Inside the Beltway: Monica mocks ‘The Monica Lewinsky Scandal’

NEWS AND OPINION:

CNN’s sister network HLN has produced a new special on former President Bill Clinton, and the title tells all: “The Monica Lewinsky Scandal.” Those who recall the tumultuous events that went public on the Drudge Report on Jan. 19, 1998, will be familiar with the guests on the program. Monica Lewinsky herself has taken notice.

“In the wake of the #MeToo movement, HLN revisits the shocking affair that nearly toppled a presidency: Bill Clinton and a 21-year-old White House intern — Monica Lewinsky. The scandal would make household names of Linda Tripp and Ken Starr, and change the way the media covers the President,” the Turner-owned network says in advance production notes.

“The two-hour retrospective features new interviews with former Clinton advisers, White House journalists and other key players including Wolf Blitzer, CNN anchor; John King, CNN anchor and chief national correspondent; Dick Morris, former Clinton adviser and friend; Lucianne Goldberg, former literary agent to Linda Tripp; Solomon Wisenberg, former prosecutor from the Office of Independent Council; and Michael Isikoff, Yahoo! News chief investigative correspondent,” says HLN.

“All share behind-the-scenes stories about how the affair began, how it was uncovered and how the investigation and impeachment unfolded. The episode also includes, from the vast CNN archive, the secret Tripp audio recordings and interviews with Lewinsky and Tripp,” notes the network, which will broadcast the program on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.

Ms. Lewinsky, now a contributor to Vanity Fair and an anti-bullying activist, had her own response, tweeting that it be renamed “The Starr Investigation” or “The Clinton Impeachment,” and advising HLN: “Fixed it for you. You’re welcome.”

AND THEN THERE’S THIS POLL

According to a new Rasmussen Reports survey released Tuesday: “Just 13 percent of likely U.S. voters do not believe the allegations by several women who claim Bill Clinton sexually assaulted them. Fifty-nine percent think the allegations are true. A sizable 28 percent are undecided.”

MERRY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

“Merry Christmas.”

It is a simple but powerful symbol of President Trump’s determination to end the cultural war on Christmas, banned for so many year from public venues and communications in favor of more generic seasonal references.

The official greeting on the 2017 White House Christmas card is indeed “Merry Christmas,” and it is signed by the president, first lady Melania Trump and son Barron. This is a distinct break from former President Barack Obama’s greetings, which relied on variations of “happy holidays.”

BERNIE SANDERS WARNS OF ’OLIGARCHY’

His itinerary and intent are clear, his language is dramatic and he is definitely fired up. That would be Sen. Bernard Sanders, who is heading to the heartland to warn against a coming “oligarchy” in America and make war with the Republican tax cut plan. Bernie hates the legislation.

“It is not moral. This is not what the American people want. This is not what our country and our pledge for ’liberty and justice for all’ is supposed to be about. That is why I am going on the road this week to talk directly to working people in Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania about this disastrous piece of legislation. If we stand together — black, white, Latino, Asian American, Native American, male and female, young and old, gay and straight — we can defeat this horrific bill,” the self-described democratic socialist advises in a new outreach, which also pushes a public petition calling on Congress to reject the GOP tax reform.

“We must stop this bill. We must stop the Republicans from moving this country into an oligarchy. Brothers and sisters. We must do exactly the opposite of what Trump is attempting to do,” Mr. Sanders says, omitting any title for President Trump.

“He wants to divide us up by the color of our skin, our gender, our religion, our sexual orientation or our country of origin. He wants us fighting with each other while Wall Street and the billionaire class laugh all the way to the bank. Our job is to bring our people together around an agenda that creates an economy and government that works for all, not just the 1 percent. Defeating this terrible piece of legislation will be an important step forward. This bill is a moral abomination.”

A PATRIOT’S SOIREE

A gathering of patriots? Could be. The fourth annual Red, White and Blue Gala hosted by the American Principles Project Foundation is encouraging guests to wear red, white and blue cocktail attire — certainly an interesting idea. The reception and dinner will be staged at historic hotel four blocks north of the White House; the speaker for the evening is none other than White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who will face a cordial audience for a change, rather than the wildly gesticulating press corps.

The mission statement of the host foundation explains all.

“We believe that when the Founding Fathers declared all men to be created equal, they meant that we are equal in our dignity as human beings. As such, we recognize that human flourishing requires public policy with human dignity at its heart. Our goal is to transform this concept into the concrete. This means that our focus is on public policy solutions that affirm the family as the most basic unit of society,” the group notes.

A delicious evening will be had by all. The menu includes baby spinach salad with fresh berries and feta cheese, filet of Angus beef with cabernet mushroom reductions, basil whipped potatoes, broccolini and roasted tomatoes. There’s a trio of desserts: pumpkin spice tiramisu, mint chocolate mousse and caramel apple-pecan crepe cake.

POLL DU JOUR

• 71 percent of likely U.S. voters oppose removing the protected status of national monuments, which reduces their public land and increases corporate development; 62 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of independents and 75 percent of Democrats agree.

• 48 percent say national monuments should be left “as is” rather than having protections removed; 51 percent of Republicans, 50 percent of independents and 44 percent of Democrats agree.

• 42 percent support creating more national monuments to protect sites of historic, cultural, scenic or scientific value; 34 percent of Republicans, 43 percent of independents and 47 percent of Democrats agree.

• 10 percent support reducing the number of protected national monuments and decreasing the size of some; 15 percent of Republicans, 8 percent of independents and 8 percent of Democrats agree.

Source: A McLaughlin & Associates poll of 1,000 U.S. voters likely to vote in 2018 general election conducted Nov. 9-13 and released Tuesday.

• Cheers, jeers, whatnot to jharper@washingtontimes.com