During an interview on the April 18 edition of CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, “conservative activist” Thomas D. Kuiper acknowledged that he “can't verify” that the quotes contained in his newly released book of quotations he attributes to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) are “100 percent true.” Kuiper also acknowledged “a legitimate criticism that the book at times comes off as almost mean-spirited.” As Media Matters for America previously noted, the quotations in Kuiper's book -- “I've Always Been a Yankees Fan”: Hillary Clinton in Her Own Words (World Ahead Publishing, April 2006) -- are, in many cases, based on hearsay and sourced to discredited books written by conservative authors. Kuiper's acknowledgement came during a report on the book by CNN national news correspondent Jeanne Moos, who noted: “Many of the quotes are unverifiable, coming from books attacking the Clintons.” Moos also pointed out that while the book's cover features Clinton wearing a Chicago Cubs baseball cap, seemingly contradicting her statement that she is a New York Yankees fan, “she's already explained she's been a fan of both teams.”

In her report, Moos also debunked comparisons between Kuiper's book and the popular "Bushisms" series, compiled by Slate editor Jacob Weisberg, which contain on-the-record, verifiable quotes of President Bush. In an interview for the segment, Weisberg characterized Kuiper's book as “kind of a Hillary-hater's fantasy of what Hillary sounds like in private.” As Media Matters noted, in an April 16 article, New York Times reporter Anne Kornblut equated Kuiper's book with other collections of quotes, such as the "Bushisms" series and a book that turns on-the-record statements by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld into poems. But while Kornblut acknowledged, near the end of the article, that many of the quotes in Kuiper's book “have been culled from disputed sources or unverifiable private conversations,” the article rested on the premise -- as indicated by its headline, “For Politicians, Yadda, Yadda May Become Gotcha” -- that the quotation collections are all part of the same trend: Public figures having their quotations captured and highlighted for the public's amusement.

Moos also pointed out that one of the quotes attributed to Clinton reportedly originated in a Talk magazine interview, according to the BBC, but the quote never appeared in that interview. Following Moos's report, Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer asked CNN anchor Jack Cafferty for his thoughts on the book. Cafferty replied by comparing Kuiper to James Frey, the author of the discredited memoir A Million Little Pieces (Nan A. Talese, April 2003), pointing out that “at least,” Kuiper “came up out front and said some of this stuff may not be true.”

From the April 18 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:

BLITZER: Tonight, Senator Hillary Clinton has something in common with President Bush. She's the subject of a new book about her most memorable and often most embarrassing verbal slip-ups. It's more proof that she's a political lightning rod and a leading presidential contender, but are the quotes in this book all real? CNN's Jeanne Moos has more on Hillary-isms.

MOOS: There's practically a cottage industry in Bushisms -- presidential sentence mangling that turns phrases like “trade barriers” and “tarrifs” into --

BUSH [video clip]: Terriers and bariffs.

MOOS: But Hillary-isms? Quotable quotes from Hillary Clinton?

CLINTON [video clip]: I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had tea.

MOOS: She may wish she had stayed home after she sees the new book, “I've Always Been a Yankees Fan,” featuring Hillary wearing a Cubs cap, no matter that she's already explained she's been a fan of both teams.

CLINTON [video clip]: I needed an American League team that could win.

MOOS: “Hillary Clinton in her own words,” says the cover, though even the author seems to hedge.

KUIPER [video clip]: Everything in the book is -- I believe it to be true, but since I wasn't there, I can't verify that it's 100 percent true.

MOOS: Which is what makes it different from, say, the book of Donald Rumsfeld comments turned into poetry, and even turned into song.

RUMSFELD [video clip]: The world thinks all these things happen. They never happened.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): They never happened, never happened.

MOOS: The Rumsfeld quotes tend to be on the record, same for the five "Bushisms" books. The president himself held up a copy.

BUSH: Then there is my most famous statement: “Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?”

MOOS: The editor of Slate, who collected the Bushisms, wasn't so amused with the Hillary book.

WEISBERG [video clip]: I'm just looking at this thing. Every single quote has the F-word in it. This is kind of a Hillary-hater's fantasy of what Hillary sounds like in private.

MOOS: Many of the quotes are unverifiable, coming from books attacking the Clintons. The Republican paralegal who compiled the quotes says he's proud of the book, but --

KUIPER [video clip]: I do think it's a legitimate criticism that the book at times comes off as almost mean-spirited. I had so many sources of her using the profanity, that's just the way it kind of came about.

MOOS: But if you ask someone who works for Hillary Clinton if this sounds like the Hillary they know, they say no way. She just doesn't talk like that. At least one remark Hillary allegedly made about her husband -- “He's a hard dog to keep on the porch” -- never appeared in the Talk magazine interview that BBC Online said it came from. Some quotes are indisputable.

CLINTON [video clip]: I'm not sitting here as some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette.

MOOS: Question is: Who's going to stand by these quotes? Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

BLITZER: That would be Jack Cafferty. Jack, you got “The Cafferty File”? Hillary-isms, what do you make of that?

CAFFERTY: Now, you know, I -- the guy was, at least -- what was that book -- A Million Little Pieces -- that was such a bestseller and now, it turned out half of it was all made up stuff? At least this guy came up out front and said some of this stuff may not be true. If you want to buy it, buy it.