Posted on 05/17/2003 1:24:13 AM PDT by kattracks
It was the early 1960s, on the cusp of the sexual revolution, when a 19-year-old White House intern named Mimi Beardsley commenced a sexual relationship with President John F. Kennedy. She was not the only woman to have an affair with JFK, nor he the last President to dally with an intern. Yet the unearthing of the long-buried secret does matter. Like it or not, care or not, it's a piece of American history.Some people think it should have remained hidden. Not Mimi. Marion Fahnestock, now 60 and living on the upper East Side, confirmed her identity to the Daily News last week after reporters Celeste Katz and Dave Goldiner tracked her down from a clue in historian Robert Dallek's new JFK biography, "An Unfinished Life." For Fahnestock, it was "a huge relief" to let go of the 41-year-old secret. "It's a gift that my daughters know this is a piece of my history," she told The News.
The story also fills a gap, however small, in the public record. And it provides some context: Bill Clinton, who was impeached because of his indefensible dalliance with Monica Lewinsky, was not, it turns out, the only Oval Office occupant with an eye for the interns. The difference is, in Kennedy's time discretion was the rule when it came to a President's private life. Journalists kept quiet about JFK's obsessive skirt-chasing. His crippling health problems and excessive prescription drug use, also detailed by Dallek, were concealed. For obvious reasons. Such information would have ruined his image and likely his presidency.
In today's tell-all America, everybody spills everything. And then they get a reality TV show or a book contract out of the deal. We may cringe at the content, but there's no question that more knowledge freshens the debate and leads to a fuller understanding of how things work.
It's no shock that Presidents, who are human and fallible, have had extramarital affairs. Discretion might be preferred, but these are the private actions of public people entrusted with the life of a nation. Their weaknesses, moral and physical, are relevant. To many, JFK was a dazzling god, living the life of Camelot. He helped inspire a generation to public service. He made Americans proud. And they hardly knew him. Whether that matters is another story.
To date, both Kennedy's and Clinton's presidencies have been judged, for the most part, on the political merits. But we understand the character of our leaders, the hypocrisies of our society, the nature of our humanity so much better when all the facts are in.
J'Accuse!
Les mesdames et monsieurs of La Belle France are très angry over continuing American hostility toward their poodle-livered republic. Now, they say, the Bush administration is actively trying to discredit them. As one diplomatic source told the Daily News, "This is not how you deal with a friend."
Ah, the irony.
In a letter to Secretary of State Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Jean-David Levitte, the French ambassador to the U.S., alleges that "anonymous administration officials" are promoting a disinformation campaign about his nation's relationship with Iraq. The effort, he says, is "aimed at sullying France's image and misleading the public." Now what image might that be? The one of a backstabbing, two-faced, fair-weather ally? The French created that one all by themselves.
Levitte challenges the veracity of certain media reports that the French sold plane and helicopter parts to Saddam Hussein and helped Iraqi officials flee to Europe after Baghdad fell. Does he have proof to the contrary? Offering it would be productive, mais non?
Fact is, France already has offered proof of how not to be a friend. A friend would not sell the lie that President Bush was waging a war for oil while trying to protect its own lucrative oil contracts in Iraq. A friend would not spend millions trying to bribe small nations into opposing U.S.-sponsored UN resolutions regarding Iraq. And a friend would not have given Saddam regular briefings on its conversations with American officials.
Now the French have the audacity to whine?
Put a cork in it.
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Originally published on May 17, 2003
Wrong, wrong, WRONG!!! Bill Clinton was impeached because he used the power of his office in an attempt to deny PAULA JONES a fair day in court to air her grievances.
Let me tell you about my Mom... Boy, times have changed and standards have dropped. Clinton helped it along a bit, and even brought it into the mainstream without shame. Yep, he was impeached for perjury, not "just about sex".
A "legacy" to be proud of.
THE CLINTON CRIME LIST
(248 crimes - so far) (Only 35 of them are for SEX)
Courtesy of Slyfox
There is no way the Daily News doesn't know that this is a lie.
Why do I have the feeling that this "research" was "revealed" in justification of Clinton?
"...It's OK. Everyone does it..."
Becki
Question #2: Does she have a photo of the pearl necklace the president gave her?
"Look at me. I'm a whore. My claim to fame is sleeping around with people in power. Ain't you all proud? I'm somebody now. Maybe they will even give me a TV show like Monica. Look, I even got my hair done like Hillary. Please pay attention to me. I am now famous. I want the whole world to know what I did in the sack."
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