Clinton's famous remark about the meaning of the word 'is' was made on
August 17, 1998, during his testimony before the federal grand jury
that was investigating his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. The
videotaped testimony was released to the media on September 21, 1998.
Here you'll find the actual quote, with a summary of the context:
"Take, for example, the exchange in which President Clinton first
contended that, since he had no sexual intercourse with Monica
Lewinsky, he had no 'sexual relations' with her.
He was reminded that, during the deposition, his lawyer, Robert
Bennett, referring to Lewinksy's affidavit, said, 'There is absolutely
no sex of any manner, shape or form.' Oh, well, said Clinton, he was
too preoccupied to correct Bennett.
Anyway, Clinton argued, Bennett was speaking in the present tense. 'It
all depends,' said the president, 'on what the meaning of the word
'is' is. If the -- if he -- if 'is' means is and never has been, that
is not -- that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a
completely true statement. . . .
'Now if someone had asked me on that day, 'Are you having sexual
relations with Ms. Lewinksy?' That is, asked me a question in the
present tense, I would have said, 'No.' And it would have been
completely true.'
'Do you mean today,' the incredulous prosecutor asked, 'that because
you are not engaging in sexual activity with Ms. Lewinsky during the
deposition that the statement of Mr. Bennett might literally be true?"
Reason Online
http://reason.com/glassman/092298.shtml
On this page you can read the transcript in which the quote appears:
Jurist: The Law Professors' Network
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/transcr.htm
As far as I am aware, Bill Clinton has provided no further
clarification of this portion of his testimony. Considering the amount
of ridicule that the odd remarks about the word 'is' brought from the
media, I think it can be assumed that Mr. Clinton probably prefers to
let the matter drop rather than put his foot back into the hot water.
Regarding what he might have meant, it appears that the quibbling
about the meaning of the word 'is' was an attempt to avoid admitting
his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinski by taking refuge in the
fact that the relationship was in the past, and that he was not now,
currently, at the time of the question, having sexual relations with
her.
My Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "clinton" "lewinsky" "meaning of the word is"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=clinton+lewinsky+%22meaning+of+the+word+is
I hope this is helpful. If anything is unclear or incomplete, or if a
link doesn't work for you, please request clarification; I'll gladly
offer further assistance before you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
