Hypocrisy in America

Every time I turn the radio on, the first question I ask myself is whether Monica Lewinsky will once again make the headlines. Most of the time, she does. And most of the time I wonder if there is not something more important to talk about.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, for a few days, something amazing happened: she, and her relationship with the President, no longer made the headlines. Why? Swissair Flight 111 crashed. For a few days, no one was interested in the President's extra-marital affairs. For a few days, the news was about important world events. What did it take for this to happen? Certainly not the economic troubles of Russia. The economic hardship of millions of people was not news enough to make us forget about Monica.

Indeed, the President was asked about Ms. Lewinsky even in Moscow, during a press conference there a couple of weeks ago. No, a terrible tragedy was necessary for the sex life of America's president to be considered unworthy of the morning headlines. A tragedy involving the loss of over 200 human lives.

What does this say about America? About the American people? About our society?

I am not American. Some may suggest that the importance of this scandal escapes me because I am a foreigner. But I live here, I study here and I love this country for all the opportunities it is giving me. And it saddens me to see what America has come to. I can no longer stand idly by while the impeachment process takes place. I want to speak my mind. I want to defend the President.

Please don't get me wrong. I cannot defend his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. He broke one of the most sacred promises a man can make to a woman. My intention is not to defend what the President did, but to defend Bill Clinton.

Who the President has oral sex, or any other kind of sex, with is not, or at least should not be, a concern of the American people. This is a private matter, which should be handled privately.

What about the fact that the President lied, people ask? Well, even if he did, he should be forgiven. Put yourself in his shoes. You have an affair. You are asked about it in public, in front of your family, in front of the entire country. You have two choices: tell the truth and forever change your relationship with your loved ones; or lie, and hope to get away with it.

And it was, after all, a reasonable hope--to get away with what so many former presidents have gotten away with, the most glamorous example being John F. Kennedy '40. The President gambled. And the President lost. And that is no cause for impeachment. Wouldn't many of us gamble? I believe that many of us, while we may not admit it, would have taken that chance and lied. Is it wrong? Yes. Is it human? Definitely. Is that an excuse? No. But is it grounds for impeachment? Certainly not.

Public officials and Americans everywhere are asking whether the President still has the moral authority to govern. Who are we to talk about morality? We are destroying a family. For reasons I do not quite understand, we are allowing the press to turn this private matter into a national crisis. We are allowing the people in office to use this scandal as an opportunity to play political games. We are watching a family fall apart. And what are we doing? Certainly not asking for it to stop, but condemning the President for his lack of morals. It's more than a little hypocritical. Ada S. Polla '99 is a joint concentrator in the history of art and architecture and government in Dudley House.