No Lewinsky, says angry dad
IT has been a tough week for some people connected with the White House. Monica Lewinsky's father, Dr Bernard Lewinsky, has launched a desperate bid to stop the spread of the use of the family name as a euphemism for oral sex.
His lawyers have been in touch with NBC after a character in a new television series, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, was described in an episode last week as 'getting a Lewinsky' - thereby throwing the spotlights of Hollywood once and for all on a phrase that is apparently already common argot on the streets of urban America.
'Why don't they say he got a 'Clinton job' rather than use my name, and see how the White House responds to that?' a clearly bitter Dr Lewinsky told Variety, the entertainment industry magazine, in an interview which has merely seemed to propel its useage through a burgeoning national debate.
'The point behind my outrage is that there is a family behind this name . . . There are probably millions of executives and presidents and chief executive officers that have been so serviced, if you want to call it that, and there is no need to label that act by something brought to the media by Linda Tripp,' he said, referring to his daughter's one-time confidante who taped their phone conversations.
The Beverly Hills physician has endured countless send-ups on America's fearsome late-night talk shows - some in which his daughter agreed to be interviewed - but insists Law And Order has 'gone too far'. The company has yet to agree to an apology. There seems to be little public sympathy, with some commentators pointing out that Dr Lewinsky has even benefited from the scandal.
Dr Lewinsky's patience was first tested two months ago when he received several computer-generated letters asking him whether, as a long-time Democratic Party member, he would like to contribute to Bill Clinton's legal fund - bills incurred chiefly through the Monicagate scandal. He declined rather publicly.
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, is facing her own battle of identification. Her sudden public declaration of life-long support for the New York Yankees baseball team over the summer (readers should note Mrs Clinton was born in Chicago but is poised to run for the Senate in New York) has landed her in a difficult political position.