Monica Lewinsky has a new goal in life–ending cyber bullying. But in the meantime she has managed to rehash–a.k.a. justify–her actions while serving as an intern under former President Bill Clinton. Lewinsky spoke Monday at the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Philadelphia, labeling herself the first genuine target of cyber bullying.
“Overnight, I went from being a completely private figure, to a publicly humiliated one. I was patient zero–the first person to have their reputation completely destroyed worldwide via the Internet,” she said of the discovery that the president of the United States had cheated on the first lady with a 22-year-old intern.
“There was no Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram back then,” she added. “But there were gossip, news and entertainment websites replete with comment sections and emails which could be forwarded. Of course, it was all done on the excruciatingly slow dial up. Yet around the world this story went. A viral phenomenon that, you could argue, was the first moment of truly ‘social media.'”
.@MonicaLewinsky talks about shame, bullying in passionate speech: http://t.co/Pp8w19v9UL
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 21, 2014
And she’s right. The Monica Lewinsky scandal was probably the biggest to hit the U.S. in the age when most everyone had at least one computer in their home, along with internet connection. Regardless of the fact that it was no doubt dial-up back then, word of that beret and that cigar and Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky spread faster than wildfire and burned that young intern–as well as the reputation of a U.S. president–practically to ashes.
And while Monica Lewinsky sort of hovers between justifying her actions and downright making excuses for them, it’s always important to remember that it takes (and took, back then) two to tango.
Lewinsky told the Forbes Under 30 crowd that she “deeply regret(s the affair) for many reasons, not the least of which because people were hurt, and that’s never okay.”
Lewinsky also cut her young self some slack, describing herself at the time as “more than averagely romantic.”
“I fell in love with my boss. In a 22-year-old sort of way, it happens. But my boss was the president of the United States. That probably happens less often,” she said.
Monica Lewinsky was among the less fortunate ones–and probably the only one since the computer age–to have her sexual activities with the president played out in everyone’s living rooms, home offices, and at their dining room tables. So yes, she knows full well the impact cyber bullying can have on a person’s life.
Of course there is that little issue of timing, however, that those in the political arena are no doubt questioning. Why now? How convenient that the time is drawing near for Hillary Clinton to throw her hat in the proverbial presidential campaign ring.
Will @MonicaLewinsky being on Twitter throw a wrench in @HillaryClinton's presidential plans? http://t.co/cgbzb1gEvs @husnahaq
— DC Decoder (@DCDecoder) October 21, 2014
Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, you must admit that Hillary didn’t deserve what Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky did.
The Christian Science Monitor says this new evolvement of Monica Lewinsky rates “somewhere above nuisance and below Anthony Weiner on the ‘Political-Death-Meter.'”
(Yes, Monica–Anthony Weiner is this era’s Monica Lewinsky.)
When Hillary was asked to comment about Lewinsky’s recent Vanity Fair article, she very simply said, “I’ve moved on.”
But you see, Monica Lewinsky has joined Twitter in an effort to squelch cyber bullying. And that means she can say whatever she wants, whenever she wants–for all the Twitterverse (a.k.a. the world) to see.
It seems Hillary’s people are on point, however.
“Her team recently reviewed Clinton library documents labelled “Monica Lewinsky” last week and no new bombshells where revealed–a relief for the potential 2016 candidate,” the Christian Science Monitor reports.
What’s your take on Monica Lewinsky dubbing herself the first cyber bullying victim? And do you think the timing of this reinvention of Monica has anything to do with Hillary’s possible run for president?