I just saw Chuck Todd interview Sen. Amy Kobuchar on Meet the Press. He asked her if Democrats assume some responsibility for decades of sexual harassment because of the pass he thinks Bill Clinton received in the 1990s.
First of all, Bill Clinton didn't receive a pass. He was impeached. Yes, I know he was charged with perjury and (are you listening, Donald Trump?) obstruction of justice. But if you ask anyone on the street why Bill was impeached, you'll hear, "Monica Lewinsky." The 42nd President of the United States' legacy is forever tainted.
Second, women have always understood how ugly Bill's behavior was during the Lewinsky scandal. Here is what I wrote about it in 2010.
The prompt was to write a letter to "a hero that has let you down." I haven't changed a syllable. I don't have to.
Dear Mr. President:
Every time I think of you, that old
Laura Nyro song starts playing in my head. You know the one, "BILL! I
love you so, I always will ..."
And I did and I do. But you broke my heart.
It wasn't the infidelity
that bothered me. Hell, I'm a Kennedy girl. I grew up believing we can
and should separate personal behavior from public performance.
It
was the way you allowed your good ol' boy horndog behavior to seep from
the personal to the public that makes me nuts. You did a young and
emotionally vulnerable girl in the Oval Office! How did you think you
were going to get away with that? And I don't for a moment think you
cared for that poor kid. You saw more interesting, more attractive women
every day on the rope line in front of the White House (remember, this
was before 9/11 when we could tour 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue). You chose
her simply because she was there, and you did her simply because you
could. And then you not only lied about it, you demeaned her ("I never
had sexual relations with that woman
..."). The imbalance of power between you two and your fates appalls
me. YOU were the most powerful man in the free world, YOU were the one
with a wife and daughter (a daughter not that much older than your
mistress). Yet today you remain one of the most popular men on the
planet, and she's a punchline, a synonym for oral sex. How is that fair?
You're
a good man and you have done a lot of good. But you had the capacity
to do more and be a great man. I believed in you, and you let me down.
You let the nation down. And you let yourself down. Every account of
your presidency will include the phrase, "impeached by the House of
Representatives."
And yet ... and yet ... When you talk about
the Clinton Global Initiative, I'm transfixed. When I watched you walk
Chelsea down the aisle, I got misty. Every time you have a health problem, I say a little prayer.
So even though you broke my heart, I love you so, and I always will.
These are the thoughts and observations of me — a woman of a certain age. (Oh, my, God, I'm 65!) I'm single. I'm successful enough (independent, self supporting). I live just outside Chicago, the best city in the world. I'm an aunt and a friend. I feel that voices like mine are rather underrepresented online or in print. So here I am. If my musings resonate with you, please visit my blog again sometime.