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the aseret Senator Joe Lieberman
hadibrot SEVEN

ף ָ אְנ ִ ת אלֹ

Clinton and the Entertainment Culture

hen I was a child, there Then, in the summer of 1998, it King Saul lost his kingship because
was a family hour on became clear that President Clinton he failed to fully carry out the stern
Wtelevision during which had been involved in a sexual rela- instructions G-d gave him through
America’s parents knew their children tionship with a White House intern the prophet Samuel about the erad-
could join them and not see anything named Monica Lewinsky. I was an ication of the Amalekites. In pow-
they deemed inappropriate. Today, at early and strong supporter of Bill erful and poignant words, Samuel
most any hour on television, children Clinton’s and proud of all that he was chastised Saul: “Though you be little
can see a wide array of violations of accomplishing as President, so his in your own sight, are you not head
the values of the seventh and several offensive behavior was truly heart- of the Tribes of Israel?… Wherefore,
other commandments. breaking to me. then, did you not hearken to the voice

During the 1990s, all this went over Surely, President Clinton’s conduct of the L-rd?”
a tipping point, and parents in Con- had disrespected his wife and under- I called on the President to accept
necticut began to complain to me, mined the sanctity of their marriage. full responsibility for what he had
their Senator, that they felt as if they But it was private behavior, wasn’t done and to apologize to the country.
were in competition with the enter- it? And didn’t he continue to receive Whether it seemed fair or not, presi-
tainment culture to raise their chil- high approval ratings in public opin- dents did not have a right to privacy
dren. And they were losing. because their private behavior, once
ion polls for the job he was doing as publicized, has enormous societal
I agreed with them, but I also believed President? consequences. That loss of privacy
that America’s Constitution and laws is one of the costs that comes with
guaranteed freedom of expression In the end, I decided I had to speak all the opportunities and benefits of
and promised a limited role for gov- out because there is no such thing as occupying America’s most powerful
ernment in the private lives of the private conduct when you are Presi- position.
American people, so it was hard to dent. Everything you do will proba-
legislate this threat away. bly become public, and because you A week later, the President convened
are the most powerful person in the an interfaith gathering of clergy in the
But I had my voice and what might be country, whatever you do will influ- White House, at which he movingly
called the Senate pulpit from which ence behavior throughout the coun- took responsibility for his actions,
to speak. I joined with like-minded try. That is even more true today and asked for forgiveness.
Democrats and Republicans in argu- in the age of social media, but it is
ing that the entertainment culture a lesson that can be learned from Ultimately, President Clinton, like all
was having a bad effect on the values history as well – including Biblical of us, will be judged by a hopefully
of our children and therefore on our history. merciful G-d, but in the meantime,
country. We called on the enter- each of us must continue to strive to
tainment industry to self-regulate In the Bible, the higher you go, the realize in our lives the values of the
to protect our children. We intro- more demanding the standard to Ten Commandments, including the
duced legislation that would compel which your behavior is held, because Seventh.
the entertainment industry to adopt of the greater impact your behav-
better rating codes. The Seventh ior, good or bad, has on your people.
Commandment was never explicitly Perhaps that is the reason the Kings Adapted from With Liberty and Justice from
mentioned in the advocacy or our leg- of Israel were commanded to have OU Press/Maggid, by Senator Joe Lieberman
with Rabbi Ari Kahn
islative proposals, but its values were their own Torah Scroll, which they
definitely under attack by the enter- were to carry with them at all times. Senator Joe Lieberman is an American
tainment industry, and we and a lot of The King was not the last word. The politician who served as a United States
America’s parents were fighting back. Torah was. Senator from 1989 to 2013

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