Sir, - Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary, September 9th) begins with a false premise. The issue is not, nor was it ever, private, consensual sex. The Lewinsky issue came to the fore because Mr Clinton denied sexual harrassment charges (brought by Paula Jones and supported by others) and used the resources of his office both to stall the process of justice and to slander the accuser. When the Lewinsky issue was raised as one of several instances corroborating a pattern of sexual liaisons, he denied any "sexual relationship with that woman" and again used the power of his office to protect himself from the legal consequences of his behaviour. I am really tired of hearing this referred to as a private matter. Your readers may be unaware that a year or so ago a woman was forced to resign a promising career in the US Air Force because she had an affair with a married civilian, extramarital affairs being forbidden in the military. She was threatened with a court martial had she not resigned. President Clinton is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. How is his extramarital affair a private matter?
The defining criterion of harassment or abuse is the power differential. Those who continue to refer to this affair as consensual sex ignore the power involved. Using the office of the presidency to establish a sexual Alison with a 21-year-old is a clear abuse of power. It is unlikely that the 50year-old wife of a senator would be seen as having been taken advantage of by the president, but a 21-year-old intern is clearly the victim of an abuse of power.
The most distressing part of this whole affair for many of us is that the president has strung this out over many months because he is too arrogant to admit to sleazy behaviour. Saying "Yes, I did and it was none of your business" last January would have ended it. Instead his family has been humiliated, his supporters betrayed, the office of the president denigrated and the country made an international laughing-stock. Then, with supreme confidence, he continues to spin the facts until Ken Starr, Monica Lewinsky, the Republicans, those who hate Arkansas and the national press are responsible for the poor boy being distracted and unable to do his job. - Yours, etc., Loretta Young Silvia,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.