So many women. So many scandals.
Yes, it can be very confusing writing about Hillary Clinton and her team covering up the many, many "bimbo eruptions" during the course of her and husband Bill's political careers. Therefore it is understandable that Amy Chozick, writing in the New York Times about the many scandals threatening to erode her support among women, got the names mixed up when presenting the infamous "trailer park" quote by Hillary supporter James Carville:
Over the years, the Clinton effort to cast doubt on the women included using words like “floozy,” “bimbo” and “stalker,” and raising questions about their motives. James Carville, a longtime strategist for Mr. Clinton, was especially cutting in attacking Ms. Flowers. “If you drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you’ll find,” Mr. Carville said of Ms. Flowers.
Umm... Sorry Amy but Carville was actually referring to Paula Jones, not Gennifer Flowers. Here is the late Mike Royko in early 1997 referencing the correct name in that "trailer park" quote:
One of those who spoke for the White House was James Carville, the Clinton adviser who portrays himself as a real grass-roots kind of guy. But of Jones, Carville said: "Drag a hundred dollars through a trailer park and there's no telling what you'll find."
Royko's column was interesting in the fact that he pointed out that it was not only Clinton political loyalists who were smearing the women involved with Bill Clinton, but also the many Clinton allies in the mainstream media:
Although he's portrayed as a sexual creep, President Clinton isn't the only one who should be embarrassed by the Paula Jones case.
The Washington media elite ought to be cringing. So should many of those former liberals who now call themselves politically progressive. They're being accused of being White House puppets in efforts to muddy up Ms. Jones as mere "trailer trash."
In one of the most remarkable journalistic confessions I've ever read, a Newsweek writer recently described how he and other members of the "mainstream" press brigade were willing, even eager, participants in the kick-Paula campaign.
As the Newsweek article said: "In media accounts, she tends to be portrayed as a trailer park floozy digging for money and celebrity."
...The Newsweek confession went on: "Arguably, the main reason more people don't take her story seriously is that the mainstream media have been skillfully spun by the White House and Clinton's lawyers. By playing on the class and partisan prejudices of reporters, as well as their squeamishness and ambivalence about printing stories about the sex lives of politicians, Clinton's operatives have done a brilliant job of discrediting Paula Jones and her case."
Then the Newsweek article made this stunning admission: "Newsweek's Evan Thomas, the author of this piece, said on a Washington talk show that Jones was just `some sleazy woman with big hair coming out of the trailer parks.' This elitist attitude was widely shared by the establishment press."
Oh, as for Gennifer Flowers who was incorrectly referenced in the Times story, she was eventually exonerated in 1998:
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Jan. 22) -- President Bill Clinton in sworn testimony has acknowledged he had a sexual relationship with Gennifer Flowers during his tenure as Arkansas governor, something he flatly denied in the 1992 presidential campaign, sources have told CNN.
Exit question: Will Amy Chozick thank your humble correspondent and NewsBusters for pointing out the "trailer park" error when issuing a correction (we hope) to her story?
