Salon | Letters to the editor

_______________ THE CLINTON CRISIS (01/22-26/98)

I have been reading Salon's reports on the latest Clinton controversy with curiosity but also dismay. Early media coverage of his alleged affair with ex-White House intern Monica Lewinsky made the situation sound dire indeed.
However, I have come to believe that independent counsel Ken Starr may not have an ironclad case here. My reading of the controversy leads me to believe that Ms. Lewinsky may be making up the story of her affair, in order to make herself sound more important.
It sounds as if Lewinsky idolized President Clinton. Did she idolize him to the extent that she, herself, sought to initiate an affair, only to have him rebuff her? I believe that the president is smart enough to avoid anything so easily proved as an extramarital affair while in the White House. He knows that there are right-wing vipers waiting to pounce on him if he makes the slightest indiscretion. Is it really credible that he would do something as stupid as this? No. I don't believe so.
But that may not have stopped Lewinsky. She may have taken the president's offhand flirtations, maybe his innocent avuncular relationship with her, and the gifts he was known to give to interns as some sign that she was special. That he cared for her as she wished him to do. And so, when engaged in conversation with Starr's informant, Linda Tripp, Lewinsky seriously embellished a relationship between herself and Mr. Clinton. She figured, "Why not? Tripp's never going to be able to prove that I'm lying to her, and in the meantime, I can live the fantasy of being as close to the president as I want to be." Lewinsky didn't know, of course, that the nefarious Starr had Tripp wired up and waiting to entrap Lewinsky. She was an innocent victim of Starr's baldly partisan plan to bring down the president and improve his own chances of winning a job with some future Republican administration.
I don't know for a fact that this scenario is true. But as more news leaks out about Lewinsky, it begins to look more reasonable. Let's not forget that Newsweek had serious doubts about Lewinsky's credibility, which is much of the reason why it held its early story about this alleged affair.
If it turns out that Lewinsky is making up all or most of this tale, and Starr is using her taped conversations for his own purposes and hurting her in the process, then I believe that: 1) Starr must be dismissed and 2) the American press owes it to Mr. Clinton to stop hounding him unnecessarily, hoping that it can somehow come up with a latter-day version of Watergate.
My fingers are crossed that the president will be stronger -- both as a person and as the leader of this nation -- after this controversy has blown over.
-- J. Kingston Pierce
Seattle, Wash.
We have had some time now to contemplate the scene: a partisan right-wing inquisitor, backed up by numerous FBI agents, government-paid attorneys and an unlimited, taxpayer-provided bankroll. They carefully work a sting on a pair of criminals. The crime? Consensual adult sex, criminalized by a civil case funded through tax-exempt contributions to a crackpot right-wing "legal foundation."
If anyone ever wondered what it would be like to live under the Religious Right, well -- now you know.
-- Mike Makofske

We are witnessing the first "moral assassination" of a president of the United States. A well-orchestrated conspiracy to target a weakness in the leader of the free world and destroy him. Without the electronic media this would not have been possible because people like Linda Tripp would have been seen for the moral vipers they were and minimized by responsible editors. Like any assassination, this conspiracy is treason and should be punishable by death to all the conspirators.
-- Mike McCann
Big Brother is triumphing again. Still.
Your articles should almost entirely be concerned with those bringing the rumors and allegations, not the allegations themselves.
The Watergate Bunglers, Tricky Dick, dirty tricks are still active, and still winning. The Republican dirty tricks committee, including the Judiciary Committee, is controlling the agenda, and liberals are helping by analyzing the accusations instead of the accusers.
1984 was 1984, and Big Brother still seems to have the megaphone. Your megaphone.
Please stop aiding and abetting the totalitarians here. The accusations do not deserve time. Even if true, they are not material, except to Hillary. And the witch-hunt that produced them should be grounds for legal action.
Not to mention that the president is in much greater physical danger, most likely, than at any other time in his life.
-- Brad Schrick
Shame on you! The president is representing the people of the United States of America -- and that includes you! -- and must be treated with respect and dignity.
-- Rosario Ladouceur
SALON | Jan. 27, 1998

R E C E N T L Y+| THE CLINTON CRISIS

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_______________ THE CLINTON CRISIS (01/22-26/98)
	I have been reading Salon's reports on the latest Clinton controversy with curiosity but also dismay. Early media coverage of his alleged affair with ex-White House intern Monica Lewinsky made the situation sound dire indeed. However, I have come to believe that independent counsel Ken Starr may not have an ironclad case here. My reading of the controversy leads me to believe that Ms. Lewinsky may be making up the story of her affair, in order to make herself sound more important. It sounds as if Lewinsky idolized President Clinton. Did she idolize him to the extent that she, herself, sought to initiate an affair, only to have him rebuff her? I believe that the president is smart enough to avoid anything so easily proved as an extramarital affair while in the White House. He knows that there are right-wing vipers waiting to pounce on him if he makes the slightest indiscretion. Is it really credible that he would do something as stupid as this? No. I don't believe so. But that may not have stopped Lewinsky. She may have taken the president's offhand flirtations, maybe his innocent avuncular relationship with her, and the gifts he was known to give to interns as some sign that she was special. That he cared for her as she wished him to do. And so, when engaged in conversation with Starr's informant, Linda Tripp, Lewinsky seriously embellished a relationship between herself and Mr. Clinton. She figured, "Why not? Tripp's never going to be able to prove that I'm lying to her, and in the meantime, I can live the fantasy of being as close to the president as I want to be." Lewinsky didn't know, of course, that the nefarious Starr had Tripp wired up and waiting to entrap Lewinsky. She was an innocent victim of Starr's baldly partisan plan to bring down the president and improve his own chances of winning a job with some future Republican administration. I don't know for a fact that this scenario is true. But as more news leaks out about Lewinsky, it begins to look more reasonable. Let's not forget that Newsweek had serious doubts about Lewinsky's credibility, which is much of the reason why it held its early story about this alleged affair. If it turns out that Lewinsky is making up all or most of this tale, and Starr is using her taped conversations for his own purposes and hurting her in the process, then I believe that: 1) Starr must be dismissed and 2) the American press owes it to Mr. Clinton to stop hounding him unnecessarily, hoping that it can somehow come up with a latter-day version of Watergate. My fingers are crossed that the president will be stronger -- both as a person and as the leader of this nation -- after this controversy has blown over. -- J. Kingston Pierce Seattle, Wash. We have had some time now to contemplate the scene: a partisan right-wing inquisitor, backed up by numerous FBI agents, government-paid attorneys and an unlimited, taxpayer-provided bankroll. They carefully work a sting on a pair of criminals. The crime? Consensual adult sex, criminalized by a civil case funded through tax-exempt contributions to a crackpot right-wing "legal foundation." If anyone ever wondered what it would be like to live under the Religious Right, well -- now you know. -- Mike Makofske We are witnessing the first "moral assassination" of a president of the United States. A well-orchestrated conspiracy to target a weakness in the leader of the free world and destroy him. Without the electronic media this would not have been possible because people like Linda Tripp would have been seen for the moral vipers they were and minimized by responsible editors. Like any assassination, this conspiracy is treason and should be punishable by death to all the conspirators. -- Mike McCann Big Brother is triumphing again. Still. Your articles should almost entirely be concerned with those bringing the rumors and allegations, not the allegations themselves. The Watergate Bunglers, Tricky Dick, dirty tricks are still active, and still winning. The Republican dirty tricks committee, including the Judiciary Committee, is controlling the agenda, and liberals are helping by analyzing the accusations instead of the accusers. 1984 was 1984, and Big Brother still seems to have the megaphone. Your megaphone. Please stop aiding and abetting the totalitarians here. The accusations do not deserve time. Even if true, they are not material, except to Hillary. And the witch-hunt that produced them should be grounds for legal action. Not to mention that the president is in much greater physical danger, most likely, than at any other time in his life. -- Brad Schrick Shame on you! The president is representing the people of the United States of America -- and that includes you! -- and must be treated with respect and dignity. -- Rosario Ladouceur SALON \| Jan. 27, 1998