There's nothing the media likes more than to engage in a feeding frenzy over the latest celebrity sex scandal. Distraction and entertainment remain the paramount duties of the official gatekeepers of news and information. Of course, it always helps if the latest offender is a member of government--always a safe target. (Witness the U.S. media vacuum over revelations in a recent issue of the English magazine, Punch, about the sexual transgressions of Bill Gates--including long weekends with his mistress, and pool parties featuring nude dancers.)

Of course, the notion that power and sex are intimately entwined provides endless fascination for such a puritanical country (by European standards) as the U.S. In fact, in the era of a Bob Packwood, a Brock Adams, or a Clarence Thomas (or JFK, for that matter, if you're looking for examples from past eras), few can express genuine shock and indignation at the latest Clinton story. Whether it's U.S. military commanders, the local junior high school teacher, or the pastor of a certain Eastside congregation, it's widely acknowledged that men in positions of power often cannot resist the temptation to use their status for their own ends. That power corrupts is no secret to most folks.

However, the real story of "Naughty-gate" (as one British tabloid dubbed it) is the timing. With the Pope castigating unbridled capitalism and calling for an end to the cruel U.S. embargo of Cuba, editors and pundits were starting to feel uncomfortable. And of course, they wouldn't want to dwell too long on Clinton's soft-glove treatment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the continuance of U.S. foreign and military aid to the Israeli government in violation of the Oslo peace accords.

Interestingly, at the same time that the Clinton PR team began their damage control, a recent Hollywood movie ("Wag the Dog") has preempted their chance of diverting attention, say, with a quick bombing of Baghdad. The movie satirizes such feats as Reagan's invasion of Grenada with a very timely twist--the fictional President has been caught with his pants down with a girl scout. Life imitates art. (Unfortunately, the movie never rises to the level of real art--it lacks the wit that would come with a deeper analysis and understanding of economic divisions, and how the media serves to continue and perpetuate those divisions.)

The media is endlessly fascinated by political sex. But no one seriously believes the media is interested in sexual politics. If that were the case, the daily affronts and violence against women would not be relegated to page three of the local section of the newspaper. The emergence of yet another serial killer of women in Washington state, for example, would command national attention. Issues like equal pay for equal work would not be ignored in favor of sexual intrigue. Discrimination and violence against sexual minorities would not be relegated to gay-themed or arts newspapers, but would become topics of discussion in schools and workplaces all over the country.

Instead, a disempowered populace remains distracted by the sexual antics of a President who has surely committed more grievous sins with his trade and domestic policies than with his penis.