Ken Berwitz
“Like me, at 22, a few of you may also have taken wrong turns and fallen in love with the wrong person, maybe even your boss … Unlike me, though, your boss probably wasn\’t the president of the United States of America.
“Not a day goes by that I am not reminded of my mistake, and I regret that mistake deeply. In 1998 after having been swept up into an improbable romance, I was then swept up into a political, legal and media maelstrom, that we had never seen before.
“This scandal was brought to you by the digital revolution … what that meant for me personally was that overnight I went from being a completely private figure, to a publicly humiliated one worldwide. I was patient zero of losing a personal reputation on a global scale almost instantaneously.”
What you have just read is from Monica Lewinsky, speaking at the Lions 2015 convention for creative communications professionals, held in Cannes, France.
And, further on, Ms. Lewinsky said this:
“I was seen by many but truly known by few … It was hard to remember \’that woman\’ had a soul and was once unbroken. In 1998 I lost my reputation and my dignity, I lost almost everything, and I almost lost my life.”
My first impulse in reading this was “WAAAAAAHHHH, WAAAAHHHHHH, 20 years later and you\’re still crying about how mistreated you were? How about you should have kept your panties on and your mouth shut (not a reference to talking)? You\’re a woman in your 40\’s now. Start taking responsibility for your actions. You screw around with the married President of the United States and, digital or non-digital, you have no expectation of being a \’completely private figure\’ anymore”.
That said, however, Lewinsky does have a point about being victimized.
Though countless Clinton suckups/defenders try hard not to think about this, the fact remains that Monica Lewinsky was a powerless intern, in a sexual relationship with the most powerful man in the country – one who was in complete control and could have gotten rid of her any time he wanted.
I\’ve used this example in the past, and it is every bit as germane now: suppose the Assistant Manager of your local McDonald\’s was found to be having sex with a high school kid who got a job there so she\’d have some extra spending money? What would have happened to that Assistant Manager?
We both know he would have been fired on the spot.
But the President of the United States had sex, over and over again, with a powerless intern, in his place of business, during the business day – which, let\’s not forget, was his residence as well, where his wife and child lived. And that was ok?
It was asking too much for the President of the United States to be held to the same standard as an Assistant Manager at your local McDonald\’s?
Bill Clinton is the greatest politician I have ever seen. And one of his greatest talents has always been the ability to make some people think – with copious help from a complicit mainstream media – that if he got away with something, they somehow were winners.
And now, with The Clinton Foundation scandal, we are seeing that he is still exploiting that talent….with much of mainstream media still providing him copious help as he does so.
So, yeah, Monica Lewinsky is a whining crybaby who would do us all a major favor by shutting the eff up. But let\’s never forget that, without Bill Clinton\’s approval, none of this would ever have happened.
Now, can we forget Monica Lewinsky forever? Please?
