Re: Clinton--Why I am Chortling

[Tim May <tcmay@got.net>]

At 9:24 AM -0700 9/14/98, Lynne L. Harrison wrote:

>I don't see a power imbalance here.  If a young woman in her 20's
>invitingly flashes her thong panties at a man, I don't see how she can be
>portrayed as the victim.  The only way that the issue of power arises is
>that Monica was not overwhelmed by someone in power - she was attracted to
>the power.

I agree, in principle. But, then, I think _most_ so-called sexual
harassment cases are based on an inappropriate use of state power to
intervene in birds and the bees issues.

Of course, the Lewinsky stuff surfaced as a result of a civil action filed
by Paula Jones, claiming Clinton dropped his pants in front of her, invited
her to do things to him, etc., etc., blah blah. Did Jones invite this? Was
she attracted to power? Who knows? This is what the trial was presumably
about. And Clinton lied about the Lewinsky matter, and probably has lied
about a great many other matters.

(IANAL, as a few of you are, but I assumed the Lewinsky stuff was coming in
to support allegations of a pattern of such behaviors. If Jones alone had
made the case, it might have been a "she said, he said" case, but when
strikingly parallel behavior turns up with several other women....)

And did Kathleen Willey invite Clinton to rub up against her and suggest an
afternoon quickie in his office? She claimed on "60 Minutes" not to have
invited his behavior.

I'm as bothered as the next person that a taxpayer-funded prosecutor is
asking questions about sex lives. However, this is what comes of having
"sexual harassment" laws, with "if she said it happened, it _happened_"
standards of proof.

Like I said, I'm chortling. What goes around, come around.

And I'm happy that lying sack of shit of a President may escape being
removed from office. Having him around is a useful reminder, the next best
thing to the useful policy of letting a corpse hang from the gallows for a
couple of months.

--Tim May



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