A Defense of Bill Clinton (I)
Ok — this needs a preface — (I) goes with (II), so don’t just read (I) — go on to read (II) also before you judge or come to conclusions or whatever. I hope you respond after reading both.
(I) is for the “boys” and (II) is for the “girls.” Or, I should say for men and women — very much adult, I’ll have to warn you. But the very serious, adult subject of men and women can be very funny as well as informative, too, I think.
In all the Obama-liberal-conservative stuff (I prefer “crap”) bantering back and forth, someone mentioned Bill Clinton and the Monica “saga” — you know, “I did not have sex with that woman…” and all that. I was watching Bill on the telly that night, and, you may not believe this, but I KNEW exactly what had happened, as in sexual acts, etc. I am willing to bet there are more guys out there than are willing to admit knew the same thing that very night.
Before I tell you how I knew, you have got to know Bill Clinton is one of my all-time favorite Presidents, he and I being almost the same age. He and I grew up in the same 60’s America, and we both “took” to the three-pronged revolution of that era (anti- Vietnam war, Civil Rights, women’s movement) in about the same way. During Bill’s Presidency, I joked that he and I were at Woodstock together in ’69, and that for both of us “..neither one of us inhaled!” (not true, you knee-jerk jumpers to conclusions — it’s a joke!) So, I understand Bill; always have, always will.
Now back to Monica. At the time, I was teaching in Waxahachie with a lot of young women teacher colleagues of a generation much younger than mine. From one of them, a very good friend, I was enlightened that her generation had a different de facto definition of sex than did mine. Specifically, the act Bill and Monica performed was not considered “sex” for her generation; only complete coitus was considered “sex.” That was certainly different from the sexual definitions of my generation, wherein many considered “making out” or “heavy petting” sexual!
So, I knew what Bill was doing. He was using a definition of a sexual act from a younger generation than his. From that definition he was not having sex with Monica; he was not lying. Now, you have to admit, that was a much better job of rhetorical semantics than his infamous “…it all depends upon your definition of ‘is’….” (you gotta think he was an old HS & college debater).
And for that, they tried to impeach him! What a waste of our taxes! Bill Clinton did NOTHING to violate his oath of office. He did not let this personal matter affect his performance as President, affect his doing a great job, the job he promised when elected. In the minds of many, because he was not “tarred and feathered” or “run out of Washington on a rail” they later spent millions (The lawyer Starr, now President of Baylor, got a lot of it!) trying to pin something illegal on both Bill and Hillary. As Shakespeare said, “Much ado about nothing!” They found NOTHING. Talk about a waste of our money! I think what the “righteous right” did, or attempted to do in this time, was more disgusting than what Bill and Monica did in the White House.
If anyone did besmirch the Presidency and the White House, and SHOULD have been impeached it was that criminal “Tricky Dick” Nixon! “Slick Willie” Clinton is a saint (though a fallen one) compared to him!
The other thing is a shout-out for Monica: What about that sorry excuse for a friend (of stain-on-dress fame) that ratted on Monica’s confidence in her? What a bitch! I can only hope Monica has good friends today.
Now, there is no defense of Bill’s lack of judgement. As we males like to say, “He was thinking with the wrong head!” As Robin Williams is famous for saying, “Guys have two heads and only enough blood to run one at a time!” Bill committed an offense against his marriage, against his family — nothing more, nothing less. Since then, his family has appeared to work things out. Good for them! That is none of our business. He did not besmirch the White House, his office, or his country. I’m inclined to think, thanks to my friend, he did not even lie on the TV that night.
In the aftermath of this, I am amused how Americans want their President to be some kind of moral knight in shining armor. Our President takes the oath to uphold the Constitution, not to be a moral example. Why we expect a saint from the President is beyond me! We’ve never had a saint for President, and we never will, in my opinion. You would think that as we find out about FDR (an assistant), Eisenhower (a jeep driver), and JFK (Marilyn Monroe, and — recently — an “intern”), we’d get the message.
Some of my favorite jokes have come out of the Bill/Monica “scandal:”
1) Bill did not blow it; Monica did.
2) On the basis of rumors concerning Monica and Bill’s cigars, Bill’s cigar humidor is the only one in the history of the White House to have a yeast infection.
RJH
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