Monica Lewinski Ends Her Silence

A few months back Monica Lewinsky broker her silence about her affair with Bill Clinton in Vanity Fair magazine. 

http://www.vanityfair.com/society/2014/06/monica-lewinsky-humiliation-culture

Now she has gone even more public, giving a speech for the Forbes "Under 20" Summit. 

Ms. Lewinsky was only 21 when the affair with the president began.  It was a dumb move on her part, but most of us did dumb things at that age.  The president was 50 years old, however.  One expects more from a middle aged elected official than they do an intern who is barely old enough to buy booze.  For that reason I never picked on her.  But now she is a grown woman of over 40, and she's trying to pass herself off as a victim of cyberbullying.  Sorry Mon, that dog won't hunt.  Most cases of cyberbullying only become news when the victim ends up committing suicide.  In this case however, a constitutional crisis resulted from the president lying under oath to conceal the relationship.  This was a news story that came about because of her choices and actions.  It's a hard lesson to learn, but when you carry on with a famous and powerful leader you are inviting the media into your bedroom (or Oval Office or wherever). 

In the Vanity Fair article she referred to the affair as a "mutual relationship".  In other words they were both consenting adults and it was nobody else's business.  WRONG!  First of all when an employer has an affair with a subordinate there is an implied "quid pro quo" involved.  The rules of ordinary romantic interaction are out the window, as everything must be viewed within the context of the power dynamic of the employer/employee relationship.  And second, the quid pro quo aspect is especially relevant when considering a pattern of behavior in an ongoing sexual harrassment lawsuit.  This is what you sign up for when you carry on with the leader of the free world. 

It's obvious from reading her story that Ms. Lewinsky is in search of a cause to rebuild her reputation and salvage some legacy apart from being a presidential bimbo.  I hope she finds that cause, and goes on to live a fulfilling and productive life.  Cyber bullying is a terrible thing, and opposing it is certainly a worthy enough endeaver, but this isn't the right cause for her any more than racism would be the right cause for O. J. Simpson.  Perhaps she should consider the issue of sexual harrassment.