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By Geoff Metcalf
April 27, 2003
NewsWithViews.com
The recent dustup over author-publisher-defender of the indefensible Steven Brill and his shocking claim that Sen. Hillary Clinton made up records about how she helped 9/11 families is very interesting.
The controversy involves three liberal Democrat sycophants: Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and Steven Brill.
I have often noted that it is not a question of WHO is right or wrong but WHAT is right or wrong. I still hold true to that axiom despite my unbridled antipathy for all three of the players in this neodrama. Give the devil his due.
According to Brill, Hillary Clinton had her staff manufacture/fabricate records of meetings and phone calls to families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to create the fiction that the ice princess was a warm, caring, compassionate representative of constituents traumatized by the epic tragedy of 9/11.
Brill said Sen. Clinton�s staff tried to persuade him that she worked hard to help, and offered "an elaborate story, with an elaborate subtext of memos and phone calls � a long, long story." However, according to Brill, "None of it turned out to be true. ... They gave me documents and phone calls and things like that which just plain never happened."
Subsequently, after five days of �no comment,� Hillary responded. After Bill O�Reilly exposed the story, Sen. Clinton's spokesman Philippe Reines attacked Brill.
"Brill's accusations are completely false and an obvious last ditch effort to jump-start anemic book sales," Reines said. So why didn�t the ubiquitous New York senator speak for herself?
Efforts to exploit and capitalize on the difficulty of 9/11 victims are regarded as a crime lower than a man killing his wife and unborn child on Christmas Eve.
During the Monica Lewinsky mess Brill defended the indefensible ad nauseam. However, reportedly, when Hillary learned he was writing a 9/11 book, he says she actually sought him out and said, "I hear you want to talk to me about your book."
Brill claims after private talks, "She did follow up in one non-off-the-record conversation, urging me that the person responsible for aid to New York City was not Chuck Schumer but Hillary Clinton."
Although my contempt for Schumer rivals revulsion for the Clintons, Chuck is the guy who did the heavy lifting servicing 9/11 constituents � NOT Hillary.
Brill details the story of one family specifically, the Cartiers, who suffered the loss of a relative in the Twin Towers.
"This family had tried repeatedly to get Hillary Clinton to meet with them," Brill said. "And always the staff said: 'Write up a memo. We don't meet with any families unless they write to us first and tell us what they want to meet about.' "
"They said to me the only time families can meet with Hillary Clinton is if it's at a press conference." Or (unstated), I presume, if they have a big campaign contribution check to deliver �
Meanwhile, Brill notes, Sen. Schumer took time out on a Sunday to meet with the Cartiers � "no reporters, no cameras, no nothing." Then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Schumer worked to provide the Cartier family access to Ground Zero and to Fresh Kills, the Staten Island recovery site, so they could search for their relative's remains. Hillary was otherwise occupied.
Brill repeated his allegations on O'Reilly's nationally syndicated "Radio Factor" show. However, when he appeared later on the talk host's TV show, Brill tried to downplay the impact of his account.
O'Reilly told Brill, "I think you're afraid." And he should be � the Clintons play hardball.
But this controversy should be a no-brainer IF the malfeasance of the mainstream media were not epidemic. Basically, we have a contradiction of "he said/she said."
* Brill claims Hillary inflated her role in servicing her 9/11 constituents.
* He claims her staff fabricated phony documentation of her efforts.
* He claims Chuck Schumer worked hard for 9/11 victim families and Hillary did not.
* Hillary (through a spokesman) says Brill is lying.
Here�s the deal! It is not brain surgery � but it IS important.
To borrow a Drudgism, ABCCBSNBCCNNFoxNewYorkTimesWashingtonPost need only to follow up and confirm or refute the claims made by Brill and the counter claims made by Sen. Clinton. The story cannot be black AND white and it will not be revealed to be any shade of gray.
Either Steven Brill or Hillary Clinton is lying.
This is, or should be, a big deal. If a U.S. senator (allegedly with aspirations to run for the presidency) has lied AND manufactured false supporting documentation to buff up a tarnished public image � AND has exploited the tragedy of constituents AND attempted to diminish the laudable efforts of her Democratic colleague, New York and American voters need to know.
If a prejudiced fourth estate is incapable of exploring facts that may contradict its preconceived opinions and personal wants ... it is not worth a bucket of spit.
� 2003 Geoff Metcalf - All Rights Reserved
Geoff is a veteran media performer. He has had an eclectic professional background covering a wide spectrum of radio, television, magazine, and newspapers. A former Green Beret and retired Army officer he is in great demand as a speaker. Metcalf has hosted his radio talk show on the ABC/Disney owned and operated KSFO and in worldwide syndication. www.geoffmetcalf.com E-mail: geoff@geoffmetcalf.com
"Brill repeated his allegations on O'Reilly's nationally syndicated "Radio Factor" show. However, when he appeared later on the talk host's TV show, Brill tried to downplay the impact of his account."