Not to be outdone by the Washington Post, the New York Times has published its own long story documenting the steps taken to counter terrorism over the past 8 years or so. One of the more interesting things that becomes clear when reading the article is that the Monica Lewinsky scandal was a huge distraction from the fight against terrorism. President Clinton is to blame for this because he allowed his poor impulse control to derail his entire administration. The Republicans are to blame for cynically accusing the President of using his response to the embassy attacks to distract the country from the scandal. In the end, the Lewinsky affair and the response to it almost certainly played a role in the loss of thousands of lives.