GayPatriot

The Internet home for American gay conservatives.

Of Rush Limbaugh, Jonah Goldberg, Bias and Bookstores

by

Welcome Instapundit Readers!!

Back when I was in law school and Rush Limbaugh published his first book, I walked into my favorite bookstore in Charlottesville to pick up a book I had ordered (this was before amazon) and took note of a sign behind the counter saying something like, “We don’t carry Rush Limbaugh’s book, so don’t even ask.”

Obviously some people had asked. And that irritated the store’s owner.

I made some comment to the clerk, indicating that while I respected the store’s right to stock whichever books it pleased, I also had the right to go elsewhere to buy my books. His refusal to carry Rush’s book decreased the likelihood I would return to that store. The clerk observed that I had not been the first to make such a comment.

I had wanted to support the Williams Corner Bookstore, an independent bookseller on the downtown mall. It was a great place to take a break from my legal studies and browse for books. I appreciated their literature section. But, it troubled me that they would exclude the book of a prominent conservative while including many tomes by left-wing scholars, activists and hangers-on.

When a Barnes & Noble opened up in the Barracks Road Shopping Center, I took my business there.

The owner, Michael Williams, may have blamed such superstore competition for putting him out of business in 1998, calling his rivals “Gangsters,” but I also wonder if his own bias also hurt his business.

I thought of the Williams Corner Bookstore’s demise when I read this weekend on Instapundit that some Barnes and Noble’s stores were not carrying (or hiding) Jonah Goldberg’s new book, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning. Impressed that my local Barnes & Noble bookstore almost always includes a diverse array of books on its display tables (& shelves), I had intended to buy it there. But, after what I learned on Instapundit, I decided to order the book from amazon instead.

While I respect the right of any bookseller to refuse to carry certain books, we book-buyers also have the right to choose where we buy our books. Back in the 1990s, Michael Williams’s public statement that he wasn’t carrying Rush Limbaugh’s book caused him to lose a regular customer, a conservative law student who happened to frequent his establishment when looking for books in any number of categories.

And it’s pretty clear I wasn’t the only customer he lost.

The more bias booksellers show, the more customers will seek out other means of buying books. And with new technologies, we have more places to get our books.

Oftentimes, independent booksellers blame the big chains for driving them out of business. That’s only half the story. As the chain bookstores proliferate, I have tried to support independent booksellers, but have found often them staffed with rude or snooty clerks and biased owners like Charlottesville’s Michael Williams.

I would dare say that those independent booksellers which survive understand the importance of customer service — and of maintaining a broad and diverse selection of books.

Comments

  1. Your local Barnes and Noble may have carried the book and had it displayed well. That some, somewhere, behave differently doesn’t prove you shouldn’t support your local B&N *particularly* if they are an exception.

    (And it’s often other customers hiding the “offensive” books. Helpful sorts, they are.)

  2. So, the import of this post is: the system works. Owners choose what to sell, consumers choose what to buy. Sounds like the right balance to me.

    Curious, tho: is it your contention that a local business competing with a mega-chain lost that battle due to an insufficient selection of conservative tomes?

    Also, you’re using the word “bias” a lot. Isn’t a store owner allowed to turn his personal beliefs, preferences, causes and agendas into action? “Bias” as you define it here would seem to apply to everyone, including you and me. It’s odd how you use it as a substitute for “beliefs” and “values” and then also use it as some kind of pejorative.

  5. I live in a horrible left-wing area. I went into a bookstore downtown. It had signs up saying essentially: “look, we’re not in the business of pushing a political agenda, we’re in the business of selling books. Please stop vandalizing us for selling books you don’t like.”

    So I bought several books there. 🙂

  6. Yes, torrrentrime, a bookstore is allowed to turn his bias into action. And I am allowed to turn his active bias into a deterrent to my buying my books there.

    In fact, that’s the point of my post.

    But, it’s also that such bias also has a consequence.

  7. Doncha find it amusing, too – that the political mind set (liberals) who always claim that they are so “open minded” and “accepting” really aren’t at all?

    They’re “open minded” as long as you agree with ’em!

    Of course, I do agree with those who say that the owner should sell what he wishes to sell – and Gay Patriot should take his business where he wishes to take it!

  8. I like brick-and-mortar bookstores. It’s kind of like being in a library, where you can walk away with some of the contents for a small price. Plus, I still sort of like to touch before buying

    I’ve never had any negative reactions when buying conservative books, and I shop from Virginia Highlands, Atlanta, to North Point Mall, Alpharetta. That covers a lot of idealogical territory, let me tell you.

    Maybe it’s a Southern, good-manners thing.

  10. The bookstore owner has lost his perspective. Yes, he has the right to stock what he wants, but the mission of a bookstore is to provide books that the customers want. He is letting his customers down, and hurting his employees and investors in the process (by at least selling less if not ultimately shutting the store down as in the above example.)

    And let’s not compare this to other things that a bookstore owner might not keep in stock. Denying the legitimacy of one half of the political spectrum is far different than deciding not to distribute pornography.

    Mike S

  11. Many years ago I was a sales rep for a major publisher. Twice a year we were transported and locked into nice resorts for 10 days or so. During that time effete NY editors would present and promote new books. I assure you there were no conservative books proffered in those days. In fact we were ordered to get titles like “Sappho Was a Righ On Woman!” into our client bookstores. I remember sarcastically observing, “But Mam’am I go to Waco!” They were not amused.

  13. I sought Jonah’s book at a B&N. Olberman’s was inconspicuously stacked on the shelf below the New Arrivals table, while a single copy of Jonah’s was back on the Current Events shelf. So, I cannot say there was any bias.

    What made me hold off and make my first purchase from Amazon was price. I wasn’t going to drop the $28.50 cover price plus tax. Bought it on Amazon for less than $17.00.

    Aside from snooty clerks and low-level bias in display placement, I wonder if retail discount pricing policies can affect at least the timing of sales numbers for different authors?

    How are books discounted?

  14. I’ve definately noticed a bias in the selection of liberal books while browsing through Barnes & Noble, Borders and the late Tower Records.

    It wasn’t that they refused to stock conservative writers per se, it was the choice of conservative writers they picked — by and large they were along the lines of Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity. In other words, very consistent, predictable and unimaginative conservative writers, more “rah rah” than anything remotely intellectually challenging. Their books all sell well, I’m sure, but they are also easy for the left to dismiss.

    There was a six month stretch were I was trying to buy books from Glenn Reynolds, Bernard Goldberg, Orricani Fallucci and the Giuliani biography “The Prince of the City” and hit multiple Borders, Barnes & Nobles & Towers. I couldn’t find one copy of any of those books anywhere. I eventually found Goldberg’s book (which turned out to be pretty mediocre, actually). I also eventually found The Prince of the City in a used bookstore (in Berkeley!) for $3, but I would have gladly paid full price had one of the chains bothered to put one one on their shelves.

  15. At our local B&N (Princeton NJ), the leftie PT store-help from the University used to hide the gun, hunting and fishing magazines until people complained to the regional management. And the G/L magazines also used to get “hidden” or “lost”, presumably by the Catholic or Evangelical book-matrons who manned the day-shift when the lefties where at their classes.

    Independent booksellers, or even the weaker chains, just can’t survive in the non-reading environment that exists today. In a recent poll said that ONLY 57% of American adults had read at-least ONE BOOK last year. That conversely means that almost half of the current-electorate didn’t even read one book all-year. I visit clients…well-educated, upper-middle-class families, often with children…and there aren’t any books lying around, maybe a few (unread) in the bookcases. Modern shelving-units are apparently for bric-a-brac, CD-cases and VHS cassettes.

  16. I just had this experience at Barnes and Noble last night. Went there to buy the book after checking on the web to see if the store I was going to had it in stock. It did. When I arrived I could not find it. I checked the computer there and it said it was on the shelf. Nope. Finally a clerk assisted me and told me they only had one copy in stock but she did not know where it was. She also said they were not going to get any more since it didn’t sell well. I asked her if it did not sell well, how come they were out of them. No reply.

    Borders down the street had a table full of them.
    Gee, I guess they sell better that way.

  17. I found all the books I was looking for, including the latest by Podhoretz, at the local Borders but I ended up buying online because it was cheaper (free Super Saver shipping if you don’t mind the wait).

    The B&R usually has conservative books but not once have I seen them grace the kiosks that lay immediately inside the door, and usually they have only one or two copies. I was told I had to order “America Alone” a bare two weeks after it went public; meanwhile there are three dozen ‘Franken’ and ‘Moore’ type books crowding the 50% shelf.

  19. I moved to Charlottesville after the Williams Corner bookstore closed, so I have no familiarity with that particular shop.

    Still, I find it odd that the owner blamed Barnes & Noble for putting him out of business. Charlottesville is filled with thriving independent bookstores, some of them used/second-hand stores and others selling new books (and videos and CDs, etc.) Without looking at the Yellow Pages, I can think of 5 or 6 bookstores just on the downtown mall. There are others on the outskirts of town, and 3 or 4 on the University Corner, near UVa.

    In fact, I read recently — I think in a Washington Post travel section article — that Charlottesville has more bookshops per capita than nearly any other city in the country. Our city and the surrounding area is a region of readers.

    So for Mr. Williams to blame B&N was scapegoating, plain and simple. His business failed for reasons unrelated to a chain bookstore opening 3.5 miles away.

  20. thank gracious for Amazon. It is in Canada, US and Britain, and I can get practically any book I want. Also, there is ABE and Alibris…

    Our local book store (Mac’s Fireweed) here in Whitehorse, Yukon, is a very good one: its periodical section is better than any other I have visited (and I have been to Toronto and Seattle and London and Vancouver; I am a magazine freak.). According to the manager, it carries more periodical titles than any other book store in North America, and I believe it. Really.

    However, its political section leans way over to the left, just this far from falling over, to Chomsky and the lefty Canadians. Aarghhh. We don’t have a Chapters or Borders. We do have a very pathetic Coles, the doors of which I have not entered.

    So, thanks again to Amazon and Alibris and ABE!

  23. Speaking from my experience working in book retail, including running a major chain bookstore some years ago, I would argue that B&N is not discriminating against Goldberg. Bookstore chains and the managers who run them are into selling books, period.

    They are however captive to the distributors. For example, when Rush’s first book came out, the distributor ran about a 150,000 copies. I worked for Crown books. Nationwide we were allocated about $50,000 copies. The store I was an assistant manager in was allocated about 10 copies. And they were gone in an hour. And the distribution was before Christmas.

    I had people accuse me of bias for not carrying the book when I couldn’t get a copy at gunpoint.

    So the upshot is that I think the publishers thought that Olbermanns book would sell many copies and therefore put it up front and that Goldbergs would not sell that many copies. And right now, the publishers are fairly unhappy that they got it wrong. And for that matter B&N, Borders and every other bookstore is annoyed that they cannot fullfill the order.

  24. edh,
    B&N has a “reader’s advantage” program that provides 20% off all adult hardcovers, 40% off hardcover bestsellers, and 10% off everything else. It costs $25/year to join. If you do buy a lot of books, and you like your local B&N’s, it’s not a bad way to go. Of course, with Amazon you don’t need to pay the $25/year to get the discount, but then again you pay shipping… (or Amazon Prime)…

  25. I ordered Liberal Fascism from Amazon. GP can certainly make his own choices and my opinion in no way whatsoever stops him from doing so! I simply pointed out that what happens in one big chain book store does not necessarily happen in another.

    I tend to buy from Amazon because not even the huge chain stores tend to have what I want to buy. I’ll go in with a list (when I remember the list!) of half a dozen genre novels and find none of them… or one. They are nice for browsing though, if I just want to look to see if anything catches my eye. For finding specific books they suck.

    Our local independent is just about as big as the big chains. Last time I went in they’d redone the entrance so it wasn’t quite the gauntlet and obstacle course of Progressive Tomes that it had been before. There are other reasons I don’t go there often but that was a biggie… it was just too hard to get into the store.

    I did wonder, though… What sort of person reads multiple biographies of Hillary Clinton?

  26. Al Qaeda Comes to Britain

    http://ibloga.blogspot.com/2008/01/al-qaeda-comes-to-britain.html

    LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s intelligence services are investigating an Islamist Web site that says it is establishing a branch of al Qaeda in Britain, BBC television reported on Tuesday.

    According to the report, security experts fear a posting on the site, http://www.alekhlaas.net, declaring “the creation of the al Qaeda organization in Britain” may be genuine.

  28. Your story again underscores how angry liberals are and how their political beliefs are chosen because liberal ideology is centered upon vengeance against perceived wrong doers.

  30. I bought Liberal Fascism at a Barnes and Nobles in Austin, TX. A city that is not exactly a bastion of conservatism, but I had no problems finding the book. I love Barnes and Nobles. My 9 year old and I spent an hour and a half in there tonight, sitting on the floor reading books together. Than we rushed home to watch American Idol. We like diversity.

  31. If I owned a bookstore, I’d carry a book by Susan Sontag if people wanted to buy it. (I know, fat chance on that). Why would I do that? Because I am an evil capitalist pig!

  32. I love brousing book stores. As a matter of fact I’ve at least 7 novels stacked up to get thru the next couple months. Attractive biographies set back my reading of fiction. I would also avoid any bookstore showing an anti conservative bias. If they close, it is a reflection of the market place. Looking for Limbaughs books in the past I recall having a hard time finding them. If a store carried them, the staff or maybe even a customer seemed to hide them on lower shelves or behind other titles. We conservatives always assume leftists are afraid to debate and share ideas. I chaulked up my bookstore experiences to the same.

  34. It’s not just the bookstores.

    The American Library Association is notoriously liberal, and it shows in libraries.

    Here in Phoenix, AZ, one can always find dozens of the latest liberal “best sellers” but good luck finding a conservative one – they are on hold, and the library’s inventory of them is often 1 or 2 books.

    And… this is *government* censorship, since the library is an organ of government.

  35. I think the premise of the book sounds laughable, but if I owned a bookstore and it was a popular book, I know i’d sell it. I’m not above making a dollar off something I disagree with. 🙂

  36. As a matter of fact I’ve at least 7 novels stacked up to get thru the next couple months.

    I really admire people that read books. It’s been an embarassingly long time since I’ve read a book. I’m more of a visual person, so I prefer film. I watch more movies than the average person probably. But since I see just about everything that comes out, I end up watching a lot of crap too. C’est la vie.

  37. I myself went looking for Liberal Fascism at the HarMar Barnes & Noble in Roseville, Minnesota a week after it should have gone on sale- they didn’t have a single copy or plans to order any. Stories like this are making me a bit paranoid- and willing to order more through Amazon.

  38. #36 aw Chase, almost without exception I’ve always enjoyed a book over the movie made later. There’s no question that America is agreeing with you though.
    #34 John….I try to help pull my library to the right by giving them a lot of my completed books. As a matter of fact when I bought Justice Thomas’s bio I bought an extra copy for my library.

  39. I bought Jonah’s book via the Sony bookstore for the Sony ebook reader.

    Basically, if it’s not an ebook, I’m not buying it unless I absolutely have to. Several advantages: Instant gratification, lower pricing, no snotnose lefty clerks, no distribution problems, and it’s never backordered.

    Y’all oughta give it a try.

  40. These are the books i’ve read recently

    The War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy

    Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to Present

    While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within

    Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America

    Infidel

    Knowing the Enemy: Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror

    The West’s Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations?

    The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

    Londonistan

    Inside the Jihad: My Life With Al Qaeda: A Spy’s Story

    The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to Islam (and the Crusades)

    Why I am Not a Muslim

    America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It

    The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion

    Al Qaida Reader

    The Cube And the Cathedral: Europe, America, And Politics Without God

  42. I haven’t looked at the B&Ns here in Houston for “Liberal Fascism”. I am not the most rockribbed of “conservatives”; I am basically just a LGF lounge lizard. I can report on how they’ve treated some books I’d wanted to know about –
    1. Robert Ferrigno’s “Prayer For The Assassin” – in the front displays, but on the shelf around shin level. (About where I’d put it, because of RF’s relative obscurity, but it really was a fine book.)
    2. Robert Spencer’s “The Truth About Muhammad” – not in any display; buried in Current Events. (A terrible move.)
    3. “Politically Incorrect Guide To…” – scattered about the shelves. (This includes the excellent “Islam & Crusades” and “Literature” books. Unfortunately the P.I.G. series is, elsewhere, a fever swamp of Confederate nostalgia and creationism. The good authors are being held back by the company the keep.)
    4. Fallaci’s “The Rage and the Pride”; Steyn’s “America Alone”; Ibn Warraq’s anything – again, buried in the stacks. (Absolutely no excuse for that.)
    5. Free Inquiry, the Muhammad issue – nowhere in sight.

    In general anything critical about Allah’s Religion can be counted on, especially in the B&N on Westheimer & Voss at Houston, to be tucked behind other books, turned around, or even stuffed in the garbage. I blame other “customers” for that much, but it makes one think. I suspect the booksellers have to endure the occasional loud and spittle-flecked fatwa. Rather than lose inventory to the mujahideen it’s easiest just to “hide the lamp under a bushel”.

  43. This really hits home with me as well. The acid test for me is Mark Steyn’s “America Alone.” I searched 5 major bookstores in my area and not one has had a single copy that I am aware of since it came into print. I got mine online and complained in all the stores. I buy most hardcovers from Amazon for price (excepting books like Vince Flynn’s for which my world will end if I don’t get it THE DAY it comes out, and I’m not the only one).

    Sure, booksellers can stock what they want, just like the Dixie Chicks can sing and spout the anti-American crap they want to. I ain’t buyin’ it and I mean that literally, and I make sure they know it.

  45. When Ann Coulter’s last book came out, I happened to be in Burington, Vt, a left wing university town. Being mischievous, I went into Borders as previously Borders employees were revealed to hide conservative books. Predictably, Ann’s book was not on display as a recent release. I asked the clerk if they had a copy. Suspecting that I was a trouble maker, the clerk sprinted around the store to try and find it. Soon he enlisted another clerk to help him find it. Looking pleased with themselves, they handed me a copy. To which I said, I need two. =)

  47. Does anybody have success with books on tape or iPod (besides Dan)? I tried it once with Fred Barnes’ Rebel In Chief. My mind kept wandering, so I bought the book. Same as school. I can get more by reading than listening.

    As far as stores go, I’ve bought books online at eBay and Amazon, but I mostly buy from Books A Million, which is closer to my house. I don’t even know if there’s a B&N or whatever else closer than Tampa or Orlando. My main motivation though is wherever I can get the best price.

    Books a Million is a Christian based business, I think, but it’s not a strictly Christian book store. They usually have a pretty good selection, though their liberal kook selection far outweighs their conservative. Also, my brother worked at the one in CHS and he told stories about how customers would cover up conservative books, never put books back where they belonged, sat on the end-cap display books to read, came in just to do work on their laptops etc.

    There is/was a really cool bookstore chain in Houston called Book Stop. They have/had a store in an old movie theater. There were stacks in the lobby, the main floor and up in the goodly sized balcony. The entire wall under the screen was magazines. I loved going up in the balcony and looking down on all the books as far as the eye could see.

    The one lie I tell the most: when I’m headed to the book store and say “I’ll only be a minute”. Of course I get caught in History, Civil War, Politics etc.

  48. #46

    The price is sure right.

    Eeeek! If I spent that kind of money on such a thing, I shouldn’t have to buy anymore books to go on it. Not for a while anyway. Looks cool though.

    Maybe Chase or Kevin will buy me one since I’m po’ and they care more than y’all do.

  51. #49 Hound, you actually made me laugh out loud. I’m still chuckling. I lov Ann Coulter but that was funny!
    #47 TGC I’ve tried books on tape and have had the same problem. After a while I start to drift off. I think it is because when I’m driving long distance I’ve gotten in the habit of shutting my brain down a bit. There’s something about a book. I try to buy hardcovers too, the whole feel of the thing. I’m also respectful. Usually when I’m done the book still looks and feels like new.

  52. Coulter’s book was probably in the “Rantings of Coke Whores” section.

    H-m-m-m. I have ten confusions. (1) How do you know Anne Coulter a coke addict? (2) Is she addicted to Coca Cola? (3) How does an addiction to Coca Cola affect an individual? (4) Is Anne Coulter addicted to coke as in cocaine? (5) What evidence supports the claim? (6) What causes Anne Coutler to rant: the Coca Cola or the Cocaine? (7) How can you decide which one causes it? (8) What differentiates a rant from expressing a conviction? (9) How can you know a whore from a liberated woman? (10) What evidence do you have that Anne Coulter is not a virgin?

    I have further questions, but I will be satisfied with good faith answers to these few.

    By the way, I think Hillary is a Bitch. Would you like substantiation?

  53. helio: I have substantiation:

    “Where is the g*dd*mn f*cking flag? I want the g*dd*mn f*cking flag up every f*cking morning at f*cking sunrise.”
    Said by the First Lady of Arkansas to her staff at the Arkansas governor’s mansion on Labor Day, 1991. (Inside the White House, p. 244).

    “F*ck off! It’s enough that I have to see you sh*t-kickers every day. I’m not going to talk to you, too. Just do your g*dd*mn job and keep your mouth shut.”
    Said to her Arkansas state trooper bodyguards, after one of them deigned to greet her with “good morning.” (American Evita, p. 90)

    “[You] f*cking idiot.”
    To a state trooper who was driving her to an event. (Crossfire, p. 84). Describing Hillary’s general personality, Larry Gleghorn, a former state trooper, said: “She was a bitch day in and day out” (The First Partner, p. 119).

    “That sorry son of a bitch.” That is what Hillary would often refer to Bill around the mansion of the Arkansas’s governor’s mansion, according to state trooper Larry Patterson.

    “Personal, trained pigs.”
    Gary Aldrich reported that as America’s First Lady, “[Hillary] had a clear dislike for the agents (U.S. Secret Service), bordering on hatred… Two Secret Service agents heard Hillary’s daughter Chelsea refer to them as ‘personal, trained pigs’ … The agent on the detail tried to scold Chelsea for such disrespect. He told her … he believed that her father, the president, would be shocked if he heard what she had just said to her friends. Chelsea’s response? ‘I don’t think so. That’s what my parents call you’ ” (Unlimited Access, p. 90).

    “If you want to remain on this detail, get your f*cking ass over here and grab those bags.”
    Hillary gave this order to a Secret Service agent who wanted to keep his hands free in case of an incident (as he was trained and supposed to do) and who, therefore, was hesitant to carry her bags. According to countless witnesses over many years, this kind of demanding and demeaning behavior was and still is common for Hillary Rodham Clinton. In fact, Chris Mathews—a left-leaning news commentator who is often an apologist for Democrats—said years later that he had seen Senator Hillary Clinton using a Secret Service agent to carry her bags on the Washington to New York shuttle. “Who in the Senate gets a sherpa to carry their bags for them? Who pays the airfare for this guy? Who pays for his life-style? Who pays his salary to walk around carrying her bags? This looks pretty regal” (Hardball, 08/01, quoted on Newsmax.com, 07/17/01).

    “Get f*cked! Get the f*ck out of my way! Get out of my face!”
    More comments by Hillary and heard by members of Secret Service details. (Hillary’s Scheme, p. 89)

    “Stay the f*ck back, stay the f*ck away from me! Don’t come within ten yards of me, or else! … Just f*cking do as I say, okay!”
    Yet more kind and gracious words from America’s lovely First Lady to the brave and devoted Secret Service agents who were committed to protecting her life (Unlimited Access, p. 139). In A Matter of Character (p. 2), Ron Kessler wrote “Secret Service agents assigned at various points to guard Hillary during her campaign for the Senate were dismayed at how two-faced and unbalanced she was.”

    “What the f*ck is going on?”
    Once again, Hillary to a Secret Service agent after she read an article by a UC Berkeley student, which was critical of Chelsea Clinton, a new high-profile Stanford undergrad. The student was subsequently interrogated by the Secret Service (SFGate.com, 11/26/97).

    Bimbos, sluts, trailer trash, rednecks, and sh*t-kickers …
    Terms Hillary commonly used to describe Arkansans (American Evita, p. 139). Hmm… Did first lady trash mouth really think that anyone could be trashier than she?

    “G*dd*mn L.D., did you see that family right out of Deliverance? Get me the hell out of here.”
    To L.D. Brown, her bodyguard, while at a county fair in Arkansas in the early 1980s. They had just spoken to folks in bib overalls and cotton dresses.

    “This is the kind of sh*t I have to put up with.”
    To a friend after a Clinton supporter had given her earrings shaped like Arkansas Razorbacks (Blood Sport, p. 105).

    Motherf*cker. C*cks*cker.
    Some of Hillary’s favorite names for hubby Bill (Boy Clinton, p. 278)

    “You g*dd*mn stupid f*cking fool.”
    More loving words for hubby Bill. These in the company of toddler Chelsea (Newsmax.com, 07/15/00).

    “I want you to do damage control over Bill’s philandering … Bill’s going to be president of the United States … I want you to get rid of these bitches he’s seeing … I want you to give me the names and addresses and phone numbers, and we can get them under control.”
    Hillary instructing Ivan Duda, a private detective, in the 1980s (The Truth About Hillary, pp. 98-99).

    “G*dd*mn it, Bill, you promised me that office.”
    During the infamous Inauguration Day fight about Hillary getting an office in the West Wing (Bill & Hillary, p. 258). Hillary was furious at Bill for reneging on his promise, which was part of their power sharing agreement, to give her the office that traditionally goes to the vice-president. We should also not miss the important fact that American voters did not vote Hillary into any office.

    “You f*cking asshole.”
    Even more endearing words to the newly elected President of the United States of America from his loving wife on Inauguration Day (Hillary’s Choice, p. 223).

    “You stupid motherf*cker.”
    One more shot at the new President from loving Hillary on Inauguration Day (The Seduction of Hillary Rodham, p. 321).

    “Gentlemen, I have looked at your proposal, and it’s pure bullsh*t! Now you’ve had your meeting! Get out!”
    Harsh words from America’s nasty First Lady to health insurance executives after a meeting in which they presented their proposal for health care reform (Unlimited Access, p. 88).

    “What the f*ck are you doing up there? You get back here right away.”
    On the phone chastising Bill because he had floated a health care reform proposal that differed from hers (The Survivor, p. 118). As always, one must wonder who elected her, anyway?

    “Come back here, you asshole! Where the f*ck do you think you’re going?”
    To the president when he tried to avoid her (Unlimited Access, p. 192).

    “How could you be so damn stupid? How could you do that?
    To her hubby, our president, at the White House in front of guests, after he had done something of which Hillary disapproved (U.S. News & World Report, 02/05/96).

    “G*dd*mn it …You bastard … It’s your f*cking fault.”
    Said to her dear hubby regarding bad news about the Whitewater investigation (Dereliction of Duty, p. 68). It should be noted that the author, Buzz Patterson, reported that he had witnessed several similar incidents while in the White House.

    “You stupid f*cking moron. How could you risk your presidency for this?
    To Bill when the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke in January 1998 (Newsmax.com, 12/09/01).

    “F*ck him, Bill. He’s Reagan’s g*dd*mn vice president!”
    Hillary screamed these words at her husband in response to an invitation from Vice President George H.W. Bush to come to his home in Maine, circa 1984 (Crossfire, p. 69).

    “Son of a bitch.”
    Her reaction when she learned of President Bush’s surprise 2003 Thanksgiving visit to the troops in Iraq. Thus, in her mind, he upstaged her (American Evita, p. 259). It should be noted that the troops were wildly enthusiastic to see the president there and that Senator Clinton’s later visit was not received well by them.

    “That’ll teach them to f*ck with us.”
    To aides, immediately following her “Vast right-wing conspiracy” charge on national television (The Case Against Hillary Clinton, p. 162).

    “These women are all trash. Nobody’s going to believe them.”
    Hillary referring to the long list of women who claimed they have or had “personal relationships” with then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton (Bill & Hillary, p. 220). During the campaign, Hillary sent out a group of investigators known as the “truth squad” to “discourage” many of Bill’s former lovers from going public.

    “What the f*ck do you think you’re doing? I know who that whore is. I know what she’s here for. Get her out of here.”
    To President-Elect Clinton as she spots him talking to one of his reputed girlfriends at a going-away celebration the day they left Little Rock for Washington, D.C. in January 1993 (Inside the White House, p. 245).

    “The sorry damn son of a bitch.”
    Hillary’s reaction upon being informed that Bill was missing from the governor’s mansion in the middle of the night because “he had gone for a drive” (Inside the White House, p. 240).

    “G*dd*mn it Bill, how long do you expect me to put up with this sh*t?”
    Hill to Bill during just one more of their countless fights about Governor Bill’s womanizing (Bill & Hillary, p. 202). Of course, Hill will always “put up this sh*t” as long as Bill is useful to her, politically.

    “You are a real sh*t, do you know that, Bill? Christ, a real sh*t.”
    Another fight of many fights with Bill (Bill & Hillary, p. 132).

    “Come on, Bill, put your dick up. You can’t f*ck her here.”
    To her hubby the Governor, after catching him talking to an attractive woman at a political rally (Inside the White House, p. 243).

    “Bill has talked so much about Juanita.” [who Bill had just raped a few weeks before.]
    On the way to a political gathering, Hillary to her limo driver, anxious to meet a woman named Juanita Hickey, now Juanita Broaddrick (An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton: Do You Remember?” by Juanita Broaddrick, 10/15/00). Ms. Broaddrick claims that — several weeks before this encounter with Hillary—Bill Clinton raped her in a Little Rock hotel room.

    “I am proud that my husband has stood up as president to confront the violence and to protect American women.”
    Regarding Bill Clinton’s position on the issue of violence against women (Issues2000.org 01/21/03).

    Note: When Bill Clinton saw that Juanita Broaddrick had a swollen lip after he raped her, he advised, “You’d better put some ice on that” (The Wall Street Journal, 02/19/99).

    “You sold out you motherf*cker, you sold out!”
    Circa 1970, congressional staffer Hillary Rodham yelling at prominent Democrat lawyer Joseph Califano, who was representing clients in opposition to Hillary’s interests (Inside: A Public and Private Life, p. 213).

    “I want to get this sh*t over with and get these damn people out of here.”
    Hillary overheard on the governor’s mansion intercom as some preschoolers posed on the mansion lawn for a photograph (The First Partner, p. 192).

    “We have to destroy her.”
    Regarding Gennifer Flowers’ allegations of her affair with Bill (The Final Days, p. 13).

    “You know I’m going to start thanking the woman who cleans the rest room in the building that I work in. You know, maybe that sounds kind of stupid, but on the other hand I want to start seeing her as a human being.”
    In a speech just weeks before she had the White House Travel Office employees fired (New York Times Magazine, 05/23/93). Apparently, it didn’t occur to Hillary before this epiphany that most people already see maids, janitors, and other blue-collar workers as human beings.

    “Just keep smiling until these assholes get their pictures.”
    Instructions to her husband while they were posing for photographers (American Evita, p. 114).

    “Who in the hell asked you?”
    Snapping at a staffer who expressed a view that she disagreed with (American Evita, p. 125).

    “She’s a short, Irish bitch.”
    Regarding The New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd (Newsmax.com quoting The New York Post, 07/25/00).

    “You f*cking Jew bastard.”
    Honoring campaign manager Paul Fray’s rich religious heritage on the night of Bill Clinton’s defeat for the House of Representatives in 1974 (The State of A Union, p. 153).

    “You all remember Mahatma Ghandi. He ran a gas station down in St. Louis.”
    Said during a speech at a Democratic fundraiser (CNN, 01/04/04). Senator Clinton was later forced to apologize.

    “My name is Hillary Clinton. You going to vote in the primary?”
    Speaking to a hungry, homeless man in New York City on election day (Newsmax.com, 12/07/99). The homeless man had asked Mrs. Clinton to purchase something from him, so he could get something to eat.

    “Well, good for you.”
    Hillary’s response to another homeless man when he tells her, “I’m homeless,” while she was campaigning in New York City. After inquiring of his voting status, Hillary promptly left (Hannity & Colmes, 08/16/02).

    [You] Jew bastard…[You] Jew motherf*cker.
    Common insults that both Hillary and Bill Clinton used with each other and towards others who angered them, according to former bodyguard Larry Patterson (The State of A Union, p. 155).

    “[You] motherf*cking Jew.”
    Hillary to Bill (Bitter Legacy, p. 11). Hillary is a big supporter of the PLO, which pits her against Israel.

    Now, keeping in mind all of the above quotes from Hillary’s foul mouth, I think it wonderfully appropriate to end her quotes with:

    “I can’t think of any.”
    Response to Dick Morris when asked to name some defects or weaknesses she could improve in order to soften her negative public image (Shadow, p. 335).

    Oh yes, character does matter.

    Speaking of character, Hill and Bill are a perfectly imperfect couple. They truly compliment each other. So with that in mind …

    … here are a few Bill Clinton quotes to balance things out:

    “What’s all the fuss about; it was just a g*dd*mn mother-f*cking pig.”
    Governor Bill Clinton’s reaction upon seeing all the people at a funeral for a black state trooper killed in the line of duty, as retold by former bodyguard Larry Patterson during an audiotape interview with Newsmax. The “First Black President” later apologized, but only after being chastised by his security guards (Newsmax Media, 2002).

    “What does that whore think she’s doing to me?…[She’s] a f*cking slut.”
    During the 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton regarding Gennifer Flowers going public with their long affair (High Crimes & Misdemeanors, p. 80). The ever-sensitive Hillary once said that she would “crucify” Ms. Flowers (Hillary’s Choice, p. 13).

    “That little Greek motherf*cker!”
    Bill Clinton angry with Michael Dukakis after the Dukakis team ridiculed his long-winded speech at the 1988 Democratic National Convention as endless and self-serving (Partners in Power, p. 439). For perspective, many Democrats criticized Clinton’s speech for the same reasons.

    “He couldn’t get a whore across a bridge.”
    Bill Clinton displaying his self-proclaimed sensitivity for others’ pain as he discusses Ted Kennedy’s “accident” at Chappaquiddick (Bill & Hillary, p. 238).

    “Larry, unless they have pictures of me with a goat, I’ll deny it.”
    Bill Clinton telling state trooper Larry Patterson what he would do if anyone brought up any of his gargantuan amount of affairs.”
    [More Than Sex, The Secrets of Bill and Hillary Clinton Revealed! By Larry Patterson]

  54. Now now, heliotrope. Inventing tales of corruption and sleaziness is how liberals get by in life. It’s how they make themselves feel better. It’s their way of saying “Everybody’s doin’ it” – “it” being how the liberal lives, or at least what the liberal is willing to excuse and overlook – in other liberals. Don’t try to take it from them, please, or they’ll probably end up hanging themselves, after facing their own corruption and emptiness. The Macbeths (Mr. and Mrs.) would have been liberals, I daresay.

  55. Come on guys, he did turn a great phrase. Ann Coulter is a warrior and can take it. We give enough low blows to Hillary. Our guys and gals can hold up trust me.

  56. I don’t buy at bookstores anymore… I *shop* there by relaxing, looking books over, seeing if I like them … and then go home and *buy* from Amazon.

    I survived working in retail, and no, I don’t feel bad about it one bit.

  57. Used bookstores were the fertile slime for my second, my post-academiklatura education. At one I not just bought but discovered my first Jean-Francois Revel title, also my first Whittaker Chambers title.

    At my local (i.e., not big-box) chain bookstore, although the stock is tilted liberal and left, they make a certain effort to also stock current conservative titles. Yet the only books the customers routinely cover up or vandalize are conservative ones.

  58. Gene, don’t get me wrong – I’m one of the anti-Coulter people myself – I just know liberal misogyny when I see it.

    We give enough low blows to Hillary.

    Do you? To me, a low blow is when you say something without evidence. I get harsh on Hillary, but only with evidence… which I furnish on demand.