NBC will produce a miniseries based on the political career of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a project sure to polish her 2016 presidential aspirations. NBC’s programming is consistently left of center, and Bob Greenblatt, NBC Entertainment chairman, donated thousands to Clinton’s failed 2008 presidential bid.
Just casting the gorgeous Diane Lane in the lead role is bias enough.
The project will likely sugarcoat the Whitewater investigation, HillaryCare and TravelGate, but here’s betting the following five moments get left on the cutting room floor.
- Those Imaginary chats with Eleanor Roosevelt – This one seems like a visual slam dunk, the sight of the First Lady having tea with a former First Lady–in her mind, at least. Imaginary conversations wouldn’t help Clinton’s image, so these chit-chats will have to go.
- The Reset Button – The so-called smartest politician in the world reached out to Russia with a gimmick so silly Carrot Top would hurl it back into his prop trunk. She brought a red “reset” button to her meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as a way to distance herself from past negative vibes. Too bad she didn’t bring her English to Russian dictionary along since she bungled the translation. The moment wasn’t just embarrassing on the surface. Her button malfunction also signaled how she would undercut our allies in the region.
- “Under Sniper Fire” – Clinton tried to burnish her tough gal image with a fictitious story in which she was in danger from sniper fire during a 1996 trip to Bosnia. Clinton repeated the tale several times before admitting her landing reception wasn’t quite so deadly.
- “What Difference … Does It Make?” – Clinton’s infamous reaction to a line of questioning regarding the death of four Americans in Benghazi is a portrait of clinical indifference, and a quote that would haunt the rest of her political career had a Republican uttered it in that context.
- “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy” – Clinton uttered this defense of her philandering husband, President Bill Clinton, as the Monica Lewinksy scandal was finding its legs. She blamed the rumor of her husband’s unfaithfulness on his political enemies, the so-called “vast right wing conspiracy” committed to ruining his career. This moment might make the final cut, if only put in the context of Republicans using her husband’s infidelities as a weapon against him. As if Democrats would do no such thing.