Monica Lewinsky has climbed out of mothballs to regale and motivate a large group of young women at Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Summit. Waxing on for some time about the horrors of the shaming possibilities of the internet, of which she was, in her words, Patient Zero, Ms. Lewinsky made only passing reference to the shaming acts that gave rise to her being shamed into Patient-Zero status. And when she did, she romanticized the acts in question as the result of her falling in love “with my boss in a 22-year-old sort of way. It happens.” But, she continued “my boss was the President of the United States. That probably happens less often.” She then observed that “in 1995 we started an affair that lasted, on and off, for two years.”

Moving right along, she complained that, thanks to the Drudge report, “[O]ver-night I went from being a completely private figure to a publicly humiliated one.” In essence, what Ms. Lewinsky appears to be saying is that her being shamed was more the result of the publicity attendant her conduct than the shameful nature of the conduct itself, or the context in which that behavior took place.

She then launched into a tirade about Ken Starr, “a politically motivated independent prosecutor” who, it seems was trying to use a “sexual harassment suit against a sitting President (brought by someone else, not me)” to embarrass that poor innocent sitting president. And, of course, she further blames her “so-called friend,” Linda Tripp for providing shaming food for fodder. At no point does she blame our former president for any of her lamentable circumstances, even though he was getting ready to throw her under the bus as a “stalker” when the blue dress surfaced and made such a course of action imprudent.

In short, Ms. Lewinsky’s tale of woe is explained in terms somewhere between the naïve act of a young lady in love (with a married man) and the devil made me do it.

And for this pitiful and prolonged explanation -- all in the noble interest of sparing some other poor soul the grief she has suffered -- she received a standing ovation (from an audience of approximately 1,000 young women). I don’t mean to seem mean spirited, but I find this mind boggling -- that her “shameful” conduct should turn into a morality play -- grist for little more than a very dull soap opera. As in the case of Judge Robert Bork, her name has been turned into a verb, with the notable difference that she did it to herself, while Judge Bork had it thrust on him.

Now, without wanting to relive those tabloid years, let’s set the record straight re who did what when and under what circumstances, i.e. who is really to blame for that whole tawdry episode which resulted in the only impeachment of an elected “sitting president” in our history. And, in doing so, let’s clear up some preliminary matters: Ken Starr was, and is, a gentleman, a legal scholar, and, were it not for the Lewinsky mess (which he was sucked into), would probably be sitting on the Supreme Court today. He was merely doing his job. Linda Tripp, knowing of the Clintons’ proclivity for destroying people, was protecting herself by recording these conversations. And Drudge was just doing his job -- reporting the news, and folks, I don’t think that I have to tell you that this was news (and was tied directly to the Paula Jones lawsuit, in which Bill Clinton perjured himself and which he ultimately settled with Ms. Jones.) And the whole mess could have been avoided if Bill Clinton could have kept his pants on and just done his job

One other point that lurks in the background of this “affair” -- the matter of “privacy,” i.e. one’s right to it. Now how does that, or could that, apply here -- Ms. Lewinsky was a public employee, working for the consummate public employee (our president), serviced him in the most public of places, i.e. the people’s House, and, on occasion, did so while he was engaged in conversation with another public employee (a Congressman). I think we can safely eliminate any privacy issue here (assuming that, in today’s internet world, any of us have any privacy).

Clinton, after lying about his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky -- I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky -- was backed into having to explain that comment by claiming that fellatio is not sexual relations (I recall, at the time, in a column I then wrote for a local paper, that I wondered how many wives would have bought that explanation). Clinton’s uncanny ability to parse words -- i.e. it depends on what is is – was certainly entertaining. She’s 22 (an adult for most purposes) and an employee of his, he’s the married president of the U.S., and he’s securing sexual favors from her -- and Ken Starr, Linda Tripp, and Matt Drudge are the bad guys in this melodrama?

And I don’t mean to drag Clinton’s marriage into this -- particularly since he pays so little attention to it himself -- but I was amazed at the time that this broke that Hillary was portrayed as a victim. And, as a consequence, it was one of only two times in memory that she received love from the public (she really isn’t very lovable). Why my amazement? Because Monica Lewinsky was just one of many (hundreds according to a confession that he allegedly made to Jennifer Flowers) women with whom Bill Clinton broke marital ranks (we only know of the obvious ones, e.g. Flowers, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broaddrick, Dolly Kyle Browning etc., all of whom, according to Clinton, are lying). How do you become a victim and the object of sympathy on the occasion of your husband’s 100th peccadillo?

But the sex is really not the important element of this tawdry entanglement; it's the absence of shame. Ms. Lewinsky, having engaged in shameful conduct, now wishes to form a “no-shaming,” club, of which she is the charter member -- Patient Zero. Isn’t there a touch of irony here -- someone with no sense of shame is making the case for not shaming some one who engages in shameful conduct? You gotta love it! Is there any shame left in this country?? If there is, it certainly can’t be found in the Democrat Party.