DON'T CRY FOR ME, ARKANSAS

One of the still curious aspects of the Clinton scandals is why national women's organizations chose to defend Bill Clinton over the numerous women he is alleged to have mistreated. The Review addressed this in 1998:

PROGRESSIVE REVIEW, 1998 The level of liberal discourse continues to decline. Alec Baldwin, on the Conan O'Brien show, suggested that viewers "stone Henry Hyde to death." Blanche Wiesen Cook called impeachment supporters "filthy mean-minded swiny people." Toni Morrison described them as a "an arrogant theocracy genuflecting at the knees of a minority. . . as sinister as [they are] toxic."

At the same gathering Episcopal Bishop Paul Moore even worried about the "thousands, perhaps millions, of people whose lives will be in jeopardy" if Clinton were to be impeached. Does he really think Al Gore is that terrible?

Here in Washington Betty Friedan declared those opposed to Clinton "a bunch of dirty old white men." And she asked, "Even if he did what he's alleged to have done, what's the big deal?" Friedan is apparently unaware of -- or has forgotten -- a few things such as:

- The death threats against Gennifer Flowers

- The threats against another Clinton lover, Sally Perdue, including a visit from an operative who told her, "there were people in high places who were anxious about me and they wanted me to know that keeping my mouth shut would be worthwhile. . . If I was a good little girl, and didn't kill the messenger; I'd be set for life: a federal job, nothing fancy but a regular paycheck. . . I'd never have to worry again. But if I didn't take the offer, then they knew that I went jogging by myself and he couldn't guarantee what would happen to my 'pretty little legs.' "

- The use of private investigators to investigate, bribe and/or intimidate Clinton's former paramours.

- The constant public trashing of women in Clinton's life by both White Houses sources and the media. For example, Newsweek's Even Thomas called Paula Jones a "sleazy woman with big hair who came out of a trailer park." She later won a $850,000 settlement with Clinton.

- Kathleen Willey had the tires on her car mysteriously punctured with dozens of nails and her cat suddenly disappeared. Subsequently, Willey was out jogging near her home when a stranger approached and asked if the tires had been fixed and if the cat had been found. The man then asked Willey, "Don't you get the message?" and jogged off. Willey also found an animal skull on her porch the day after she testified in the Paula Jones case.

- Linda Tripp was considered in enough danger that FBI agents put her in a safe house after she revealed her conversations with Monica Lewinsky. Although buried by the corporate media, both Lewinsky and her mother expressed concerns for Monica's own physical safety.

All that, Ms. Friedan, is a very big deal.

And this list did not include the later addition of Juanita Broaddrick, a nursing home administrator who claimed that Clinton had raped her. In all these cases, the major women's organizations consistently supported the man who is in line to be Hillary Clinton' s co-president.