The Truth about Hillary

June 23, 2005

Ms. Marjorie Scardino
CEO
Pearson Plc.
80 Strand
London, WC2R 0RL
UK

Dear Marjorie,

I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying the summer. I’m writing you today because as a Pearson employee and shareholder I’m concerned about the actions of Penguin’s Sentinel Press division.

I’m certain you’re aware of the incredibly bad press being generated by the reviews of Sentinel’s soon-to-be-released title The Truth about Hillary written by Edward Klein. If you are unaware of the growing storm, you can find the issues summarized at http://mediamatters.org.

The book features plenty of gay-baiting, homophobic innuendo and does its best to paint Hillary Clinton as a lesbian. Things kick off early in the book. On page 12 we’re treated to the following unsubstantiated rumors:

• Was it true they slept in separate beds?
• Were there any telltale signs on the presidential sheets that they ever had sex with each other?
• For that matter, did the Big Girl [Hillary Clinton] have any interest in sex with a man?
• Or, as was widely rumored, was she a lesbian?

Is Pearson really going to speculate on the bed sheets of a former president? Refer to a former First Lady as “Big Girl”? It gets worse.

The book also alleges that Chelsea Clinton is the result of former President Bill Clinton raping Hillary while they were on vacation. The author is already changing his story about this claim. Is Pearson really going to accuse a former president of raping his wife?

Penguin editor Will Weisser is quoted in the April 12 New York Post saying "he hoped that The Truth about Hillary would do to Clinton what the Swift Boat Veterans bestseller did to Kerry. That would be our fondest wish.”

Enough about the book, I’m certain you’ll investigate its contents for yourself.

My concern as a shareholder centers on this book’s possible tarnishing of the Pearson brand and especially our higher-education brands. How long before a group of professors or students begin asking the question “How can we trust Pearson’s textbooks if they’re willing to publish this kind of trash?” How many educational adoptions do we risk if student groups begin protesting the book?

As an employee, I’m embarrassed. Pearson has higher editorial standards than those exemplified by this book. This is about greed. The same editor ended his interview with the New York Post saying “We’re just trying to sell books.”

I hope we do the right thing and cancel the book. That truly would be brave, imaginative and decent.

So what's really going on in Iraq

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across an article from Patrick Buchanan titled "Is it an unwinnable 'Republican war'?"

In his article, Mr. Buchanan points out the confusing conflict of opinion concerning our progress there:

• Vice President Cheney dismisses the insurgency as in its "last throes."
• CIA Director Porter Goss says, "They're not quite in their last throes, but ... they're very close to it."
• Sen. Joe Biden says Goss should talk to "his intelligence people on the ground. They didn't suggest at all that it was near its last throes. Matter of fact, it's getting worse, not better."
• John McCain says we face "a long hard slog ... It's going to be at least a couple of more years."
  
• Sen. Chuck Hagel, a McCain backer in 2000, says: "Things aren't getting better. They're getting worse ... The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."

Even the administration and its spin doctors on GOP-TV (FOX) can't agree on their story. Through it all, our president remains irresponsibly ignorant. When you make decisions based upon your gut, or upon faith, you risk the facts of the situation not matching up. That's what we have here.

Don't take my word for it. Check out the charts below that show US military deaths and injuries by month since we started the war. Does it look like things are getting better yet? You can keep track of the numbers at the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count web site.


US Soldier Deaths in Iraq


US Soldier Injuries in Iraq

This will make you laugh

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is a guest weatherman on a local Hawaii television station. I wish he were on Indy's nightly news. Start laughing now.

Corporate America

They're like the fish in an evaporating African waterhole. Instead of looking to get out, they're all fighting to get to the deep part of the puddle. At least they'll die last...

Proof that if your rich enough, white enough, and have really good lawyers you'll never go to jail.

It's an easy statement to make. Of course it's completely uninformed opinion. I wasn't a juror, haven't bothered to read up on the case, and basically know nothing other than MJ has been accused before and that he's a bit eccentric.

Being uninformed will not stop the nation's media from complaining about our justice system and our "activist courts". It'll play in the conservative Christian community as "another pedophile" let loose by the courts. Rush Limbaugh will have a blast with this, one uninformed joke after another. But hey, since when have facts really informed public opinion.

Of course, if MJ was a creepy-looking dude with a mullet who lived in a trailer park, he'd be in jail now...

Another bumpersticker I'd like to see

Poopsicles!

Other uses possible:

1. Buddhist-friendly bug spray. Spray, and the toss them outside to thaw.
2. Emergency shot cooler. Fill your shot glass, then cool your beverage.
3. Wart remover. Spray the little guy down, and then wait until it falls off.

Other uses?

Even better, you can send some as an anonymous gift!