Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Media has rushed to judgment in Clinton sex scandal

Friday, Jan. 30, 1998 | 10:46 a.m.

Do we really want to know? And do you really want to tell them?

When all is said and done -- and to be certain it may be a long time before everyone in this country is through saying -- these two questions will beg for answers from the American people. And, until the public steps up forcefully and with clear intentions to answer them, my fear is that we will invite over and over again the kind of degradation and malicious discourse that we have been subjected to the past two weeks.

I am not a particularly squeamish person and anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that a good joke, even a dirty one, or even a bit of salacious conversation will appeal to some prurient interest lurking beneath the surface of my otherwise stable demeanor. In short, I am not afraid of some good gossip or titillating sexual discussion. And, in that regard, I believe that I am probably more tolerant than most Americans might be.

That's why I am concerned about the new low level of public discourse to which the media has taken our country in trying to out-scoop each other on the Monica Lewinsky matter. It is apparent to any sane viewer that in the media's rush to judgment it has forsaken tried and true rules of journalistic engagement and created a cesspool of news coverage that, regardless of what the public thinks about what did or didn't happen, has managed to disgust most Americans.

And as this story drags on and the facts are dragged out and away from the tonnage of trash talk that has filled the airwaves and the front pages, it appears as if what many thought was the sex scandal of the century may turn out to be something quite different when the real story is told.

What many in the media and their leaking sponsors want us to believe is a story of dilly dallying at the White House by the President and a youthful intern. What will likely result, however, is a sex scandal of incredible proportions that threatens far more in this country than the presidency. For, if the media gets away with the kind of sexploitational coverage it has thrust upon America, can it be far behind the political curve to expect that every office in this land will be litmus-tested by the following question: With whom, what, where and how have you had sex in your life?

Just think about it. A man or woman files for political office in Nevada. Given the new level of inappropriate political questioning, he or she is immediately asked to tell the voters whether they have had sex with someone not their spouse and, if so, when, where and under what circumstances? And if that isn't personal enough, they will be asked about the kind, quality and quantity of sex the candidate is having with his or her spouse. The answer to that ought to provide the body politic with enough to talk about for the duration of the campaign!

I know this sounds a bit absurd but I would suggest that just a few years ago the thought of anyone in or out of the media publicly questioning or reporting on the sex lives of our elected leaders would have been just as absurd. And, yet, look where we are today. You can't turn on CNN or any other all-news program without being buried beneath an avalanche of sexual innuendoes and charges that would make longshoremen blush. You can't even turn on regular television broadcast without fear of your children hearing the most salacious and overly descriptive discussions of the president of the United States and someone not his wife. And you can barely pick up a newspaper without reading a new headline twist on an old and very familiar theme. There is just too much information out there!

I still hope and believe that this story will fizzle and those who have pushed it beyond all reasonable boundaries will be lost in trying to explain their rush to judgment and their rush to irrationality.

But, regardless of the outcome, we have now reached the point in this country where it is OK to ask the questions no one ever dared to ask.

Will this newspaper ask those questions? I don't know yet.

But I do know the kind of answer I would expect from any candidate who is asked those kind of questions as a precondition for election. And that answer is, "none of your damn business."

Enough said?