An odd take on Monica Lewinsky and the Clinton scandals

From the Washington Examiner magazine:

Monica Lewinsky gets the last laugh
Lewinsky was the first victim of the internet’s public shaming ritual. That she has come out on the other side of this is an important counter punch to the online world’s increasing degradation of public discourse.

The writer (following Lewinsky’s lead) consistently confuses the issue by merging the actions of the Democrat/Clinton/Media complex with the public at large.

The public was “fickle,” indeed, but also bloodthirsty, feeding on the humiliation of an already-battered young woman like crows picking at a body.

Late-night talk show hosts delighted in Lewinsky’s ruination. They buried her in an avalanche of jokes about blow jobs and the blue dress that was a central piece of evidence in the case. They castigated her for her body, her sexuality, and the way she sounded on the now-infamous Linda Tripp tapes. Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, David Letterman, and so many others routinely degraded her as a homewrecker and a bimbo. Watching network TV monologues from the ’90s, it’s clear that the pinnacle of late-night humor at the time was misogynistic, lazy cheap shots at a woman still in her 20s, living out the most horrifying experience of her life in the public eye. She was the target du jour, and they never seemed to run out of ammunition.

Note--the public is bloodthirsty, but her examples are media types.

The author also refuses to acknowledge that Lewinsky, her family, and her advisors helped create the firestorm that engulfed her. First, by having an affair with a married, high-profile man. Second by playing coy with prosecutors and trying to protect the “Big He”. In so doing, she gave the Clinton Machine time to put their “nuts and sluts” game plan into action. “We” didn’t try to destroy Monica Lewinsky, the Clintons did. So why is the Washington Examiner trying to confuse and deflect the issue with talk of “public shaming rituals” and “social media” toxicity?

Let us also not forget that this scandal grew out of an attempt to deny Paula Jones her chance for justice. Lewinsky, for whatever reasons, was working to deny her that chance.

This is bizarre

She’s a powerhouse, and possibly the best living example of bouncing back, better than ever.

I can think of a host of people who have suffered worse and also bounced back.