# Old tape recording from Monica Lewinsky to Bill resurfaces. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 31, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006 "2013-07-31T18:26:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/21 "2013-07-31T20:04:19Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > I must be too stupid to connect the dots, please bear with me. Bill getting a hummer (adversely) affected him meeting the demands of his job as president, how? This argument is often brought up when a politician is caught in a sex scandal. While it’s true that the sex act itself is not relevant to his job, the deception and moral failing is. If your mailman is having an affair, it doesn’t affect his ability to deliver the mail. But when a politician is unable to control his urges, it calls into doubt his ability to do what’s right when it conflicts with his desires. A married politician boinking an intern is putting himself at great risk for scandal and blackmail. It’s not just going to be a harmless bit of fun. If he still proceeds, you have to wonder about his judgment. Will he be able to resist a bribe from a lobbyist? Will he support policies that benefit his constituents even though they may cause him personal hardship? If he’s that sexually frustrated, he should spend a few minutes in the bathroom with some lotion. If instead he has an affair or has an online relationship, that is very bad judgment which should call into question his ability to lead. So it’s not the sex act which is so bad. It’s the lack of judgment which made him think it was okay. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/22 "2013-07-31T20:29:20Z")
I just can’t wait to hear some more about Vince Foster and the Clinton Chronicles, too. Some jokes never get old. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/23 "2013-07-31T20:37:18Z")
If they had a tape with Bill’s voice on it, that would be something. The fact that Monica Lewinski made a tape and wrote letters fits right in with what we already knew - she was a lovestruck intern. If the tape is released this story will last for two days simply because every news channel will play excerpts until they bore themselves. Without the tape, there’s nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/24 "2013-07-31T21:09:53Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > So yes, Bill’s affair with Monica is relevant again. Bullshit. Clinton hasn’t held office for thirteen years. The affair we’re talking about happened longer ago than that and has been public knowledge all this time. This “report” could serve as the textbook example of something that isn’t newsworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/25 "2013-07-31T21:20:07Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > It’s the lack of judgment which made him think it was okay. Ad hominem (I think). Besides, Despite his personal moral shortcomings, I seem to recall Bill handing over a fiscally & diplomatically healthy nation to his successor who, apart from being a bit of a ditz seems to have had no recent skeletons in his closet. And we all know how that turned out. But that whole debate aside–Bill getting a blowjob means Hillary is vulnerable…how? And yeah, sorry **ElvisL1ves** , the whole Vince Foster conspiracy thing is my dirty little pleasure. Makes Hillary more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/26 "2013-07-31T21:29:38Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The Weiner sex scandal is causing the news to look at his wife’s dear friend and employer, Hillary. So yes, Bill’s affair with Monica is relevant again. Walk me through this thought process. Weiner gets nailed again, so… it matters for Hillary’s potential presidential campaign that hasn’t even started that there is new evidence of something that everyone already knows happened 15 years ago? This makes zero sense. It’s like saying, “If Arnold Schwarzenegger were caught doing cocaine, Jeb Bush’s presidential hopes would be over because we all know that George W. Bush tried cocaine in college.” So the hell what? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/27 "2013-07-31T21:32:35Z")
The National Enquirer has reported some relevant stuff, but let’s not pretend something is relevant just because it’s in the Enquirer. Spoiler alert: if Hillary runs for president in 2 1/2 to 3 years, nobody’s going to care about this. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/28 "2013-07-31T21:46:22Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Spoiler alert: if Hillary runs for president in 2 1/2 to 3 years, nobody’s going to care about this. Sarah Palin will care. And within 24 hours of her squealing some maniacal nonsense about it, Jon Stewart will knock another one right out of the park. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/29 "2013-07-31T23:56:52Z")
I doubt this story will last very long even if the audio tape gets released. At most it will be an annoyance for the Clintons for a week or two. It depends on how much other unreleased material is out there. This is actually a good time for this crap to come out. Get it talked about and out of the way before Hillary steps back into politics. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/30 "2013-08-01T00:26:36Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I doubt this story will last very long even if the audio tape gets released. At most it will be an annoyance for the Clintons for a week or two. They already quoted lots of it, and how is it going to be an annoyance beyond the obvious? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/31 "2013-08-01T00:47:54Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > I must be too stupid to connect the dots, please bear with me. Bill getting a hummer (adversely) affected him meeting the demands of his job as president, how? And his wife’s association with a guy who is clearly having some deep mental issues is relevant in what way to her husband’s misdeeds? I’m all confused. Are you suggesting Hillary has the power to make men act irresponsibly? Because that’s the only way I can see to link Bill’s shenanigans to Anthony’s. One tangential area where all this may get stirred up has to do with the interns or other volunteers surrounding Anthony Weiner. According to that [article by ex-intern Olivia Nuzzi](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/intern-reveals-reasons-joining-weiner-campaign-article-1.1412272) that’s been all the buzz for the last day or so, Weiner is surrounded by relatively inexperienced political intern wanna-bees who [del]are[/del] were hoping that, through their association with Weiner, they can get connected to Huma Abedin, through whom they can get connected to Hillary, thus to have an inside track to get involved in her campaign in 2016. For them, Weiner’s spectacle has trashed all those (no doubt hypothetical) possibilities. ETA: The point here being, if Hillary finds it advisable to sever all ties with Ms. Abedin (as some are suggesting now), those poor interns’ fantasies, such as they were, are more trashed now than ever! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/32 "2013-08-01T00:57:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Some things just won’t stay buried. 😛 So far it’s only an alleged transcript. If the audio is actually released the poop will hit the fan. > > I know, it’s _The Enquire_. But even they wouldn’t risk a multimillion dollar lawsuit unless theres a tape. Would they? Since 100% of everything in _The Enquire_ is fiction, and everyone knows it’s fiction, and they seem to be making enough money to pay their lawyers, that’s all that counts. Ditto for _The Enquirer._ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/33 "2013-08-01T01:15:12Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Since 100% of everything in _The Enquire_ is fiction, and everyone knows it’s fiction, and they seem to be making enough money to pay their lawyers, that’s all that counts. > > Ditto for _The Enquirer._ Ask John Edwards about that. The Enquirer is a mix of scandalous gossip and legally defensible near-fiction, but it’s not 100% made up. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/34 "2013-08-01T01:45:41Z")
Well, I seriously doubt any wife wants details of her husband’s infidelity rehashed in the Internet world. Bill was lucky that social media was in its infancy in the 90’s. It’s just another typical Clinton story just like the hundreds of other ones that I’ve seen since high school. He was my governor and I’ve been a Clinton watcher my entire adult life. The Clintons are a lightening rod for both good and bad news stories. That will never change. If the Monica story gets rehashed then a new generation of 20 year olds can laugh about horny Bill and his diddling cigar. The stained dress. This stuff is new information for a 20 year old. A few days later the next cycle of news rolls by and its over. > [@Marley23](#): > > They already quoted lots of it, and how is it going to be an annoyance beyond the obvious? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/35 "2013-08-01T04:00:28Z")
Slate comments on the Monica tape. Pretty much agrees with posters here that its not a big deal. > **[No, You Fools, a "Lewinsky Sex Tape" Won't Destroy Hillary Clinton](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/07/lewinsky-sex-tape-no-it-won-t-destroy-hillary-clinton.html)** > > The National Enquirer has obtained "a sex tape that Monica Lewinsky recorded for Bill Clinton at the height of their scandalous affair," according to... > [@](#): > > This is about as lazy and wrong a read on politics as you’re likely to see. The Lewinsky saga did not hurt Hillary Clinton. On the contrary, it lifted her poll numbers to the point where New York Democrats started sounding her out to run for U.S. Senate. A few examples: > > - The December 1997 NBC poll put Clinton’s favorable numbers at 45 percent. In October 1998 they were at 56 percent. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/36 "2013-08-01T11:19:05Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Ad hominem (I think). Besides, Despite his personal moral shortcomings, I seem to recall Bill handing over a fiscally & diplomatically healthy nation to his successor who, apart from being a bit of a ditz seems to have had no recent skeletons in his closet. And we all know how that turned out. But that whole debate aside–Bill getting a blowjob means Hillary is vulnerable…how? > > And yeah, sorry **ElvisL1ves** , the whole Vince Foster conspiracy thing is my dirty little pleasure. Makes Hillary more interesting. It wasnt a ‘moral failing’. It was blatant and stupid sexual harassment. Lewinsky worked under him. He also did this in the house where his wife and daughter wwere living. It was an act of monumental stupidity and immaturity. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/37 "2013-08-01T11:33:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Slate comments on the Monica tape. Pretty much agrees with posters here that its not a big deal. > ["Lewinsky Sex Tape": No, it won't destroy Hillary Clinton.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/07/31/no_you_fools_a_lewinsky_sex_tape_won_t_destroy_hillary_clinton.html) New completely-manufactured theory: it’s all part of a plan by Hillary to boost her numbers further ahead of a presidential run. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/38 "2013-08-01T12:15:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Ask John Edwards about that. The Enquirer is a mix of scandalous gossip and legally defensible near-fiction, but it’s not 100% made up. I once saved a front-page story about dinosaurs living in contemporary Lake Michigan, written as an apparently serious article. After that, it’s hard to take _any_ of their “news” seriously. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/39 "2013-08-01T12:56:06Z")
Although the Notional Inquirer is worse than the Daily Mail :smack: , even a blind pig can find an acorn. It’s good that there is an investigation of a real Presidential scandal. After all hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians died, there were many casualties amongst the Allied troops - and the US + allies then got horribly stuck in Afghanistan. Oh - not that topic then? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006/40 "2013-08-01T13:44:36Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > It was blatant and stupid sexual harassment. I don’t take issue with the rest of your post, but this is a ridiculous and needlessly inflammatory assertion. I don’t recall hearing about any unwanted advances unless they came from Ms. Monica “presidential kneepads” Lewinsky herself. Bill was (and likely is and always has been) a philandering megalomaniac and a sub-par father/husband. But the fact angry women came out of the woodwork when it would harm him most seems to suggest he never made (or followed through with) undue perks for handling his meat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tape-recording-from-monica-lewinsky-to-bill-resurfaces/665006.md?page=3)