By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Original Sources, (www.originalsources.com)
March 1, 1999
David Wastell reported yesterday in the London Telegraph that, following Lisa Myers' interview with Juanita Broaddrick that "fresh allegations of sexual assaults by the young Bill Clinton have emerged" in the wake of her claim that that he raped her in her hotel bedroom in 1978.
"According to an opinion poll, published by Fox News yesterday, 54 per cent of Americans believe Ms Broaddrick's version of events - which is denied by the President's lawyers - and half say her claim represents a "pattern of behaviour" by Mr Clinton. Some believe that Ms Broaddrick's interview may encourage other women to come forward."
It not only will encourage women who have been sexually assaulted or raped by Bill Clinton to come forward, but also will bring back a lot of painful memories to women who have suffered sexual assault or rape during their own lives - and, according to the National Victim Center, that adds up to something like 20-25% of the adult female population .
Women who have experienced rape have no doubt at all that Juanita Broaddrick is telling the truth. And, many are expressing real frustration at members of Congress and the media who, clearly, have tried to bury the charge levelled by Broaddrick, who has no political ax to grind.
Dear Mary, Just read your article on Reagan's web site. You are quite correct in your summary of the feminists inaction on Clinton's sexual diviation. Where are they, the NOW gang? I personally don't want them around at all. I was a single mother, thru widowhood, who riased three sons and worked full time. No one stuck up for me except me. I was raped by a "friend" who came to my house. Did I report it? No, I did not as it happened in my home about the same time period as did Juanita Broddricks rape by clinton (lower case c on purpose).I would have been laughed at with the "what did you expect,you invited him into your home" attitude. The fact that he showed up on my doorstep yelling in the middle of the night didn't help either. Some have criticized Juanita Broddrick for not reporting it then, not knowing the exact date, and then crying in her interview. She didn't report it out of fear of the man and his political position, and the horror any of us face wants to be buried. When brought up again, on national TV this time, it was still obviously painful. None of us likes to bring up the horror of the past be it rape and accident or some stupid thing we did.
I gave my pain to the Lord years ago and have not brought it out again, but the anger, hurt and frustration I felt at the time is still very real to me.
Respectfully, Jane
The Democrats and the media used every trick in their book to first try to stop the impeachment, and then to prevent a real trial in the Senate, hoping to sweep it all under the rug. Remember, just four short months ago the media helped sell the notion that Newt Gingrich has a major "loss" because five seats were lost in the House. The hope is that the Speaker of the House after the election in 2000 will be Democrat Dick Gephardt, who presided over the loss of 52 seats for HIS party in 1994.
Will it all go away and the nation just forget about it by the year 2000? Can women voters who personally experienced rape or sexual assault meekly go to the voting booth and elect Al Gore, the man who claims the rapist in the White House is one of America's greatest presidents?
I doubt it. It may not be discussed in the media as a year 2000 issue and Democrats and some Republicans may try to pretend it doesn't matter - but it is a factor now in the next election. This is an issue that creates a visceral response, not only for those women who experienced rape themselves, but for their families. Many years can go by, and perhaps the rape is not mentioned - but it is always there, always painful,
Dear Mary,Right on, as usual. My daughter was raped as a virgin at 15. She is now 32 and still will not talk to me about the details or even who.
The media pushed the notion throughout the impeachment and trial of William Jefferson Clinton that the Republican House Managers were jeopardizing their seats by their actions. The threat was used so extensively in the media that at one point Rep. Henry Hyde said, "Some things are more important that the job." Rep. Rogan, who represents a primarily Democrat district said something very similar, noting that while being elected to Congress was his dream as a boy, "Dreams come, and dreams go" but he could not live with himself if he did not uphold the rule of law and justice in prosecuting the impeachment of the President.
The hope was that by sweeping the whole thing under the carpet, and getting back to "business as usual" it would go away. It's not going away, folks. And, because of the millions of women who relived their own rapes after hearing Juanita Broaddrick, it not going to go away. Furthermore, there are more women - one biographer said hundreds of them - who are apt to come forward - one by one. It's a story that won't go away - because the American public is no longer dependent upon a media described by Roger Morris in Partners in Power as: "the studied hypocrisy and insensitivity to the underlying issues of abuse of power and exploitation of women that would be one more vivid example of the capital's culture of complicity."
The impeachment issue is no longer a problem for the Republicans. With 23 million Americans watching her on NBC, now those who voted to acquit the rapist in the White House will have to answer some very pointed questions that they already are being asked. To change a national election it only takes changing the vote of one or two people in each polling location. There are more than one or two women in each polling location who will not forget their own experiences with rape, Juanita Broaddrick, or the men who voted to keep a rapist in the White House.
To comment: mmostert@originalsources.com
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