Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 01:16:10 -0500 (EST) From: "V. Scatamburlo" To: psn Subject: Paula Jones Case I have been following the coverage of the dismissal of the Paul Jones case for most of the day and I was curious what other PSN'ers might be thinking about it. All I am going to offer here are a few preliminary thoughts before I take off on vacation for a week. First, let me premise this by saying that I am definitely no fan of Slick Willie--not by a long shot, but I have been equally appalled by some of the women involved in this fiasco--that has gotten me into some hot water with some of my fellow feminists, so be it--I'm no essentialist!!! In any case, I have to say that I found myself laughing out loud this evening upon hearing Jone's Rutherford Institute lackey attorney claiming that their aim was to encourage women who had been sexually harassed to speak out, that they were trying, basically, to further the objectives of the women's movement. How very noble of them--puh-leeze!! If anything, institutes like Rutherford and other right-wing institutes/think-tanks have been engaged, for almost two decades now, in a sustained effort to roll back, if not obliterate, many of the gains made by the women's and civil rights movements. To hear these right-wingers express their desire to advance "the" feminist cause was at once laughable and deeply disturbing. By adopting a feminist-sounding rhetoric, these institutes and their lackeys obscure the ways in which they themselves have been complicit in fostering and sustaining the backlash against feminism. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to dismiss the seriousness of the alleged charges, nor am I suggesting that Slick Willie is innocent by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, what I am trying to do is think about this whole fiasco in much broader terms. I'm no conspiracy buff but I can't help but notice one thing in all of this--and that is how the right (at least in this case) is now attempting to position itself as a defender of women's rights and a champion of feminist issues--could this be because they know they need to capture more of the female vote? I'm just musing at this point and I've made no effort to offer a sustained "sociological" analysis, but there are just many things about this whole fiasco that "bug" me beyond belief. Like I said, just musing at this point. Anybody out there have any thoughts on this mess???