Democrats and media figures continue to struggle with the truth of the abuses of former President Bill Clinton who has been accused by multiple women of everything from sexual harassment to rape. Dozens of reporters have interviewed Clinton without seriousness questioning him on these past allegations until recently. Even after a year of “MeToo” stories, only this month did an interviewer risk the ire of Clinton supporters to press the former president. Clinton became immediately condescending and dismissive. The continued muted response to Clinton’s past is evident after a rather shocking claim in a new interview with PBS NewsHour where Clinton explained that “what you can do to someone against their will” has simply changed.
In the interview posted by RealClearPolitics., Clinton says:
“I think the norms have really changed in terms of, what you can do to somebody against their will, how much you can crowd their space, make them miserable at work. You don’t have to physically assault somebody to make them, you know, uncomfortable at work or at home or in their other — just walking around. That, I think, is good.”
Clinton previously has insisted that his conduct occurred at a different time and even said recently (while defending Al Frankin) “I am just an old-fashioned person.”
Clinton insisted that he was vindicated and continues to parse words to excuse his inexcusable conduct:
While some are praising this interview, how about the hundreds of interviews conducted over the last 20 years that entirely ignored Clinton’s past in hitting on subordinates and being accused of physical assaults against women? Now one interviewer finally pushed Clinton (as opposed to asking a feeble questions and then moving on in the interview). It is being treated as long overdue by the very people who did nothing for decades of favorable coverage.
His co-author James Patterson has also testily dismissed all of the allegations by all of the women as old news and chastised the reporter by saying “stop already.” So Patterson believes that it is sufficient that a matter was “20 years ago”? If that were the standard for Harvey Weinstein, he would still be making movies rather than facing a rape charge.
Nevertheless, the long and concerted effort to protect the Clintons has been evident for years. Clinton is only now being questioned when there is no alternative due to the coverage. Notably, the exchange of the reporters in the clip above gave credit to Clinton for “acknowledging that the standards had changed.” The standards haven’t changed. It was an outrage then as it is now. Clinton was simply not held to the same standard by Democratic supporters and media. Indeed, none of this has stopped his supporters from flocking to his events and buying his new book. In that sense, not much has changed.
The standards of “what you can do” to a person against their will may have changed, but the standards for truth have not. Nowadays, every accuser is automatically a “victim” and every accused a pariah. The culture does this automatically. But, by the laws of physics, the easier a liar gets away with lying, the more liars you’re going to have.
It seems the culture just shrugs that off. But civilized people don’t willy-nilly destroy others without some standard for truth being part of the process. You can change the scope of “what you can do” while still holding to standards of proof and exactitude when denouncing a wrongdoer. In other words, you’d better have agreed upon standards as to what constitutes the wrongdoing before you start the punishment. Otherwise, a lot of so-called “victims” will be very, very angry when you fail to give them what they want.
People have made a big deal of the “tough” questions he got regarding Monika Lewinsky. Hardly the case that really needs to be pursued. While his actions with Lewinsky where clearly inappropriate they were also consensual. No one is asking him questions, tough or otherwise, about the women who have claimed sexual assault and rape. The media is, reluctantly, making gentle inquiries into the consensual acts, while refusing to even acknowledge let alone question the criminal acts which have been ongoing and date back to, at least, his time at Oxford.
POLITICALLY, THE IMPEACHMENT DRIVE WAS A DUD FOR REPUBLICANS
In 1998, Republicans lost five seats in the House—the worst midterm performance in 64 years by a party not holding the presidency. Gingrich, who won his reelection, was held largely responsible for Republican losses in the House. His private polls had given his fellow Republican Congress the impression that pushing the Lewinsky scandal would damage Clinton’s popularity and result in the party winning a net total of six to thirty seats in the US House of Representatives in this election.[87] The day after the election, a Republican caucus ready to rebel against him prompted his resignation of the speakership.
Edited from Newt Gingrich’s bio, Wikipedia
“The world has changed, Meredith. Can’t buy a Lawn-Boy 2 stroke mower anymore. World kinda went to hell when that happened. And a man can’t have a rough day at work, come home, knock around the old lady, put her back in line, especially if supper isn’t ready or she forgot to buy beer. But no hitting the teeth, good Lord that’s expensive! I remember that night she burned the chicken, I was a bit too angry, cost me $1200 for her new crown..
“And a guy can’t grab an ass at work anymore, maybe get slapped, maybe get laid…I enjoy either…”
@FarOutWest June 12, 2018 at 10:55 AM
“The world has changed, Meredith. Can’t buy a Lawn-Boy 2 stroke mower anymore. World kinda went to hell when that happened. And a man can’t have a rough day at work, come home, knock around the old lady, put her back in line, especially if supper isn’t ready or she forgot to buy beer. But no hitting the teeth, good Lord that’s expensive! I remember that night she burned the chicken, I was a bit too angry, cost me $1200 for her new crown..
“And a guy can’t grab an ass at work anymore, maybe get slapped, maybe get laid…I enjoy either…”
Good one! 🙂
look how the left wing trolls howl with insults, condescending snark and the usual stuff of Friends of Bill. Hysterical.
so glad they are writhing in their own acid in pure agony. That is sweet justice alone
They make Linda Blair in Exorcist look saintly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSxuXQCEC7M
The Left created Trump and Bill paved his trajectory while Hillary held the door open for ascending her throne.
Trump is your fault, lefties, and although most of us despise what he represents, it is tempered by the fact the Clintons have become like discarded used toilet paper
Surely Turley is swooning whilst recounting his battles, his wounds and decrying the one that got away. We’ve all heard this Jimmy Webb song before:
Mac Arthur’s Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don’t think that I can take it
Cause it took so long to bake it
And I’ll never have that recipe again
Oh, nooo!
If you folks don’t figure it out soon, it will be too late. Now is the opportunity to throw those two under the bus and move ahead with new people. It’s soooo simple, but then again, maybe that is why your lot just keeps fading. Obama made a “stand-up guy” argument in ’08, and that is people of every color, height, body mass, etc, voted him Presidenté. I warned your lot that your constant sniveling and whining will cost you another election if you don’t get a real platform… but hey, who wants to work when you can wallow in self-pity and point fingers.
Bill Clinton is a sexist pig who got exactly what he deserved. Bill Clinton is not the monster Grendel in the epic poem Beowulf. You folks are obsessed. If you don’t wake up, snap out of it and start paying attention to what’s really going on around here, then your own personal Beowulf will soon be swooning the way Richard Millhouse Nixon did back in Jimmy Webb’s heyday.
Man, life must be hard when you know it all, but get the rug pulled out from under you on a regular basis. Keep telling people they are stupid and what they should do. Good luck with that attitude for the rest of ’18 & 20!!
Slow Horse said, “If you folks don’t figure it out soon . . . It’s soooo simple . . . your constant sniveling and whining will cost you another election . . .”
Slow Horse also said, “life must be hard when you know it all . . . Keep telling people they are stupid and what they should do.”
Slow Horse is unaware of Slow Horse’s own rhetorical stance.
You can twist your perceptions to please yourself all you want. Trump keeps rising in the polls. Apparently, Republicans are as well (which is beyond me since neither party can demonstrate any fiscal responsibility). If Trump is as bad as you say, why stick to a proven losing game? Obama won in 08 because of his message, the fact he talked to “people (not groups),” and that he wasn’t a Clinton. Trump won on a similar platform (although, really not as conservative as Obama’s “a marriage is between a man and a woman” deal–minus Trump’s standing on Roe V Wade). Seems to me a new moderate person (not a carrier of Clinton’s Wall Street friendly social justice platform–because, hey, why support your bread and butter base when you can throw them under the bus for big wall street cash?). Sanders is over the top. If he’s as bad as you say, why not find some fresh blood (not geriatric Joe…) and haul them out?
I’ll tell you why: your lot is mirror version of the self-righteous religious right. Another proven loser. And like them, you’ll hold your amoral patriarch in high regard to your own peril. But at least you’ll be able to wring your hands and hate Trump for four more years, so you have that. And please feel free to tell me I’m wrong, just like you said there was no way for Trump to win in ’16.
Lawd, she is such a pos. Glad she is out of the White House
slohhrs – Establishment Dims would rather lose to a Republican than elect a populist Dim.
Yes, there is always that. They have a lot of cancerous tissue to remove before that will heal up.
AHHH yes, JT must have been told he is being called a leftist by the sycophant Trump crowd. So whip out the Clinton card and everything is right with the world.
FishWings
How is Clinton’s treatment of women any different than Trump’s “grab ’em”?
I have never defended Bubba and his actions with women, nor did I make a big deal with Trump. My statement was to point out with JT is when in doubt with his base, whip out the Clinton’s.
“I have never defended Bubba and his actions with women, nor did I make a big deal with Trump”
your existence on these forums has been to show us the opposite.
Pssst, Hillary lost….twice and to an orange haired 72 year old adolescent. Get over it dumb ass
Jen, your response is exactly what I would expect from a irrelevant willfully blind sycophant.
Everyone forgets that Billy had to write a $750,000. Check to Paula Jones for whipping out the “little governor” and demanding service. As I recall it was after she said she could identify it in a line up. The Clinton’s are the definition of white trash no wealth or education can fix that.
The Clinton Klan. The gift that keeps on giving.
Clinton is a weasel; that he manifests every time he responds to questions about his sexual activities. The great fallibility of the intellect is to tarnish it by using it in a way that is simply hopeless. Clinton is a brilliant man but blinded by his ego. If he simply admitted his lack of libido control and left it at that, this would go away.
Look at Trump, many times worse the sexual predator than Clinton; he simply laughs it off, blatantly lying, saying it never happened, and somehow it becomes entertainment and not weaseling. By openly boasting about it, Trump has made it a minor and acceptable quirk. Lately America seems to like its tough guys who tweet,
The lingo of the street wise
The battle cry of real tough guys
liberal hypocrisy has reached critical mass. one of my colleagues at a university in Japan is a se!f-important vegan Brit who frequently utilizes her presentations to indoctrinate the students (well, tries to anyway, most of these kids are serious and have no time or space in their brain for identity politics.)
until the school administrators put the kibosh on her screeds she quite literally would use Trump-bashing as a means to illustrate EVERY EFFING EXAMPLE–e.g., PP presentation on Idioms, the phrase ‘not by a long shot’
[in her most haughty Londoner tone] “is Donald Trump a good President? ‘Not by a long shot. The man is a rapist.”
It’s like Superintendent Chalmers ripping Principal Skinner every chance he gets during a public speaking engagement except this wasn’t even remotely funny.
yet both Clintons in her eyes are saintly and she’s another mental giant who believes the current US Economy is entirely a matter of The Lightbringer Obama loosening the lid on the jelly jar… the left has officially lost their minds.
Creepy to hear him say that as if he’s confessing.
President Clinton is a man without honor.
I heartily agree, and I am a registered Democrat.
People are universal in their attacks on Clinton and his behavior but willfully obtuse as to Trump. Clinton got away with his shenanigans for quite some time and deserves to face public scorn for having been only partially punished for his crimes.
Those videos on Epstein’s island could easily show Trump who was an alleged frequent visitor and if not for cases being thrown out for technical and filing problems (and death threats to the plaintiff). He might have had his day in court for the alleged rape fo a 13-year-old. Of course, Trump vigorously denies the claim so there’s that.
https://www.snopes.com/news/2016/06/23/donald-trump-rape-lawsuit/
Enigma – no one believes Snopes anymore. Unfortunately for them they exposed their true colors during the primaries and GE.
Autumn – These were real filings and court cases. You choose to ignore them because this particular article came from Snopes (without making any claim of believability)
Here’s what Trump himself said about Epstein. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
There is at least enough information about Trump/Epstein/young girls as there is Clinton/Epstein/young girls. I suspect you readily believe Clinton is guilty yet not Trump?
https://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/national-govt–politics/will-president-trump-used-witness-sex-offender-epstein-case/YijRjaz87dDMiV18TGeDAN/
Autumn, plenty of people believe Snopes.
Bad news for you, hardly anyone outside of wing nut country believes the crap put out by Breitbarts, Infowars or Drudge.
Sure they do – just like they believe MSDNC, Clinton Newz Network, Wash Compost and so on. For your info I do not get my news from the sites you listed. I much prefer RT, Zero Hedge and various indie sites – Jimmy Dore, Tim Black,Jamarl Thomas, Lee Camp, Moon of Alabama, and Styxx….
And, I agree with your comment as well. It just goes to show you that the men at the top have not been scathed by #metoo. I await Harvey Weinstein’s trial, if it ever gets that far. Chances are that nothing much will happen to him, either.
Remarks from our beloved DNC apologist posters: “But Trump is worse, because he did X, Y, and Z…” Translation: Bad behavior A justifies bad behavior B.
Of course Clinton is a misogynist of epic proportions, and likely a rapist, that’s old news. Michael Scheuer, then Chief of the Bin Laden Search Unit at the CIA, was in the room when three times the CIA had a target on OBL, awaiting Clinton’s Administration to say, “yes,” and three times Clinton intentionally let OBL walk, soon after resulting in 9-11. (And yes, I know Bush’s negligence in causing 9-11, and yes, Bush deserves at least prison, but he never refused to kill OBL like Bill did.)
Those three refusals to kill OBL were after OBL killed almost 300 Marines in N. Africa, made a failed attempt to blow up one of the Towers (fixed later on 9-11) and also killed about 17 sailors on the USS Cole.
The CIA had produced for each successive POTUS the equivalent of an encyclopedia documenting OBL and Al QCIAda. Yet, after 9-11, on TV Clinton had the balls to blame the CIA for “not providing enough information” to get OBL.
Immediately after Clinton said that, Scheuer was interviewed, and almost apoplectic with hostility at Clinton’s lies.
IMO Clinton richly deserves to be convicted of treason and the worst punishment. How is “protecting the Constitution” not contrary to letting a non-US citizen live who you could kill, who has declared war on the USA and intentionally murdered over 300 Americans, and that President’s refusal to kill directly results in the subject murdering 3000 more Americans? (Forget the fact that it lead to a war we still fight to lose, $2T in wasted spending, thousands of dead/maimed/suicidal soldiers, and an estimated million innocent deaths.
JJ
Didn’t anyone explain to you that Osama was a CIA asset, like HARVEY Oswald, and both were made Patsies for inside covert operations?
It’s likely he’s like the rest of us. He doesn’t listen to kooks.
Bill McWilliams, your name looks better capitalized.
Also, bin Laden was an asset only during the Soviet-Afghan War. After that, bin Laden became a major liability–to say the least. Such things do happen from time to time.
Bill McWilliams, is that sarc or are you nutz? George and Oky1 are already the official site nutbags, I don’t know that we could accommodate one more.
Agreed!
Bill Clinton is nothing but a liberal scumbag and his wife is even worse.There is a trail of rape and murder a mile long behind them.
jbake, I don’t like the Clintons either but lurid tales of murders and the like are the provence of crazy right wing lunatics like Alex Jones. There was no Pizzagate and you’re a moron if you think there was.
wildbill99 – there wasn’t anyone spying on the Trump campaign was there? 🙂
Oddly enough Clinton is at least partially right. When he was first married, the standard was you couldn’t rape your wife. That has changed. By the time he was President things had changed enough that people said that if he were the CEO of a major corporation and had been doing the same thing with Ms. Lewinsky, he would be forced to step down or be fired. He knew better or should have known better. Clinton was a serial womanizer, maybe he still is.
Chemically assisted, nowadays. I think he’s keeping clear of Jeffrey Epstein’s island.
https://www.google.com/search?q=bill+clinton+images&client=firefox-b-1&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=VLh8zIeEYy_N3M%253A%252CDmcW52EipUHd4M%252C_&usg=__AqXmpHyGpmAqY80EXCcGz0G_iAc%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiirLH-rc3bAhVK61MKHcecAVoQ9QEIOTAH#imgrc=VLh8zIeEYy_N3M:
DSS – I understand that Epstein has closed all the tunnels on the island and basically shut it down. Although, there are rumors of videos available from the interior of the island of important people in compromising situations.
PCS
Clinton must be Trump’s role model.
They’re the same age and it’s a reasonable wager Trump never heard Clinton’s name prior to 1978 and never bothered to learn anything about him prior to 1991.
Bill McWilliams – according to Frontline, Trump’s role model was Hugh Hefner because all the cadets learned about sex from Playboy.
Paul: maybe he is, but who cares? How does that excuse/explain/ or mitigate Trump?
Natacha – what goes for Clinton, goes for Trump, they come from the same era.
Natacha, you’ve been dedicated to the project of illustrating for us that behind every double-standard is an unconfessed single standard.
Nii’s professed single standard is that there supposedly exists no such thing as sexism.
Nii’s professed double standard is that the supposed non-existence of sexism is exculpatory only for Trump, but not for Clinton.
Nii’s is a pretzel logician.
No, L4D has reading comprehension issues when she’s not playing games. There actually is no such thing as ‘sexism’. It’s not a coherent concept, just a rhetorical move.
Trump has a history of vulgar behavior and adultery. He’s also been the subject of a mass of accusations that are not particularly credible. How extensive are his adulteries is a question mark. Clinton’s grossness is well-known.
As recently as 30 years ago, manifest adultery was enough to wreck the candidacy of Gary Hart. When Clinton first came on the scene, students of politics offered that one of his problems was the rumor mill: he was seen as a ‘sexual libertine. An Ozark Gary Hart”. (Journalists like Gail Sheehy who started interviewing quondam campaign staffers were aghast at what they discovered about Hart). From what’s known of Clinton, he was in Hart’s league.
Now, people like me were told 20 years ago that we were oh-so-unsophisticated. We were told that by Democratic Party officialdom, by NPR commentators, by Jonathan Alter, and by Arthur Schlesinger. All sorts of ad hominem accusations were lobbed at Kenneth Starr (by the editorial board of the Syracuse Post-Standard, if you’d like an example). You want that standard of public conduct?
Well, you do and you don’t, depending on whether or not it’s convenient. My response to partisan Democrats is the correct one: “f*uck off, frauds”.
Jill / Natacha keep running the Billy Bush tape in their head. Trump made an unsuccessful pass at a co-worker of Bush about 15 years ago and tells Bush that you can get away with a great deal when you’re a celebrity. That happens to be true, no matter how much a bald statement of same upsets the ever neuralgic Jill / Natacha. Now we have Mr. Wildbill trying to argue that all sexual transgressions are of equal severity. Because dumb.
L4D said, “Nii’s professed single standard is that there supposedly exists no such thing as sexism.”
Nii replied, “No, L4D has reading comprehension issues when she’s not playing games. There actually is no such thing as ‘sexism’.”
For those you keeping score at home, L4D supposedly has reading comprehension issues because saying that Nii says there exists no such thing as sexism is not the same thing as Nii actually saying there exists no such thing as sexism. If that’s confusing for you, you are not alone. Please allow me to explain how this works:
Rule #1, the identity of the speaker determines the meaning of the statement.
Rule #2, the political posture of the speaker is the speaker’ identity.
Rule #3, given two different speakers with two different political postures, the mutual comprehensibility of any given statement remains a formal impossibility.
Rule #4, Nyah-Nyah Nyah-Nyah Nyah Nyah.
Oh, we’re all educated when you wave your hands.
I generally don’t knock writers – after all art is subjective and he apparently has a yuuge following. Having said that I’ve tried twice to read his books and found them unreadable. I did however enjoy the documentary he produced – “Murder of a Small Town” – showed me another side of him. Poignant, real and caring – seems like a decent chap –which makes me wonder WTF is he doing touring with Bubba.
Autumn, James Patterson doesn’t even write his books. He has a team of writers, this is how they are able to appear with such regularity. It isn’t a secret, and he isn’t the only one, not by far. Public figures in particular almost universally use ghost writers. Whether you want to call it art or not (I personally don’t, but as you said, that’s subjective) is really up to you, but don’t kid yourself about the rest!
Interesting James. Maybe that’s why I can’t read his books – no soul. I have noticed with some best selling authors with a prolific output their work seems to affected by their contract obligations – they have to produce a book within a time frame – those works are never good.
It’s a reasonable wager Clinton actually did rape Juanita Broaddrick. Not a slam dunk, of course. The broadcast media didn’t care and buried the story.
Clinton’s career was a depressing indicator of national decadence. The man was an oleaginous lounge lizard and really couldn’t conceal it. We learned that lots of women like lounge lizards and lots of men don’t mind having them in public life as long as they get paid. He cadged the Democratic nomination by defeating four better men of whom two had run state governments and one had founded a series of successful businesses in addition to his time in the statehouse and time in Congress. He won the general election against two men who had prospered in the business world and performed well in the military prior to their business career. A critical mass of voters didn’t mind that Clinton actually was a draft dodger, which Dan Quayle and Donald Trump were not. They also didn’t mind that he’d spent 16 of the 19 years that had elapsed since completing his schooling either holding public office or scrounging four it (and was a state employee the other 3 years).