Book Review- "It Takes a Village" by Hillary Clinton
By Jon Hall

"Children" says Mrs Clinton, "are like the tiny figures at the centre of the nesting dolls for which Russian folk artists are famous. The children are cradled in the family, which is primarily responsible for the passage from infancy to adulthood. But around the family are the larger settings of paid informers, secret police, corrupt bureaucracy, and a prison gulag."

I added the last part for comic relief, something It Takes a Village doesn't provide. Intentionally.
The profound cogitations of Mrs. Clinton result in a treasure trove of useful advice on child rearing. "The village needs a town crier- and a town prodder," she says. I shall be certain to propose the creation of this novel position at the next shire council meeting. I'm sure my fellow citizens will be as pleased as I am at the notion of a public servant going from door to door at convenient hours announcing, as Mrs Clinton does, "We can encourage girls to be active and dress them in comfortable, durable clothes that let them move freely."

Mrs Clinton has swell tips on entertaining toddlers: "Often… a sock turned into a hand puppet is enough to fascinate them for hours." There's that 'for hours' thing we see so often in the book. I suppose even the briefest period spent in the company of Mrs Clinton might be described that way. She's good at keeping older kiddies fit, too: "If your children need to lose weight, set them a reasonable goal and make a sensible plan for getting there." And what a parent would not applaud Mrs Clinton's suggestion "to explain to the child in advance what the shots do, perhaps by illustrating it with her favourite dolls and stuffed animals." Plus, this is an excellent method of educating offspring about sexual abuse and, perhaps, the American system of Capital Punishment. Don't blame the US Senate if the kid refuses to be left alone with Fuzzy the Bunny.
Mrs Clinton also taps the expertise of - what else to call them? - experts. "The Child Care Action Campaign… advises that jigsaw puzzles and crayons may be fine for preschoolers but are inappropriate for infants."

But Mrs Clinton can't be stupid. Can she? She has a big long resume. She's been to university, several times. Very important intellectuals like Gary Wills consider her to be a very important intellectual, like Gary Wills. Surely the imbecility of It Takes a Village was a calculated, cynical attempt to soften the Ex-First Lady's image with ordinary Americans. Mrs Clinton choses a thesis that can be hardly refuted: Kids - Aren't They Great? Then she patronized her audience, talked down to them, lowered the level of discourse to a point where it could be understood by the average - lets be frank - American. This was an interesting public relations gambit, repositioning the dragon lady to show how much she cares about all the little dragon eggs. But if the purpose of It Takes a Village was to get in good with the masses, then explain this sentence on page 182-

'I had never before known people who lived in trailers.'

Is the First Lady a dunce? Let us marshal the evidence:

Stupidity:

President of her class at Wellesley
It was the sixties, a decade without quality control.

Involved in the Watergate investigation.
So was Martha Mitchell.

Partner in the most prestigious law firm in Arkansas
Examine the phrase "most prestigious law firm in Arkansas"

Went to Yale
Went to Yale

Married Bill
Married Bill

Won the New York Senate Race
Won the New York Senate Race

Mrs Clinton seems to possess the highly developed, finely attuned stupidity found in the upper reaches of academia. Hear her on the subject of nursery and preschools: "From what experts tell us, there is a link between the cost and quality of care." And then there is Mrs Clinton's introduction to the chapter titled "Children Don't Come with Instructions":

'There I was, lying in my hospital bed, trying desperately to breast feed… As I looked on in horror, Chelsea started to foam at the nose. I thought she was strangling or having convulsions. Frantically, I pushed every buzzer there was to push. A nurse appeared promptly. She assessed the situation calmly then, suppressing a smile, said, "It would help if you held her head up a bit, like this." Chelsea was taking in my milk, but because of the awkward way I held her she was breathing it out of her nose!'

The woman was holding her baby upside down.

Jonathan Hall, April 2003.