I’m curious if the Oregonian called on Bill Clinton to resign after his affair with Monica Lewinksy—a pizza-bearing, thong-baring White House intern and a subordinate of the POTUS—was made public? Or did the Oregonian, like a lot of liberals and progressives, argue that Clinton’s private life was his private life, that Ken Starr put questions to Clinton that no one has a right to put to anyone, that Clinton and Lewinsky were consenting adults and that, given the circumstances, it was perfectly understandable that Clinton lied about his “sexual opportunism”—and lie about it under oath? A lot of folks were running around saying that then. I wonder what the Oregonian’s position was.
I’m working on a piece for someone else about something else, and I’ll post about Sam Adams, er, “blowing it” a little later today.
But quickly: I’m pretty much con fucking 18 year-olds. I’ve warned gay teenagers to steer clear of older gay men and it’s clear that older gay men who get involved with teenagers may not be doing themselves any favors in the long run. But let’s remember that some gay men wanna fuck 18 year-olds for the same reason some straight men wanna to fuck 18 year-olds. There’s a reason why the fashion industry sends 15 year-old girls tottering down runways and not their mothers; there’s a reason why barely legal porn featuring 18 year-old girls is a popular porn genre and while legal-times-two porn featuring 36 year-old women is not.*
More later.
* Okay, okay: not as popular.
and some younger 18 year olds want to fuck older men.. beau’s ex boyfriend, somehow a repuatable source, is also much older.
For (what will hopefully be) the final time… Clinton lied about sex while under oath, being deposed in a SEXUAL HARRASSMENT suit… the line of questioning was meant to establish Clinton’s habits… he lied… and he eventually SETTLED with the person bring suit against him… are there any statistics about the percentage of people who perjure themselves in thier own sexual harrassment cases? Sure, we all lie about sex now and then, but on a witness stand, under oath, in a context directly related to why we’re on the witness stand? I think not…
@YouKnowWho
You’re right. Except Sam wasn’t under oath so his lie is better right?
Neither the Oregonian, nor any other mainstream publication, defended Clintons choice or “entitlement” to sexually harrass an intern in the Oval Office. There was basically universal condemnation of that behavior.
The issue of whether he should be impeached for it is another matter.
A quick search reveals a couple things. You might have to be logged into the the library to actually read these, and sorry for the nasty URLs, but deal.
THE STICKIEST TAPES YET IF CLINTON ENCOURAGED A LIE UNDER OATH, HIS PRESIDENCY IS — AND SHOULD BE — ON THE LINE
http://0-docs.newsbank.com.catalog.multcol…
In other words, it wasn’t the sex, or the lying in public, (although they did also say: “If Clinton’s direct denial of a sexual relationship is shown to be untrue, he may not be in legal trouble, but his reputation and leadership would take a serious hit. If — after Gennifer Flowers, after “60 Minutes,” after Paula Jones — Clinton still launched into a White House affair, it would offer evidence of deep flaws in his judgment.”,) but the actually perjury.
STATE OF DISTRACTION
http://0-docs.newsbank.com.catalog.multcol…
Where they complain that Kenneth Starr is taking too long, that “What really matters is whether the president broke the law by urging Lewinsky to lie to authorities. Politically, of course, it also matters whether Clinton is telling the truth to the American people about his relationship with Lewinsky, but that’s not Starr’s business.” Again, they don’t rule out that lying public is important, but the bar seems to be set at lying in court, and that for the good of the country, that issue needs to be settled soon.
And then two weeks later:
AFFAIRS TO REMEMBER IF YOU WANT TO RECALL CLINTON IN THE SAME VEIN AS WASHINGTON, JEFFERSON AND HAMILTON, YOU CAN
http://0-docs.newsbank.com.catalog.multcol…
“Not long ago, some folks were predicting that the charges that President Clitnon had an affair with intern Monica Lewinsky would spell end of the Clinton presidency. Some predicted that President Clinton’s popularity as registered by public opinion polls would soon rival those of Saddam Hussein. We all know how that turned out. The president is, for the moment, about as popular as Lincoln or Washington.”
and
“According to Ellis, George Washington was publicly accused of being the father of an illegitimate Alexander Hamilton. This wasn’t the worst accusation. Hamilton was said to have had a long affair with a married woman, and that her husband had extorted Hamilton in exchange for political favors. Hamilton “took out newspaper space to announce that the charges of infidelity were sadly true but that, despite this personal failure, his public virtue as a government official had never been compromised,” Ellis writes.”
But the search didn’t turn up a “Clinton should resign” or “Clinton shouldn’t resign” editorial, so take from that what you will…
So now Clinton “sexually harassed” Lewinsky? Blabby, stop blabbering.
In any event, I’m a straight man and I would do Breedlove over Lewinsky in a heartbeat.
Tis all.
Um. The biggest boss in the organization (that would Clinton) had an affair with a subordinate. Yes, that’s “sexual harrassment.”
The difference between that case and this case is that Clinton was lucky to have the right enemies. Gingrich and crew were despised, and it was very easy to paint the situation as a witchhunt. The question came down to a technical one of whether he should be impeached, not if his conduct was morally acceptable.
I would challenge anyone to find an article from a mainstream publication, from after all the facts of the affair came out, that tried to excuse Clinton’s behavior as “private” and “no big deal” and “between consenting adults.” Almost everyone decided that it was morally bankrupt, but he shouldn’t be impeached for it.
Adams isn’t lucky enough to have the right enemies. Right now we have a nice wide cross-section of people, including the local gay publication calling on him to resign. Tough for him to play the victim.
You’re “curious”?? C’mon, ya lazy bum! A quick search reveals that, the day after Clinton’s admission, the Big O asked “Can we ever trust him again?” but did not call for his resignation.
Of course there might be other editorials, but…I’m not paid to search ’em! Get to work Dan! 😉
http://0-infoweb.newsbank.com.catalog.mult…
On reflection, I see that this post is a “work in progress.” Consider some of your work effectively “crowdsourced.” I’ll be watching for the final product.
If only Sam had been the mayor of Vancouver. Then he could have dated someone as young as 16 without any risk of violating state law.
(Just saying. I don’t care if he was with the guy at 17 or 18, but the attorney general will. Personallly, I am surprised the land of euthanasia and consititutionally protected live sex shows is one of the 11 states with such a high age-of-consent.
Wow. Clinton was under oath when he lied, cheating on his wife, and in the oval office. And he still remained in office despite the majority of congress being rural evangelicals.
Adams was single, not under oath, and had sex with some guy in privacy. Nothing he did was wrong except he said he didn’t have sex with someone when he actually did, which is completely irrelevant to being mayor and something probably most of the people here have done.
Get over it, or at least put a couple initiatives on the ballot to increase the age of consent to 35 and to make everyone running for office list their entire sex and make out history under oath.
JasonC, what a weird comment. Neither euthanasia nor live sex shows are legal in Oregon.
One difference: I voted for Clinton. Twice. And I KNEW he was a womanizing SOB going in but had the right vision for the country. Big flaw, but it was common knowledge.
Sam went in, and I voted for him, because he was holding himself up to a higher standard. It’s a gold standard of political service, I didn’t think possible, named Obama.
I wouldn’t vote for Bill now. Or Sam.
Omg, what if it comes out that Obama had sex with an 18 year old before he married Michelle? You’re all going to call for his resignation or impeachment, right?
I mean, Bush was a regressive criminal who killed tens of thousands of people for no reason, but at least he didn’t have the gay sex when he was single!
Pete, you could perhaps accuse me of hyperbole or quibble over semantics and definitions, but as far as I’m concerned the Death With Dignity Act=Euthanasia and the State Supreme Court said live sex shows were protected speech just a few years ago (State vs. Ciancanelli, 2005).
And even if those things weren’t true, Oregon is certainly thought of as a liberal, libertarian and freethinking place. I am simply surprised OR has one of the more stringent standards in the country.
That’s not to say, if Adams was the mayor of a his birthplace in Montana and had dated a 16 year-old (of either gender), it would be good for his political career. But it wouldn’t have been illegal
“Um. The biggest boss in the organization (that would Clinton) had an affair with a subordinate. Yes, that’s ‘sexual harrassment.'”
That’s a stretch. I recall Lewinsky being a completely willing participant in the whole affair. Arguably, she even pursued him. If that’s sexual harassment then no one would ever be allowed to work for their spouse.
The key word to sexual harassment is the word “unwelcome”.
Okay, I stand corrected on sex shows — that’s a surprise to me, and I wasn’t familiar with State v. Ciancanelli. As far as I know, strippers are barred from crossing various lines that are deemed overly sexual — but maybe that’s something that applies only to a certain class of businesses. I guess I’m out of my element on that one.
As for euthanasia, that is a word with a very precise definition. What the Death with Dignity Act permits is nothing like euthanasia. Death with Dignity allows certain mentally competent, terminally ill patients to take an action on their own; euthanasia is the act of a doctor. Fundamentally, utterly different things.
Get over it. What Sam did was perfectly legal…he and Breedlove have a right to their privacy. The responsibilities of being a mayor and guiding the City of Portland to a prosperous future is far more important than what he does in his bedroom. Plus…he’s not even married or cheating anybody for crying out loud. How many of you readers are out there lying to your spouses, significant other, and/or friends about your sexual relationships because your afraid of the social stigmas and judgements that they may bring upon you?!?! At least he admitted and apologized…even though it was not the public’s business.
Cut the pulp plastic star magizine bullshit and let him do his job.