Put it on

So, Chelsea Clinton walks into a room full of college students ... and gets asked about Monica Lewinsky's potential effects on her mother's credibility.

The news stories I've read put a gleaming positive spin on how Chel handled the situation. Quoting from one such story, the Clinton offspring responded: "Wow. You're the first person actually that's ever asked me that question in the, I don't know maybe, 70 college campuses I've now been to. And, I do not think that is any of your business."

One story said her method of dealing with the evil, sadistic and obviously immature kid (my words. heh) who asked the question showed off her family's political skills. Whatever. I think it showed off the Clintonesque inability to discern the real world from the bubble Hillary lives in.

In every two-paragraph blurb about Bill Clinton that will ever be written, the words "Monica Lewinsky" will appear. She is the equivalent of John Wilkes Booth and Sirhan Sirhan. She is forever linked to the presidency and history of Bill Clinton.

So, yes, it is an entirely appropriate and proper question to ask. Hey, I'm sorry your dad slept around with a woman only a few years older than you. But when Congress impeaches him and the proceedings take up a year of the public discourse and permanently stamp our collective consciousness with "Monciagate," it just might be OK to ask if the whole tawdry affair might affect your mom's credibility.

I think it just might be our business.

Because when you learn, you'll know what makes the world turn.