclusion that something was wrong with the messages we were hearing from just about all sources. The most blatant being some of the commentators on more respected programs such as The Drum.
Sadly when negative comments were made about Hillary Clinton, at no time did anyone challenge the speaker to back up their statement with any evidence. It was always simply accepted – and often done so as if everyone agreed.
At last there is a book out that may go some way to provide a version of events to the never ending supply of questionable story-lines and spin that dominated the airwaves during the election – and even continue to this day.
That book is:
The Destruction of Hillary Clinton – by Susan Bordo.
from the publisher:
Gossip is easy. Get to the deeper truth, with this in-depth look at the political forces and media culture that vilified and ultimately brought down Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential campaign.
The Destruction of Hillary Clinton is an answer to the question many have been asking: How did an extraordinarily well-qualified, experienced, and admired candidate—whose victory would have been as historic as Barack Obama’s—come to be seen as a tool of the establishment, a chronic liar, and a talentless politician?
In this masterful narrative of the 2016 campaign year and the events that led up to it, Susan Bordo unpacks the Rights’ assault on Clinton and her reputation, the way the left provoked suspicion and indifference among the youth vote, the inescapable presence of James Comey, questions about Russian influence, and the media’s malpractice in covering the candidate.
Urgent, insightful, and engrossing, The Destruction of Hillary Clinton is an essential guide to understanding the most controversial presidential election in American history.
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Here’s one review – there are not may and I think that is no surprise: Click here.
Here’s the author writing in The Guardian about the book – and it was based on this that I bought the book: Click here.
and for more on the author, Susan Bordo – click here.
A big thanks to Susan Bordo for this book – it has answered my questions – but sadly reinforced my view on how easily the electorate can be fooled – and how the media has become part of the problem we face today in trying to get the democratic processes to function.
Recommended: Rating 10/10
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Another book by Susan Bordo – I have yet to read it – but will be purchasing it soon:
The Creation of Anne Boleyn – click here.