It’s the Silly Season, when entertainment television goes on hiatus and Hollywood roots around the back lots for earlier years’ failed tentpole productions. Occasionally they discover a cult classic that might be remade on the cheap in hopes that a new generation might be charmed by the vintage-osity of it all…
Here’s NYMag’s Maureen O’Connor on “the Righteous Good Girl” (if we’re talking tv, should that be ‘the good side piece’?)
… Sixteen years after Interngate, technology has managed a neat trick: It’s now possible to have a sex scandal that’s simultaneously more chaste in its execution and far sleazier in its aftermath. Anthony Weiner never got laid, but the woman who sank his mayoral campaign nevertheless made and marketed a Weiner-themed porno….
Capitalizing on notoriety is easier than ever. During Monica’s decade of silence, it actually became a viable career: In the aftermath of Tiger Woods’s sex scandal, porn star Gina Rodriguez founded a PR company dedicated to monetizing what she called “mistresses,” a catch-all term connoting not sexual contact but mere sexual notoriety. For clients ranging from Weiner’s sexters to Woods’s prostitutes to the adultery partners of Mel Gibson and Jesse James, Rodriguez has organized “mistress” nights at strip clubs, “mistress” photo opportunities, and dating-website endorsements…
Some of Monica’s relative classiness may, in fact, be a matter of class. When employment was hard to come by, Lewinsky writes that she fell back on “loans from friends and family.” She was, after all, the kind of twentysomething who worked at the White House, a distinction nobody in Gina Rodriguez’s “mistress” club can boast…
Now 40, Lewinsky is no longer a naïf playing at stardom. She’s one of the first adults to have gone through the modern gauntlet of mass sexual scrutiny. The impetus for her essay, she says, is a desire to aid the victims of cyberbullying and to help dismantle America’s “culture of humiliation.” I believe she is genuine in that desire (in the depths of her misery, Lewinsky says she contemplated suicide), but I also can’t help but marvel at what may be That Woman’s savviest self-branding decision yet: In the age of Sydney Leathers, she is aligning herself with Tyler Clementi. Monica’s legacy will be about sexual politics, not celebrity…
schrodinger's cat
Reporting from India, my first day here, still out of sorts and jet lagged but had a wonderful home cooked meal with fresh shrimp.
Debbie(aussie)
Why? Does she despise the Clintons still; an opportunity to make money? I don’t understand 15minutes of fame/reality show fame in any way. What could she possibly get out of this that would be worth it? I am at a total loss to figure this out.
ETA. Schrodinger’s cat, enjoy your trip. Am looking forward to reading about you experiences
schrodinger's cat
@Debbie(aussie): Thanks, the heat and humidity are beating up on me.
Linda Featheringill
Monica Lewinski may be trying to build a life for herself. Such efforts usually don’t run on a smooth path and are frequently not terribly dignified. But struggling and flailing around is how it’s done.
Good luck, Monica.
Fair Economist
I have no problem taking Monica Lewinsky at face value. She was effectively cyberbullied on a massive scale for a transgression a substantial minority of the population is guilty of. That kind of cruelty causes a lot of suicides; it’s wrong, and good for her for speaking out. Her notoriety will at least mean she gets heard.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Was she ever? She never struck me as naïve– not in the sense that she thought she had a future with Bubba, or that she’d become a star (Paula Jones apparently thought both), and I don’t remember her ever trying to become a celebrity. As I recall she gave a few (all things considered) fairly low-profile interviews and tried to get on with her life. The closest I remember her trying to cash in was something about a fashion design career, which for all I know she’s as qualified as anyone else.
OzarkHillbilly
@schrodinger’s cat: Jealous.
@Linda Featheringill:
Did not care then, care even less now (still haven’t read any of the latest, not even the above), but yeah. I hope she is able to find some kind of peace in this world.
princess leia
Up tonight midwifing for a stray cat name Chava (which means Eve in Hebrew)– four little ones so far….
Linda Featheringill
@princess leia:
Mazal tov!
princess leia
Five!!
MomSense
@princess leia:
I’m smiling at just the thought of it but now I want to see some pictures!!
Iowa Old Lady
I haven’t read the Lewinsky interview, but Tweety was talking about it this week, saying it made Bill and Hillary look bad because of the way they threw Monica away afterwards. Maybe I’m a bad person, but my first reaction was why should Hillary Clinton be nice to Monica Lewinsky? Or to Bill either really.
ultraviolet thunder
BeeJayGate couldn’t possibly have gone well for anyone involved and I truly feel bad for Monica. I take that back – the GOP made bank on it so it went well for them.
I’m home in Detroit from CT (via M’pls for reasons known only to Delta Airlines). Home is complicated because the dog just isn’t accepting having a parrot in his house. If this can’t be worked out we have an eager and experienced bird enthusiast lined up to home Sonny the CAG. I hope we can all get along. Sonny is a charming critter and we’re fond of him. But this is the only home the dog has had and he’s kinda miserable now.
Howard Beale IV
@princess leia: It’s not only silly season, it’s kitten season.
RSA
OT: In an open thread back in January I mentioned my wife’s dementia. I wrote a longer story around that time; for anyone interested, here it is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/fashion/Modern-Love-Promises-That-Can-Bend-Without-Breaking.html
Baud
@Iowa Old Lady:
That’s one of those arguments that the Village only applies to Democrats. I wouldn’t overthink it.
OzarkHillbilly
@ultraviolet thunder: Give him time, he may come to accept him. Not necessarily like him but accept him. My black lab is VERY jealous of my granddaughter. When ever she comes over he tries to position himself between me and her. It is hilarious to watch his efforts, especially if we sit on the couch together. Inevitably we get a hundred pounds of dog worming his way in between us.
amk
I know the site is called bj. But still …..
the right trolls, the left falls for the crap.
Baud
@ultraviolet thunder:
I initially read that as referring to Balloon Juice….
And now I am sad about the state of my existence.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@OzarkHillbilly:
Geezer is showing all kinds of distress about the bird. Wants to go outdoors and not come in. Stays upstairs and barks. Acts scared when the bird whistles. Just doesn’t want to be around it. I think the bird’s sounds bother his ears. My wife works primarily from home. She’s dividing her time between the pets trying to get the bird acclimated and the dog calmed down.
Sonny is making Trimline(tm) phone noises at me while I type.
OzarkHillbilly
@Ultraviolet Thunder: Heh. Sounds like fun! Good luck.
Debbie(aussie)
@RSA:
Thank you for sharing. My heart goes out to you and your wife. Other than this words fail me.
OzarkHillbilly
@RSA: Thanx. I watched my parents go through it, and it is impossibly harder than one can imagine.
jenn
@RSA: Wow, RSA. That was incredibly well-written, and inutterably sad. Wishing you and your wife the very best, and if you accept hugs from random internet strangers, I send you one of those too.
Hillary Rettig
Been attending the International Medieval Congress, which for some reason is held every year here in Kalamazoo. Having a smashing time! Yesterday Prof. David Perry of Dominican gave a great talk on the continuing relevance of medieval studies. He wrote this amazing piece for CNN on Palin’s equating of waterboarding with torture, and also her flip use of “blood libel.” http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/01/opinion/perry-palin-baptism-waterboarding/index.html?hpt=op_t1 Really worth reading.
princess leia
@RSA: There is so much beauty in that essay. In her, in you, and in the way the words are woven together, Thank you for sharing it!
princess leia
@MomSense: I can midwife, but technology is beyond me tonight. I’ll get them to y’all as soon as I can!
TS
@RSA:
Thank you so much for a story so worth sharing – it helps in so many ways. You are touching hearts that needed to understand. Blessings.
Suffern ACE
Yes. Monica is just like a cretin who trades notoriety for a porn career. Because she wrote an article for money in a magazine.
They’ve been trying to make her more tawdry than she is for two decades now.
JPL
@RSA: You are an amazing person. Since I get the Sunday paper, I’m going to save your article, in order to remind me of the kindness and love that exists in our vast world.
the Conster
@RSA:
Good grief. I remember your comment from earlier, and it just amazes me what some of us here on BJ endure. Your wife of course is enduring one of the cruelest fates that can be meted out in this world, and my heart goes out to both of you. I wish you strength and equanimity to continue, and may you find peace on your path.
Betty Cracker
@RSA:
How profound and true that is. And it’s clear what kind of person you are — the best kind. Much courage and strength to you.
RSA
Thanks for your kind comments. We’re no longer in the independent living apartment (I worked with a financial planning guy on the long-term expenses, but it turns out I was too optimistic). The bigger picture is still pretty accurate.
I’ve been hearing from other people about their experience with dementia, usually parents or spouses with Alzheimer’s disease, and it’s a terrible thing. I had the idea that sharing stories helps–it does with me, at least.
JPL
@Iowa Old Lady: Vanity Fair had an exert and Monica mentioned that she read
that Hillary said she was a narcissistic loony toon. She thought that if that was all she was called, that was okay.
I’m taking her at face value. She wants to help those affected by cyber bullying and I hope she does.
AxelFoley
I don’t know how anyone can feel sorry for Monica. She was a grown ass woman, messing with a man she knew was married. Not absolving Bill Clinton from his part in this affair, but I never felt bad for her. Didn’t feel bad for Bill either. Both of them were wrong. And Bill’s infidelities helped get Bush in office, which we’re still trying to recover from.
Howard Beale IV
@ultraviolet thunder: It could have been worse-they could have routed you through Atlanta (you’re a Detroiter, you know that MSP and DTW are fortress hubs for Delta.)
SiubhanDuinne
@RSA:
Robert, that is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. Thank you for putting your (plural) story out there for a wide audience. {{{Hugs}}} and good wishes to you both.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@Howard Beale IV:
I’ve done the Atlanta Marathon (Concourse A to Concourse T) so many times I don’t even look at the signs. I wonder how much of the local economy I’ve supported through fees for changing planes there.
Last month I had to fly from Hermosillo, Sonora to Mexico City to Houston to get to Detroit. Took 13.5 hours and cost $1530 because of Spring Break traffic. That was a personal record for unnecessary mileage.
schrodinger's cat
@RSA: I had a tear in my eye while reading your story. Good luck to both of you.
schrodinger's cat
@AxelFoley: This is why I am not so sure that Hillary is a lock-in. I don’t want to relive the 90s again and I am sure there are many like me.
WereBear
@RSA: Thanks. I know it can be very difficult to write such things, but afterwards, it can be healing.
Howard Beale IV
@Ultraviolet Thunder: Before the ‘new’ midfield terminal at DTW going from the farthest point of Concourse C to Concourse G was a nightmare.
Howard Beale IV
@schrodinger’s cat: The last thing we need is another family political dynasty.
bemused
I think ML was a very naive and starstruck young woman but doesn’t deserve as much scorn as she has received. Tripp set her up for fbi to take her to a hotel for hours of grilling and intimidation. There were many prosecutors and agents threatening her with 27 years of prison and even threatening to prosecute her mother if she didn’t cooperate by wearing a wire or taped phone calls with Clinton. She refused.
Many 22 year olds have done things just as foolish but fortunately for them, not with the president of the United States.
schrodinger's cat
@Howard Beale IV: Who will be our Obama this year?
Ultraviolet Thunder
@Howard Beale IV:
DTW is vastly improved. The train makes it navigable for people with limited mobility as well. Little kids think the red train is the greatest.
My colleagues and I all fly 100K+ mi/year. We compare notes on airports and one consensus is to avoid Logan at all costs. And don’t pack valuables through MXC Benito Juarez unless you can afford to lose them.
Aimai
@RSA: incredible essay, robert. I am in awe of you. My husband is also in computer science and knows your name. Please take care of yourself. Give your wife a hug and a kiss from me. I admire her adventurous, artistic, loving life more than mere words can say.
Howard Beale IV
@Ultraviolet Thunder:
The BBC had a vid that showed a bird which mimicked everything-and I mean everything: a camera firing multiple frames to chainsaws.
mai naem
@RSA: Your story is really well written. Dementia is awful and your wife’s is even worse because she’s so young. I can’t even begin to imagine.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@Howard Beale IV:
That reminds me that today I MUST disassemble the microwave and silence the signal beeper. I hate that noise and Sonny loves imitating it. Gotta nip that in the bud.
Howard Beale IV
@Ultraviolet Thunder: When I used to travel, one of my colleagues commented that anyone who had badged camera bags (Nikon, Canon) stated that that was universal language for ‘Steal Me’.
MomSense
@RSA:
{{{{hugs}}}}} My heart goes out to you and your wife. Because of family history, it is a concern of mine that my family will have to face this one day for me. From your thoughtful sharing, I know you are doing your best for your wife–but please care for yourself as well.
mai naem
@schrodinger’s cat: What part of India are you in? Have they already voted there?
As far as Monica – I don’t know why she didn’t officially change her name – Maybe to her Mom’s maiden name for a last name and her middle name as her first name. It’s not like she’s so distinctive looking that she wouldn’t be forgotten if her name was different. I haven’t read the story but I remember her dad was some kind specialist physician in some upper class LA area so I’m guessing she wasn’t ever destitute. The New Yorker did have a piece on where everybody in the scandal was and ofcourse everybody except for Monica has done very well for themselves, thank you very much. I still can never listen to a Bill Clinton speech and not think about L’Affaire Monica. Sorry, that’s that way it is.
schrodinger's cat
@mai naem: I am in Mumbai South right now and I think they have already voted here.
mai naem
@schrodinger’s cat: I hope Modi doesn’t win but Congress has nobody to blame but itself. BTW, there was a pic of Aaron Shock sitting with Modi, floating around on the Twitters yesterday. I’m figuring that Modi does not know of Schock’s “gay lifestyle.”
schrodinger's cat
@mai naem: I have suspicions that Modi may be gay himself.
WereBear
@Ultraviolet Thunder: You might consider a Thundershirt.
I’m getting one for my elderly cat.
James Bond gets a gadget from Q
Frankensteinbeck
I can’t say the ‘mistresses’ gimmick sounds sexy to me, but there’s nothing I object to in this article. Whether it’s what people do in their bedroom (metaphorically) or how they make their money, they’re welcome to whatever floats their boat. I see no sign that anybody’s getting hurt. Similarly, I don’t much care if Monica makes a few bucks off of her life. I don’t know her, I don’t know the Clintons, nobody else seems to have been hurt by the affair, so it’s not my place to judge.
Summer
@RSA: Oh that was a lovely tribute and heartbreaking. People in the coffee shop are wondering why I’m crying.
Belafon
This is pretty cool: Solar panels to replace asphalt.
As someone in the comments points out: At worst, say, when they are covered in snow, they produce the same amount of electricity as the road or parking lot they replaced.
schrodinger's cat
@WereBear: I miss my kittehs something fierce. Any suggestions how to deal with missing your kitteh buddies when you travel?
Belafon
The other day I reported that I was getting a popup from this site for voicefive. Some people pointed out that it was malware. I did all sorts of searching, and nothing showed up on my computer. That was a windows seven machine. Now, I’m getting a popup block on firefox on my linux computer. And I only seem to get this from Balloon Juice.
Ruckus
@Ultraviolet Thunder:
Once spent the same amount of time getting from Minneapolis to Columbus, a normal flight of 1 1/2 hr. Of course we had to land in Chicago to refuel as a 737 won’t run for 13 1/2 hrs, even on a full tank.
Villago Delenda Est
Well, a noble cause, but America’s “culture of humiliation” is very strong and ingrained. Somehow, a major religious tradition has been twisted from a message of love and understanding to one of a desire to punish and humiliate. They talk about loving the sinner and hating the sin, but in reality, it’s about vehement hatred of those who do not comply with their warped, heretical tenets.
The meteor is needed. The problem is, odds are many of the problem people will survive to perpetuate their pathology.
schrodinger's cat
My first dispatch from India : There are places I don’t remember.
CaseyL
@Howard Beale IV: Does he practice first? I imagine him in his home nest, rehearsing “chainsaw” until he gets it right. Standing near the foresters and asking them to fire the thing up so he can hear it again.
Morzer
@RSA:
That was a beautiful piece of writing and must have taken a hell of a lot of courage and strength to put together, never mind sending it out for strangers to see.
Much kudos to you, sir.
Morzer
@Villago Delenda Est:
Christianity has always had a streak of sadism in its DNA, at least some of which is inherited from the Old Testament. Mostly, though, I think it has to do with ambitious sociopaths figuring out that religion is one way to gain power over others.
schrodinger's cat
@Morzer: Word!
Violet
Time magazine has an interesting commentary on how much slut-shaming of Monica went on and how feminists disappeared and didn’t support her at all.
Bill Clinton was the Golden Boy and they were protecting him:
“Think about what’s best for women” by throwing a real women under the biggest bus they can find. Way to go, feminists.
Ruckus
@RSA:
Very sorry that your wife and you are going through this. Both my parents had Alzheimer’s, with my dad, who I worked with every day for over 30 yrs suffering the longest. He couldn’t remember my name and most days for the last ten years he didn’t even recognize me. Dad’s mom also had dementia and they lived with us, but from a different cause.
Point being, I’ve seen and experienced this up way too close as well, it is heartbreaking and I can not imagine it in one so young. Do the best you can, which is what it sounds like you are doing, and do please remember to also take care of yourself, being a caregiver for this can consume you in many ways.
ruemara
Morning all. I don’t wish any ill on anyone in this scandal. Even as a kid, I was uncomfortable at the idea that something as private as sex lives was being made national business. I also felt ashamed that Monica was being attacked, particularly in the black community, so much. She didn’t do anything that other women have done; fall for a man with charisma. Jesus, lighten up and have some empathy. I hope she has success and I hope some people figure out that there’s a world of difference between a grown woman choosing to be a mistress and young woman swept up in her feelings and in that rush of power in discovering her own attractiveness and making a mistake.
Cacti
@Villago Delenda Est:
Well, a noble cause, but America’s “culture of humiliation” is very strong and ingrained.
A part of our Puritan heritage that we never lost.
schrodinger's cat
@Violet: I don’t buy that feminism means that women have to support each other no matter what. As for the Clintons, I want all of them to disappear, not much of a fan of either Hill or Bill.
Pogonip
@Baud: Balloon Juice Gate: Congressman Issa convenes a committee to investigate the sinister disappearance of the mustard.
Baud
@Violet:
You might want to re-read the sources you highlighted in your first block quote.
Villago Delenda Est
@Violet: Monica made a very crucial mistake. She confided in Linda Tripp, who immediately saw how she could benefit from what she had been told.
This is where Monica was naive. Not in her affair with Bill Clinton (although that was a mistake in and of itself, but I don’t think she honestly imagined that Clinton would leave his wife and daughter for her) but in who she entrusted her confidences.
I think that’s why she was “abandoned” by feminists. They did see a larger political picture about this, and by confiding in Tripp, Monica essentially was feeding information to the enemy.
Ruckus
@Cacti:
The puritans didn’t come here because they were prosecuted, they came here so they could prosecute others. They may not have been successful in the exact ways they wanted but they have certainly left their mark on our culture.
WereBear
I’ve been known to call home and be put on speakphone while Mr WereBear describes how they react to my voice.
But since you are in another country, try ESP. Sit or lie quietly (before or after sleeping is a great time) and just imagine you are there with your kitties. Mentally talk to them, stroke them, put a lot of imagination into seeing their faces and touching their fur.
Works.
ruemara
@RSA: much strength and love to you both. And now I’m tearing up.
Villago Delenda Est
OT, but one must wonder how the gears work in the head of Kraphammer:
Krauthammer: Get Benghazi Hearings Right
I assume he expects them to use an Iron Maiden on uncooperative witnesses to get to, at long, long last, the truth..
Higgs Boson's Mate
@RSA:
Thank you for your courage and kindness in sharing your story. I will hold you and your wife in my best thoughts.
Villago Delenda Est
@Ruckus: I think you mean “persecute”, but in essentials, yup, that was the deal. The Puritans didn’t object to the concept of persecution, they wanted free rein to indulge in it.
JPL
A neighbor just called and a fox ran across her yard. Does anyone know if they jump fences?
Ruckus
@ruemara:
I agree. Some things we all do in life are none of anyone else’s business. The Bill and Monica show is one of those.
Morzer
@Violet:
I don’t know that I would blame feminists as a group here. First of all, there weren’t quite so many options back then for putting your case to the public at large. Our heroic national media certainly wasn’t going to let anyone make the case in a sustained or effective way that Monica (and Bill) were human and that the national rush to judgment said some pretty unlikable things about us. Nor is it easy to see a feminist defense of adultery with an older, more powerful man being particularly effective in the uniquely sanctimonious and hypocritical climate of the times – times which gave that rancid little grifter Newt Gingrich a pass for, in effect, saying that blowjobs aren’t adultery and using any gullible young woman in his office that he could for adulterous sexual gratification. Was Monica treated unfairly and cruelly? Absolutely – but I don’t know that feminists could have changed that.
It might be worth considering that some feminists at least had tried, not that long before Monica, to fight for Anita Hill – and they saw their presumed liberal allies fold up like cheap suits and confirm that pathetic little pervert Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. I am not entirely surprised that they didn’t feel like trudging into the cannon-fire again.
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
Thanks. And yes I did. It’s early for me. OK that’s not really true but it was a good excuse.
dexwood
@RSA:
Peace, strength, and love to you both.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Villago Delenda Est:
They’re going to keep holding new hearings until they get it right. If you don’t succeed the first time…
schrodinger's cat
@WereBear: Thanks for both your ideas. Will try the speaker phone thingie on my next call to Mr. Cat.
Pogonip
@RSA: Hi RSA, sorry about your wife. My mom has the exact same type of dementia and she’s perfectly happy, though my dad gets frustrated having to hold the same conversation 5 minutes apart over and over again. I have found it helpful to bring her up to speed: “mom, you have 3 brothers, Abraham, Martin, and John. Abraham and Martin are deceased. What’s up with John this week?”. And with such prompting she is usually able to remember John long enough to answer.
The funny thing is, she can still keep the household books and write the checks, and mechanically she can still drive. She can’t go anywhere by herself because she’d forget where she was going, but she can back the car out of and pull into the driveway just fine.
Villago Delenda Est
@RSA: Oh, wow.
My best wishes for you and your wife. That is such a moving story…about the best of humanity, when we’re inundated by the worst.
Morzer
@Villago Delenda Est:
Apparently every GOP sentence should end in a question mark.
“Am I Very Serious Person Trey Gowdy who sleeks his hair back with freshly gathered bull semen? Are these hearings to determine etc etc?”
Baud
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
Double down.
Morzer
@Baud:
And add a pinch of BENGHAZI!!! because everything tastes so much better with BENGHAZI!!!
bemused
@ruemara:
Yes.
Monica had some extremely vicious critics and probably still does but is it that hard to imagine one’s daughter, sister, niece, friend walking into a similar pitfall?
Pogonip
@JPL: They can climb like cats.
Villago Delenda Est
@Morzer: He does look like Draco Malfoy, too.
Willing follower of the Dark Lord. Somehow I don’t think Gowdy will regret, as Malfoy came to, his devotion.
Villago Delenda Est
@Morzer: What, it’s like Mrs. Dash? Or perhaps Lee&Perrins?
the Conster
OT, but love to recount the wingnuttiest of the wingnut ODS paranoid ravings of an old rich white fool: Obama is going to cause the currency to collapse on July 1. This teatard – a former CEO of a Fortune 500 company – actually believes this. He also gives money to some kind of grift Rand Paul is running through a newsletter, so as I suspected and shocking absolutely no one, it’s a total scam to prey on rich old white paranoid fools who will then blame Obama.
I wish I had no scruples. It’s just too easy to get these old white guys to shit their pants and open their wallets.
Villago Delenda Est
@Pogonip: It was the cat. No, not the cat, one of the dogs. No, it was a neighbors parakeet.
No, it was Hillary Clinton in the drawing room with a clawhammer!
Morzer
@Villago Delenda Est:
Well, you know, we’re very proud of our line of Benghazi products down here at Cracker-Rube Productions. Benghazi gratifies every urge that our customers have ever experienced. Did I mention that it scratches those little racist itches our good folks sometimes get late at night after a heavy session with a little Fox? It has a beautiful sparkle on top of desserts – and it makes your peckerwood floor gleam as white as Reagan. Really, what’s not to love about BENGHAZI?!!!!
Higgs Boson's Mate
@ruemara:
I was middle aged when the story broke. To me it seemed that the only people who deserved opprobrium were Linda Tripp and Clinton himself. Lewinsky was just a young woman carried away by the attention given her by a powerful man. It was disgusting to me how anyone who hadn’t given Clinton a blowjob felt qualified to judge Lewinsky – and many did. The conservatives get a pass from me because that’s what they do, the liberals not so much.
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
You’ve just come up with 4 far better reasons than any conservative every will.
And all of them still wrong.
schrodinger's cat
@Villago Delenda Est: Ghost of Tunch, he is watching over all of us.
Davis X. Machina
@Villago Delenda Est:
Hillary is into frailing. Everyone knows that. Duh.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Davis X. Machina:
Well played.
JPL
@Pogonip: Well I hope they don’t like dogs for supper. Finch is an eighteen pound tub so he should be okay. Next weekend I’m taking care of my son’s six pound maltese and I won’t let her out alone. My fence is a chain link, ugh.
Morzer
@Davis X. Machina:
You know, until Mr Google came to my assistance, you had me wondering whether frailing might be some sort of fetish for beating the elderly to death.
RSA
@Pogonip:
I do the same throughout the day. After a “Good morning,” for example, I say, “You’re waking up right now, in your own bed, and we’re at home. It’s a nice Saturday morning.” I ask my wife to say my name, or I tell it to her first. I help her up.
The frustration, sadness, and feelings of helpnessness (and an undirected anger at fate) were overwhelming at first. None of it’s gone away, except maybe the frustration. I’ve become a lot more patient than I thought I could be.
Villago Delenda Est
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: You know, I never have felt any animus towards Lewinsky. Not true with the Tripp bitch (and this is the right word for her), not true for Sam Donaldson, who should be flayed alive for his histrionics on air. Not true for Bill Clinton, who had to have known that he was being watched for just such an error in judgement. I dare say that Hillary was more pissed at Clinton not for his infidelity per se, but his utter stupidity in that climate for indulging in it. Everyone marvels at Clinton’s political acumen, but he wasn’t displaying it when he carried on an affair with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.
Monica fell in with the wrong crowd in numerous ways in this tawdry little affair. For her I feel sympathy, and fervently hope that she learned something from it. Because if she did not, well then my sympathy is gone.
PaulW
For some godforsaken reason I can’t link to my wittylibrarian blog to blog-flog my 20th anniversary work history. :(
schrodinger's cat
@RSA: {{{RSA}}}
Morzer
@PaulW:
http://wittylibrarian.blogspot.com/2014/05/anniversary-my-first-full-time-job.html
Is this it?
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Villago Delenda Est:
At the time I thought “Well, Clinton is certainly the first president to have sex in the Oval Office with someone not his wife. Suuuuuure he was.”
TaMara (BHF)
@schrodinger’s cat: Have bookmarked you so I remember to read. Looking forward to it. Enjoy!
Morzer
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/156194
Things you never knew about Honest Abe…
JPL
@RSA: Once again, may I say how remarkable you are. I just recently heard a story about a male who divorced his wife so he wouldn’t have to pay for care that he could afford. That’s why I mentioned your story showed so much kindness and love. Please take care of yourself and many internet hugs are sent to you.
Davis X. Machina
@Morzer: The distinction has triggered some of the most…pointed…. theological discussions I have ever witnessed that did not involve operating systems.
To us non-banjo people — usually referred to as ‘normal’ — it doesn’t seem important. Something to do with your thumbs, I gather.
There is a Clawhammer v. Frailing website called ‘clawhammervfrailing.com’. Seriously
schrodinger's cat
@TaMara (BHF): Thanks! I already has the first dispatch up.
Steeplejack
@RSA:
Thank you for that powerful and moving testament.
Morzer
@Davis X. Machina:
You know, some would argue that beating Vista to death with a claw-hammer was a meritorious act that should transport the person undertaking it directly to paradise…
Mind you, I am the “normal” one in our household. My wife has a passion for crafting and if not watched vigilantly would fill every room in the house with materials, tools, containers for materials and tools, old bicycles that need reconditioning….
Come to think of it, she probably knows what frailing means as well.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Morzer:
Remind me to buy a coffee-proof monitor.
RSA
Thanks again, everyone, for your thoughts. You might be surprised at how much they lift my spirits.
Davis X. Machina
@Morzer: I have nephews who are big in string bands and contredance bands. One of them actually had a contredance wedding, which is the last time I saw these Sharks and Jets of the banjo world face off.
scav
@Davis X. Machina: and @Morzer:
“flailing,” “knockdown”, “banging,” “rapping,” “frapping”, “beating,” and “clubbing.” ?!
Banjo theological differences have a worrying tendency.
Morzer
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
This was where I heard of the magnum opus you have just seen reviewed:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/may/08/topless-pulp-fiction-appreciation-society-book-club
I was conducting sociological research online, honest!
Morzer
@scav:
Then there’s the GOP banjo club which has reduced everything to fapping and failing.
PaulW
@Morzer:
Yes, that’s it. For some reason I can’t Copy/Paste it to the comment box, nor can I create a link for it within the HTML tag of this page. I can link to my Notice a Trend blog, but for some reason WittyLibrarian is blocked for me…
Morzer
@Davis X. Machina:
Contredance? Is this some sort of folk-dancing? Or will I be frailed to death for saying such a terrible thing?
Villago Delenda Est
@Morzer: That was Lee Atwater’s outfit, wasn’t it?
PaulW
@Morzer:
…I am so sorely tempted to write bad porn fic to sell on SmashWords, except I fear it would ruin my reputation as a librarian in the real world… Meanwhile I just have this to offer on Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/51667
Morzer
@PaulW:
If I create a tinyurl version and link to it here, could you copy the tinyurl from this page? Would you like to give that a try?
Morzer
@Villago Delenda Est:
Actually, I believe it’s Rapmaster Karl’s Beat Emporium.
RSA
One last thought: I have no illusions about being more than an ordinary person, especially here on BJ where I’ve read about the good deeds many of you have done for others, often strangers. But when I read this,
@JPL:
I become very judgmental.
scav
@Morzer: I’d be careful. Only contredanse I went to went totally medieval.
JPL
@RSA: If it helps, he’s a republican in Alabama, so it makes sense.
Davis X. Machina
@Morzer: It’s a New-England-Maritimes-Quebec thing. Square-dancy, but influenced more by English pair dancing (the kind you see in Jane Austen movies) than Appalachian or western folk music culture.
Grange halls in rural New England… but the dancers themselves and the musicians probably all went to Amherst, or Worcester Polytech or the New England Conservatory.
Klezmer for coders.
Villago Delenda Est
@Morzer: Well, that certainly explains Dancin’ Dave.
Morzer
@scav:
Was it one of those Bring Your Own Clawhammer events?
elm
@RSA: I don’t know the details of this case, but in others I have heard of, it is far from malicious or irresponsible.
The cost of the wife’s care would certainly bankrupt them, force the sale of their home, empty their retirement accounts, etc…
By divorcing her, he protects some assets for their children and allows her to qualify for asset-based Medicaid/Medicare without bankrupting the whole family.
Joel
@Betty Cracker: Hear, hear!
Villago Delenda Est
@JPL: Perfectly logical. Confirms precisely what I expected. The behavior of John McCain and Bob Dole.
Morzer
@Villago Delenda Est:
And pretty darn close to the behavior of Newt Gingrich too.
Cacti
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
At the time I thought “Well, Clinton is certainly the first president to have sex in the Oval Office with someone not his wife. Suuuuuure he was.”
Warren Harding used to shag one of his mistresses in a White House broom closet.
elm
@elm: oops, I misread “could afford” as “could not afford”.
Morzer
@Cacti:
That’s a very sweeping statement…
JPL
@elm: Except for protecting the assets for inheritance, I understand what you are saying. A person should never be forced out of their home but too many are using loopholes that cause us all higher taxes.
edit.. just saw your update..
scav
@Morzer: Well, only if you managed it on a vielle or psaltery.
WereBear
@RSA: When we wrestle with such blows of fate, I try to remember there is a huge range of such challenges, and while we don’t get to choose, each one does have its pros and cons.
For instance, Mr WereBear has a chronic fatigue illness which keeps both of us skirting poverty and is incredibly frustrating for such a driving personality. But we are grateful our treatment attempts have been working and he can do music and art.
On the other hand, I went to DC to lobby as part of a group seeking better research and understanding, and I saw a young man, quadriplegic, waiting for the elevator. He probably thinks there is very little he can do, but traveling to DC and lobbying for his cause… that’s something my husband cannot do.
I don’t know if it hurts or it helps, but it is there.
Morzer
@scav:
We want dulcimers! We want dulcimers!
Cacti
@Morzer:
That’s a very sweeping statement…
*Rimshot
Harding was so indiscreet about his marital infidelity, following his sudden death in 1923, there was speculation by the DC chattering classes that his wife had poisoned him.
RSA
@elm:
Thanks, elm. You’re right–in some cases, it’s flaws in our health system that lead to such actions. I’m lucky in that regard.
burnspbesq
Do the Republicans have enough mental bandwidth to run two inquisitions at once? Or should they finish burning Lois Lerner at the stake before restarting the Benghazi foolishness?
Morzer
@Cacti:
Are you giving me the brush-off?
By all accounts, Florence Harding was a smart woman and pretty darn good at business.
scav
@Morzer: You’ll eat your chittarones and be happy you have them. There are rebec players going without you know.
Morzer
@scav:
Don’t make me get violint with you!
MomSense
@Davis X. Machina:
I love it! I’m not so into it that I have the outfits but it is a lot of fun and a great way to spend a winter evening.
scav
@Morzer: Don’t put your decisions on me: the choice of being a viola bastardo, fagatto, pomposa, or d’amore is entirely in your court. Take a viola da gamba and see what happens.
Morzer
@scav:
Does it come with fries?
Villago Delenda Est
@burnspbesq: Well, they can use the same scale they used to weigh Lois Lerner to determine her burnability as they’ll use for Hillary Clinton, so that will be saving the taxpayers some money.
Oh, wait, someone in Gohmert’s district provides the scales. They have to buy 10 at a time.
scav
@Morzer: Other instruments come with better courses, must admit.
Villago Delenda Est
@Morzer: What’s all this I hear about sax and violins on television? What’s wrong with that?
/Emily Litella
Dee Loralei
@RSA: Your column was so very moving. Your wife sounds like a wonderful woman and I am so sorry for your trials and tribulations. I can only wish you the strength and patience you need.And give you hugs through the internet, and to her as well.
Davis X. Machina
@MomSense: They teach the dances for in phys ed classes up heah. Not that it ‘takes’ much among the young ‘uns. Real country music — the kind featuring pedal steel, and tales of dysfunctional families — is much more popular. It’s a college/university thing in practice.
I guess contredansing is perhaps doing well today because we’re seeing the echo of the echo of the early baby-boomers, who were raised on folk music. I was — Tony Saletan on WGBH, and the like.
Morzer
@Villago Delenda Est:
Haven’t we talked enough about Clinton’s blowjobs?
scav
@Morzer: And with that note, we’re back on topic!
ruemara
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: absolutely. Nice abuse of a friend , Linda. Jeez, if anyone deserved scorn, those two breakers of faith were it.
Morzer
Speaking of national embarrassments (for others, thankfully!), Rob Ford is in the news again:
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2014/05/09/rob_ford_one_wild_night_in_march.html
Higgs Boson's Mate
@scav:
If I don’t feel better can I take two violas da gamba?
scav
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: If you’re running a therobo or feeling a little oboe da caccia, it is in fact the preferred dosage.
Morzer
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
There’s a federal fine for unlicensed gambaing in this town.
StringOnAStick
@RSA: RSA, I realized by reading your beautiful words what I fear most with the passing of time, but you are living it while I just worry about it. You are an honorable, kind person.
Tehanu
@Violet:
I know I’m not the first person to reply with this: feminism doesn’t necessarily mean supporting any individual woman at all times under all circumstances. I do think women in general (and MoDo in particular) could have been a lot kinder to a very young woman in an impossible situation, and I don’t blame Monica at all for making the kind of dumb mistakes she made. I made lots worse ones when I was young, but I was lucky enough not to make them in the public eye. As for why Monica is resurfacing now, what’s the alternative? Wait till Hillary actually declares and be accused of grandstanding? Never say another word and slink away to hide forever in the shadows because of a youthful mistake? Give her a break.
Bob In Portland
Robert Parry on America and its using death squads in Ukraine and elsewhere.
Ruckus
@WereBear:
I remember a man I met in the military while in hospital. A paraplegic from a spinal wound in Vietnam, he played basketball in a wheelchair against people out of one because he had loved to play while he could walk and wasn’t letting a little thing like having to sit for the rest of his life slow him down. I still picture him getting the ball and shooting from about 20 feet out, nothing but net.
Thank you for reminding me, for some reason today I needed this, far more than I realized.
Bob In Portland
Asia Times on the IMF loans to Ukraine.
chopper
@RSA:
Oh man, RSA. I’m so sorry for what you’re dealing with.
chopper
@Morzer:
shudder. I get this image of the tweaker couple on breaking bad that stole the ATM.
Ruckus
@chopper:
So you were there!
Steeplejack
@Bob In Portland:
Here’s an example of why people have a problem with your stuff, Bob. The link you offer as “Asian Times on the IMF Loans to Ukraine” is not to Asia Times but (as usual) to RT.com, where one finds that the author of the piece, Pepe Escobar, “an analyst for RT,” is also “the roving corrrespondent for Asia Times/Hong Kong.” If you look up the Asia Times website and search for Pepe Escobar, you eventually do find his piece “Ukraine Gets Its Mafia-Type Loan.” But you get only the first three paragraphs, and when you click “More” you are returned to the RT site and the link you provided. And the three-paragraph snippet at Asia Times bears the notation “Published by RT.”
In what universe does this through-the-looking-glass circularity constitute an “external” (i.e., non-RT) perspective on the situation in Ukraine, which is what you seem to be trying to suggest?
By the way, that’s a rhetorical question, because I have no desire to waste the afternoon going down the rabbit hole with you.
Fred
Haven’t read the Monica interview. Don’t intend to. As I understand it is about Lewinsky complaining that she got a raw deal ’cause the Clintons didn’t stand by her. Hmmm? Just think of all the trouble she and the rest of us could have been spared if she had kept her trap shut. I mean, if you are going to boink a famous married man you might be a bit discrete. And get the frikin’ dress cleaned. Just a thought.
But no. Monica had to brag about her conquest and save the souvenir and brag about that. How many people did she blab to before she unloaded to a GOP shill?
Who in their right mind would hire such an indiscrete fool for any position of responsibility? Maybe she can get a gig on FOX.
Bob In Portland
@Steeplejack: Pepe Escobar writes regularly for Asia Times.
I’m sorry. Are you forbidden to read links to RT? That also was a rhetorical question.
Morzer
@Bob In Portland:
Shouldn’t you start learning some Russian and Ukrainian, rather than pestering people on here?
Roxy
My sympathies go to Monica, and yes she made a mistake and trusted someone she thought was a friend. Once again the slut shaming goes on.
For gawd sakes Clinton was old enough to be her father. Remember Chelsea was 18 and Monica was 22 when this happened.
If Clinton had kept his pants zipped none of this would have happened. I thought he was smart enough to know they were gunning for him. Why would he give them the ammunition to destroy him.
I voted for him twice, the second time not so happily.
Steeplejack
@Bob In Portland:
Certainly not, but RT is, in Putin’s own words, “funded by the government, so it cannot help but reflect the Russian government’s official position.” Yet you rail at commenters here for falling for the U.S. government’s “official” mainstream media apologists. You have been asked repeatedly for other, independent sources for your information and assertions, and the
fakenon-link to Asia Times is a particularly maladroit attempt to cover your usual source. Why didn’t you just write “RT on the IMF Loans to Ukraine“ in your original post?Again, rhetorical question. I’m pretty sure I know the answer.
Ruckus
@Steeplejack:
I’m still trying to understand the upside to engaging this fool. At first maybe, but repeated attempts by many have failed to make one iota of difference.
Steeplejack
@Ruckus:
I know, I know. This was my first (and only, I hope) time. Something just hit a nerve in this former journalist about the “Asia Times” link going right back to the usual RT.
Ruckus
@Steeplejack:
I do get trying to help the less fortunate, it is a grand and noble thing. But sometimes lost causes are just that.
ETA Cleek’s bakery is a fine thing. All of value and none of the fat.