Rand Paul's misguided war on Hillary Clinton

On Meet the Press, he alleged that Clinton “took advantage of a girl that was 20 years old,” calling it “predatory behavior.”

This is total lunacy. Let’s remember how the affair started: Lewinsky flashed her thong at the president. She later described this act to Barbara Walters as a “small, subtle, flirtatious gesture.” “Prey” she was not. Unless, that is, you view an adult woman the way Sen. Paul apparently does: as too mentally undeveloped to make her own (bad) decisions.

Though Paul says the “girl” was 20, she was actually 22 when the affair started and 24 when it ended. Either way, younger people sign up to go to war. It’s hard to imagine Paul portraying a man Lewinsky’s age as the abused victim of an affair in which he eagerly participated. None of this excuses the former president’s behavior. But even the most fanatical Clinton hater knows there was no violence or abuse or unwanted advances. There was a consensual affair.