The media has been attempting a 15 year image restoration project on the Clintons, particularly Bill Clinton. In 2000, Al Gore while running for President had to distance himself from Clinton because of the negativity surrounding Clinton's sexual misdeeds and disrespect for women. The liberals knew that if restored in the court of public opinion, Bill Clinton, who was still young by political standards, could be an effective advocate for their causes. We saw that at last year's Democratic National Convention, where his speech resuscitated Obama's lackluster campaign and put him on a trajectory to win. But Bill Clinton has not changed at all. He is a serial liar. He is a serial sexual harasser. He is a disgraced and disbarred former attorney. He is not principled, but rather changes his views based on political motivations. He is a shape-shifting manipulator with no moral core. When Anthony Weiner married Huma Abebin, it was Bill Clinton who officiated the ceremony. Is it any wonder that that marriage -- a marriage done for political expediency and built on a foundation of self-serving motives. Sounds like Bill and Hillary.
Rand Paul couldn't carry Bill Clinton's cigar case. That video makes Paul look like a sniveling little prig.
Her life is ruined? If it were, Bill Clinton did it all by himself? Shrug off personal responsibility much?
i have always thought it was wrong that lewinsky's life was ruined while clinton is celebrated the way he is. lewinsky was a single girl in her early 20's while clinton was the leader of the free world and a married man, but she is the one who will be mocked and ridiculed for the rest of her days and clinton is held up as the standard bearer of his party. seems kind of sexist.
um, yes. lewinsky seems to be bearing the responsibility for the affair, but clinton does not and his followers seem to have given him a free pass on this.
It's impossible to think of a scenario where the power positions could be more disparate, short of brute physical force. 99% of women in her position at her age would not have been able to resist. She was barely legal ffs.
Huh? Clinton has given a prime time speech at every convention for the past 7 elections. In 2000 he was given a rock star entrance where the camera followed him walking down the hall as he went out to the stage. Hardly distancing. There was definite Clinton fatigue after 8 years but he was never seen as a negative for them. Gore absolutely had to separate himself as an individual and attempt to manufacture a personality but otherwise he was pretty similar politically to Clinton and never ran from that.
Dear GOP please continue to cowardly attack Hillary through her husband over a tired, (nobody cares) 16 year old "scandal". meanwhile CNN Poll: Majority say GOP out of touch with women According to the CNN/ORC International poll, which was released Friday, 55% of Americans surveyed say the GOP doesn't understand women. That number rises to 59% among all women and 64% among women over 50.
How is her life ruined? I don't know why anyone would give Clinton a free pass on the issue. I haven't heard anyone say it was okay for Clinton to do what he did.
I am really surprised that the Republicans want to dredge up the Lewinsky scandal again. This was never a winning issue for them and won't be now.
Actually Lewinsky was between 22 and 24 when the incidents happen so she wasn't barely legal. Further she herself has said it was consensual. I agree Clinton is a philanderer and not someone I would hold up as a high moral character but very few of our leaders are and many of them who have haven't been very effective presidents. Frankly marital failings of politicians isn't something that the electorate considers too much.
Actually it's the media asking Paul about it unprompted. I imagine they are trying to evoke a response from Paul that makes Hillary look sympathetic, but Paul keeps it focused on Bill.
Clinton was a better than average president and a highly intelligent politician, but his legacy is greatly benefited by the post-Cold War peace dividend and a roaring world economy. I'm in many regards probably far left of most of this board (and even Clinton himself) on many social and economic topics but I'm not going to fall victim to cognitive bias to defend a guy who was disingenuous and exploitative. I'm sure as hell not going to defend Bill Clinton's indiscretions (though as much as I find them repugnant, not worthy of impeachment). As for Lewinsky, she had to move to London in order to get on with her life and avoid the stigma of her past. No one seems to give two ****s about her life. It was certainly ruined and at 40 years old, she's probably still in therapy. It's definitely a double standard considering the way Clinton is celebrated and Lewinsky still draws a punchline from our national consciousness, and we all should probably feel at least a little bit ashamed for that. But Rand Paul's exhuming of old political scandals is pretty transparent, and an obvious attempt to score populist points with low information conservative voters. He should stick to his pro-privacy, anti-Patriot Act stuff. It's far more politically relevant, appeals to a much larger audience and is way less divisive. But then, outrage and moral panic always outsell sound policy debate, so I guess he probably knows what he's doing when he talks down to the American public like everyone else.
Please, Paul has been poking Hillary with this for a couple of weeks now. Why? What does he think this will gain? He's too much of a wuss to attack Hillary straight on because he knows she would stomp him like a roach. So he goes after Bill? weak
Hillary at this point has an employment history that's a lot more impressive than that of a jilted first lady. She was a competent Sec of State. I don't see how it helps Paul for anything more than encouraging Tea Party turnout and support in a GOP primary.
she is a national joke and has no anonymity. it has been 15 years and i bet not a day goes by that people are not staring at her and she does not hear comments behind her back. she will be forever known as the fat chick who blew the president. the name lewinksy is a joke...remember when her father tried to sue law and order b/c they used the term "lewinsky" to refer to a BJ? meanwhile, clinton is celebrated as this great guy and elder statesmen. for him the whole affair is a minor footnote, but a young girls life was destroyed forever. do you honestly think she would not rather be monica lewinsky the dental hygienist or monica lewinksy the interior designer instead of monica lewinksy, the fat chick with the j*zz-stained blue dress who allowed the president to put cigars in her coochie??? i think it a societal issue more than political. there is definitely a double standard as to these kinds of shenanigans and promiscuity in general. men are studs and women are slutty. and while we are talking presidential sex scandals i think dubya also should have been held accountable for bringing a male hooker into the white house dozens and dozens of times and planting him in the white house press corp so he could field soft-ball questions to the president. as for paul, i agree that bringing this issue up isnt going to help politically, and might actually turn people off, but its pretty funny!
I agree she would most likely rather be anonymous and not known for her misdeeds with Clinton. I agree that it has undoubtedly made her life more difficult. I just didn't know that her life was completely ruined. I don't think Rand Paul bringing up this ancient issue is in any way going to help Monica, and may erase some of what she's done since then to put it behind her and move on. Sadly now some folks are pretty much only talking about her in the context of the scandal again.
Asking people who don't believe in evolution to evolve shows how poorly Paul understands the problems facing the Republican Party. Rand Paul warns Texas could turn blue HOUSTON — Sen. Rand Paul on Saturday predicted that Texas would turn blue within a decade if the Republican Party doesn’t become more inclusive. “What I do believe is Texas is going to be a Democrat state within 10 years if we don’t change,” Paul (R-Ky.), who grew up in Texas, said at a dinner held by the Harris County GOP. “That means we evolve, it doesn’t mean we give up on what we believe in, but it means we have to be a welcoming party.”
