Revisiting Bill Clinton

In light of the recent outburst of sexual harassment charges lodged against powerful and important men by men and women they encountered in their lives, it seems only proper to examine Bill Clinton’s political life again too.

Bill was from Hope, Ark., and was a saxophone player in the high school band and also the band’s drum major. As has always been true in high schools around the country, athletes got the girls, band members and drum majors didn’t. Even though Bill was a popular guy in high school, the girls that associated with him were much more likely to be friends of his rather than girlfriends. He reportedly had a normal sex drive which translates to an almost constant sex drive among typical teenage boys so this lack of interest in him from attractive girls in high school was frustrating for him.

That all changed after he entered politics. Because politics is about power and influence, women who wouldn’t have given him the time of day before were all of a sudden interested in him sexually and he was literally swept away by this new found attention. After he was elected governor of Arkansas at a young age is when the rumors of his philandering really took hold, even though he had already married Hillary.

Jennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey were only a few of the women who publicly accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate sexual conduct with them that fell mostly on deaf ears not only in Arkansas but nationally as well. In other words, the women simply weren’t believed. Defenders of Clinton accused the women of seeking fame and notoriety at his expense and nothing ever came of their allegations except for Paula Jones.

She claimed that Clinton while he was governor of Arkansas and she was a state employee, summoned her to a hotel room, dropped his pants in front of her and requested oral sex. Ms. Willey, a former White House volunteer, accused him of kissing and groping her in the Oval Office and Ms. Broaddrick, an Arkansas nursing home owner, alleged that Clinton forced her to have sex during a meeting on the campaign trail in 1978, and Jennifer Flowers claimed a long-term affair with Clinton while he was governor and married to Hillary, claiming they were in love with each other.

Ms. Jones was the only one of these women to take Clinton to court for his supposed infidelities and Clinton paid $850,000 to settle the sexual harassment suit she brought against him without admitting wrongdoing, citing the political costs of continuing to fight it. Monica Lewinsky, a 22-year-old intern at the White House had an affair with Clinton while he was President but her involvement with him was not considered illegal because it was voluntary and consensual on her part.

People who were prominent in the Democratic Party back when these things were being alleged defended him and attacked the women and are now changing their tune. In fact, according to the New York Times, a dozen prominent political activists in the Democratic Party were contacted for comments concerning Clinton and his behavior and none were willing to go on record on his behalf.

More people with power, influence and stature are being named daily as being sexual predators and, consequently, their careers and reputations are being ruined because of it. Obviously there’s no way to prove these accusations true or false because no one was present except for the women and the men they’re accusing. So no court of law can hash this out and declare guilt or innocence simply based on the testimony of those allegedly involved. So it’s always going to be a “He said, she said” discourse and people will choose to side with one party or the other.

Obviously, in this new era of female empowerment, many more people are going to believe the women than they did 25 years ago and rightfully so because it makes no sense that multiple women would accuse a single person of illegal sexual behavior unless their allegations were true and almost all of the allegations so far have come from multiple men and women aimed at a particular person.

In today’s political climate, could Bill Clinton have survived the rumors and remain President as he did during his tenure? I think the answer is most assuredly no. He would have either been impeached and convicted or forced to resign and it seems to me that’s what has to happen to all people embodied with the trust of the people who elected them.

We can’t have sexual predators running our country and making decisions that affect the lives of all Americans any more than we would stand for violent felony offenders holding the same offices.

President Trump brushed aside the accusations levied against him, although he admitted to them on the bus in that famous video that surfaced during the campaign, claiming that “boys will be boys” and “locker-room talk” but it’s much more than that. Anyone seeking elective office who has either admitted to illegal sexual behavior or been accused of it should automatically be disqualified from being elected or appointed.