Althouse: "Staring at the computer screen, I spent the day shouting: 'oh my god!' and 'I can’t believe they put that in' or 'That’s so out of context.'"

October 20, 2014

"Staring at the computer screen, I spent the day shouting: 'oh my god!' and 'I can’t believe they put that in' or 'That’s so out of context.'"

"And those were the only thoughts that interrupted a relentless mantra in my head: 'I want to die.'"

Says self-titled "Patient Zero" in that terrible epidemic called The Internet.

30 comments:

PatHMV said...: Why do people who claim to have had such an adverse reaction to unwanted sudden fame (or infamy) nevertheless seem to try to do all they can to recapture the spotlight?

You give the President of the United States a blowjob in the Oval Office, you're going to become a source of public comment and discussion. If you're old enough to get a job in the White House, you're old enough to know that blowing your married boss is wrong. I continue to have no sympathy for this woman, Monica Lewinsky. She voluntarily chose to do a number of things that she was old enough to know were just wrong things to do. The fact that her older, should-be-wiser partner in infidelity abused his position of authority and his personal charm to seduce her may mitigate some small part of her personal responsibility, but it doesn't excuse her own actions.

Who out there is going to contribute money to this cause as a result of her involvement? Why should a notoriously straight woman be a spokesperson for a group that appears to be aimed at preventing bullying against LGBT youth?; 10/20/14, 10:49 AM
traditionalguy said...: Monica is against the public shaming of adulterous conduct.

You go girl.; 10/20/14, 11:09 AM
Bob Boyd said...: I don't think its a fair comparison.
Clementi was a guy doing something in private that was nobody's business. He didn't have any reason to think it would go the way it did.
Monica, young, but not stupid, certainly knew if the affair became public it would be a huge problem. That was probably part of the thrill. What an ego trip! The President would risk everything because of an overwhelming desire for her.
Interesting how the Rape Culture Valyries, choosers of the slain in the war on women, never choose Bill Clinton.; 10/20/14, 11:15 AM
Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...: Capitalizing on the death of a cyber-shamed college student in order to keep the brand going ranks right down there with designing handbags or hosting a dating show.

How long before she tires of this adventure?

If there were some sort of physical mutilation, it would easily be mistaken for a John Irving novel.; 10/20/14, 11:28 AM
Anonymous said...: Remember Newsweek was sitting on the story and Drudge broke it. She couldn't have expected what she got because it didn't exist yet.; 10/20/14, 11:29 AM
William said...: She tried to leverage a blow job in the Oval Office into a plum job at the UN. She failed, but, to the extent of her ability, she was just as cynical and manipulative as the people who exploited her....She got more punishment than she deserved, but that's not the same as martyrdom.; 10/20/14, 11:42 AM
Anonymous said...: I want to bring back public shaming, or as Monica might call it, cyber bullying.

This just in, adulterers tired of having their adultery pointed out to them! Vow to stop the bullying!

I got an idea, maybe you should behave yourself.; 10/20/14, 11:44 AM
Rocketeer said...: If there were some sort of physical mutilation, it would easily be mistaken for a John Irving novel.

It's already just as hackneyed and boring.; 10/20/14, 12:40 PM
Gahrie said...: Who cares what Monica thinks...she's just a nut and a slut...right?

Imagine how different the history of the 90's would have been if Monica hadn't have kept that blue dress.....; 10/20/14, 12:52 PM
ObeliskToucher said...: "And those were the only thoughts that interrupted a relentless mantra in my head: 'I want to die.'"

Mary Jo Kopechne was similarly appalled at her sudden infamy...; 10/20/14, 1:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Her love struck phone calls describing oval office events were recorded without her knowledge by a political operative out to get the POTUS. Events not having much to do with matters of state. A president caught up in the wide cast net of evolving sexual harrassment law such that the minutiae of his every impecadildo is subject to discovery. Major news outlets sitting on the story maybe because it was the proper and decent thing to do - from both personal and national perspectives. Ambitious journo breaks story using new information dispersal technology making news available to numbers it would have cost millions to reach just a few years earlier. A special prosecutor forced to pursue evidence, but who could have said this has gotten ridiculous and resigned.And a congress that could have said well it's gross but not impeachable? And all of it because the supremes went 9-0 that, hey,this case cant be that big a deal. And this woman is dredging all this up and I'm thinking about it. Wonder what was out of context.; 10/20/14, 1:54 PM
Anonymous said...: " Major news outlets sitting on the story maybe because it was the proper and decent thing to do"

I've always found it interesting how they choose to do the decent thing with Democrats but not with Republican.; 10/20/14, 1:56 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: 7e,

I love "impecadildo."

Sorry, no sympathy for ML here. She got exactly what she was asking for -- her "Presidential kneepads," with everything that naturally goes along with them.; 10/20/14, 2:11 PM
Gahrie said...: Why wasn't it the proper and decent thing to do to ignore Bob Packwood?; 10/20/14, 2:14 PM
SGT Ted said...: Shorter Monica:

"I sucked the Presidents dick in the oval office and people are still talking about it, boohoo."; 10/20/14, 2:26 PM
SGT Ted said...: "Major news outlets sitting on the story maybe because it was the proper and decent thing to do - from both personal and national perspectives."

Bullshit.

Again, bullshit.

They were protecting their guy and NOT doing their alleged jobs as journalists.; 10/20/14, 2:30 PM
PatHMV said...: To the anonymous AOL commenter above:

If Bill Clinton had just consistently answered "It's none of your business whether I had sex with [whatever woman he was in the process of lying about having sex with]", I might have some sympathy to that point of view. But he lied. He lied often. He lied baldly. He lied in such a way as to attack the women he was lying about. He lied to his wife. He lied to his cabinet. He lied to all of us.

Yes, up to a point, even the President's private life is his own. But if multiple women start accusing him of sexual improprieties, improprieties that would certainly imperil the careers of any man in a lower position than President, then his sex life is no longer private. And he has an obligation to all of us to tell the truth.

There's a Johnny Cash song about a man who accepts execution for a murder he did not commit, rather than identify his alibi -- his best friend's wife. If Clinton wanted to avoid ensnaring women he had seduced (or who had seduced him) in political scandal, he could have simply stopped lying, but just refused to answer questions, instead.

Imagine the Paula Jones case, if Clinton had just refused to answer those questions. Would the judge have held a sitting United States President in contempt of court? I'm betting not.

Why didn't he? Because then there would have been a public debate over the relevance of those issues, and those questions. Rather than defend some poor put-upon white man in a position of power, all of his defenders would have had to instead defend the idea that if a powerful man is accused of sexual harassment, it's just wrong to ask him about any other examples of such behavior to see if he is telling the truth or lying when he denies having assaulted one particular woman.; 10/20/14, 2:32 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: eric,

"This just in, adulterers tired of having their adultery pointed out to them!"

The Chinese do it better,...; 10/20/14, 2:33 PM
Virgil Hilts said...: When I read the quotes from Monica that Ann inserted, I thought they probably referred to the cigar story, but then I could not imagine how you could "contextualize" the cigar story in a way that would make either Monica or Bill look better.; 10/20/14, 2:58 PM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: "Patient Zero"- LMAO! A mental patient maybe, a zero for sure, a true blue democrat party member for ever. She blames it on Drudge, because he didn't bury the story like the democrat party media did. Maybe we should appreciate this episode for being the beginning of the end for the corrupt and deceitful democrat party media, except since then we've had Dan Rather's bogus bombshells, NYT "crowdsourcing" Palin's e-mails, The National Enquirer exposing John Edwards and his media protectors, filthy Filner and the DNC protection program abetted by the democrat party media, not to mention the unvetting of Senator Obama, and now they're trying to stick Hillary2016! up our asses... Is there anything the democrat party and its palace guard media can do that would finally destroy their credibility to the public at large?; 10/20/14, 3:06 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm about as anti-cheating as a person can get, but I've never understood why a woman or man in that situation would blame the outside party more than the spouse who broke the commitment.

Are those Chinese women in Crack's link bearing down on the cheater in the relationship? No, of course not.
They're attacking the mistress, I assume, because the husband has too much power, physical or societal, for them to attack him directly. And that's the problem with that kind of thing. It's scapegoating.; 10/20/14, 3:20 PM
jacksonjay said...: Longer half-life: Vietnam or Monica?; 10/20/14, 3:40 PM
Jaq said...: I remember at the time that the reason Packwood needed to be removed from office and Clinton shouldn't was because Clinton was elected by the whole nation and Packwood, just a state.

Honest to God I read that at the time. I couldn't have made it up if I tried.; 10/20/14, 3:41 PM
Martha said...: I couldn't believe they put that in either and I too sat screaming but I was screaming at Bill, not the computer screen. I was at Ground Zero.

Hillary; 10/20/14, 3:46 PM
damikesc said...: The guy who had all the power and let a not-terribly-attractive intern blow him and then had his associates smear her --- no, HE didn't humiliate her.

Drudge did. It was all Drudge's fault.

Imagine how different the history of the 90's would have been if Monica hadn't have kept that blue dress.....

I've still never met a woman who kept a dress that her man left a piece of himself on, so to speak.

Her love struck phone calls describing oval office events were recorded without her knowledge by a political operative out to get the POTUS

Let's not forget she was asking Tripp to lie under oath for her. That was self-preservation to record the calls.

A president caught up in the wide cast net of evolving sexual harrassment law such that the minutiae of his every impecadildo is subject to discovery.

A President whose OWN PARTY was the cause of the law and its focus on minutiae, mind you.

Major news outlets sitting on the story maybe because it was the proper and decent thing to do - from both personal and national perspectives.

Packwood didn't get that treatment. Nor did Thomas. But for the PRESIDENT, yeah, he deserves some respect for him having an affair.

If Bill Clinton had just consistently answered "It's none of your business whether I had sex with [whatever woman he was in the process of lying about having sex with]", I might have some sympathy to that point of view. But he lied. He lied often. He lied baldly. He lied in such a way as to attack the women he was lying about. He lied to his wife. He lied to his cabinet. He lied to all of us.

His problem would've been that he was being sued for that specific behavior (which, again, Democrats DEMANDED for years) and the biggest way to nail a dude for harassment was to demonstrate a pattern of behavior.; 10/20/14, 4:12 PM
jr565 said...: The left's only sin is hypocrisy. So, apply the same standard to Clinton that they did to Clarence Thomas (who didnt' even have sex with that woman) or Bob Packwood.; 10/20/14, 4:46 PM
jr565 said...: "tim in Vermont" I remember at the time that the reason Packwood needed to be removed from office and Clinton shouldn't was because Clinton was elected by the whole nation and Packwood, just a state."

SO funny, and so sad.
The left can never be wrong because they will always move the goal posts.; 10/20/14, 5:04 PM
damikesc said...: Keep in mind, Packwood was a useless dipshit and a Progressive Republican, so him being turfed was amusing and showed that being FERVENTLY pro-abortion (which he was) cannot protect Republicans.; 10/20/14, 5:19 PM
Jamie Bee said...: It is interesting that the editors chose that particular photo of Monica to accompany the article. The way it's framed, it kind of looks like there's a "SL" behind her right shoulder and a "UT" behind her left, making the sign read "Under 30 Slut".; 10/21/14, 8:32 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: SOJO,

"Are those Chinese women in Crack's link bearing down on the cheater in the relationship? No, of course not.
They're attacking the mistress, I assume, because the husband has too much power, physical or societal, for them to attack him directly. And that's the problem with that kind of thing. It's scapegoating."

When are you guys going to stop assuming things and pretending that makes it reality?

Beyond what's in the video, you have NO IDEA what else occurred, but you let your assumptions do the rest, right?

It's the mark of the idiot,...; 10/21/14, 9:06 AM