Chelsea Clinton Asked About Monica Lewinsky Yet Again

For the third time in two weeks, Chelsea Clinton has been asked about Monica Lewinsky while campaiging for her mother. The question seems to be gaining popularity among college kids who either want to get a rise out of Clinton or are looking for the same kind of attention lavished on Evan Strange, the Butler University student, who first brought up the sore subject.
Read about what happened on Monday:

Many in the crowd at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., booed Monday when a question about the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton came up. Chelsea Clinton quickly summed up her position: "If that's what you want to vote on, that's what you should vote on. But I think there are other people (who are) going to vote on things like health care and economics," she said.

Amanda Morris, president of Purdue's Students for Hillary chapter, said Tuesday that she approved of the audience reaction and how Clinton is responding. She also expects the question might keep coming up.

Watch Chelsea get asked about Lewinsky during a campus visit on March, 31.

Comments

[donchep]

OK, if I had the opportunity to ask Chelsea a question I wouldn't waste it on something about Bill. I'd ask her why she didn't correct her mother when she kept telling that same story about the Bosnian sniper fire in Tuzla? Was she being complicit in the same lie or did she "misremember" it ? I so wish someone would bring that up. It seems to me being under sniper fire and having to duck and cover is the sort of near traumatic event that stays with a kid that young, no?

[hidef]

Excellent point donchep!

[k6007]

Yeah. And, "What do you do at the Hedgefund you work for, and if these types of enterprises, Chelsea, contributed to the housing situation in this country?

[debwarot]

I agree with donchep - I would love to hear her explain that one away.

[gmt217]

Asking Chelsea about Lewinsky stuff is just wrong and there's not really a legitimate question in there for *her* to respond to. Now, if someone wanted to ask Hillary if she regretted her "vast right-wing conspiracy" accusation in light of the fact that her husband did, in fact, have relations with that woman, that I can sort of see.

Now, if people feel the need to press Chelsea -- and if she is going to be stumping for her mother, I think it's fair game -- then I would ask the following:

"Did you, at any time after hearing your mother describe the Bosnia landing, talk to your mother and say "Mom, it didn't really happen that way. There were no sniper bullets or mad dashes to safety with our heads down.".

That would be a completely legitimate question to ask her. She was there, she knows what happened on that tarmac. And the answer gives the audience a glimpse of the person that is in front of them trying to sway their opinions. Simply saying "well, I think my mother covered that" (which is, I think, one of Chelsea's earlier responses) is a completely lame answer given that she was an eye witness to the events.

[accountability]

An eye witness?
Was she in the oval office?
that is silly.

Vast right wing conspiracy?
Well, actually she might regret saying it but that doesn't make it untrue.

This is the VRWC: www.newamericancentury.org
look at the framers and signers, it is the manifesto of the neocon agenda. Also check out hoe many of them were in the Nixon administration.

sorry Virginia, there really is a vast right wing conspiracy with a realk agenda. The fact that they could destroy Hillary Clinton was a perk. They were drooling with the prospect as payback for Nixon impeachment work.

It is pathetic that all the rumors and smears they started and pushed back then are being used against her now by people who should know better.

Yes, she probably does regret it because people have used it as a joke, use it to disparage her when the fact is she got it.

Look Hillary Clinton is not the enemy, she is not evil. She is none of the things that the neocon's have called her and she is not all that the things that Obamacons keep calling her. She has not done all these things that everyone likes to smear her with. Research.
Is she perfect? Hell no. Who is? Does she make mistakes?
YES, of course. Who doesn't?
Can we stop this crap and focus our righteous anger on the neocons, where it belongs?

This hatefulness is so wearing.

[JoeBlough]

Chelsea and Monica. I think it all comes down to technique. We need a cage match!

[accountability]

Joe blows

[Amminadab]

It seems that the children have taken over this forum.

Bye.

[happycat]

Its been real!

[pithymaxim]

you're a hep cat...prrr...

[pithymaxim]

wait, mommy, stay!

[k6007]

She should've asked about their Bosnia Adventure. That would've been a real hoot.

[happycat]

How come nobody asks her why she lied about it also? Goes to credibility.

[k6007]

Or, "What exactly does a HedgeFund do, Chelsea?"

[Memorye]

You may write Hillary down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod Hillary in the very dirt
But still, like dust, Hillary will rise

[pithymaxim]

plagiarizing from portly , weird-eyed maya angelou, are we?

[Memorye]

Yes I am

[ChrisS13]

pithy, why do you attempt to smear everyone based on there appearance? Sounds like you are very insecure about your own appearance so you attack others for theirs.

[happycat]

That's just plain creepy.

[gd7277467]

Actually Memorye, I was thinking more along the lines of turds (Clinton's) rising to the top of the bowl !

Whadda Think ?

They're creepy and they're kooky
Hilarious and spooky
They're altogether ooky
The Clinton family...

[transendentilist]

Yet another clueless Obamian.

[Lisette]

You can't embarrass any of the Clinton's
They have no shame !!!

[ObamaEdwards]

It has nothing to do with manners, or even with party or candidate preference, although the Clintons would probably love to chalk it up to that. This is about the way the Clintons use their daughter as a buffer and a photo opportunity to enhance their own image (because as parents they seem softer and more likable than they really are). Then when Chelsea has served her purpose, she gets to climb back into the trunk and have her privacy. It doesn't work like that, in American politics. Once you are put out there, before the public, as an image enhancement, you attract the attention of curiosity seekers. The people who keep asking are probably baffled--as I am--by Hillary Clinton's decades of covering up her husband's many many affairs and one-nighters, often intimidating and silencing other women, yet marketing herself as a feminist. Her willingness to use Chelsea to prove herself as a woman, as a mom, and to shore up the public side of her marriage, has made her daughter a target for these questions. Blame Hill and Bill. They put Chelsea out there on the White House lawn, holding hands with them to form a bridge for all the photographers to see.

[anythinggoes]

CLINTONS FAMILY STINKS!

[ChrisS13]

I do blame Hill and Bill, for having more confidence in the American public. That they would be duped to believe that people have decency. As far as the rest of your ignorant rant. I seen Obama lifting up his young daughters and given them kisses on a stump. I think reporters should sit out side there elementary schools and question them on what they heard from Rev. Wright and maybe what they overheard there parents talking about Rezco. There is no reason to ask those questions and you f'ing know it. But since you support Obama, you think it's fair game. What answers are they expecting to get? What child would discuss something as personal as there parents marrage and the problems within that marriage? ALL candidates use there family to show that softer side of them. Sisters, wives, brothers, grandmothers, daughters and sons. I've yet to hear any of them asked sick questions about the candidate.

[gd7277467]

How Do You Spell Corruption, Graft and Dishonesty ??

CLINTON

[Memorye]

This what the Obama supporters should be worried about. Not about someone's sex life.
JUAN GONZALEZ: “A senior foreign policy adviser to leading Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has told The Nation [magazine] that if elected Obama will not ‘rule out’ using private security companies like Blackwater Worldwide in Iraq.” That’s the lead sentence from a new article by independent journalist Jeremy Scahill. The adviser to Obama also said that the Illinois Senator does not plan to sign on to legislation that seeks to ban the use of these forces in US war zones by January 2009, when a new president will be sworn in.

[pithymaxim]

good! draft those crackers!

[k6007]

Of course he can't rule it out, its a friggin muckrucker over there! That being said, its up to his supporters to scream 'bloody damn, what the Hell are you up to!"

[oracle99]

Where did you get this piece of news...from the Clinton campaign website? Juan Gonzalez was asking a question of the past foreign policy advisor Samantha Power. You Faus posters from Fox News need to quit trying to spread false rumors about Obama.

[Memorye]

I listen everyday with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez . You should listen maybe you will learn more about both candidate. And is going on in the world.

[A Meat Beetle]

oracle:

Here's the link.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080317/scahill

[ReportThis]

Goof on Chelsea! Additional questions that should be asked of her:
(1) Will Monica Lewinsky be permitted to sigh up for your mother's health care plan?
(2) Who weighs more -- Morica Lewinsky or your mother?
(3) Is your father a chubby chaser?

[pithymaxim]

great post! reeks of harrassment and narcissistic prurient interest! love it!

[happycat]

A definite yes to number 3!

[Syco]

Once again if the Clintons weren't pimping out there daughter this wouldn't be happening in the first place.

[pithymaxim]

the clinton campaign song :"it's hard out there for a pimip
'

[Syco]

Maybe with that they could get the black vote
rotflmbao

[Memorye]

Once again you Obama supporters shows . What such wonderful brains you have. No wonder you all are supporting him.

[Syco]

You just don't like the fact that I'm right. How could people ask her those kinds of questions if she wasn't campaigning?

[weareas1]

Question? What question? What question was asked of her? Why is this not important for us to know? Why is only her reaction to "The Question" important? Media, do your fucking job.

[JJK]

It was Senator Clinton who put her years and experiences in the White House at the core of her stated qualifications for the Presidency. Unfortunately, Monica Lewinsky played a major role in how those years unfolded. Therefore, it is fair and appropriate for voters and, by extension, the media to want to understand how the Lewinsky mess impacted Senator Clinton's life in the White House.

Chelsea Clinton has now put herself forward as someone who knows her mother extremely well and who can uniquely speak in support of her candidacy. No one forced her to put herself forward like this. It is, then, eminently fair to ask Chelsea Clinton to shed light on what were important moments in the evolution of her mother's White House experience. These questions don't have to violate the personal privacy of the Clinton family.

As an example of a question that would violate that privacy, someone might ask, "What exactly did your mother say to your father in the hours after she learned of his infidelity?" That's none of anyone's business and belongs in the family's private space.

However, it is fair to ask something like "Your father's relationship with Ms. Lewinsky must have been a very stressful experience for your mom. Without asking you to reveal any private conversations or situations, can you give us a sense of how your mom went about handling that stress?" That's a fair question, an appropriate answer to which could actually help her mother's candidacy.

[happycat]

Great post!

[Amminadab]

It is easier to just write-off any potential voter who is moronic enough to think such a question deserves an answer.

[stepintothelight]

Then there will be plenty of WRITE-OFFS this time around!!!!

[Bluesage]

I am convinced that Obama supporters lack a decency gene and those that post here have an average age of about 14. A question was asked earlier if it would be okay to ask Obama, his wife or his two little girls what they thought of his cocaine use? No one bothered to answer. So again, would it be okay to ask Obama, his wife or his kids about his drug use over and over and over?

Double standards and a lack of decency is what is killing this country. Obama supporters seem to embrace both of those things.

[Memorye]

I agree... sexism is well and alive in America.

[pithymaxim]

it definitely is...and proud of it!!! God Bless America!

[PacoDeLambera]

Hey, I like Obama and I think it is fair to ask Obama about his cocaine use, or his wife too I suppose. His kids, until adults, should be left out of it. That said however, Obama’s cocaine use is 100% irrelevant to his campaign. Very old news with no meaning I can attribute today. Hillary’s enduring the Lewisnky years is not 100% irrelevant – it could theoretically have some ever so slight relevance.

For example, I fail to understand the former President’s transition from a man of wisdom and insight to a frothing accuser. Maybe I missed something back in his tenure, but I suspect the price he paid for insulting his wife is that he must do her bidding whenever she wants and must do whatever she says. If it hadn’t been for his inability to keep his penis in his pants I posit that his behavior today would be more restrained. Thus, asking about Monica may just have some significance. ( though personally I just suspect it is a tactic meant to annoy.)

Do I think it comes from an Obama supporter? Nope, seems more Republican to me – or maybe just a prank.

[indiethinker]

Three college students out of the millions of Obama supporters have the poor taste to pose a question about Monica Lewinsky & you reach the conclusion that all of us lack a "decency gene" (ridiculous concept anyway) & have an average age of 14? Both Bill Clinton's infidelity & Barack Obama's youthful drug use are irrelevant to each candidate's qualifications for the presidency. And your blanket condemnations of Obama supporters are equally infantile & absurd...

[Tejano1]

the first knucklehead who asked the question, mr. strange, was a hillary supporter. i don't know about the other two. bluesage likes to generalize. maybe all hillary supporters do. yes, they ALL do.

[ChrisS13]

I would point out all the nasty comments on this blog as a fair representation of the poor taste and lack of decency by Obama supporters.

[donchep]

Last I checked, Clinton's popularity percentage was inthe 30's with 67% unlikeability. So is that hard to believe that ANYONE could have asked that question and not necassarily an Obama supporter? Unless you are suggesting those 67% are all Obama supporters, in which case, I might even like that suggestion :)

[andj]

You are being ridiculous.

Not his kids - because they are not being "pimped out".

His wife - if she is campaigning then she is fair game.

Obama 08

[donchep]

See you are presenting a false dilemma as your example. The ONLY reason most of us even know about Obama's cocaine use in his youth was because he wrote about in his first book. This was no smoking gun that he had to explain after getting caught red-handed, this was not a skeleton in his closet that was uncovered by political enemies or that he lied about. But he does get asked that Rev Wright question a lot, it seems. So yes I think the questions are fair.

To be honest I don't think they're good questions anyway, but instead of getting insulted and say it's none of the asker's business the opportunity for Chelsea to put her mom in a good light with a great spin bounced off the question is lost everytime she makes it a "family matter", but it isn't a family matter because it led to Bill Clinton being impeached and it is near impossible to separate how that affected Clinton and what she learned from the entire ordeal and why that makes her a better candidate.

Does that answer make me immature or are you through with your "mature" blanketing of all Obama supporters?

[Samnite]

You've left out the possibility that the person asking the question wants, and deserves, a serious answer to the question. Although there may be some who are looking for a reaction or notoriety one can not assume that is the case.

It is equally possible that this article is written with the intent of getting a rise or perhaps some notoriety. Just look at the views and responses.

[Amminadab]

What answer could she give that would be helpful in any regard?

It is a stupid question, because no possible answer would shed any light on anything.

[pithymaxim]

you're missing the point. no one wants an answer, the point is to hurt an innocent girl, traumatize her, and make her go home and cry.