MONICA LEWINSKY STILL WITH US

We all remember Monica Lewisnsky and her affair with President Clinton 18 years ago when she was 22 (It was also not her first affair.).  Now 40 yrs old and a nice looking lady and after 10 yrs of silence has published an interfiew in Vanity Fair where she says he took advantage of her but that it was consensual (sic).*  As I remember the story, she was walking ahead of the president and flipped her blouse up to reveal her bra strap.  We all knew that Clinton was a womanizer and this was like handing a martini to a recovering alcoholic.  You could say that a man old enough to be her father should have known better, but they had oral sex in the Oval Office, but apparently not intercourse.

I learned long ago that I didn't want to know too much about the messy lives most people live.  Back in the days of another womanizer, President Jack Kennedy, the women kept quiet.  This is a new age and women don't keep quiet about their affairs.  The big problem was that Monica blabbed about the affair and blabbed to the wrong person who started a political campaign against the president.  I believe it when Clinton said that he didn't have sex with that woman, because I believe sex to him meant intercourse, but that was a fine point with the public.  At any rate this exploded political outrage and Clinton ended up being impeached though not convicted.

Though I knew Clinton was a womanizer, I thought he wanted to accomplish certain things so much as president that he would keep his pants zipped, at least during his presidency, but he couldn't do it and as a result failed to accomplish much of his agenda.  In addition, there were bad things going on in the world, and this affair distracted politicians from doing their jobs.  To some extent we are still paying the price for this distraction.

I'm surprised that so many women had sympathy with Monica Lewinsky at the time and feel that President Clinton took advantage of a girl, a child of 22.  I am reminded, however, that age 22 is considered an adult with the full privileges of voting, drinking alcohol, and smoking.   It is hard for me to understand that a woman of 22 doesn't know that she is not supposed to have an affair with a married man.  Apparently, it is accepted by many women that it is all right for a "girl" of 22 to pursue a married man, even one old enough to be her father, if he is powerful.  Now I know my problem with all the women that told me to "get lost."  I just wasn't powerful enough.

I do entertain sympathy with Monica Lewinsky today.  She has never been able to hold a permanent job and has not achieved a marriage that she says she wants.**  She has paid a high price for the sins of long ago.

The Clinton-Lewinsky affair seems to have subsided, and I think most people greet her interview with a yawn.  At least Clinton is highly regarded.  I can't believe that this old problem will have any political value.  There are women who hold it against Hillary for staying with this womanizer though there are many other women who oppose divorce, and admire her for staying married as they put up with philandering husbands and stayed in their marriage.  It would seem, viewing former President Clinton's current popularity, that Hillary did the right thing.

* http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2014/05/monica-lewinsky-speaks
** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Lewinsky