Althouse: "Hi, I’m Monica Lewinsky... Some of you younger people might only know me from some rap lyrics.”

March 19, 2015

"Hi, I’m Monica Lewinsky... Some of you younger people might only know me from some rap lyrics.”

"Thank you for coming... and in doing so, standing up against the sexual scapegoating of women and girls."

40 comments:

paminwi said...: Camille Paglia mentioning Monica Lewinsky. (Oh, and Hilary Clinton, too!)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=drR3V4ZXfrI; 3/19/15, 5:02 PM
dreams said...: Camille Paglia isn't aging very well but I agree with her opinion of Hillary.; 3/19/15, 5:14 PM
dreams said...: Hillary isn't aging very well either and I've come to think of Monica Lewinsky as a tragic figure.; 3/19/15, 5:18 PM
viator said...: Paglia on Hillary, etc. There seems to be a growing chorus. Pull up a seat for the Obama/Clinton war.

YouTube; 3/19/15, 5:18 PM
damikesc said...: I love that she doesn't blame Clinton for her problems.

Also seems to confuse an investigation for "shaming", so she hasn't gotten smarter since she thought blowing the President and shoving cigars up her hoo-hah was a solid plan.; 3/19/15, 5:24 PM
garage mahal said...: Lewinsky is quite attractive.; 3/19/15, 5:26 PM
dreams said...: Lewinsky is still pretty but like a lot of women weight can be a problem.; 3/19/15, 5:30 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: 3,474 words to Bill's Monica? Don't they know Hillary is running?; 3/19/15, 5:33 PM
Big Mike said...: The lesson that each of the young women in the audience should come away with is simply this: messing around sexually with a man who can fire you is not smart.

No he is not going to leave his wife for you. And if he did then, trust me, in a couple years there will be some at least as pretty as you are today who will be working for him. Under him. Like you. And it will be your turn to be gone.; 3/19/15, 5:38 PM
William said...: The awesome power of white liberal power. She gave a blowjob to a powerful man and tried to parlay that act into a cool job with the UN. It didn't work out, but, to the extent of her powers, she was manipulative and exploitive of the situation she was in. If she now claims victimhood, that's just more manipulation, but this time perhaps she'll succeed......In my opinion, the big loser was Ken Starr. His reputation got thoroughly trashed, and no media figures will ever apologize for it.; 3/19/15, 5:46 PM
Laslo Spatula said...: 16-best-rap-lyrics-about-monica-lewinsky/ .

Sad part is that none are really very funny or clever. I had expected much better.

Let down by the rap world again.

I am Laslo.; 3/19/15, 7:16 PM
Laslo Spatula said...: Meanwhile some woman sucked the cock of the bass player of 'Poison' back in the day and she is now relegated to obscurity.

Not even a 'Motley Crue' cock: a 'Poison' cock. And the bass player, at that.

I bet the lower lip, it still burns a little sometimes.

I am Laslo.; 3/19/15, 7:36 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Scapegoating women? Does she mean bimbos who erupt, or female persons one finds after dragging a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park? Oh, I'll bet she means "that woman, Ms. Lewinsky." I get it.; 3/19/15, 7:39 PM
Known Unknown said...: Lewinsky is still pretty but like a lot of women weight can be a problem.

The weight in her case is probably helping her look younger than her years.; 3/19/15, 8:03 PM
rehajm said...: "What we need is a cultural revolution. Public shaming as a bloodsport has to stop,"

Did she convert and become a conservative?; 3/19/15, 8:06 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Couple of interesting lines in that article:

She splits time between New York and Los Angeles, where she grew up, and London, and said it’s been hard to find work. Splits her time between three quite expensive cities, hobnobs w/celebrities, has agents, coaches, etc...but has a tough time finding work.

The story was the perfect combination of politics and sex. “It was like reading a really wonderful dirty book,” Ms. Walters said, “except it was her story and her mother’s story and her aunt’s story.” Not her father's story? I'm not sure what point Walters is making re: women.

Framing the article around the play Slut (which depicts a woman who was forcibly sexually assaulted by a group of friends and faces social consequences after reporting them to the police) is a bit of a cheat, and the same cheat Lewinsky herself keeps engaging in--Lewinsky's actions didn't merit the consequences she suffered, but they were shameful! It's shameful to have an affair with a married person, right? That's a bad thing, and worthy of shame. Being the victim of sexual assault isn't a wrong, isn't shameful. The fact that both involve sex is used to obscure the essential difference. Someone who is sexually assaulted shouldn't feel ashamed. Someone who engages in a sexual relationship with a married person should feel ashamed. Lewinsky rhetorically asks how didn't do something at 22 that they now regret, and that's fair enough, but just from that question you can see we're dealing with some moral wrong, something for which shame is appropriate! I'm not saying she deserved the international humiliation she got (largely due to her choice of partner), but it's more than a bit distasteful to implicitly equate her social infraction (affair with married man, lying to authorities, etc) with something like being the victim of a sexual assault.; 3/19/15, 8:13 PM
bleh said...: I always felt bad for her, but can we drop this nonsense about the nation "slut shaming" her? People either hated Clinton for what happened or thought little of it because it was a "private" matter. Lewinsky was mostly made fun of for her weight and youthful stupidity. To th extent there was "slut shaming" it emanated from the Clinton machine, for obvious reasons.; 3/19/15, 8:19 PM
khesanh0802 said...: I certainly agree with Paglia's rant.

In any other situation the male boss would have been flayed and burned at the stake. Monica was 22 years old at the time she began her internship at the White House. She was not old enough to have a clue and Billy boy took advantage of that. Someone please remind me who pimped this deal, because someone had to.

If the Dems think Monica is going to go away during this election they are sadly mistaken. She is old enough now to know how wronged she was and quite fairly should feel some need for revenge on "Hill and Bill". Bill is a political talent but he is also a scumbag and to think people are thinking about him being back in the WH. Ouch!; 3/19/15, 8:20 PM
Laslo Spatula said...: "Hey! Hey! Bass-player-from-'Poison'-dude! Do you remember me?"

"Uh..."

"1988! The Tacoma Dome!"

"Okay..."

"I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight -- I drove all the way from Puyallup!"

"That's great, great..."

I bet you like playing these smaller clubs now, you can get closer to the fans..."

"Yeah. Yeah, closer to the fans: exactly."

"Still though: 1988 -- the Tacoma Dome! Big Time!"

"Yeah."

"You don't remember me, do you?"

"Sure I do, sure I do: its -- ah -- just been awhile, you know...a lot of drugs back then: my memory... (shrugs)"

"Well, I was the one backstage wearing stone-washed jeans and a tour shirt and you blew a load all over my face!"

"Ah. Great memory, there.."

"I still have the shirt! I never washed it!"

"Never washed it?"

"Never! In fact, I'm wearing it now!"

"Okay..."

"Those were great times..."

" Great times, sure. 1988, right? I think I remember now..."

"Yeah! You laughed 'cause some of your jizz got in my eye and it REALLY stung!"

"I'm sorry about that, I'm sure I didn't mean it..."

"Sure you did! You said "Open your eyes real wide, bitch, I'm gonna shoot my spunk in them!"

"You remember that?

"Word for word! It is SO exciting to see you again!"

"Uh...good to see you. Glad your eyes are okay."

"They're fine, I just need to use eye-drops when I get an outbreak. Anyway: you know, there is some time before the show tonight..."

"Yeah, I use it to play 'Candy Crush.'"

"Well: I was thinking, you know..."

"'...Hmmm?"

"Yeah: maybe we could relive a little bit of that Eighties magic."

"Uh, that would be swell, but I, uh, have a sound-check, I think..."

"I even brought Visine!"

"That was a long time ago..."

"But here we are, NOW..."

""Uh, don't get me wrong, but you're like, what, fifty?"

"Forty-six."

"Close enough. Don't you think it's time to, you know, move on?"

"I'm having the time of my life! Last week I saw "Winger" and the drummer put a cucumber up my ass! AND he gave me a drumstick!"

"Wow: I didn't know 'Winger' was still around..."

You're only as old as you feel -- that's what I tell my daughters!"

"Daughters?"

"I have two wonderful daughters, and they're coming to the show tonight with me."

"Are they anywhere around?"

"They'll be here any minute -- they just got off work at Hooters and are at Victoria's Secret looking for thongs for tonight!"

"Really? Hooters?"

"Really! Hooters!"

"Tell, you what: how about I give the THREE of you backstage passes. For old-times' sake."

"That would be wonderful, Bass-player-from-'Poison'-dude!"

"Uh, what are you doing with your eyes?"

"Just keeping my eyelids flexible so I don't flinch..."

I am Laslo.; 3/19/15, 8:25 PM
Joe said...: I never felt bad for her; she's one of those self-entitled sexual predator princesses who wanted to bed a powerful man, did, got caught and is now whining about how unfair it all was.

Bottom line is that she was a slut and pretending otherwise is hypocritical bullshit.; 3/19/15, 9:11 PM
Joe said...: "Monica was 22 years old at the time she began her internship at the White House. She was not old enough to have a clue and Billy boy took advantage of that."

Bullshit. Pure, utter, bullshit. She knew EXACTLY what she was doing. It was a perfect sexual storm.; 3/19/15, 9:14 PM
madAsHell said...: "I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight -- I drove all the way from Puyallup!"

Laslo is acquainted with my corner of the world. This might explain a few things.; 3/19/15, 9:15 PM
madAsHell said...: She knew EXACTLY what she was doing.

I disagree. She knew she was blowing the president. She thought there was going to be a prize.; 3/19/15, 9:17 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: I disagree. She knew she was blowing the president. She thought there was going to be a prize.

Lol-duh. There was. He was trying to pull jobs for her. But she was star-struck enough to think putting her mouth on that septic system was it's own prize, along with the prospects for a "relationship" of some sort.

So she was stupid and manipulative and successful but not as successful as she wanted to be. Imagine that.

In the end, she was just a messed up person, like most American women. But now she has a name and a request that we pay homage to it, despite how it made its way into the lexicon. More typical Americana.; 3/19/15, 11:06 PM
jr565 said...: Madam hell wrote:
"I disagree. She knew she was blowing the president. She thought there was going to be a prize."

other than the presidents semen? Isn't that prize enough?; 3/19/15, 11:14 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: It's pretty disgusting that she conflates the drama and solicitation she made for herself with the problem of assaulting characters as described in the play she went to. It's one thing, a wrong thing, to go after a woman just because you resent her perceived promiscuity. It's another when someone is an actual whore who intends to trade favors of monetary or personal value simply for sucking a dick.

And she ruined the only good stereotypical aspect of Jewish women for all time. And got the nation embroiled in months of worthless hearings by crusty prudes.

As far as I can tell, she didn't do anything worthy of respect then and she isn't (by trading on her name and deservedly ill-reputed fame) now.

I don't like to use the word "whore" as a pejorative, but if you can't level it at someone who linked her sexuality to such superficial things as she did, then when the fuck can you use it? The only reason people even know about her is because she sucked a famous guy's dick. A guy who famously told the prude nation that he would never let that happen again, as if we should have cared in the first place.

This has got to be the worst case ever of someone not deserving what they have.; 3/19/15, 11:17 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: other than the presidents semen? Isn't that prize enough?

For you, maybe.; 3/19/15, 11:17 PM
jr565 said...: I'm not the one who gave him a BJ. I'm just saying, it's the president. The most powerful man in the U.S. I'm sure for women who like to bag celebrities it's quite a catch.; 3/20/15, 2:25 AM
Fen said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/20/15, 5:14 AM
Fen said...: Monica wants to pretend this is about sex. It wasn't.

Another woman had claimed that Clinton had sexually discriminated against her and sexually harassed her. Under the Violence Against Women Act, that woman had a right to any information that established a pattern of sexual predation in the workplace on the part of the defendant, Bill Clinton.

In laymen's terms, it means that if you are sleeping with your secretary and another employee claims sexually discrimination, there is a right to discovery - to see if that secretary is truly engaged in a consensual relationship or if she was also coerced.

When asked, Monica should have said "yes, but its a consensual affair. I was not forced into this to save my job or anything like that". And that would have been then end of it legally.

Instead, she and Bill chose to lie about, obstructing justice and denying the other woman's civil rights.

So Monica, please, go suck it.; 3/20/15, 5:16 AM
donald said...: She didnt bed anybody.
She just gave a few blow jobs to a sociopath and took a cigar or two or three up her twat.; 3/20/15, 7:26 AM
donald said...: Whatever happened to Bob Packwood?

He was all about wimmen's rights.; 3/20/15, 7:29 AM
Simon said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/20/15, 9:06 AM
Simon said...: I've never understood why someone whose notoriety is entirely in her name recognition, and who claims to resent that notoriety, doesn't just change her name.

"Hi, I'm Monica Lewis, I'm here for the job interview."

"Hi Monica. Say, you look familiar."

"Thanks, I get that a lot; I did some modelling when I was younger."

"Well, okay, let's get on with the interview."

It's not that difficult.

And don't tell me that the media would report the name change; sure they would, but one story in TMZ isn't going to get you the kind of universal name recognition conferred by a sex scandal with the President of the United States.

Of course, there's an obvious "Office Space" joke here that she can't use.; 3/20/15, 9:08 AM
Anonymous said...: I was one of Monica's supporters back then. Not in the sense that I agreed with what she did, but in the sense that I thought it was foul for the Clintons to rain down the entire power of the U.S. government (and media) on an emotionally needy, chubby (yes, it matters here) ex-intern. It didn't hurt that she reminded me of a roommate.

Of course you could see her personal life would be destroyed from the start. That's what can happen when there is a huge disparity of power like that. I don't think in the Kardashian era, it would even happen. She was the turning point for that as well.

But... I just can't care now, are you kidding? Too long ago. As far as the Clintons in general, I've lived long enough to know every President will be a relief at first and then grow just as irritating as the others. Obama has been easy to ignore which I never expected would happen after the media build up.; 3/20/15, 9:28 AM
khesanh0802 said...: @Joe
So Monica is to blame for being a stupid 22 year old, but Bill gets off scot free. As I said someone had to pimp this deal. I am sure Monica couldn't just walk into the oval office and say " hey Bill how about i give you a blow job".

Tell me, honestly, if the same thing took place in the offices of GM, or GE would there be any doubt how this "sexual harassment" would have played out?

Of course Monica knew she was giving the Prez a blow job. I can't dispute that. What the hell was he doing allowing it? You are way off base and I can't figure your reasoning at all.; 3/20/15, 9:33 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: I remember the slut shaming she went through, which was 100% from "her" side of the poltical divide: Carvill, Hilary!, Begala, Lanny et al.; 3/20/15, 10:29 AM
CatherineM said...: You said everything I was about to say khesan0802 to a lot of the men posting here (with advice for women and that seem to think Clinton was a victim of a sexual predator) who don't seem to factor in Clinton's role or the fact that even in those days if he worked for a large company (especially one publicly traded) Clinton would have been fired for consensual sex with a subordinate. Period.; 3/20/15, 12:04 PM
Sammy Finkelman said...: >> tried to parlay that act into a cool job with the UN

No, she didn't.. that was Bill Clinton's idea as a means of keeping her under control.

She said she wanted to move back to New York, so he found/created a job for her, but she didn't take the job.; 3/20/15, 4:02 PM
Joe said...: "So Monica is to blame for being a stupid 22 year old,"

This has nothing to do with assigning blame to anyone. Monica wanted to blow the president and did. It's nothing more complicated that that.

However, for Monica and her apologists to now claim she was a victim, blameless or just stupid beyond absurd. It continues the infantalization of adults.

Did Monica see or understand all the possible ramifications of her actions? Of course not, but who does? And how is that an excuse? In short, the argument has boiled down to "Monica didn't understand that she could be slut shamed for being a whore, therefore she's a victim."

Let's be clear; Monica Lewinsky was a slut and got slut shamed.

Wj; 3/21/15, 3:01 PM