Shame

I’ve been trying to understand the term “public shaming,” which has spawned a whole industry. The latest has HBO’s new streaming service partnering with Monica Lewinsky in producing a documentary entitled, “15 Minutes of Shame.”

Lewinsky holds herself up as a victim of extreme public shaming for the humiliation of being identified 21 years ago as the mistress of the President of the United States. She’s successfully turned that shame into cash, which is quite a trick, if you ask me.

I do have some sympathy for Lewinsky. She was victimized by an older more powerful man who lied about his actions and, for the most part, got away with it. Now 43, Lewinsky says it is important to understand the issue and not just point fingers at each other. Sort of like the finger wag given to the American public when the President was telling the world he didn’t have a relationship with “that woman, Miss Lewinsky…”

You know I voted for Bill Clinton back in 1992. I did it because I believed in his ideas about education. In that sense, Lewinsky and I have something in common. We were both seduced. The difference between the two of us is---I’m not trying to make a living off my moment of weakness.

I’m sure there are better examples of public shaming than what happened to the White House intern. We should never make it a practice to ridicule people who are different from us. Publicly disgracing and dishonoring another human for their differences is not acceptable behavior….ever.

Clinton and Lewinsky wear shame because of their actions and similarities….not their differences. What happened in the West Wing back in 1998 was a shame….So much so that I don’t care to relive it… on a streaming service.