These are fascinating, if genuine.  I'm not sure what light they shed
on our lucubrations about l'affaire Lewinsky.  --Best, Norm


Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 14:00:51 -0500 (EST)
From: KIRBY C FARRELL <[log in to unmask]>
>
> <url:http://www.salonmagazine.com/mwt/>
>
> DREAMS OF BILL: A COLLECTION OF FUNNY, STRANGE AND DOWNRIGHT PECULIAR
> DREAMS ABOUT OUR PRESIDENT, BILL CLINTON | EDITED BY JULIA
> ANDERSON-MILLER AND BRUCE JOSHUA MILLER | CAROL PUBLISHING GROUP, 217
> PAGES
>
> When Julia Anderson-Miller and Bruce Joshua Miller began asking
> Americans to divulge their dreams about President Clinton, they knew
> they were onto something -- but they couldn't have imagined how
> much. Now their 1994 book "Dreams of Bill," an enigmatic collection of
> somnolent fantasies about the president, seems eerily prescient. The
> collection -- from hundreds of ordinary citizens, mostly female --
> shows that long before Monica Lewinsky talked of trying out her
> "presidential kneepads" on Clinton, other American women had been
> there, done that in their dreams, and were more than happy to go on
> the record about it.
>
> The genesis of the book was Anderson-Miller's dream that while she was
> working at her computer, the president appeared and began massaging
> her neck. The dream felt so real -- not only did her neck feel better
> after she woke up, but she could recall the sea-breeze scent of his
> after-shave -- she was convinced others must be dreaming of Bill
> too. So she and her husband ran classified ads around the country and
> began playing the part of sympathetic friend, recording breathless
> kisses and heart-stopping glances. Among the hundreds of recollections
> included, many are garden-variety dream scenarios in which the
> president shows up at McDonald's, jogs with the dreamer or consults on
> foreign policy. But there are also quite a few romantic dreams of Bill
> -- and, curiously, a handful of dreams from new mothers, who attend
> cabinet meetings in their nightgowns and accept the president's
> compliments on recovering their prepregnancy figures.
>
> If the snatches of dreamscape shed any light on current events, it is
> that sexual encounters with the president may be best in fantasy. None
> of the women report feeling sexually harassed or taken advantage of --
> indeed, the only regrets come from a woman who turned Bill down only
> to become infuriated with herself for missing the opportunity to have
> an affair with the president. Those who indulged their fantasies, on
> the other hand, were often left with a glowing warmth that lasted long
> after the dream ended. And according to the authors, some said the
> dreams were so vivid, "They thought it might actually have happened,
> or might come true."
>
> -- Camille Peri
>
> - - - - - - - -
>
> I dreamed candidate Bill Clinton was visiting our area, and I was
> responsible for driving him to his quarters (a large private house)
> for the night. We were having a warm and friendly conversation as I
> pulled the car up in a circular gravel drive. We got out of the car
> and walked to the door of the house, where a nightlight shone.
>
> I said, "I've never kissed a candidate before. Would you mind if I
> kissed you?" I was aware that this was terribly bold, but I was much
> taken with him.
>
> He threw back his head and laughed, saying, "Not at all!" And he
> embraced me in a great, warm bear-hug and kissed me on the mouth -- a
> long, soul-melting kiss that was delightful. (It was a kiss so
> satisfying and real that I remembered every detail and feel of it on
> awakening.) We both laughed and went into the house, where I
> introduced him to a crowd of people in a wide foyer.
>
> It turned out I was also staying there, so I soon went to my room,
> undressed, got into bed, and began reading with the lights on. Bill
> sort of wandered in wearing only his shorts and said there didn't seem
> to be any bed for him and could he share mine? I said, half alarmed
> and half sexily, "Well, why not?" He got in and we worked the New York
> Times crossword puzzle!
>
> Then my son walked in carrying his baseball mitt and a ball. (My son
> was not his present age, but about ten, his age when he followed the
> election of JFK with great interest and wrote Kennedy a letter
> congratulating him on becoming President.) He said he wanted to meet
> Bill, too. The obliging Bill hopped out of bed and played catch and
> did high fives with him.
>
> -- J.D.W. (Female), Retired Advertising Executive Age: 69 Boulder,
> Colorado
>
> - - - - - - - -
>
> In my dream, I woke up coughing late at night, and I was in a strange
> bed: a high, large, Queen Anne-style, four-poster bed. It was a very
> ornate room, and the clock said 2:30 a.m. I turned to my right and
> there was a woman lying next to me that I had never seen before, and
> lying next to her was a man reading with an Itty Bitty Book Light. I
> got out of bed and went over to his side, and was shocked to see it
> was Bill Clinton!
>
> I said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I hope my coughing didn't wake you."
>
> He replied, "It's no problem, I'm always awake reading at this time."
>
> I said, "What are you and I doing here, and who is that woman?"
>
> He said, "Oh, this is part of my Getting to Know America Plan. I am
> going to sleep with two different people each night of my presidency."
>
> With that I congratulated him on his victory, and then I left what
> turned out to be the Lincoln Bedroom.
>
> -- J.A. (Female), Nurse/Anesthesia Age: 36 Lincolnshire, Illinois
>
> - - - - - - - -
>
> I dreamed I was just getting ready to sit down on a sofa because I was
> tired, and I was kind of falling down, and Bill Clinton put his hand
> under my behind, and I was struggling to keep from sitting on it, and
> jumped like crazy in bed -- so much that I woke up my husband, who had
> a good laugh when I told him what I was dreaming about.
>
> -- Elsie M. Archer, Housewife Age: 61 Pine Grove, Pennsylvania
>
> - - - - - - - -
>
> I was in my living room with Bill and Hillary and some other people,
> discussing the state of the nation. I was standing next to Bill, and
> he reached out to hold my hand. There seemed to be some sort of
> instant rapport between us. No one in the room noticed that we were
> holding hands. Then Bill asked to see my garden. We went out back, and
> suddenly my tiny backyard turned into rolling hills and valleys. We
> wandered around and Bill told me how hard he was working and how
> discouraged he was at the criticism about his work. I told him how
> much I believed in him and that he should keep trying, that we were
> all depending on him. He said he needed someone to admit his weakness
> and fear to and that I was the most sympathetic listener he had met ie
> went running into her field, jumping over the fence screaming that he
> would build her a higher fence and make her land a National Wildlife
> Refuge. He said that she was very into animal conservation, and if he
> did this for her, she wouldn't say anything.
>
> -- M.G. (Female), Student/Secretary Age: 25 Minneapolis, Minnesota
>
> - - - - - - - -
>
> The dream took place in another city, but I don't know which. I was
> dressed provocatively and I was waiting for the President with a male
> Clinton staffer. The staffer indicated for me to open the door which
> led to a private bedroom where President Clinton was awaiting me. I
> don't remember any introductions or niceties. We immediately embraced
> and consummated the most erotic encounter.
>
> After the fireworks, he quickly departed, leaving me feeling quite
> cheap. I also somehow knew in my dream that these rendezvous were
> arranged almost nightly with a different woman each time. I wondered
> how they kept it from the press, and especially from the First Lady.
>
> -- Carmen Moody, Housewife and Mother of Three Age: 36 Dallas, Texas
>
> - - - - - - - -
>
> My dream of Bill took place in a large elegant hotel ballroom, or a
> grand room in the White House where a social gathering might take
> place. Thet, Dancer/Choreographer Age: 32 South Windsor,
> Connecticut
>
> SALON | Feb. 20, 1998
>