If you look back at my description of the scenario, I didn't say that Monica went after Bill because of Tripp. I said that Tripp was urging her to do so before Monica confided to Tripp that she had already had, on her own motivations, the relationship Tripp was urging. (This isn't such a co-incidence. There were reasons, I think, why Tripp thought Monica was a good prospect to push towards an affair. She was widely rumored to have extensively "stalked" Clinton. Sought out opportunities to be at the same reception as the Pres., eye contact flirted, and the like.)
My point was Tripp's motivations. Which do not seem to have been protecting herself, which always struck me as an extreme stretch. I think Tripp's motivations were a combination of a desire to "get" Clinton, who she very much disliked, and to strike it rich through a book deal to be arranged by Lucien Goldberg, literary agent to the far right.
I think it likely that to a large extent these Tripp ideas were really hatched, or strongly encouraged and directed, by Goldberg. All of that I think will become widely believed and accepted before long.
A further question has to be to what extent was Goldberg co-ordinating, or being used by like minded and much richer people, to co-ordinate with the Paula Jones attorneys and perhaps even the OIC office.
Now none of this changes the fact that Clinton "fell for" Lewinsky, and did in fact commit adultery with her. I don't think that in and of itself is so earth shatteringly horrible.
But it does change a fair amount how serious Clinton's misleading statements in his Jones lawsuit was. If he was convinced it really was a bogus suit, and that the Lewinsky testimony was being sought for its leak potential.
Clinton WASN'T willing to do just anything to cover up the affair. He DID NOT TELL Lewinsky to lie in court. He thought he was avoiding flat out perjury, barely, in his Jones testimony. He DID NOT tell Bettie Currie to lie. Etc.
Doug |
