Who's on Top?
A split in the commentariat: Writing in Time , Andrew Ferguson says
that if Clinton is driven from office it will be not be because he had an
adulterous affair while in the White House, but because "the girl is by many
definitions still a girl ... 21, fresh from college" and "decent people in
positions of power do not exploit the vulnerable for kicks." It will also be
because of "the kind of sex they had"--which Ferguson, following press accounts
of Monica's accounts, characterizes as "strictly one-way, designed for maximum
pleasure" of the president. Meanwhile, in The New Yorker , Larissa
MacFarquhar rejects the notion that Monica is a victim. She's "a college
graduate of twenty-one" who will at worst wind up with a great book deal. And
Clinton is "a babe" ...
Who's right? MacFarquhar's historical scholarship is open to question. She
seems to believe Lewinsky got to "sleep with ... the President," something the
tapes actually contradict. As the girl who lives down the hall from Chatterbox
complains, "she gives him a blow job and then has to wait around in receiving
lines!" ... On the other hand, suppose Clinton had gone all the way and driven
Lewinsky wild with pleasure. Would that change Ferguson's mind? Probably not.
As for the age difference--well, wouldn't it be just typical of baby boomers
like Ferguson to define anyone younger than they are as immature, not quite
adult. ...
Chatterbox believes the dynamics of human sexuality are complex and subtle,
and it's hard to tell who is taking advantage of whom at any one time. Clinton
may be a user, but you don't get driven from office for being a user. (Name a
successful pol who isn't.) He doesn't seem to have egregiously led Lewinsky on
with lies and fake JFK-style promises of love or matrimony, in the classic
male-asshole mode. Yes, he did talk of strains in his marriage and suggested
the he'd be "alone" after he left the White House. But that may have been the
truth. Overall, the situation must have been pretty clear. Chatterbox sides
with MacFarquhar, at least at this point in time. Neither Lewinsky nor Clinton
were victims. There were victims, but they are to be found outside the
relationship. ...
Oh, yes: If true! Almost forgot.
