Yes. Recommend the post before it shuts down. Deserves discussion.

Sure, I'll comment .... Remind me again when Hillary Clinton wrote a best selling book and titled it after a Monica Lewinsky, Jennifer Flowers, or Kathleen Wiley sermon??

I know it's easier to think that Saint Obama was not influenced by hatred and vitriol for America but the fact of the matter is "Audacity of Hope" is a Reverend Wright sermon.

68 nasty fools recommending, and counting.

Hillary (and Bill) have been asked many times in interviews about the Lewinsky et al. scandals. In her book, Living History, she calls Bill's infidelity "the most devastating, shocking and hurtful experience of my life". She also explains her reasons for sticking with Bill. Go read it.

The reason nobody's doing a roundtable, is that it's all been done before, and she's answered all the questions.

Contrast that with Obama, who had only the highest praise for his self-professed moral compass, until he turned out to be a political liability that is. Much more interesting stuff.

Those small people working themselves up into an ignorant hysteria over this are reflecting only their inner unpleasantness.

professordarkhorse has made my argument far better than I have and without the anger. I offer her comments (from below) up here as a better way to make my case.

Her comments begin now:

I think a lot of the commentary is missing the point of this post. It's not that a wife should never forgive her husband for adultery or that (some of) Bill's extramarital adventures were consensual.

It's this:

a) Hillary has "associated herself" with Bill as more than just her husband; he's her closest political confederate and as such far more relevant to a Clinton presidency than Wright is to Obama's.

b) In many of his liaisons Bill was engaging in what, by any workplace policy I've ever seen, would clearly be sexual harassment. Consent isn't so much the issue; it's that he was abusing his (very) supervisory role to gain sexual access.

b) His encounter with Kathleen Willey, as she describes it, constitutes the criminal offense of aggravated sexual assault.

c) Oh yeah, and perjury.

d) When HRC offers to make someone her co-president, which she does by relying on her own supposedly co-presidential role in making arguments about her experience, it's more than relevant what ethical and/or legal lapses he might have had.

Relationships are complicated. As a feminist, I would always defend Hillary's (or any woman's) right to make her own judgments about her family affairs.

The problem isn't their private troubles. It's that Bill Clinton has abused the public trust by exploiting the power of his position and broken the law by perjuring himself. Personally, I'm inclined to forgive perjury committed during a witchhunt that was a far greater evil for the country than his petty lies; since he's never been convicted of sexual abuse, the public record on that stuff isn't definitive for me either.

But surely it's not out-of-bounds to suggest that HRC's willingness to tolerate these lapses, not in her husband but in her presidential partner, is a legitimate topic for conversation.

Great Idea. Please invited Larry Sinclaire. We cannot invited the murdered "lover" but we can talk about that too.

Some people do not realize that passing or not passing a lie detector test means nothing to polygraph testers who can lead questions to their subject to emotional reactions to seem to either tell the truth or lie. Gov. Richardson knows all about that since he advocated that technology officially.

Maybe we need to find some investigative reporters in Chicago to tell us the real story about..."Really. Donald Young, the gay choirmaster at Obama’s church, telephoned me not long..." before his murder... hum... things that make you wanna think twice.

You're correct, of course. Sometimes I forget not to be petty—especially on Mondays.

However infuriating the Ayers and Wright attacks are, the response should not be to attack HRC least of all for Bill's actions and in particular for ones which were merely alleged.

Exactly. That should be tattooed on the foreheads of about 90% of the folks who comment here at TPM.

Yes, I feel it would be despicable and further lower the level of discourse between the two campaigns to open this can of worms.

In this area, let's just let the past be the past.

Exactly!

This is a message we need to spread far and wide. Can I steal it?

I do not care how many languages he speaks, how many academic degrees he has or his brilliant discourse.
He is an excellent exponent of the mother of the seven deadly sins, PRIDE. He is as bad an example of Christianity as the Christians he decries. "How dare that upstart politician put me down as an old uncle. Me, the great Dr. Jeremiah Wright. Off with his head!" he is saying.

May God forgive him!!! He inspires nothing but contempt in those who admire Obama for his candor and his desire to make Martin Luther King's dream a reality. It was people like Wright who rebelled against MLK's notion of passive resistance, more out of jealousy for his Nobel recognition than out of conviction.

No, do not kill this thread.

The Rev also helped work on LBJ during his heart surgery and recieved no less than 3 letters of commendation from the Whitehouse. Any of you pontificating neocons or dinos wanna match your so-called patriotism with that? Truth is like Kryptonite to you trangulatin smear-n-fear cowards. By the way, I could care less who Sick Willie tagged in the whitehouse, but his failure to tell the truth about it made 2000 close enough for the bushcrimefamily to steal. The 4,000 plus dead american soldiers and 150,000 dead Iraqis would probably agree with my long-held belief that Bill Clinton got the most expensive blowjob in history. But I'd rather see Moyers investigate Hagee, Robertson and a few other of McSame's nutjob endorsers.

Check the reccomend number on this post (34) and compare to lowest numbers yp there in the recommend list.

This post is being deliberately downrated

Obviously, Bill would like every woman in his life be like Susan McDougall, i.e. spend years in jail for his and Hillary's indiscretions, financial or (in his case) otherwise. I'm sure the combination of Monica Lewinsky and Susan McDougall is the ideal woman Bill Clinton is looking for.

Hear, hear.

And for sure someone is going to insist it's not sexist. It's sure about sex, and about women who stay with their men. Either that or it's so prudish and disconnected with the reality we all live with that it might as well be.

Can you tell I've undergone this kind of thing? And that most of my friends have at one time or another? Yeesh.

Affidavit of Juanita Broaddrick denying non-consensual sex with President Clinton
Released on Monday, March 30, 1998

Following is the full text of a Jan. 2 affidavit from the woman named in documents filed by the Jones legal team on March 28, 1998. Those documents reported an unsubstantiated hearsay claim that the woman, here called "Jane Doe #5," was raped by Bill Clinton 20 years ago.

1. My name is Jane Doe #5. I am 55 years old and have been married since 1981. I have one child, age 28. I currently reside in Arkansas.

2. In November of 1997, two private investigators retained by Paula Corbin Jones approached me at my residence. I declined to speak with them, but provided the name of my family attorney. I subsequently was served with a subpoena seeking the production of documents and purporting to require my testimony at a deposition in the civil action between Paula Corbin Jones and President William Jefferson Clinton (Civil Action No. LR-C-94-290). I have never met Ms. Jones, nor do I have any information regarding the allegations that she has advanced against President Clinton. In this regard, I have no knowledge or information regarding the events she has alleged occurred on May 8, 1991 at the Excelsior Hotel or, for that matter, any knowledge or information regarding any interaction between herself and Mr. Clinton.

3. I met President Clinton more than twenty years ago through family friends. Our introduction was not arranged or facilitated, in any way, by the Arkansas State Police. I have never been an Arkansas state employee or a federal employee. I have never discussed with Mr. Clinton the possibility of state or federal employment nor has he offered me any such position. I have had no further relations with him for the past (15) years.

4. During the 1992 Presidential campaign there were unfounded rumors and stories circulated that Mr. Clinton had made unwelcome sexual advances toward me in the late seventies. Newspaper and tabloid reporters hounded me and my family, seeking corroboration of these tales. I repeatedly denied the allegations and requested that my family's privacy be respected. These allegations are untrue and I had hoped that they would no longer haunt me, or cause further disruption to my family.

5. I do not possess any information that could possibly be relevant to the allegations advanced by Paula Corbin Jones or which could lead to admissible evidence in her case. Specifically, I do not have any information to offer regarding a nonconsensual or unwelcome sexual advance by Mr. Clinton, any discussion offer or provision of state or federal employment or advancement in exchange for sexual conduct, or any use of state troopers to procure women for sex. Requiring my testimony at a deposition in this matter would cause unwarranted attorney's fees and costs, disruption to my life and constitute an invasion of my right to privacy. For these reasons, I have asked my attorney to advise Ms. Jones's counsel that there is no truth to the rumors they are pursuing and to provide her counsel with this sworn affidavit.

Further affiant sayeth not.

Jane Doe #5

Wonderful.

Why was he never arrested, indicted, nor convicted? Of anything, let alone rape?

You make serious charges, you better back them up.

Oh, wait. I forgot.

You Obamas are supposed to be all about "Hope" and "Change" and "Unity", right? That absolves you from calumny and libel, and from carrying false and scurrilous lies and spreading them around.