Monica Lewinsky Breaks a Decade of Silence

May 8, 2014

For a moment in time Monica Lewinsky was the most well known woman in the world. She was a young White House intern, working around and sometimes directly with the most powerful people in the country. One of those people was Bill Clinton, then President of the United States. Their sordid affair rocked the White House, nearly brought a marriage to its knees (pun intended), and caused an otherwise strong President to get impeached from his position of power. And now Monica is stepping back into the limelight to delve into her past, to clear her name, and to reclaim whatever she can of her public image.

Monica took to the media via “Vanity Fair” magazine to write about her life during and since the White House scandal. She says that Bill definitely “took advantage” of her via his position of power but that their relationship was completely “consensual”. She goes on to note that she did not feel abused, or coerced, until the affair was leaked to the public and she was made one of the biggest scapegoats in the Internet era. Monica claims that she suffered abuse from political parties, from US citizens all over the country, and from everywhere else imaginable.

Ms. Lewinsky, now 40, had sworn to keep quiet in the years since her affair in order to keep from being a political nuisance and a “distraction”. Now, she claims, is the time to bring all of this out in the air and to quit “tiptoeing” around her past. Lewinsky says that she wants a different ending to her story.

And while it is admirable to get back on the horse and to be unafraid to tell such an important story, there are many folks out there who would rather it be just left alone. One of them is Hilary Clinton, the former first lady, who is now pondering a potential presidential run. So while it will be interesting to hear the rest of Lewinsky’s tale perhaps the more fascinating thing to pay attention to will be the reactions of the various political powerhouses.