NY Times article falsely suggested Clinton autobiography contradicts her story about seeing MLK
A March 5 New York Times article by reporters Patrick Healy and Jeff Zeleny on Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama's (D-IL) participation in a commemorative civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, suggested that Clinton's description in her speech of having seen Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in Chicago when she was a teenager is contradicted by her autobiography, in which Clinton "described [herself] growing up Republican and being a 'Goldwater Girl.' " In fact, in her autobiography, Living History (Simon & Schuster, 2003), Clinton related both that she was "an active Young Republican and, later, a Goldwater girl," and that she attended a speech by King that she said had an effect on some of her political views.
From Healy and Zeleny's Times article:
Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, recalled going with her church youth minister as a teenager in 1963 to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in Chicago. Yet, in her autobiography and elsewhere, Mrs. Clinton has described growing up Republican and being a "Goldwater Girl" in 1964 -- in other words, a supporter of the presidential candidacy of Senator Barry M. Goldwater, who opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
However, in her autobiography, Clinton also described going with a Methodist youth minister, Don Jones, to see King speak in Chicago, as well as her reaction to the speech. From Living History (Pages 22-23):
My quest to reconcile my father's insistence on self-reliance and my mother's concerns about social justice was helped along by the arrival in 1961 of a Methodist youth minister named Donald Jones.
[...]
Rev. Jones stressed that a Christian life was "faith in action." I had never met anyone like him. Don called his Sunday and Thursday night Methodist Youth Fellowship sessions "the University of Life." He was eager to work with us because he hoped we would become more aware of life outside Park Ridge [IL]. He sure met his goals with me. ... We visited black and Hispanic churches in Chicago's inner city for exchanges with their youth groups.
In the discussions we had sitting around church basements, I learned that, despite the obvious differences in our environments, these kids were more like me than I ever could have imagined. They also knew more about what was happening in the civil rights movement in the South. I had only vaguely heard of Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, but these discussions sparked my interest.
So, when Don announced one week that he would take us to hear Dr. King speak at Orchestra Hall, I was excited. My parents gave me permission, but some of my friends' parents refused to let them go hear such a "rabble-rouser."
Dr. King's speech was entitled, "Remaining Awake Through a Revolution." Until then, I had been dimly aware of the social revolution occurring in our country, but Dr. King's words illuminated the struggle taking place and challenged our indifference: "We now stand on the border of the Promised Land of integration. The old order is passing away and a new one is coming in. We should all accept this order and learn to live together as brothers in a world society, or we shall perish together."
Though my eyes were opening, I still mostly parroted the conventional wisdom of Park Ridge's and my father's politics. While Don Jones threw me into "liberalizing" experiences, Paul Carlson [Clinton's ninth-grade history teacher and "a very conservative Republican"] introduced me to refugees from the Soviet Union who told haunting tales of cruelty under the Communists, which reinforced my already strong anti-Communist views. Don once remarked that he and Mr. Carlson were locked in a battled for my mind and soul. Their conflict was broader than that, however, and came to a head in our church, where Paul was also a member. Paul disagreed with Don's priorities, including the University of Life curriculum, and pushed for Don's removal from the church. After numerous confrontations, Don decided to leave First Methodist after only two years for a teaching position at Drew University, where he recently retired as Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics.
In the same chapter, Clinton had earlier related how her history teacher, Paul Carlson, encouraged her to learn about Goldwater. Clinton highlighted what she admired about Goldwater, both as a teenager and "years later." From Living History (Page 21):
My ninth-grade history teacher, Paul Carlson, was, and still is, a dedicated educator and very conservative Republican. Mr. Carlson encouraged me to read Senator Barry Goldwater's recently published book, The Conscience of a Conservative. That inspired me to write my term paper on the American conservative movement, which I dedicated "To my parents, who have always taught me to be an individual." I liked Senator Goldwater because he was a rugged individualist who swam against the political tide. Years later, I admired his outspoken support of individual rights, which he considered consistent with his old-fashioned conservative principles: "Don't raise hell about the gays, the blacks and the Mexicans. Free people have a right to do as they damn well please."
Clinton concluded that she did not see the "beliefs" of Jones and Carlson "as diametrically opposed then or now." From Living History (Page 23):
I now see the conflict between Don Jones and Paul Carlson as an early indication of the cultural, political, and religious fault lines that developed across America in the last forty years. I liked them both personally and did not see their beliefs as diametrically opposed then or now.
Should we talk instead about the fact that the NYTimes authors managed to read one paragraph of Senator Clinton's book and decided she must be lying about having heard MLK speak? I guess we should be impressed that they managed to read even one paragraph. That counts for heavy research among today's journalistic fraternity.
Accents are unimportant. It's what you say that counts. Perhaps Sen. Clinton picked up some of her accent from her colleagues in the Senate. Have you ever heard them on CSPAN?
not really a surprise she might have a little bit of a southern accent. she lived in arkansas for how long?
We're trying to put that behind us.
Wow. How easy was that to debunk. All they had to do was...turn to page 23.
Good job NY Times. Way to put a lot of effort into your research before smearing Hilary.
Thomas, its better if you don't repeat on a Monday what Drudge said the night before on a Sunday night on his radio show. Or what FOX NEWS CHANNEL "anchors" or guests say. George Bush's "Southern" accent often seems forced and more accentuated at times, like when he is speaking in front of crowds at some rally. The point is that one of the spearheads for the bogus "liberal media" argument is--once again--advancing falsehoods about a Democrat. Don't forget that it was the "liberal" New York Times that broke Whitewater. That lead to Fiske, who led to Starr, who led to Robert Ray, who all couldn't get more than Clinton's philandering after $70 million in taxpayer money and hundreds of FBI Agents.
THANK YOU.
njguy93@yahoo.com
Don't listen to Tommy.
He's just trying to distract us from the REAL issue at hand: how the NY Times tried (and failed) to smear Hilary without doing their homework. Homework that seems like it'd be really easy to do, especially when you consider all that they had to do was flip a few pages.
Thomas and I go way back. We've had a few back and forths. Thomas, like some others here, has sort of a Jekyll and Hyde syndrome. Sometimes he makes sense, other times he sounds like one of the knuckle-dragging, flat-earth-believing, Jesus-loving, mouth-breathing monstrosities you would see at a Free Republic convention on C-Span.
THANK YOU.
njguy93@yahoo.com
Ms. Ann Coulter recently stated that the Democrat'Libs are "soft against Terrorists, yet strong against the "Unborn". Hallelujah. This also applies to Mrs. Billary Clinton. She and Billy released terrorists, coke dealers, and tax cheats from our federal prisons. She voted for the war. Now says Bush "fooled her". Her hubby "Slick Willie" has also repeatedly "fooled her"with his non-stop philandering ways even since before Billy boy was elected governor of Arkansas. Suha Arafat also "fooled" her when Billary embraced her shortly after Suha stated that Israel was "poisoning the water to kill Palestinian children"! And you really thought she is the "most intelligent woman in the world.!" It is the American people who will be the real fools if they vote for this phony. "It Takes A Village Of "Fools" To Still Believe In The Clintons".
heh heh, "Slick Willie"... Nice one, PartyRico. I call Las Vegas "Lost Wages, Nevada"!
Saddam Hussein? So-Damn Insane, when I get done with him. Feel free to use either in your hysterical act.
I can't help but ask.
Has a democrat ever been soft on a terrorist? I mean, in real life?
I know Reagan was squishy, squishy soft in Beirut. And Bush couldn't even slightly dent Al Qaeda with a worldwide mandate.
Sloppy writing...
From the way this is written one cannot tell with certainty if the writers are casting doubt on the veracity of Hillary Clinton's claim that she heard Martin Luther King speak, or whether his speech must not have had much of an impact on her as she soon afterwards became a Barry Goldwater supporter. What the writers probably meant (I think) is the latter. However, since the reference to her speech at the commemorative ceremony is contrasted with passages of her autobiography it renders the meaning subject to interpretation. This is just sloppy writing... and it amazes me how often this kind of writing is seen. What are editors for?
(BTW, my writing may be sloppy, too.. but I don't get paid to do it for a living by The New York Times.)
I still don't hear Clinton say she changed her mind to be Democrat or am I missing something.
Read her book. You might learn enough about her to like her.
The Post has still not forgiven her for not being corrupt so their whitewater campaign failed to hold water even in the broad bucket carried by Ken Starr, whose conclusion on every smut story but Monica was: "No evidence of wrongdoing." So don't be too surprised by "slopping editing" or outright targeting.
I was born in Selma, lived much of my life in North Alabama and live in Tennessee. Southern accent? Maybe to New York ears...
I'm a liberal, and I heard Bush speak. The contradiction is astounding!! Who can fathom this?
On a side note, it's funny to see the accent discussion in light of the talkingpointsmemo refutation. How offbase Tommy was to not realize you can play a tape of someone and still smear them, and all the spasmodically wild darts the Hillary defenders threw at the wall (not that I would have done any better).
Just because right-wingers never mean anything when they say they're taken out of context, doesn't mean that other people can't be taken out of context.
" Clinton related both that she was "an active Young Republican and, later, a Goldwater girl," and that she attended a speech by King that she said had an effect on some of her political views. "
I think y'all are missin the point. What this artical is about is that she claims that her political views were affected by the speach by MLK. Tell us, Hilary, what views were those? I've read a LOT of MLK sermons and speachs, I don't recall many that are liberal views. He was a VERY religious man and VERY God centered. She must have meant that she didn't like his views so that changed her into a staunch liberal.
Hey, that's good sarcasm.
I thought I was positively dyslexic compared to all the big-time reviewers, columnists of the NY Times and the guys who wrote 2 inch thick books. But even I recalled reading the following lines in the Clinton autobiography, shortly after her description of the Dr King meeting:
Though my eyes were opening, I still mostly parroted the conventional wisdom of Park Ridge's and my father's politics. While Don Jones threw me into "liberalizing" experiences, Paul Carlson introduced me to refugees from the Soviet Union who told haunting tales of cruelty under the Communists, which reinforced my already strong anti-Communist views. Don once remarked that he and Mr Carlson were locked in a battle for my mind and soul. (Living History, p. 23)
The last sentence is perhaps most revealing. I don't know of many politicians whose formative years - she was in 9th grade at that time - were not full of such conflicting influences. Most politicians arrive after such difficult journeys. To me, this reinforces Clinton's authenticity as a politician in her own right.