I think Clinton has acted like a real cad (to use an old fashioned term) and if I was Hillary I'd kick his ass or be dunning him for every cent he has and ever will have, and if I was Monica I'd be suing the shit out of him too. However, I really, really can't see what this has to do with impeachment, nor do I think that this is even a good example of sexual harrassment on the job. Monica did just fine, and it seems to really be a case of sex between consenting adults (ignoring the "taste" of Monica in going after slick willie in the first place). Sexual harrassment on the job is either UNWANTED sexual approaches leading to threats or the creation of an intimidating sexually explicit atmosphere, I can't see how either description applies here. Finally, there is a taint of classism and racism about this whole thing -- working class and minority women harrassed in the work place would never, in a million years, be accorded the audience and prestige which has been accorded Monica Lewinsky.
Aside from all this, I think the press has reacted abysmally to this whole incident (or series of incidents). Every time any news program gives a report on the President/Lewinsky/Starr mess I either hit the mute or turn to another channel or stop watching TV. Since the press is looking for people's opinions (even in their world, they are realizing that the average person is sick and tired of this whole thing), here are mine:
1. This is not an impeachable offense and has only become an issue because Starr and the news media want it to be an issue. From start to finish, this has been a private issue between the president and his family and whoever he's boffing at the moment. Lieing about sex is routine and normal, in fact, telling the truth about sex is highly discouraged in our society! The only reason this is hindering Clinton from presidential duties is because the press will report nothing else and Starr is absolutely obsessed with hearing about every last drop of semen.
2. I think the news media's salacious examination and re-examination and OBSESSION with this whole thing shows the shallowness of 1990s news. At one point North Korea was hurling missiles at Japan, Russia was on the verge of civil war with a collapsed economy and failing ruble, our stock market was failing and every single network news medium was talking about how much Monica Lewinsky could get for a book.
3. This issue has gained world wide credibility because the US press keeps asking questions about this all over the world. I thought the questioning in Russia was an absolute disgrace. I am beginning to think that the conservative right, through Ken Starr has paid off the entire press corps to ignore crucial world wide and local events in the search for ways to humiliate the man who is supposed to be leading our country. By making this the ONLY ISSUE IN THE NEWS regardless of what else is going on in the country and the world, the network press is completely destroying and illusion of objectivity and wide ranging news reporting.
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