November 30, 2007
From “Boxers Or Briefs” To YouTube
The famous question seventeen-year old Laetitia Thompson offered Bill Clinton on the Washington D.C. set of MTV’s Rock the Vote during the 1992 presidential campaign should never have been answered. She asked, “All the world’s dying to know — boxers or briefs?”
I doubt the world was really dying to know. The question was chosen to titillate and to draw attention to Ms. Thompson. We weren’t aware at the time how obsessed Clinton was with what goes on below his belt so instead of ignoring her with a polite “Thank you, next question,” he gave the moment traction and answered, “usually briefs.”
Thus the trivialization of the process began, demeaning the presidency to a degree Bill himself exceeded with Monica Lewinsky. If Monica ever runs for office might we expect an MTVer to ask, “All the world’s dying to know — circumcised or not circumcised?

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