History according to a "Hillary confidante" (and Matt Drudge)

My colleague, Tim Reid, travelled down to South Carolina last week where  he soon found himself up to his ankles in what he described as the "foulest swamp of electoral dirty tricks in America".

Tim wrote about some of the smears and inuendos already floating by in the Palmetto state. His second paragraph reported some of the extraordinary allegations being spread about Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama, Fred Thompson and, oh yes, Hillary Clinton.

The purpose of this report  (read it for yourselves) was not to suggest these claims were true, but to provide a measure of their nastiness. For instance, I'm pretty sure Obama is not a "Muslim extremist".

Tim's article was duly picked up on Thursday by the Drudge Report  and that,  we thought, was that.   

Then yesterday, Drudge decides to lead with:

DON'T GO THERE: BRIT PAPER STARTS 'UGLIEST MONTH'
Sun Nov 25 2007 20:45:12 ET

The TIMES of London starts 'The Ugliest Month' with a full page photo takeout on Hillary Clinton and her beautiful personal assistant.

"This does not even qualify as tabloid trash... it's ridiculous    and   reckless," a Hillary confidante explained over the weekend.

Drudge does not quote from the story directly, referring only to the headline, a brief mention of Clinton and a 12-word picture caption. This, if read in isolation, might wrongly give readers of Drudge the impression that The Times was giving the allegation about her even the faintest hint of credence.

A story that five days ago gave real context to the dirty fight in South Carolina has itself been quoted out of context.

So, what's really going on?

Has a "Hillary confidante" contacted Drudge to draw attention to this five-day old story? Quite possibly. The New York Times recently reported that her campaign had opened up a direct channel of communication  to the mysterious Mr Drudge.

Why would a "Hillary confidante" do such a thing?  The mind boggles.

Could it be to provide cover for other - alleged - activities at Camp Clinton and its surrounding outposts?

I don't know.

But last week the conservative columnist Bob Novak claimed that agents of the Clinton campaign were sitting on scandalous information about Obama. The item prompted a furious response from Obama, who challenged her to either make the information public "or concede the truth that there is none". The Clinton campaign said it knew nothing about it.  This weekend Novak stood by his claim. "My source is a big Democrat - who is neutral right now, but was told by an agent of the Clinton camp who was involved in the campaign about the alleged scandal," he said. "I haven't talked to a single Republican on this. This was all strictly Democrats."

Alternatively, the Drudge story may serve the purpose of underscoring Hillary's current theme about how rivals are "throwing mud" which is backed by a new advertisement focusing on the attacks being launched on her by Republicans. 

There is, indeed, a lot of this about. On November 7, Ken Silverstein, the Washington Editor for Harper's Magazine, blogged under the headline: "Not Just Republicans Spreading Rumors About Hillary’s Lesbian Affair".

But The Times is not "kicking off the ugliest month" - if that is what the next few weeks will be -  we are merely doing our best to report it.

 

Comments

[Roger]

Wow! A non-story about a non-story! The news must really be slow across the pond.

[Mark Pennington]

Would the other alleged activities include the question: Why does Chelsea Clinton look like Webb Hubbell?

[torrant]

It will be difficult to get to the truth of this. However, it would not be above the ethics of the Clinton campaign to start this rumor themselves to play up the victim motif. She is already using her gender to insinuate she is being attacked by Obama and Edwards because she is a woman.

A two pronged campaign can be useful, a positive policy message coupled with a victim role to up the sympathy vote. Nothing is beyond Clintonian politics.

[Dennis D]

Drudge did exactly what Major Papers do. .Lead with a HEADLINE. So he is guilty of acting like a mainstream Newspaper. Reminds me of a headline that said
" BUSH GROUNDED PREDATORS BEFORE 911" Without mentioning they were grounded to add Hellfire Missiles.

[Anonymous]

It seems there is about as much loosely-sourced information about Hillary Clinton right now, as there was about Larry Craig at the beginning of 2007. That is to say, quite a lot, from a variety of disparate sources, over the course of many years. But, like Craig a full 12 months ago, there are as yet no known arrests, no stained dresses, no photos, no audio recordings.

[Adam]

Perhaps readers and editors in the UK are unaware of what is called the "inoculation process" that was pioneered by Al Gore when he ran for president against Bill Clinton in 1992.

Al Gore admitted to smoking pot and did it in a hastily organized and sparsely attended press conference. He timed it late in the day while other mind-numbingly vapid "issues" were dominating the daily news feed.

America yawned.

Clinton almost had his boat sunk when he waited until becoming the presumptive nominee to give his "I didn't inhale" excuse.

Point is - you have an explanation as to why a Clinton insider would get Drudge to post this non-news news. It is now self-discredited speculation, and any reporting further on the "Clinton is a lesbian" story will require a higher level of proof. After her husband "skirted" the "stained dress" I think that video rivaling that of Paris Hilton would be required to get Hillary on the defensive regarding this "issue".

[Steve]

**IF** Hillary is having this alleged affair we as her potential voters have a right to know about it. The deal supposedly is that Hillary and Bill come as a package deal, with part of her strictly limited appeal being that we get him too. If not, then she has a responsibility to inform her voters for it without being "outed" as a lesbian. It's another potential example of Clinton duplicity: What does she REALLY have in mind if she wins? Nobody really knows, and she should not be allowed to duck this allegation because it suggests that the Hill/Bill package is a myth that is being sold to voters like a box of Corn Flakes. I don't question her orientation (does anyone **but** the press have any doubts, by the way?), I question her honesty and judgment. Two very important qualities for the job she is in the running for.

[Deirdre]

The Times brought it up and did a full page spread with huge photo so that they could do the fashionable and jingoistic euro-snot rant about the big bad Americans.

I had not heard this rumor prior to the Times reporting it.

[Cody]

Hillary a lesbian? Wow, thats a surprise. Actually she is worse than that; she is a socialist and a fascist.

[RT]

Well, let's give the paper credit for not putting the HUGE photo on the front page where someone might have seen it.

[Missourimule]

Personally, I've never been able to see what Bill saw in her anyway, but more to the point; what is the huge attraction of American politics to the Brits? I do try to keep up with your papers over here, and it just seems like there's an inordinate amount of interest - not that it's new, I realize - but you have your own, and there are a lot of other countries to follow -

[Tebow Tim]

Who actually likes her? I find everything about her to be fake and contrived.

[Randall]

Who cares? I'm not voting for her because she's an idiot, not because she's gay... or happy, or whatever.
BTW, next time you have a void in you pages, fill it with something interesting like monkeys taking over the moon, or Bush getting his cranial-rectal inversion corrected via ExLax. Now THAT would be news.

[Bub]

Let the m u d s l i n g i n g begin. Hey, hopefully Billary wins the nomination; what fun.

[Robert Dalziel]

Mitt Romney is attacking Hillary in a television ad in the critical New Hampshire market on the grounds that a woman can't be president of the United States. This misogyny seemingly is rooted in the theology of the Mormon Church. Details at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/444125/mitt_romneys_spectacularly_sexist_attack.html

[Willie]

Balderdash...

Any Brit Journalist worth their salt would know that Hillary is only partial to Blondes.

[John]

Lesbian rumors have dogged Hillary back to the early days of Bills administration- given the bizarre nature of Bill's & Hill's marriage, one might be inclined to believe them. But make no mistake, the appearance of this rumor in print now, originates in the Democratic party. Either from Obama, to counter last weeks Clinton camp rumor that he was unelectable because of skeletons in his closet, or from the mainstream Democratic party establishment. Given Hillary's unprecedented negative ratings in polls, many in the Democratic party establishment feel she would suppress Democrat turnout in the general election, and energize the Republican base. They see this as a possible Doomsday scenario where they lose the Presidency, and control of the House and the Senate. If the Republicans wanted to use this rumor against Hillary, they would wait until just before the general election next November.

[JAS]

Only a few weeks ago, there was an article about a "big scandal" on a democrat candidate that "everyone inside the beltway" was aware of, but was not being published. My question is why haven't we seen photos of this "babe" and Hillary ANYWHERE before? The photo shown is the first that people in the U.S. are seeing. If there is nothing there, wouldn't she be just another campaign operative? Why hasn't her name been mentioned before this?

[Peter Bray]

What's strange is that you provide even more rank speculation and anti-Hillary memes. Instead of suggesting that, dare we mention it, Drudge was lying and wasn't contacted by a Hillary confidante, or that that confidante was, say, a former confidante... instead of doing these things, you go on to suggest that the campaign may have actually done this as a smokescreen for even more sinister things. That's pretty low-down, but typical for a Murdoch-owned publication I suppose.

[johannas]

"The purpose of this report (read it for yourselves) was not to suggest these claims were true, but to provide a measure of their nastiness" Everyone already knew this,Drudge reported it accurately, why change the subject? Hillary is a big Girl, she can handle anything. Or are you implying she is not?

[James]

I must say that you LEFTY Brits should just
stay out of American politics. You tend to write these stories that make the suggestions that the others have responded to here. So if you do not want the link that
Drudge has offered---don't write the BLOODY story.

[David]

The story is that there is a leak about no story to cover up the real story that is not a story.....yet. This is therefore a story that is really a story about a cover up, is that a story? If so why is no one reporting that ....story.

[Foncool]

Well if it is true, I can only say that Hillary has better taste in women than Bill.

[LT]

EXACTLY why this left coast police officer made America's only politically CONSERVATIVE music CD. We don't care about sexual preference. We do care about authenticity, and she lacks that...see track #5 'Hillaryous.' That will say it all. Where?

www.conservativemusiconline.com

Where a common person made a musical statement for the right for a change!

[James]

I believe that you LEFTY Brits should just stay out of American politics. You can not
get it RIGHT in your own country. Just as the other responders have said here, Drudge simply linked the story to your site.
Deal with the BLOODY consequences.

[Timtan]

It seems to me that Mr Baldwin is now throwing mud at Drudge... The one thing I know is....Drudge minutely addresses his own views, but also maintains the stories as they are. However, lets take a look at NYT, and others of their nature....they drop their entire bias into their stories, as liberal as they are... So, overall I presume Mr Baldwin is jealous of the fact that more people read the Drudge report than his column.... Mr Baldwin, if you actually had anything worthwhile to say, then maybe you should say it... Otherwise I just see a jealous Liberal journalist with lousy ratings...so stop knocking Drudge!

[pissant]

we understand the story, it's about all the outrageous claims coming from the underbelly of the south carolina campaign. but in america, it's just that, the ugly underbelly.

no national newspaper here has run a large photo of hillary and her aide to portray the ugly side of whisper campaigns.

we understand that you're not implying it's true, it's just that Americans aren't accustomed to the tabloid-style coverage that is predominant in England.

[rob]

this story is actually maybe two weeks old as per 11/26/07..If you check Micheal Musto of the Village Voice, he has several similar items , including evidence of a shared housing of some sort . I cant remember exactly now.. He also makes reference to Condi Rice ,apparently sharing a mortgage with a woman , he named , but that name escapes me also as I write .. Easily verifiable. just check Musto s recent columns maybe a month or so back , maybe 5 weeks..You can also get excellent reporting on Rudy and his work in NYC in the Voice...By the way , ask William Bratton in LA, what he thinks about rudy the crime fighter

[Liz]

I don't know if Hillary is a lesbian or not, although I have seen some pictures of her that, at first glance, I thought was Ellen De Generos. But I think the real reason she has the aide that she does is so that she can copy her charm and personal style. She always does this, ala Sharon Stone, and Elizabeth Dole in her smashing yellow suit at the Repub. convention, and many others that she thought had the right "look" at some particular time. You may notice that she has recently become more feminine looking, wears nicer colors, and has a little more verve. I think women will agree. However, whatever she does, she is still Hillary. .

[Patrick]

The rumor that Hillary is a lesbian has been circulating for years. So what's new about any of this recent stuff? Hillary's negatives are so high that she doesn't stand a chance to get the Democrat nomination anyway. Even if you washed all the mud off Hillary and granted her absolution in preparation for Democrat sainthood, the voters would still hold their noses, then turn around and vote for almost anyone else.

[Aaron]

This seems to be a rather poor excuse to escape the wrath of Hillary, 'yeah we can blame Drudge for the sexual innuendo that we so blatanly splashed across a half page'. The frightful intimadation of the press by Hillary has no bounds. Dear Times, be accountable for yourselves and your work, the people are not so easily mislead as you apparently perceive.

[Justin]

Since this article is now posted on Drudge I suppose the real reason for it's authorship is moot.

[CppThis]

I don't read the Times, but unless Drudge fabricated that picture--which I find extremely unlikely--it's your problem, not his. Anyway, the whole "Hillary is gay" joke got played to death over here in the '90s, I'm not even sure why anyone bothers with it anymore.

[Miss Appropriate]

Re the striking resemblance of Chelsea Clinton to Webb Hubbell: True, but why insult Mr. Hubbell?

[Vic]

Bill and Hillary run a political machine that has left a trail of dead bodies, broken lives, and ruined reputations in its wake. It would be nice to see her get a bit of what she's helped inflict on others for the last many years. Hillary is at least as much of a hypocrite as anyone else in office in DC. While whinging (in a scripted and focus group tested fashion) about the "politics of personal destruction" to any reporter who will listen (no shortage of those, because the the US media's anointed candidate), it's been a primary tool for her and her husband's acquisition and retention of political power over the years. I doubt anyone could go lower than the Clintons, so it's difficult to feel any sympathy for Hillary whatsoever.

[Marlene after dark]

What we put into the lives of others, has a way of coming back into our own. Hillary ruined the lives of several woman who were involved with Bill. Did she really think the mud she slung wouldn't come back and hit her in the face? We reap what we sow.

[Ed]

I think this is trash reporting, but in all honesty this would not shock me that this story is true. I say this because I believe the Clinton marriage is as big of a sham as Hillary is in this race because she cares about people.

[Deirdre Johnson]

My, my, everyone on bothsides of the pond seem to have very short memories. Bill had a thirteen year afair with Jennfer Flowers while he was Govenor of Arkansas. In her memoirs she wrote about the time she warned Bill that Hillery was being seen frequently with lesbian women. His retort to that, according to Ms Flowers, was "Hell! She's had more women than I have."

These two are the worst thing that has happened to this country. He, in his arrogance, stole the innocence of a complete generation. Remember, he didn't think oral sex was sex. Consiquently, we now have first and second graders having oral sex in the back of school busses.

Between the Bushes and the Clintons we are loosing our soverignty, our culture and our indipendence. With Hillery we would loose what is left.

You across the pond can't say anything. You've given up all off the above already. The muslim extreemist already have you by the cohones

[bob]

As people have said, how's 'bout not insulting our intelligence with this nonsense? This game of "We're just relating what's out there; we're not peddling sleaze" is laughable. So if something's in the News of the World or the smarmiest U.S. tabloid, you're fine with relating it? Too, are you so stupid that you didn't think Drudge would make a big deal of it or do you think your readers are so stupid that we believe you?

[NJ]

So, the response to one story based on innuendo, is to write another story based on innuendo ("Has a "Hillary confidante" contacted Drudge to draw attention to this five-day old story? Quite possibly.") Here come the black helicopters.

We can read. We don't need to tell us what your point was. If you fail to get your point across to the reader the first time, then you shouldn't be in journalism; the writer, nor the editorial board.

[HW]

You are a fool. You are defending the only paper (yours, oddly enough) that has has run with this story and then try to make a scandal out of a web headline gossip site running with your own story? What an ass your industry is.

[LAN]

So why is being a lesbian "one of the dirtiest and ugliest accusations?" It's only mildly dirty to write about about drug use and sex with a cigar...but insinuating that someone is a lesbian is dastardly....Now who's the hypocrite ?

[LAN]

So why is being a lesbian "one of the dirtiest and ugliest accusations?" It's only mildly dirty to write about about drug use and sex with a cigar...but insinuating that someone is a lesbian is dastardly....Now who's the hypocrite ?

[Bobc]

I don't care what Hillary is, just as long as she isn't President!

She's too two-faced, speaks with forked tongue!

[Manny Fried]

Could you Brits please worry about getting your basic hygiene such as showering and dental care figured out before trying to figure out our election process? Thank you.

[Kathryn]

I need to know if I'm voting for a lesbian or not, and Hillary should address it. Other Senators have been asked directly and have responded-- why shouldn't she??

[investigative_Journalism]

Can some journalist do some real job (investigate)?

I don't care if HRC is bi. But, how about a relationship with a person who spent her formative years (from Age 2 to 17) in Saudi Arabia?

How about investigating how has her assistant accumulated so much wealth to buy a million dollar apartment in NYC?

I do believe that these would be good questions to investigate by reputable journalists.

[Past Blast]

I can't wait -

Hillary up at the podium, pugnacious look on her face, stabbing the air with her index finger, stating sternly,"I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

Four more years of fun and frolic with the Clintons. Just what this country needs.

[Talnik]

Did you bother contacting Drudge? Or do you just make this crap up?

[Erik]

I keep seeing comments that we have some right to know if Hillary is a lesbian or not. Personally, I don't care who she sleeps with. Just like I don't care who any of you sleep with. Next election - is it important what brand of toilet paper the candidates use? Or how many sheets? Where does it end?

I am more interested in a fair lawmaker who is exceptional at the art of negotiation - which is pretty much the role of a decent world leader these days.

[Ted]

Giuliani? Clinton? In 2008, as has so frequently been the case in our history, Americans will select the tallest pygmy.

Perhaps the results that flow from this, as a follow-on to hollow venality of the Clintons and the incomprehensible ineptitude of the Bushes, will bring statesmen (of either gender) back into the fray.

That, or we will continue to rot from the inside as we are overwhelmed by fascists, savages and their appeasers and enablers.

[Carl R.]

The "innoculation"theory makes sense, given how this whole rumor and leak process really works. But if one reads the earlier internet "gossip mill" about this matter, it doesn't really come down to the lesbian relationship (which would expose Hilary as a liar, if it were true, more than anything else), but the charge that the aide de camp might be a mole into the White House for Islamic extremists. That charge is circumstantially more plausible and far more explosive. Insofar as the American public was ready to forgive Bill for his sexual indiscretions, I am sure that voters would accept whatever is true about Hilary's sex life, everything else being equal. If the press won't go there with the first one, they are less likely to go there with the second, which has far more serious implications.

[Josh]

These rumors of the Senator have been circulated in political circles for years. In fact, when I saw the headline on Drudge (he had posted it around 10.45 pm ET on Sunday. I saw the headline around 11.00 pm ET), I was not really 'surprised'. When the same word trickles down to those of us in the hinterland from disparate people who have served in Washington in relatively very low-level positions, you know that there has to be an inkling of truth in that. I personally will not be surprised if 'proof' emerges of this issue in the coming months.

[SpiderBabe]

Matt Drudge = thorn in the side of liberal media.

[shockshockhorror]

"The Times has plastered a full page spread with a gigantic photo of Hillary and her "beautiful" aide and insinuated that they were having a lesbian affair. The Drudge Report picked it up with little comment and provided a link. Aren't those Americans awful?"

Are your readers really as stupid as you think they are?

[ny nick]

Journalists do what they are told. We have learned that lesson already. The Valerie Plame case showed just how committed these people are to seeking the truth. Not very. What they are committed to is the well timed leak and the background source with a very apparent agenda. Political journalists know that if you want to get ahead, you report on some stories but not on others. There is a system in place and we consumers are not allowed to question that system. That's why we get this Clinton innuendo crap every few months. It's a way to write negative stories that conform with the RNC's version of Hillary as an evil dictator set on destroying America. Is any of this innuendo true? Of course not. Does that matter to these creatures we call journalists? Not in the least. They did their part. They got that information out there. It's a pattern we shall see repeated every few months from now until the election.

[Kay McCann]

I "got" exactly what Drudge was reporting. That the campaigns are going to get really ugly. So?

Why blame Drudge for spreading the story that we all know will happen?

He picked up on a headline from a UK paper and then linked to it. As a balance there was a quote from a Clinton campaign spokesperson. Again, why blame Drudge? Blame the UK paper that originally put that stuff up to begin with and started it all.

[Menno Aartsen]

Josh is entirely correct, this rumour has been around The District for many, many years. For reasons hidden in men's brains, a non-stunning woman like Senator Clinton, accompanied by a female beauty stuck to her like glue, sets the tongues wagging. Even when the Senator would take the Shuttle in the wrong direction (from LaGuardia to Reagan National on Saturdays, when one would assume she'd spend time with hubby in cozy and tidy Westchester County), The Shadow was there.

But: as there is no rule that says woman + gorgeous = lesbian (I mean, why would one crack jokes about oversize ladies on Harley Davidsons from Long Island, ask yourself that), I think we ought to relegate this story back to the rumour mill. And I am saying this as one who habitually got kicked out of his Shuttle seat by the Secret Service, whenever the Senator needed to be on board, so I could hold a drudge, oops, grudge. Besides, some of the Secret Service types were quite juicy, too. And they sat behind her, not one seat removed from the Senator, on the bulkhead.

[Winston Lyons]

Forget the sexual orientation. HRC is a rigid, ruthless, Leninist who thinks her elite education entitles her to dictate to the yahoos. What on earth qualifies her to pick our doctors or tell us how to raise our kids?

[Jeff]

Wow I can't imagine caring about this. Tom Baldwin must feel the need to make himself look important. Thanks for wasting my time.

[Kelpoitrine Jones]

As a male lesbian I take umbrage at all this.

[Dickard]

According to my thesaurus, the word "Drudge" is synonymous with misleading. The guy is an idiot...with a really silly hat.

[Sarah]

It's possible for a Republican to beat Mrs. Clinton. That is the only reason why Drudge is so pro-Clinton these days. Make her the Democratic nominee, and the GOP will get another 4 years.

[chimatt]

Yawn....must be another slow news day in Europe...another 'tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing'.

[Mr Minority]

This appears to be another plant by the Clinton campaign so as to make Hillary a "victim". And what is truly funny is that if you read the comments here, you find that people don't care if Hillary is a lesbian or not, they wouldn't vote for if she is or isn't, makes no difference, she is a despicable person.

Hillary right now is under the gun, because she has lost her healthy lead in the polls, and that is going to hurt. So since she is a Clinton, out comes the "Dirty Works" playbook, and one of the plays is "victim".

Oh, by the way, also watch what happens now that Oprah is campaigning for B. Hussein Obama, that is going to hurt her too.

[Aredee]

<

<<

I'm not sure which side of the Atlantic is meant, but here in the states most news is non-news. The best source of news (when there's no writer's strike) is "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report."

That's because the producers of those shows are true comedians, as opposed to the politicians and the so-called "real" news networks, who are amateur clowns in the way in which they make and report the news here.

[Jon]

What mysterious Mr Drudge are you talking about. The one who has a call in radio show every weekend for 4 hours. How mysterious

[Len]

A non story about a non story by non journalists for a non salient arm of the democrat party. Baldwin and Reid prove that even the bottom of the class, and bottom in class, can find work, and the Times proves that someone specializes in hiring them.

[John W]

Seams that this is a TIMES story all Drudge did was post the TIMES story.

[Spasticjack]

Blah,blah, blah, blah
Hey Tom,,,,
Since your not doing anything of real value,I drove by a dead cat in the road, that you may want to waste a few hundred words on.
Have your peep's call my peep's,,,,

just sayin,,,,,,

[RobWestCoast]

For God's sake, where are SOME of you people coming up with this? I read comments about the Clinton's infidelity- a claim that 2nd graders having oral sex in bathrooms is somehow Bill Clinton's fault and that somehow that took our nation's innocence. LOL. What innocence? This is ridiculous. If you are going to compare petty things, why not blame all of our nation's school shootings on George Bush and his war agenda? Make sense? Not really. And neither do these other absurd claims. And for that matter, who really cares about some far fetched story coming from South Carolina anyway? So what if it's true?

What are you looking for? It's not like the republican party has done a better job with tweedle-dee moron Bush anyway, the laughing stock of the world's politics.

Let's grow up and start focusing on the important issues here - like healthcare, social security, etc... poor lesbian Hillary. Poor retarded Bush. This is about as useless of information as it was knowing Bill got a nice blow-job from some nit-wit Whitehouse aid. Did anyone lose any sleep over that? I didn't.

Oh the poor kids. Sobbbbbbb. I'm sure they'll get over it, just like the rest of us.

No wonder our country's economy has gone to shame, reading these comments. Some of you are so off in your views it only confirms as to why an idiot like Bush was re-elected.

[Blake]

>

The Brits are just interested in who their Prime Minister will be a lap poodle for.

[Ani]

It would be my guess...that "you ain't seen nothin' yet? When the Clinton machine considers itself threatened...it's going to get as ugly ans ugly can get.

[Mark]

I know you won't print this, but you people are hypocrites. The Times of London is tabloid trash gussied up as 'a responsible newspaper'. It's not just this story. You're no different than The Sun or The Mirror.

[TNRebuttal]

Your quote: "Drudge does not quote from the story directly, referring only to the headline, a brief mention of Clinton and a 12-word picture caption. This, if read in isolation, might wrongly give readers of Drudge the impression that The Times was giving the allegation about her even the faintest hint of credence."

Do you mean that headlines are NOT indicative of the actual article? You mean news outlets deliberately LIE when wording the headline? I'm glad someone at least admitted it.

[Roy]

Drudge was absolutely right in saying that the Times started "The Ugliest Month" by "taking the whisper from the underground to the overground".

[Greg]

Mark Penningtons comment about Chelsie looking like Web Hubbell was the funniest thing I've read in a while. And as the world is about to see what will surely become the dirtiest campaign in US history, the record will clearly show that it is the Democrats that are the ruthless, lying, "take no prisoners" party (no pun intended since we all no the Bush lied - People Died mantra). On that note however, it is absolutely amazing how deafening the silence is from the left about Iraq now that the US is winning (Question: does the rest of the world feel shame yet for their deriliction of duty or will they try and make excuses for their cowardice?). They've lost that issue to beat the Republicans with and soon, as more and more scientists find their spine, it will be clearly shown that our sun has more to do with Global Warming than all of the greenhouse gases that man has or could produce. We are getting down to socialized medicine for illeagals which is a non-starter for most of the voting public, so it should make for an interesting primary season.

[Bob A Booey]

Is there anyone else who believes that there is about as much chance that Hillary could "get" someone of that caliber as I do? Sorry, simply unbelievable. Although perhaps a clever disinformation strategy on the Clinton campaign's part to make her look like the "victim" of a smear.

[Diana]

Please God, let Americans finally wake up en masse and throw the corrupted candidates of both (haha, *both*, that's a good one) parties overboard! They can then behold the only decent person of unimpeachable character left standing... Dr. Ron Paul.

[Jeff]

After Bill's display of incredibly poor judgement with an intern, and Hillary's ability to "quickly" fogive and forget - Anything could be true about this "family".

[Mam]

"This does not even qualify as tabloid trash... it's ridiculous and reckless," a Hillary confidante explained over the weekend

Was there a deniel?

[seargent j. ellison]

Hillary... Honey, she be so stupid she make Al Gore look like Nobel Prize winner. My bad... He is a Nobel Prize winner!

[Jim Miller]

What many are missing -- but Mr. Baldwin shouldn't -- is that the article is terrible, even for a British reporter.

South Carolina is not the worst state for political rumors, nor was the late Lee Atwater particularly "venal". And if Mr. Reid is going to make such charges about Atwater, shouldn't the Times require him to supply some evidence?

I don't expect British reporters to understand the fine details of American politics (or American reporters to understand the fine details of British politics), but I do think you could do better, with a little less attitude, and a lot more work.

[skmf12]

people keep quoting all these people as if their word is gospel, amazing, jennifer flowers sold her soul to the republicans for money,,, now lets see, and her workd is worth what?
the woman they have referred to is a muslim woman, and it is very nasty to accuse her of being in an affair with hillary, she is a devout muslim, and unlike most white folk, they live by a certain code, theyre women are not freaks...
as for the rest, you speak as if you know hillary, is this true? is there anyone of you who have been f--ked over by hillary?
come on come forward...
oh i thought not...
well than, what could all the hate be about?
well let me tell you about what i've observed:
if you get on the american blogs, there is this peculiar thing, many, many anti hillary sites... they hate her so much, they call her
C'-T, BITCH, WHORE, SLUT,ECT ECT ECT...
ITS PRETTY SICK! now they talk about things they want done to her and things that they would like to do, all pretty venemous...
now would you talk about the queen in such a fashion... lets see, some middle age woman, mother, citizen, is being threatened, harrassed, and baraged by hate mail...
so again i ask you, would you like to hear that said about your mom, sister, wife or daughter?
okay so you hate hillary, but do you seriously believe these horror stories? come on boys, why would so many, big strong viril men, hate this woman so much?
kinda sad really, and whats worse, the candidates that are neck and neck with her, incite this kind of crap...makes me wonder, why she doesnt come out and call em out for it...
cause i'll tell you, her workers, are p-ssed
about the whole thing...
but she wont, she just wants to stand on her own two feet...
well guess what, we fought long and hard for the right for women to vote in usa, as well as human rights, and hillary fought for these same things when she was an idealistic college kid.
but she wont fight for herself..
hmmm, yeah, thats just f---ked up!

[Patricia]

I care about her "honesty" about this - I believe it to be true and she's lying AGAIN, to the American Public...so all these little catholic, elderly people who voted for her would literally never sleep again knowing they put her in the white house as a lesbian...is not the point. IF SHE LIES ABOUT THIS, WHAT ELSE DON'T WE KOW?? Do we know ANYTHING true about the Clintons? Mr. and Mrs. King and Queen of SPIN.......... truth, is what I want in a President...what else will she lie to me about? That she pressed the red button and blew up China in a moment of her moodiness??