Gillibrand: Bill Clinton should have resigned over Lewinsky affair

[IceSpear]

It seems like "Should Bill Clinton have resigned?" or some variant thereof is inevitably going to be asked of all of the 2020 presidential candidates at some point now, quite possibly in the 2020 primary debates.

I imagine most of them will try to dodge the question, or say something like "that's not relevant to the issues of today".  Will any of them give an unqualified "No, he shouldn't have resigned"?

I highly doubt this will be a relevant issue in 2 years.

[RINO Tom]

It seems like "Should Bill Clinton have resigned?" or some variant thereof is inevitably going to be asked of all of the 2020 presidential candidates at some point now, quite possibly in the 2020 primary debates.

I imagine most of them will try to dodge the question, or say something like "that's not relevant to the issues of today".  Will any of them give an unqualified "No, he shouldn't have resigned"?

I highly doubt this will be a relevant issue in 2 years.

Probably not to voters, but they'll still be chomping at the bit to ask it I think.

[Mr. Morden]

de Blasio (after just having announced an upcoming trip to Iowa) says he agrees with Gillibrand:

https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2017/11/20/de-blasio-says-he-agrees-with-gillibrand-saying-clinton-should-have-resigned-120432

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[Famous Mortimer]

It seems like "Should Bill Clinton have resigned?" or some variant thereof is inevitably going to be asked of all of the 2020 presidential candidates at some point now, quite possibly in the 2020 primary debates.

I imagine most of them will try to dodge the question, or say something like "that's not relevant to the issues of today".  Will any of them give an unqualified "No, he shouldn't have resigned"?

No. Maybe if there's a hopeless token right-wing Jim Webb-style candidate. No one is serious could against the "believe women" narrative though.

[Possiblymaybe]

I don't think it would be politically possible for any serious Democratic politician to answer this question any other way in 2017.

Bernie :


Sanders not with Gillibrand on Bill Clinton
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tells CNN's Jake Tapper the United States has a "crisis" when it comes to sexual harassment against women, but doesn't believe the country should "look back" when asked whether former President Bill Clinton should have resigned after having an affair with Monica Lewinsky.

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/11/19/senator-bernie-sanders-sexual-harassment-sotu.cnn

[MAINEiac4434]

Sanders knows he needs Clinton voters in 2016 to win the nomination in 2020. He doesn't want to step on too many toes, which is why he hasn't talked at all about Brazile's revelations.

[7,052,770]

This thread is classic Atlas.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

Should Clinton have resigned?  Of course he should have.  The REASON he should have resigned is the issue.

Monica Lewinsky's case is not one of "sexual harassment".  It was a case of an intern voluntarily having sex with a Roving-Eye President who took a shine to her.  And she was attracted to him.  Bill was her "boyfriend".   She consented to whatever went on, and, indeed, was OK with all of it while it lasted.  She wasn't in the position of, say, Bob Packwood's staffers, whose jobs were on the line.  Far from being a victim, Ms. Lewinsky believed this to be her Lucky Strike.   I don't think there are any doubts as to these facts.

Was Bill Clinton a scumbag, seducing an attractive, but immature ADULT using the aura of his Presidency, while married to another woman?  Of course; that's a scumbag thing to do.  He SHOULD have resigned over his moral failure; he did it on the taxpayer's dime and he is, after all, the President.  The GOP's attempts to criminalize his private life were not received well by the public, as evidenced by the Democrats' GAINS in the 1998 off year elections, but just because you shouldn't be impeached doesn't mean you shouldn't resign.  Clinton resigning would have sent a message to future Presidents that this isn't the way to act.

But Monica Lewinsky is not a "victim".  She was a volunteer; she knowingly engaged in sexual conduct with another adult she was attracted to at the time.  She was an adult, and an educated adult.  And she had an "adult" position if there ever was one; not everyone gets to be a Presidential position if there ever was one.  And she knew Bill Clinton was married.  She knew she was taking something that was not hers.  She knew that she was helping Bill Clinton break a vow he made; a vow that God held Him to, and she had sex with him anyway.

Much of the pain Monica Lewinsky has suffered over the years is the result of the media treating her as a joke.  She was aiming to be a serious policy-wonk type that may have, in time, been a high-level staffer for a Senator or Governor; possibly more than that.  Now, she's a middle-aged joke.  (Oh, and the sanctimonious liberal media has never shied away from reporting her struggles with weight; how nice of them.)  She could not see the consequences of her actions if things went sideways (which they did).  

I have much empathy for Monica Lewinsky.  She's someone who needed a path back to where she wanted to go, but her celebrity wouldn't let her.  That, however, is not Bill Clinton's fault, and to say it is would be to put a college-educated woman knowingly and willingly engaging in sex with a married President, to be totally naive as to the consequences of her actions if discovered.  That's the way of adulterous lovers; few mistresses or side girlfriends ever have real expectation of the married man leaving his wife, and the same goes for men on the side involving themselves with married women.  (God forbid that we have a national discussion about adultery, however; that would be moralizing!)  Let's call the Lewinsky Affair what it is; an affair.  It's not comparable to the "me-too" women's situations (the ones that truly meet that criteria).  

And, no, Gillibrand didn't need to say what she did, because I don't think that's what's really on her mind.  What new revelation, other than political fallout, would have caused her to say what she said?  Loyalty to friends, even to Bill Clinton, is, to some extent a virtue.  Urinating on one's grave is certainly not virtuous in the least.

[Mr. Morden]

Gillibrand won't quite bring herself to say that Franken should resign:

https://twitter.com/CNNValentine/status/938145852383727622
https://twitter.com/CNNValentine/status/938145981979414528

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[RINO Tom]

^ Of course that is what she has to say, but it would be refreshing to hear a sitting Democratic/Republican Senator flatly call for a resignation of a sitting Democratic/Republican Senator ... THE DRAMA.

[Shadows]

Sanders knows he needs Clinton voters in 2016 to win the nomination in 2020. He doesn't want to step on too many toes, which is why he hasn't talked at all about Brazile's revelations.

It probably wouldn't matter much since everyone Gillibrand to De Blasio is looking to distance themselves from the toxic Clinton brand. Sanders is already more popular with Clinton voters than Clinton herself.

It probably doesn't make much sense to go back to the 90s & debate if Clinton should resign. You can call his actions deplorable, move on & look to the future. That is what all smart leaders should do. It is enough to boldly condemn his actions for what they were. It is not Monica but Paula Jones & others. Why did Bill pay almost 1M $ to Paula for settlement if he wasn't guilty?

When we are blasting Conyers for settling, what about Bill Clinton ?

[Mr. Morden]

The NYT has a new story on Gillibrand's role in the Dem. reaction to sexual harassment allegations:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/nyregion/gillibrand-franken-sexual-misconduct.html

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[Former Kentuckian]

The NYT has a new story on Gillibrand's role in the Dem. reaction to sexual harassment allegations:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/nyregion/gillibrand-franken-sexual-misconduct.html

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I love it. I used to dismiss her as Hillary 2.0, but she's really grown on me a lot lately.

[Spiffy]

Every time I see her in the media I like her more. I could definitely see her becoming my preferred candidate in 2020.

[Mr. Morden]

*bump*

This may or may not be relevant when this issue inevitably gets brought up again when Gillibrand formally enters the presidential race, but Lewinsky herself has finally turned on Bill, after having just a few years ago given a quasi-defense of Bill in which she emphasized that it was a consensual relationship, and nob abusive.  She now writes this in Vanity Fair:

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/monica-lewinsky-in-the-age-of-metoo

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[Coolface Sock #42069]

Just when it was politically expedient to say so 🙄

[Beet]

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.

[Mr. Morden]

*bump*

Bill finally responds:

http://www.newsweek.com/bill-clinton-hits-back-gillibrand-suggests-she-951963

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[gerritcole]

*bump*

Bill finally responds:

http://www.newsweek.com/bill-clinton-hits-back-gillibrand-suggests-she-951963

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It's been accepted that Gillibrand is a flip flopper at this point right? Why is any of this surprising?

[HillGoose]

He should have resigned when he watched a million Rwandans butcher each other when he could have easily put a stop to it (and Bush would have stopped the genocide before it even began)

[junior chįmp]

*bump*

Bill finally responds:

http://www.newsweek.com/bill-clinton-hits-back-gillibrand-suggests-she-951963

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Rapin' Bill Clinton should be in jail

[HAnnA MArin County]

*bump*

Bill finally responds:

http://www.newsweek.com/bill-clinton-hits-back-gillibrand-suggests-she-951963

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Rapin' Bill Clinton Donald Trump should be in jail

FTFY.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I'd be more impressed with Gillibrand's comment if she hadn't endorsed Andrew Cuomo.

[JG]

I'd be more impressed with Gillibrand's comment if she hadn't endorsed Andrew Cuomo.

Has there been sexual assault allegations against Cuomo?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I'd be more impressed with Gillibrand's comment if she hadn't endorsed Andrew Cuomo.

Has there been sexual assault allegations against Cuomo?

No, but one of his top aides had clear issues before Cuomo promoted him.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/andrew-cuomo-who-hired-a-top-aide-whod-had-an-affair-with-his-intern-is-using-metoo-to-raise-money.html