MonicA

Richard Cohen of the Washington Post (via Daniel Finkelstein’s CommentCentral) celebrates the recent academic achievements of Monica Lewinsky - newly graduated from the LSE with a Masters in social psychology - and rightly takes to task those journalists still gleefully condemning her for her youthful indiscretions:

Her thesis was titled "In Search of the Impartial Juror: An Exploration of the Third Person Effect and Pre-Trial Publicity." Her thesis might well have been called "In Search of the Impartial Journalist," because she was immediately the subject of more poke-in-the-ribs stories about you know what. The Post, a better paper than it was that day, called her "dumb-but-smart." It was more than could be said for that piece. …

Fortunately for me -- and probably this applies to you as well -- my outrageous deeds are known to only a few, and some of those people, after a lifetime of bad marriages and poor investments, have probably forgotten them. In Lewinsky's case, her youthful indiscretion has been forgotten by no one. On the contrary, it's recorded for the ages, in House and Senate proceedings, in the files of the creepy special prosecutor, in the databases of newspapers, in presidential histories and the musty joke files of second-rate comics.

One of the reasons I have never fallen for Bill Clinton’s much-touted charisma is the inescapable truth that he was perfectly happy to see Ms Lewinsky trashed as a fantasising floozy to save his own political skin. That cloud rather obscures for me the progressive idealism which seems still to dazzle others.

Where I partially part company with Mr Cohen is with this remark:

It would be nice, too, and fair, also, if Lewinsky were treated by the media as it would treat a man. What's astounding is the level of sexism applied to her, as if the wave of the women's movement broke over a new generation of journalists and not a drop fell on any of them. Where, pray tell, is the man who is remembered just for sex?

I think the Lib Dems’ very own human anagram, Lembit Öpik, might bestow a rueful smile in the direction of that question.

Mr Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?

Nick Robinson has posted a staunch defence of the BBC’s political reporting, defending Auntie from the charge levelled by the Indy’s Steve Richards that it is becoming ‘anti-politics’.

Mr Robinson’s argument - ‘This simply won’t do’ - would have been a whole lot more persuasive had BBC Online not been carrying prominently the story, ‘MP intervened in Cheeky Girl case’ - with its clear innuendo that Lembit Opik has abused his position as a member of Parliament to help keep his nubile new girlfriend in the country. Read the story, and it is perfectly clear that Lembit was ultra-careful at every stage to ensure he acted with scrupulous propriety.

So what was the justification for the BBC’s splash? None. It’s the usual cheap trick of hack journalism in which the quality press - and increasingly the BBC - specialise: the desire to peddle gossip trumps their wish to report news, and they’ll invent any spurious public service angle to justify the lapse.

(More on the Robinson-Richards’ spat tomorrow when I’m more awake.)

You wait ages for one Lib Dem poll...

Over at Iain Dale’s gaff, you can choose which Lib Dem MP you think has fared best in 2006 in his latest poll.

At the moment, Lembit Öpik appears to be storming to victory, based (I am sure) solely on his political achievements these past 12 months. Perhaps this signifies the end of the ‘Curse of Lembit’?

I voted for Chris Huhne. I thought I should do so once in 2006. And he has - without doubt - been the MP who has most made their mark on the party for the right reasons this year.

Some people will do anything

Nice try, Lembit. But I'm still not going to include you in my poll.