Beware of Puritans bearing subpoenas
by Helen Gilbert
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED the other day. While staffing a Red Letter
Press book
table, I got jumped on by a conservative white man for being
indifferent to
sexual harassment. What was he all worked up about? Lustgate, of
course--President Bill and Intern Monica and the blue dress and
all those
reams of pornographic legal papers jamming the airwaves, newspages
and
internet.
"There's a difference," I told Mr. Sensitive, "between sex and
sexual
harassment. And as long as Bill and Monica's trysts were
voluntary, it's no
one else's business."
"It's poor Hillary's business--he betrayed her, he sputtered.
"Whatever the
terms of their marriage are," I answered, "it's between them, not
you and me."
"You feminists," the belligerent loudmouth ranted, "you ignore a
sexual
predator just because he's a Democrat."
Now this really burned me. "I'm the kind of feminist who judges
Clinton on
his miserable, sellout public record, not what he does with his
penis. If
you want to run the guy out of office because of his policies,
that's fine
with me. But I don't support your puritanical witchhunt."
Somehow the altercation ended without blows. Several women
bystanders who
had been rooting me on made a point of purchasing my literature
afterwards.
LUDICROUS EXCHANGES LIKE the above force us to come forward with a
socialist
feminist view of the never-ending woes of our philandering
president. So
here goes.
Simply said, the Clinton scandal is an abominable case of moral
McCarthyism
which all supporters of freedom in human relations must oppose.
The right to
consensual sex outside marriage must be defended whether it
involves straights
in the White House or gays in Texas.
Public opinion is definitely against Special Prosecutor Starr's
inquisition.
People are sick of hearing about Clinton's randy escapades, not
shocked.
General feeling holds that Clinton may be a creep, a liar, a
libidinous
fiend, and an idiot--but when did that ever stop anyone from being
president?
Nevertheless, the circus goes on and on because of two main
promoters: the
media and Republican rightwingers.
The news industries have become sensation-seeking promoters of
schlock. Sex
sells. Scandal sells. And, like America's Funniest Home Videos,
real-life
government soap operas are cheap to produce. There's no charge for
scriptwriters, set designers, actors--the cost is all paid by the
taxpayers!
Clinton's opponents see him as a symbol of a progressive era they
want to
wipe from memory. Clinton smoked marijuana. He opposed the Vietnam
War. And
he married an independent, smart career woman. He has publicly
regretted all
but the last, and Hillary's makeover indicates his opinion of her.
But no matter how many times Clinton sides with the
conservatives--on NAFTA,
welfare destruction, lesbians and gays in the military, war
against Iraq,
hostility toward Cuba--he can't go quite far enough to please the
bible-thumpers who want to run the world a la Margaret Atwood's
disturbing
vision in The Handmaid's Tale.
I'M NOT DISTURBED BY the silence of mainstream feminists on
Clinton's
personal high jinks. What is unforgivable is their acquiescence to
political
acts like his slashing of the survival services poor women rely
on.
There's truth to the view of many African Americans that the right
wing
hates Clinton because of his support for people of color. His
administration
has brought an unprecedented number of Blacks into prominent
positions. But
what have they or he actually done to improve life for the
downtrodden and
discriminated-against majority of people of color? And look at the
articulate Black women he offered up as sacrifices to the
reactionaries--Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders for her defense of
sex
education and Lani Guinier for having the effrontery to discuss
affirmative
action in a favorable light.
THE MAIN VICTIMS OF the Starr investigation are privacy rights and
sanity
about sex conduct. Amid the hysteria, not many people are stepping
forward
to say Clinton has the right to behave any way he chooses,
carnally
speaking, and what's so sacred about monogamy anyway?
In addition, the authority of the already sinister grand jury
system has
been perilously expanded. And the independent counsel law,
intended as a
reform to curb official abuses of power, has turned into a
mechanism that
expands the ability of government to run amok. When Starr is
allowed to
subpoena records of Monica Lewinsky's book purchases, for
example,the civil
liberties of all of us go out the window. And for the impeachment
panel to
call on Clinton's lawyer in the Paula Jones case is a stunning
assault on
attorney-client privilege and the right of the accused to defend
themselves.
OF COURSE, CLINTON set himself up by spouting "family values" and
by lying
about his affair instead of telling Starr it was none of his damn
concern.
But much as I�d like to see Clinton sink like a stone, opposing
the morality
cops is in the interest of everyone unwilling to let state-backed
prigs run
their lives. Let's get Clinton on the issues that matter.
* * *
Author Helen Gilbert can be reached at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
This article was printed in the Freedom Socialist Newspaper,
Jan-March,
1999. email <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Articles and graphics may be reprinted with credit given to the
Freedom
Socialist and the writer. Notification of reproduction is
appreciated.
end
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