Dear Erik,
I don’t see that privacy has a thing to do with this. Call me old fashioned–even antique–but marriage vows trump the right to commit adultery. Fifty year old men hitting on youngsters in the office, to put Clinton and Monica’s known activities mildly, whether they are paid employees or not is the reason we have sexual harassment laws (signed by Bill Clinton). But what has happened goes far beyond that argument. What has happened is God-awful for the moral fabric of this country no matter how high-mindedly it is spun as being somehow “okay” and “private.”
Now, I hardly think it’s reasonable to think that Clinton could be impeached for his operatives getting illegal access to my private records. Earlier, I did intend to sue U.S. News and World Report for publishing the information. Had that gone forward there is no doubt that their actions would have been proven illegal but I decided I like my pension fund right where it is and not in the pocket of lawyers. There are other ways, but thank you for your offer to help out. I’m sure there will be other nasties perpetrated before this is over, and I have your E-mail address.
Onto the clean up. I hardly think that what the Oval Office stewards had to do was nearly as pleasant as cleaning up after an Easter Egg roll. I have no problem with the President calling a relative on a government phone, but I certainly am bothered with high government officials soliciting campaign funds from those phones. Or having some kind of contorted sex with a young intern on them in the dark of night while their wife and child sleep nearby. Silly me, but somehow that seems just wrong and I don’t think I was being dishonest in saying so. Yes, it is about sex. It is also about covering it up, lying to the country, deceiving cabinet officers and one’s own family. This is bad stuff–it started with sex and was prolonged by a flawed character. But, I think we agree on that. Nothing can convince me that we have invaded his privacy. We didn’t check under the covers in the family quarters. That would be invasion of privacy. Not this horror.
As to Geraldo, thank you for agreeing. I wasn’t changing the subject, just the paragraph.
You ask that I write to “you” which assumes that I know you. Neither of us know each other but unless I got it wrong, you know I am a conservative and I know you are a liberal. That’s about all we have to go on.
Now that we have done the scandal hand jive, maybe the newspapers will bail us out tomorrow with something truly interesting. I see there has been a retaliatory bombing somewhere–God help us all.
Later. I’m running out to buy the Schumann symphonies to feed my soul.
Lucianne
