Lewinsky Addresses Child-Parent Privilege

Re “Tell Momma All About It? Not Without a Lawyer,” by Monica S. Lewinsky, Commentary, May 11: With its usual bad taste, The Times chose to run a column on Mother’s Day written by a young lady (?) whose only claim to fame is that she flashed her chunky thong-covered rear at the president of our country, then performed oral sex on him in one of the most respected places in the world, the Oval Office.

Thank you once again for reminding us of the “unwashed blue dress” and what an embarrassment President Clinton and Lewinsky were to our country. But why do this on Mother’s Day? Monica’s very disrespectful behavior and the damage she and Clinton did to the image of the office of the presidency surely would not make any self-respecting mother proud.

Stuart S. Boss

Arcadia

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Thank you for publishing Lewinsky’s well-written piece. Her plight is even more poignant when viewed in the light of the recent revelation of Bill Bennett’s gambling dilemma. Both Bennett and Lewinsky participated in activities that are legal -- gambling and consensual sex between adults -- but although one activity is portrayed as excusable, the other is condemned and further scrutinized to the point of dragging a parent into a courtroom to testify against her own daughter. We are asked to evaluate Bennett on his behavior from this point forward, but these same folks a mere five years ago were dragging a sitting U.S. president through the indignity of discussing his private behavior in public.

Glenda Tamblyn

Northridge