"Bimbo
eruptions."
That’s what Republication
strategist Mary Matalin, during the 1992 presidential campaign, called
allegations of extramarital affairs against candidate Bill Clinton. But,
unfortunately for the President, Mrs. Juanita Broaddrick is nobody’s bimbo.
In an NBC
"Dateline" interview taped before but aired after the Senate
impeachment vote, Mrs. Broaddrick says that in 1978, then-attorney general Bill
Clinton raped her.
Many skeptics ask, "Why
now?" Why does Broaddrick come forward after 21 years and accuse the
President of an horrific crime? Wrong question. Given the President’s and his
allies’ assault on the integrity of other accusers, the question in Broaddrick’s
case should be: "Why ever?"
Paula Jones, who alleged
sexual assault, became instant fodder for late-night talkshow hosts, comedians,
and Clinton attack dogs. We all heard the cracks. Horse-face, big nose, trailer
park trash. Later, the President settles her dismissed case for $850,000. A lot
of money from someone who claims he did nothing wrong.
Gennifer Flowers publicly
stated that she and Clinton had a long-standing affair. The President went on
"60 Minutes," accusing her of lying. The spin? Cash for trash, since
Flowers sold her story to one of the tabloids. Later, in the Paula Jones
deposition, Clinton admits that, yes, he did, indeed, have sex with Flowers.
As for Monica Lewinsky,
pre-stained dress, the President called her a "stalker." Post-dress,
the President admits to, yes, an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky, an
affair he denied to the nation, his Cabinet, advisors and friends.
Kathleen Willey, on "60
Minutes," described an unwanted sexual advance. She claimed the President
took his hand and placed it on her breast, and took her hand, placing it on his
genitalia. For this, feminist Gloria Steinem suggested that women should be of
sterner stuff, and that Willey’s description, if true, is small potatoes.
After all, said Steinem, when Willey said "stop," Clinton stopped. No
harm, no foul. The White House piled on, releasing letters Willey wrote to the
President post-incident, thus suggesting she, too, lied. After all, argues the
White House, would a victim of an unwanted sexual advance maintain a cordial
relationship with such a cad?
Dolly Kyle Browning, another
woman alleging a long-standing affair with Clinton, claims in a lawsuit that the
President’s allies tried to intimidate her from publishing a novel based on
her relationship with Clinton. The IRS audited her, later apologizing for its
excessive zeal.
Now comes Juanita Broaddrick.
Like Anita Hill, Broaddrick never sought attention. But, after the alleged rape,
why didn’t she call the police? Why didn’t she go to the hospital? Well,
recall the bad old days when defense attorneys put the accuser’s virtue on
trial. For a refresher, rent "The Accused" with Jodie Foster.
And, here, the accused is not
exactly the guy who worked the deep fryer at McDonald’s. This is the attorney
general of a state.
Broaddrick, living
comfortably in Arkansas, seeks no money, has no book deal, movie treatment, or
line of action figure dolls.
Yes, she signed an affidavit
in the Paula Jones case, denying a sexual assault. But when the federal
investigators came calling, and testimony before the grand jury seemed
plausible, Broaddrick recanted. Didn’t someone named Monica Lewinsky also sign
a false affidavit, which she, too, later recanted?
Gennifer Flowers. Paula
Jones. Monica Lewinsky. Kathleen Willey. Dolly Kyle Browning. And now, Juanita
Broaddrick. Liars, all.
Never mind that the President
wagged his finger at us, saying, "I did not have sexual relations with that
woman, Miss Lewinsky." Never mind that the Gennifer Flowers tape recording
of the then-governor in which he said, "...if everybody’s on record
denying it [the relationship], you got no problems."
A Fox poll, following
"Dateline’s" Broaddrick interview, shows that 54% of Americans
believe Broaddrick’s allegation. Only 23% find the charges untrue. And,
post-impeachment trial polls show that 84% of Americans believe the President
both committed perjury and obstructed justice. This means most Americans
consider the President a felon, and not just a run-of-the-mill felon, but a
rapist felon.
Still, most Americans believe
the rape charges unprovable, and complain of scandal fatigue after the
impeachment and the Senate trial. And the President continues to enjoy high job
approval ratings. But does our "vindicated" President believe he would
have been elected and re-elected had many voters believed he raped a woman 21
years ago?
In the movie, "Witness
For the Prosecution," Charles Laughton asks, "The question is, were
you lying then, are you lying now, or are you not, in fact, a chronic and
habitual liar?"
In Clinton’s case,
most Americans long ago decided, yes, yes, and yes. v