She was treated horribly (esp. by Linda Tripp, the media, etc.) but she consented. She knew what she was doing. Bill's problems stem less from the fact that he let Monica blow him than some of the other accusations against him from Paula Jones and so on.
This, 100 percent. Monica Lewinsky is not a victim.
One of the most regrettable and repulsive by-products of the #MeToo movement (which promises to be America's New Spanish Inquisition by the time it runs it course) is that it's giving 15 minutes of fame to women who had consensual affairs with married men, and now are coming forward with narratives of how their relationship was "abusive" when the only "abuse" involved was (A) the male's celebrity or influence (which was a lure, but not a lever) and (B) the "feelings of being used" or something like that on the part of the adulterous female, usually due to broken promises (e. g. "I'll divorce my wife!"). It's the actions of folks who act as homewreckers, uncaring as to the effect their affair with a married man might have on the man's wife and family. As if those folks, who have a RIGHT to that man's loyalty and fidelity, should be OK with what they're doing. I'm sorry, but I have a minimum of sympathy for those folks when they pose as victims, and when they reinvent a narrative years later for the salving of their own consciences, I'm at a loss for sympathy.
I'm 61 years old. I'm married to a 63 year old Christian woman who has, for decades, been a loyal and faithful wife, never straying, never betraying me, or our famiiy. (And I've never strayed either; that's at least one thing I've gotten right in life.) Now, let's say I get elected to Congress, and I have an attractive female staff person who is smitten with me, and presents a temptation that I give into, and it turns into an affair. She knows I'm married, and I insist that I'm not getting a divorce.
Am I an "abuser"? I don't think so.
Am I an "adulterer"? Yes, from the first wayward thought, and so is she, knowing that I was married.
People who KNOWINGLY engage in affairs with married folks that are truly consensual do not have any sympathy from me, no matter how badly the affair ended. Some negative consequences are natural; cheating on your spouse isn't something that's supposed to end well, as it involves more than just you and your side interest. Adulterers trying to cleanse their conscience through #MeToo are like steroid users breaking home run records; there is an asterisk by their name and case that shouldn't be ignored. Monica Lewinsky is not a victim. And Gillibrand's silence on Broaddrick, Willey, and Jones is deafening. These are folks that came forward early, and didn't need a hashtag to speak up.
