So he had an affair
By Alan Khamoui
-- no big dealT HE President Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair has led the news every day for the past few months. Gasp! We, as American citizens, are appalled. He's the president, who should be setting an example of moral behavior. We will not tolerate this amoral action.
Yeah, right. He is human, and, like the rest of us, fallible. Now that he has admitted it, maybe we can go back to our own lives. So, Clinton had a little thing with the intern. Big deal!
If he lied under oath about a matter concerning national security, then things would be different. But he had an affair!
It's no surprise Clinton attempted a cover-up. Millions of men and women would have done the same thing if they were under a spotlight. Comedian Chris Rock made a brilliant statement about the matter: "Of course he lied under oath. Would you be more afraid of a God you can't see or a wife you can?"
Say we find Clinton guilty. What are we going to do? Perhaps Congress will decide to impeach him on the grounds he lied under oath about an affair. If so, we will become an international laughing stock because the rest of the world has no such problem. France was not unnerved when, during the burial ceremony of its former president, Francois Mitterrand, his wife and mistress stood side by side at his casket.
During Clinton's African tour earlier this year, Senegal's president, Abdou Diouf, told Clinton that Senegal has many problems, but infidelity is not one of them. He said that mistresses are a symbol of one's position in the social hierarchy.
AMERICAN history is rich with scandal. One might say it's a presidential tradition. History books hold tales of Thomas Jefferson and his female slave; Franklin D. Roosevelt and his secretary; John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.
The only reason those scandals weren't turned into media circuses is because back then the president was regarded as our hero. But starting with Dwight Eisenhower's U-2 blunder and cemented by Watergate, the reputation of the presidency has become tarnished. Now, the American people place the office under enormous scrutiny, making big deals out of petty problems.
Polls have shown people are interested in the alleged affair purely as gossip, not as a serious national concern. In a Fox TV news poll, 60 percent of people surveyed felt the president did commit adultery, but 60 percent still believe Clinton is doing a good job, and 70 percent think the lawyers should leave him alone. So, if a majority of America's citizens don't have a problem with the alleged affair, why is the investigation continuing?
This scandal shouldn't be any of our business. I could not care less if a person had a sexual liaison with another person who is not his spouse. If the person were my significant other, then the issue would be of paramount importance. The only person who should be concerned with the Lewinsky situation is Hillary Clinton. Let her deal with her husband.
Meanwhile, the government is wasting precious tax money conducting this silly investigation. In my mind, the fiasco has gotten out of hand, rivaling the absurdity of the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Why not send the money instead to the state Department of Education? It would be better spent to improve Hawaii's sub-par public schools.
Just as an aside, with the president being the nation's alpha male, couldn't he have chosen more attractive or intelligent women? Looking at the women that have made claims about having sexual relations with him, I wonder, shouldn't the head man be able to do better than that?
Alan Khamoui is a senior at Punahou School. Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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