THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MONICA

        Do you remember when you were very young and the teacher gave you a list of things or a bunch of pictures and you had to decide which word or picture didn't fit with the rest of the group?

        A cat, a dog, a rabbit and a stone.  Which one does not belong?

        Now try this one.  Four SELF SERVING LIES by executives of our government.  Which one does not belong?

        • "I was out of the loop." -- Bush
        • "I did not have sexual relations with that woman..." -- Clinton
        • "There was no deal of arms for hostages" -- Reagan
        • "Read my lips, no new taxes" -- Bush

        Here's a clue: three of these lies have to do with affairs of their State office, and one has to do with a personal affair.

        WOW!  Talk about not fitting into a category.

        Now consider how the conservative election strategists are spinning tale after tale directed toward what they believe will influence women.  Notice how they have already latched on to the anger and distrust some women have UNWISELY expressed to the media.

        Unwisely, because these will be used in attack ads against Democrats and/or pro-choice candidates in the coming elections.

        These strategists just ignore the facts and keep repeating certain buzz phrases over and over so people will come to believe they are true.  Buzz phrases that contain directions.

        One that we have heard several times on most media outlets goes like this.  The person being interviewed or the announcer looks sadly at the camera and says, "Women are so devastated by the President's lie that they can no longer trust him with their issues. They think he should resign."

        Or a variation on the same theme, "Women are so angry at Clinton that they are going to show that anger by staying away from the polls."

        Along with these instructions to us "dummies" comes the demonizing of President Clinton to justify why women are devastated and angry.

        They have dragged out names of a few women that Paula Corbin Jones's lawyers found but that most of us have never heard of them.  This is because the Judge refused to have them listed by name in the court records.  Instead, she assigned a number.

        Now, we are given their names and the unproven allegations the Jones lawyers attributed to them.  One is said to have been raped by Clinton, another has left the country in fear of being killed by Clinton and so on and so on ad nauseum.

        Where did these women come from?  We are told that both Starr and Jones's investigators dug them out of Arkansas and there is no proof of their allegations.

        'Course we've all heard of Kathleen Willey who came to cry on Bill's shoulder one day and claimed that he groped her.  It caused her such pain and anguish that she wrote him warm and fuzzy thank you letters and continued to visit him in the Oval office.

        But, of course, the top name on everyone's lips is Monica.

        Monica who became known to us first through the leaks of telephone tapes recorded by the Tripp.

        Monica who was portrayed to us through these tapes; through interviews with former boy friends and letters to friends.

        Monica who has readily admitted that she had been carrying on an adult sexual life for several years before coming to Washington, D.C.

        Monica who proclaimed that she had lied all her life.

        Now, suddenly, we hear that she is a juvenile, a neophyte in the game of sex.  A child, even, at the tender age of 20.  A babe in arms who was beguiled, besmirched and despoiled by a heinous man twice her age!

        They are even referring to her, would you believe, as a Lolita?!

        Kinda makes you weep, blubber and choke up, don't it?

        We think that any one who does may be among those women who claim they are hurt or mad.

        We ask that you think about loyalty and forgiveness to someone who has over the years of his administration, risked his own political capital many times for us.

        We ask that you remember that a very smart, strong and savvy woman has.

        And she is the only woman who has a right to be angry and hurt.  A little note of encouragement and support would not go amiss:

        First.Lady@whitehouse.gov

        Twanda@ConnRiver.net

        1998-035

        Copyright 1998 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@ConnRiver.net.

        G e n d e r G a p p e r s   T M