Paula Jones: Weakened by her circus
Monday, August 18th 1997: It's hard to imagine what went through Paula Jones' mind when she allegedly left Bill Clinton's hotel room more than six years ago, but let me try.
Paula was an unremarkable girl. She was, according to the Paula Jones Legal Fund Web Site, the third daughter of a lay minister -- no pun intended. Jones was hired as a "purchasing assistant" - a low level job - by the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission. (IDC) Somehow she found herself working at the registration desk at the Governor's Quality Management Conference at a hotel in Little Rock on May 8, 1991. What that had to do with "purchasing" is only a guess.Jones claims that on that day a state trooper slipped her a note with a room number on it and told her that then Governor Bill Clinton wanted to see her.
Jones claims she was excited about the prospect of meeting the Governor and thought he might offer her a job in his office. That's why she went up to the room -- she saw it as a job interview.
Right -- And Mother Theresa is Satan.
At the time Jones was 25 years old. She was engaged. She was no ingenue. Yet she says she decided to trip up to a hotel room to meet the Governor, a married man, because she thought he might have picked her, among thousands, to work on his staff.Jones claims that Bill Clinton made small talk with her and then unzipped his pants and made an offer. She also claims that she refused that offer and "fled" the room.
Jones originally asked for a simple apology. She still asks for that, with a $700,000 plus price tag attached.
Could it be that Ms. Jones shared her "secret" with more than just her fiancee and a friend? Could she have seen the potential to catapult herself out of the working class through the eyes of a mediocre lawyer?
You bet.
But the most laughable addition to the Jones team is one Susan Carpenter McMillan, who wears about the same tonnage of stage makeup -- seemingly 24 hours a day -- as does Jones. A friend mentioned that Carpenter McMillan is a clone of Jayne Meadows, Steve Allen's wife, who might spend about $2,000 a week at the cosmetics counter at Saks, Beverly Hills.Carpenter McMillan, is a weak television commentator and spokesperson for the liberally conservative Woman's Coalition -- a front group headquartered in the sleepy burg of Pasadena where my friend Bill Paparian sits as Mayor. Vintage Carpenter McMillan claims go like this: that though she knows, loves and respects her lesbian cousin and cousin's partner of 15 years, the possibility of this or any gay couple legally adopting a child "is not only harmful to the child but also to society." She attributes this to lesbian and gay "selfishness." Ms. Carpenter McMillan is an extreme case of entrenched ignorance connected to a very glib psyche says the Gay and Lesbian Alliance.
Carpenter McMillan also runs the "Paula Jones Legal Fund" which seems to be little more than a Web page with features like "The Real Paula," and Clinton scandal lists. It's a very tasteless internet site with links to other tasteless sites.
Jones briefly appeared in front of reporters in Los Angeles to introduce Carpenter McMillan when she took her on as her spokesperson. She then quickly left without answering questions while Carpenter McMillan spoke. Carpenter McMillan, who one suspects is promoting herself rather than Jones, describes herself as a conservative and ardent feminist, who has stood by long enough listening to people who don't know Jones talk about Jones. Describing herself as a close friend of Jones, she said she "needed to make her defense of Jones official." Score another yawn for Jones and an increasingly circus-like atmosphere surrounding her case.
One proof that Carpenter McMillan is out for herself was the fact that she would head the legal fund, but told reporters she had no idea how much money was in it. I have no idea either, but might bet the total is in the high three figures.
Carpenter McMillan is "helping Jones any way she can -- recommending fund-raisers and introducing Jones to people she knows." Wow!
Lucky for Jones, huh?.
I dunno? 
Carpenter McMillan, like other predators involved on the Jones side said, "this case is not about money, Paula Jones doesn't want any money, all she wants is an apology and an admission." Right. Well, it may be true that Paula wants her good name back, but Carpenter McMillan has signed on for her own reasons -- getting herself known nationally as a defender of women's rights and a conservative to boot.
The Jones case is reaching at best. Although not many people -- at least the majority of women -- would approve of the alleged Clinton conduct, the fact is that propositioning 25 year old women isn't a crime. Clinton was not her boss -- except in the most convoluted organization chart. He took no action to harm her or her position with the Arkansas IDC.
On Friday, President Bill Clinton's lawyers offered a detailed legal criticism of the suit filed by Paula Jones and asked a federal judge to dismiss the case. If the judge refuses to dismiss the lawyers asked for the usual and methodical discovery that would at least delay any questioning of the President by Jones' lawyers.
Jones' attorneys want to question Clinton under oath about her allegations that he made "improper sexual advances" after inviting her to his Little Rock hotel room in 1991. In other words they want to blackmail him into capitulation by embarrassing him at his deposition.
In a 30-page brief, Clinton lawyer Robert Bennett urges that the case be dismissed on grounds Jones has failed to prove a valid claim under the federal civil rights statute she relies on in her suit. I agree.
Specifically, Bennett contends:1. That Jones hasn't offered a scintilla of evidence that Clinton deprived her of her constitutional rights -- even if her story is true. Clinton would, as Governor, have had to interfere with her employment by using his power as Governor to do that.
2. Jones was not coerced to meet the President. She came of her own free will -- perhaps eagerly according to her own accounts.
3. Jones was allowed to freely leave the room after allegedly rejecting Clinton's "advances."
Whether or not the Arkansas federal judge will dismiss the case depends on whether that judge feels that Jones could be seen to have been coerced by the fact that Clinton was the Governor - but coerced to do what?
At one time, Jones could have gotten some money from the Clinton defense team. Bennett all but offered it as a contribution to her favorite charity on national television a couple of months ago. But now that Paula's been taken in by the likes of her lawyers and Carpenter McMillan.
The proverbial "jig" is up.
© 1998, 1997, American Politics Journal Publications Inc.