Barbara Olson (1) (1955–2001)

3601. The Final Days: The Last, Desperate Abuses of Power by the Clinton White House, by Barbara Olson (read 13 July 2002) Reading this proves that I sometimes read what is written by people who think differently from what I do. I read Six Crises, by Nixon, on 20 Jan 1963, and The Death of Outrage, by Bill Bennett on 20 Aug 1999. Some of what Barbara Olson, who died on Sept 11, 2001, says in this book is true, though she says it shrilly and without concealing her didactic purpose. I kind of got a kick out of how galling to people like her were the Clintons' electoral successes.… (más)

I wrote this review quickly because my wife told me she was sick of looking at Hillary's face on the cover. If she had only read the book. There is so much more of Hillary Clinton about which to be freightened other than her face.

I got this book thinking it would be a behind-the-scenes look at Hillary's White House conduct. The title is what a Secret Service memo said would happen if a desire of the First Lady's wasn't carried out. The book turned out to be a biography. A lot of her history is well known. "Goldwater Girl". Conservative parents. The author, Barbara Olson, was one of the special prosecutors that investigated Filegate and Travelgate. These two scandals are outlined in gruesome detail.

What I didn't know was her radical college life. She supported the Black Panthers, and idolized radical left-wing activist Saul Alinsky. Quotes from his book "Rules For Radicals" are featured at the beginning of each chapter. Particularly revealing were her papers written for various law journals that promote the government taking over child-rearing. Child's rights, in the form of lawyers assigned at birth to represent the interests of every child. Major issues in children's lives would not be decided by parents, but by judges. She learned from civil rights activist Marion Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund, that tying an issue with the "protection of children" makes it easy to push your agenda. If people oppose your issue, they are opposing children.
She worked for the prosecution in the Watergate case. Frequently assigned to find "dirt" on Nixon and his accomplices. You might say she was part of the "vast left-wing conspiracy".

She has a paranoid attitude to much of what she does, preferring to do work in secret. HillaryCare, the great socialized medicine fiasco was such a private matter that no one knew who was on the committee (that at one time reached 500).

It was common knowledge that she knew full well of her husband's womanizing. She used her husband's charisma to propel her (and her radical left-wing idealogy) into a position of power.

This was a very informative look into the writings, behaviors, and (ultimately) behind-the-scenes peek into the actions and "training" of Hillary into the person she is today.… (más)

"Stroke of a pen, law of the land"
- Bill Clinton

This was the attitude of the Clintons during their final days in office. They had absolute control over monuments, land grabs, and pardons.

Barbara Olson does a masterful job detailing the things done by the Clintons (usually Bill) in the last few days of his administration. What impressed me the most is the level of detail that is presented on each topic. This was something that I had not been presented with from the standard media outlets.

Olson explains the pardon process and why this president's pardons were so unusual. He bypassed or ignored the Justice Department. He submitted numerous pardons the morning of the inaguration guaranteeing they wouldn't be looked into with any great detail, if at all.

He pardoned drug smugglers. It's hard to be tough on the drug world when we release their kingpins back onto the streets.

Olson went into great depth on who Marc Rich was, what his businesses were, why he was in trouble, and why it was such a travesty to pardon him. You just don't pardon people who haven't even had a trial yet.
There was an enormous amount of land that was commandeered by the Federal Government without anyone getting a say on it.

The Clinton family gets in on the party also. Roger Clinton and Hugh Rodham take up a couple of chapters.

Finally, we see quotes from a lot of Clinton apologists and Democratic big-wigs displaying their disappointment and outright anger at the President for getting around the system. It was obvious that since Bill was no longer president, they didn't need to stick up for him anymore.

There was also much analysis done on the op-ed piece that Bill wrote expaining the pardons. This was truly a spinmeister work of art. As one columnist put it, "Four excuses, eight lies."

I enjoyed reading this book. Not because it bashed the Clintons, yet again. But it explained in great detail why people inside the Beltway were so appalled and upset at what was done by the Clintons during their final days in power. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in one of the few things the President of the United States has absolute authority over with no veto possible.… (más)