Hi Eddy,
I just took a quick look at this Starr Report and the more I think about it the more it smells like a brilliant frame-up against the President. Here's one of these so-called hot excerpts:
A. Overview of Monica Lewinsky's White House Employment
Monica Lewinsky worked at the White House, first as an intern and then as an employee, from July 1995 to April 1996. With the assistance of family friend Walter Kaye, a prominent contributor to political causes, she obtained an internship starting in early July, when she was 21 years old.(132) She was assigned to work on correspondence in the office of Chief of Staff Leon Panetta in the Old Executive Office Building.(133)
As her internship was winding down, Ms. Lewinsky applied for a paying job on the White House staff. She interviewed with Timothy Keating, Special Assistant to the President and Staff Director for Legislative Affairs.(134) Ms. Lewinsky accepted a position dealing with correspondence in the Office of Legislative Affairs on November 13, 1995, but did not start the job (and, thus, continued her internship) until November 26.(135) She remained a White House employee until April 1996, when -- in her view, because of her intimate relationship with the President -- she was dismissed from the White House and transferred to the Pentagon.(136)
B. First Meetings with the President
The month after her White House internship began, Ms. Lewinsky and the President began what she characterized as "intense flirting."(137) At departure ceremonies and other events, she made eye contact with him, shook hands, and introduced herself.(138) When she ran into the President in the West Wing basement and introduced herself again, according to Ms. Lewinsky, he responded that he already knew who she was.(139) Ms. Lewinsky told her aunt that the President "seemed attracted to her or interested in her or something," and told a visiting friend that "she was attracted to [President Clinton], she
had a big crush on him, and I think she told me she at some point had gotten his attention, that there was some mutual eye contact and recognition, mutual acknowledgment."(140)
In the autumn of 1995, an impasse over the budget forced the federal government to shut down for one week, from Tuesday, November 14, to Monday, November 20.(141) Only essential federal employees were permitted to work during the furlough, and the White House staff of 430 shrank to about 90 people for the week. White House interns could continue working because of their unpaid status, and they took on a wide range of additional duties.(142)
During the shutdown, Ms. Lewinsky worked in Chief of Staff Panetta's West Wing office, where she answered phones and ran errands.(143) The President came to Mr. Panetta's office frequently because of the shutdown, and he sometimes talked with Ms. Lewinsky.(144) She characterized these encounters as "continued flirtation."(145) According to Ms. Lewinsky, a Senior Adviser to the Chief of Staff, Barry Toiv, remarked to her that she was getting a great deal of "face time" with the President.(146)
C. November 15 Sexual Encounter
Ms. Lewinsky testified that Wednesday, November 15, 1995 -- the second day of the government shutdown -- marked the beginning of her sexual relationship with the President.(147) On that date, she entered the White House at 1:30 p.m., left sometime thereafter (White House records do not show the time), reentered at 5:07 p.m., and departed at 12:18 a.m. on November 16.(148) The President was in the Oval Office or the Chief of Staff's office (where Ms. Lewinsky worked during the furlough) for almost the identical period that Ms. Lewinsky was in the White House that evening, from 5:01 p.m. on November 15 to 12:35 a.m. on November 16.(149)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President made eye contact when he came to the West Wing to see Mr. Panetta and Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes, then again later at an informal birthday party for Jennifer Palmieri, Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff.(150) At one point, Ms. Lewinsky and the President talked alone in the Chief of Staff's office. In the course of flirting with him, she raised her jacket in the back and showed him the straps of her thong underwear, which extended above her pants.(151)
En route to the restroom at about 8 p.m., she passed George Stephanopoulos's office. The President was inside alone, and he beckoned her to enter.(152) She told him that she had a crush on him. He laughed, then asked if she would like to see his private office.(153) Through a connecting door in Mr. Stephanopoulos's office, they went through the President's private dining room toward the study off the Oval Office. Ms. Lewinsky testified: "We talked briefly and sort of acknowledged that there had been a chemistry that was there before and that we were both attracted to each other and then he asked me if he could kiss me." Ms. Lewinsky said yes. In the windowless hallway adjacent to the study, they kissed.(154) Before returning to her desk, Ms. Lewinsky wrote down her name and telephone number for the President.(155)
At about 10 p.m., in Ms. Lewinsky's recollection, she was alone in the Chief of Staff's office and the President approached.(156) He invited her to rendezvous again in Mr. Stephanopoulos's office in a few minutes, and she agreed.(157) (Asked if she knew why the President wanted to meet with her, Ms. Lewinsky testified: "I had an idea."(158)) They met in Mr. Stephanopoulos's office and went again to the area of the private study.(159) This time the lights in the study were off.(160)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President kissed. She unbuttoned her jacket; either she unhooked her bra or he lifted
her bra up; and he touched her breasts with his hands and mouth.(161) Ms. Lewinsky testified: "I believe he took a phone call . . . and so we moved from the hallway into the back office . . . . [H]e put his hand down my pants and stimulated me manually in the genital area."(162) While the President continued talking on the phone (Ms. Lewinsky understood that the caller was a Member of Congress or a Senator), she performed oral sex on him.(163) He finished his call, and, a moment later, told Ms. Lewinsky to stop. In her recollection: "I told him that I wanted . . . to complete that. And he said . . . that he needed to wait until he trusted me more. And then I think he made a joke . . . that he hadn't had that in a long time."(164)
So... this is what America is fretting about... But tell me, Eddy, what a 20-something girl could realistically expect from the President of the United States? It's obvious that she purposedly managed to seduce him: how many times in your lifetime did you encounter girls who'd just raise their pants in the back to show you their thongs underwear? I know, I know: lot of ambitious girls are attracted by VIP male individuals... but the US President? C'mon! She must have realized she was just performing some kind of high-flying prostitution. Why didn't she try this silly game with Stephanopoulos? Hey! The guy's pretty sexy... latin lover you know... And younger than Clinton. That shrimp?! No question: Monica was on duty for a much bigger fish to blow (out of the water).
My guesstimate is that she probably received about $3 million for such a delicate mission... I let you guess which Swiss Bank she opened a numbered account with.
Anyway, this whole sordid story shows the world how behind-the-scene powerbrokers deal with the US Presidency: a US President who's too strong politically (see the US economy: no inflation, low unemployment) and who might act as a ''Type A'' personality on international matters, does not fit with the conservative, pro-statu quo agenda of , say, the Establishment... But now, they must be celebrating: Clinton's been put ''back on track'', that is, their track! No (proto-)state for the Palestinians, and the usual bogeyman attitude with regard to the Arabs (which, btw, is good for the military lobby)... How about a little heating-up in the Middele East for a change? Hey, the oil lobby's screaming for a $20.00 crude barrel!
This is really sad.
Gustave. |
