New documents surrounding the 1998 Monica Lewinsky scandal have surfaced, and the implications are surprising. Notes taken by Hillary Clinton's now-deceased confidante, Diane Blair, paint a picture of self-blame and slut-shaming — not one of a sex-driven man on a massive power trip.
What!? Isn't this Hilldawg we're talking about? The woman whose fierce comments on the control of women at the 2012 Women of the World Summit made us want to crown her Queen of the Castle right then and there? How is Bill's cheating HER fault?
Blair writes that Clinton claimed her husband "tried to manage someone who was clearly a ‘narcissistic loony toon,’ but it was beyond control." That last word there is what makes us cringe with angst. The notion that the President was simply some helpless man, a victim of a predatory nymphomaniac, is something we're not even sure HE could say with a straight face. Sadly, blaming the "other woman" as well as oneself isn't uncommon in these scenarios, and leaves the perpetrator of the infidelity free and clear of responsibilities for his own actions.
Even more shocking are Blair's recollections of Clinton's reaction to then-Sen. Bob Packwood's harassment charges, saying she was "tired of all these whiny women.” We have to hope there is some lack of context in these memoirs, but the reality is, many women commit the same violations of sisterhood — the question is, why?
In a 2012 Huffington Post piece, Ekaterina Walter wrote that research suggests women with careers typically pursued by men will often take on masculine attitudes to their work; women, statistically more passive by nature when it comes to their employment, become "easy targets," as Walter elaborated. With such few strong women in positions of power in government, it's no stretch to say we need people like Clinton representing our interests — and these new revelations have us perturbed — but also wondering . . . who was the force behind this "leak?" Could White House-hungry Hil have staged the whole thing to soften her hard edges?
Image: WikiMedia
