It's the Timing, Stupid

Stephanie By Stephanie Herman
Rightgrrl Co-Founder
stephanie@free-market.net
August 1, 1999
Haters of Linda Tripp gleefully filled my email-box on Friday with the hurriedly-typed news that their chief nemesis had been indicted by the Howard County grand jury for violating Maryland's wiretapping law. The word "indictment" is all they needed to substantiate their belief that Tripp was a hateful, evil person. Then, one by one, they cemented their hatred for this woman with creative descriptions of Tripp's physical appearance.

I'm left to wonder if these Tripp-haters would be more understanding of the Lewinsky tapes if Linda Tripp had been a bit more attractive.

It's for this reason that I don't debate wiretapping issues with them. Just try explaining "exigent circumstances" or the legal interpretation of "interception" with someone only interested in describing Linda Tripp's bottom in the most vulgar way possible.

But if I WERE to respond to my Tripp hate mail, I think I'd make the point that in the same week Clinton was forced to testify before Starr's Grand Jury and finally admit his affair with Lewinsky, our President bombed an aspirin factory in the Sudan and the media toddled after the shiny distraction. And then I'd point out that in the same week that the Cox Report surfaced, hinting at Clinton's treasonous collusion with China, our President started a war in Kosovo and the media toddled after the shiny distraction. And then I'd wonder about the fact that in the same week that Clinton is sanctioned by a judge and fined $90,000 for committing perjury, Linda Tripp is suddenly indicted on wiretapping charges and the media are toddling after the shiny distraction.

Any bets on how many Tripp-haters would buy into the possibility that the Tripp indictment is the political equivalent of bombing an aspirin factory?

This article copyright © 1999 by Stephanie Herman and may not be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of its author. All rights reserved.