Joe Scarborough: Lewinski scandal means Hillary can’t fight GOP’s transvaginal probes

[DonViejo]

By David Edwards
Monday, January 27, 2014 9:33 EST

Conservative MSNBC host Joe Scarborough on Monday suggested that possible Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s ability to attack Republicans for anti-women laws — like proposed invasive transvaginal probe abortion laws — had been compromised because her husband had an affair in the 1990s.

Over the weekend, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) had said that former President Bill Clinton was partially responsible for the so-called “war on women” because of his affair with Monica Lewinski. The Kentucky Republican with presidential ambitions asserted that it would be difficult for voters not to blame Hillary Clinton for Bill Clinton’s behavior.

Scarborough, who voted to impeach Bill Clinton, on Monday insisted that he would “never bring that stuff up in a gazillion years.”

“It was such an ugly chapter in our history,” he explained. “It’s just like the Iraq War in 2003. There are just some things, we fought those battles. Let’s let them go.”

“That said,” Scarborough continued. “If Hillary Clinton attacks the Republican Party’s handling of women and treatment of women and disrespect for women and suggests they’re misogynists etc., etc., etc., it does seem to be a fair question to ask right now a few years out, does the media have a responsibility to say, ‘Well, let’s see what happened when you were in the White House and how women were treated when you were in the governor’s mansion and the White House?’ Is that fair?”

“Does this not compromise Hillary Clinton’s ability to bash Republicans as being terrible towards women, misogynists, etc., etc.?”

MSNBC contributor Mark Halperin agreed that the media had a responsibility to question Hillary Clinton’s ability to protect women’s rights.

However, MSNBC host Al Sharpton predicted that the strategy would backfire because Republicans would be “saying women are responsible for the behavior of your husband.”

“I dare the Republicans to take that to her,” Sharpton said. “Because if I’m her, I would dribble, hit the backboard and score a three-pointer from way out. Because she was the wife in this. She was not one I would want to mess with.”

Watch this video from MSNBC’s Morning Joe, broadcast Jan. 27, 2014.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/27/joe-scarborough-lewinski-scandal-means-hillary-cant-fight-gops-transvaginal-probes/

###

Full article posted with permission

[livetohike]

1. Reverand Al probably won't be invited back on the show after this one.

I watched it live and Reverand Al is the only one who wouldn't take crap from Joe.

[monmouth3]

2. The Reverend never does, he always hands it back and by the bucket. He'll be

invited back because Phil Griffin likes the Rev. and because he gives a good balance.. Even Halperin seemed a little off when Joe went on this rant. I think Halperin thought he was nuts to even bring it up.

[DetlefK]

3. His stance on the Iraq-war: "Let's just never talk about it again."

But Hillary Clinton will have problems with feminists because her husband cheated on her though I would never bring up that topic did I mention that he cheated on her and that it was a huge scandal back then?

[Beacool]

4. Once again confirming why the GOP will never win the women's vote.

They are obsessed with sex and with women's reproductive choices. They act like teenage boys tantalized at the thought of seeing their first vagina.

Husbands and wives are separate people, the wife is not an appendage of the husband (as most guys would attest).

As much as I didn't condone Bill's behavior (it was stupid and reprehensible), when it's boiled down to the basics, it was just two willing adults engaging in oral sex. The world didn't stop spinning in its axis.

On the other hand, a man attacking a female politician for the peccadilloes of the husband is downright sexist and it will be seen as such by the majority of women.

Sharpton is correct, let the GOP adopt that tactic and see how it goes for them.

[marew]

5. Amen! nt

[CTyankee]

9. It was bad form of Joe to do that. He wants "the press" to bring it up because they gave Clinton a

pass on Monica. I guess in his mind it would only be fair if they pursued this in the 2016 campaign (if HRC is indeed the candidate). I can't understand how Joe thinks this tactic would be a winner for the repubs. He is displaying classic repub thinking here: nasty and sexist. Women voters would eviscerate repubs for making an issue of this all over again.

This is about the dumbest idea I've heard in a long time...

[Beacool]

13. The irony is that they did not give him a pass.

It was the American public that realized that the whole thing was a witch hunt. The Republicans went after Bill, Hillary and their staffers, for five years. What did they find him culpable of after all the time and money that was spent on their investigation? That Bill received 9 instances of oral sex in a 2 year period from a more than willing woman. They impeached him because he lied about it under oath (I dare any other guy in that same position to have told the truth). A gentleman would have never told on his paramour. He would have also tried to protect his wife and children at all costs. The Starr Report read like Hustler. It was prurient and an embarrassment to the nation. Europeans couldn't believe we were dragging our very successful president through the mud. It was even more unseemly than the misdeed that he had committed.

If Joe thinks that this line of questioning will help the GOP in 2016, then he's seriously out of touch with the average voter.

BTW, did Mika say anything or did she agree with Joe?

[trusty elf]

15. I'll never forgive those bastards for what they did to Bill Clinton.

I think it was a big mistake for him not to have told people that the affair was none of their business. Instead, he denied it under oath and so exposed himself to perjury charges.

I agree with you that it was the Starr report that was obscene and an embarrassment.

[Beacool]

19. He didn't know that they had DNA evidence.

That's another thing, what kind of person keeps something like that? I would have destroyed that dress. I would have gotten rid of it not to protect him, but to protect myself and my family. It was downright stupid for Monica and her mother to have given Starr the infamous blue dress. It has marked her life ever since. She's still treated like a joke.

I have a brother who is an economist in Europe. He used to say that they couldn't believe over there what the Republicans were doing to Clinton. At the time, the US had the best economic growth in its history and the best economy in 40 years.

[CTyankee]

21. Mika agreed that the press gave Clinton a pass. She obviously thought a very

judgmental press would have been better. Little Miss Priss.

[Beacool]

27. I don't get her.

The few times that I've watched their show, Joe seems to run roughshod over her. Even when she disagrees with him she's meek about expressing her disagreement. In this particular instance, I would have been all over his ass. What he said was asinine and sexist.

[CTyankee]

36. I don't get her either. She aquiesces to Joe faithfully in one way and then she switches to be

all "full feminist realization" in the other. Which is it, Mika? What the hell?

I think Mika is a lost cause. She's making big bucks being Joe Scarborough's "doll" that she can't object...

Sad...her Dad must be so unhappy about how she turned out...

[juajen]

37. How true! It was asinine and very sexest, but we generally know what to expect frojm both of them.

I was not surprised when the people of America, for the most part, reared up and asked themselves what the hell they were doing? Every furtive flirtation and/or affair that we were guiltily rememberiing, was running like a movie reel in our heads.

He and Hillary the Brave, became icons to many of us, if they weren't already, as we shed rivers of tears as they left Washington. We knew we would not see their ilk again in our lifetime, but, perhaps we were wrong. Hopefully, we will cheer them on again, and feel that calmness in our hearts that our country is, once again, in good hands. None of us should expect perfection, but just a gladness that these good people will once again, possibly, bravely, live in the White House, where scrutiny is a constant and privacy non-existent. I've no doubt she will do her very best, and that is all this country should ever expect for a competent and compassionate President of these United States.

A word of warning: No person can claim perfection as their right, for it does not exist. We live only to do the best we can and while our heros sometimes might disappoint us, so do we disappoint ourselves.

[Beacool]

40. I think that if Hillary does become president, that she'll do a fine job.

She's very bright and extremely hard working. She would give 110% to the job. That's who she is and what she has done at every job she's had in the past. She's also a good person. We could do a lot worse than Hillary.

[karynnj]

41. No one here will disagree that the Republicans completely over reacted,

but it was more than just sex between consenting adults. For very good reasons, one gain of the women's movement was that the concept of workplace sexual harassment led to most major companies having very strict rules about this - especially when there was a huge level difference between the two people.

1994 was NOT like the 1960s/1970s Mad Men time period where that kind of behavior was accepted. My question had always been - what kind of work place atmosphere existed that an intern did not think she would have been immediately fired for flashing the President?

There was no question that the actions - and even the lying under oath about them - did not raise to high crimes and misdemeanors. This does not mean that his behavior was acceptable. Out of curiosity, I went to the Congressional record back in 2006 and read the speeches written by the Democratic Senators. In general, they could all be said to have 2 parts - one making various legal arguments on how this did not rise to high crimes and misdemeanors (sometimes conceding lower level transgressions) and the other part strongly stating their disgust or disapproval of his actions. The latter part showed some anger from many that Clinton had put them in this position.

However, on this Hillary was the victim - and there is absolutely no way that she was in any way guilty of anything. As to Bill - you could argue his brilliance, his accomplishments, or his political ability - however, there is no need to absolve him on this. If it were a Republican, there would be no hesitation to condemn him.

[Aristus]

6. That's the stupiest thing I've ever heard in my life.

That's like saying Hillary Clinton can't run for President because lizards don't like umbrellas, or something.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

7. They'll forget about Lewinski if we forget about Iraq?

[Nancy Waterman]

8. Hillary responded to the scandal brilliantly

She was hurt, she worked through it, she chose to stay, and she made a very successful career for herself. She did not wallow in victimhood and become paralyzed. She made the choice to stay rather than to leave him. That was up to her. Where is the problem? Is leaving the spouse mandatory rather than facing the problem and making your own choice about what to do?

Republicans are ridiculous on anything to do with sex.

[Beacool]

17. I agree with something she said at the time.

She said that every marriage is its own world and no one knows what goes on within it, other than the people involved.

Every woman should decide for themselves what's better for them and their children. Hillary chose to stay and work on her relationship. I respect her for it, just as I would have respected her decision to leave if she had chosen to do so. I don't judge. Unlike some people who think that it's a marriage of political convenience, I think that there is love there. Anyone who has spent any time with them can see that they do care for each other. She still thinks that he's handsome, funny and the smartest guy she met. He brims with pride when he talks about her and always says that she's more intelligent than him. As a couple, they both dote on Chelsea.

[Ino]

10. What are some other "fair questions" to ask, Joe?

Let's see... how did Lori Klausutis REALLY die in your office? Why did you quit Congress so suddenly afterwards? Let's talk about that!

[HappyMe]

11. It's stupidity like this

that makes me never want to bother with that bonehead program.

[Dawson Leery]

12. Dead intern Joe.

[W.J. McCabe]

14. We are all now dumber for having heard that argument.

Stupid Joe Scarborough.

[EC]

16. He's kidding right?

Once again the only thing Rand Paul proved with his statement is that Republican men think women don't know what they are doing when it comes to sex. Monica seduced the President and she seduced him because she wanted too. Rand Paul is saying she needed protecting against the big bad man. She knew what she was doing and she wanted to do it. Rand has no business saying she was pryed upon like she didn't know what she wanted. At 20 years old I knew what I was doing, I'm sure she did too. So the war continues and this is just another man saying a woman doesn't know what she is doing.

[erpowers]

20. Agree With You Somewhat

I agree that Monica Lewinsky was old enough to know what she was doing and to know better. However, so was President Clinton. Your post seemed to make President Clinton out to be a victim. Neither President Clinton nor Monica Lewinsky were victims. Regardless of who seduced who they each decided to engage in some form of sex. Both were adults and each could and should have said no.

[EC]

23. No one is a victim

they both knew what they were doing. Clinton should have known the consequences if caught and should have known better.

I just don't like Rand Paul being so patronizing that he is saying bill was a predator and that Monica was just an Innocent little girl instead of a woman in control of her own body and urges.

[Beacool]

24. She was actually 22 and no innocent babe in the woods.

At the time that she set to seduce Clinton, she was conducting an affair with her former high school drama teacher. She even followed him from CA to OR and convinced his wife to let her babysit their kids.

I don't excuse Clinton's behavior because he should have definitely known better, but this was not a case of a naive girl being taken advantage by an older man. Thanks to the the Starr Report we know more about the details of their fling than we care to know. By her own admission, she's the one who initiated the seduction.

[EC]

26. i agree

What I am trying to say rather clumsying is that this is still showing us that Republican men think they know better about how a woman should conduct her sex life, by saying that Clinton took advantage of the poor little girl and she had no control of her libido...ala Hucklebee, so Rand was saying the same thing as the rest of the damn repubs that want to tell women what to do. He is still being a misogynist and as for Scar saying this is how Democrats think of women..well, yeah, Bill treated her as an adult woman who knew what she was doing. That's how women should be treated.

[Beacool]

28. They hearken to another era.

Their behavior toward women is paternalistic and sexist. Either we are tramps or delicate hot house flowers who need protection.

Most women I know kick ass and have no problem expressing themselves.

[EC]

29. Exactly... n/t

[lsewpershad]

18. I remember [even vaguely]

about a Scarborough guy and a dead intern..... was the intern male or female. Be careful about throwing stones..... a loser giving advice?

[erpowers]

22. Her Husband's Actions Are Not Her Fault

Hillary Clinton should not be held responsible for her husband's actions. Her husband was the one who behaved badly. President Clinton was not an uncontrollable animal that had to be supervised by his wife 24 hours a day in order to prevent him from misbehaving. He was an intelligent adult who had the ability to make decisions. It is not her fault that when she was not present her husband had sex with another women.

President Clinton's actions have nothing to do with a war on women. Although President Clinton should not have cheated on his wife; he had sex with a consenting adult. No Democrat is discussing affairs when they talk about a war on women. They are talking about the policies that are being put forward by the Republican Party and the language used by Republicans to discuss women.

[JoePhilly]

25. Joe simply means that when a man cheats on his wife, its the wife's fault. Right?

That should be the response anytime he, or any other Republican, takes that line of argument.

[bravenak]

30. He is such a fucking asshole.

He ought to be ashamed of himself for even fixing his lips to say some stupid shit like that.
Boy oh boy!!! Conservatives are scared as shit about running against a woman, willing to blame a woman for her husband being a lecher. Jackass.

[Whisp]

31. and he was a lecher. maybe still is. n/t

[bravenak]

33. I'm very sure he is that indeed. I don't like the way he looks at Mika.

And he may or may not kill interns.

[liberal N proud]

32. I didn't know Scarborough was a comedian

But then again.

[Yavin4]

34. How is it that Republican men can even get women to date them let alone vote for them?!?!?!?!

Good lord. Some of them are the most repulsive men on the planet in every way.

[Gothmog]

35. Morning Joe wants the Media to raise this issue

Morning Joe admits that it would be stupid for a GOP nominee to raise this issue but he is working the refs to try to make the case that the media should be the one to raise the adultery issue if Sec. Clinton is the nominee. Joe is right in that it was stupid for Rand Paul to try to raise this issue and the GOP would be laughed at if a republican made this argument. Poor Joe want the Media to do the GOP's dirty work and I have no doubt that Fox News will be happy to serve this function

[Myrina]

38. What does that comparison even mean, Joe?

I think he just can't resist any and every opportunity to say the name Monica Lewinsky, like it'll do any good.
Someone on his show needs to start replying, every time he says her name, with the name of his own intern, found dead in the office.

[ecstatic]

39. They really can't help themselves, can they?

Something about the topic of women ensures that some idiot repug will put his foot in his mouth. Unreal.