Stop judging Monica Lewinsky

Monica Lewinsky embraces U.S. President Bill Clinton at a Democratic fundraiser in Washington in October 1996. Lewinsky, the White House intern who had a sexual relationship with Clinton during his time in office, has finally broken her silence on the affair in a Vanity Fair article.

We could all learn a few things from Monica Lewinsky, and when you read the essay she penned for Vanity Fair, "Shame and Survival," you undoubtedly will—maybe even about yourself. That is, judging by the excerpts of her article, which the magazine released Tuesday, ahead of publication.

Most of the world will be looking for the salacious details of her "consensual relationship" with President Clinton. As many will recall, that affair began in 1995 and when news of it broke in 1998, it became a global story. It almost took down the President—he was impeached-- and sent Lewinsky into such an isolated state of hell, she writes, that she had suicidal thoughts at times and a "fear that I would be literally humiliated to death."

Lewinsky is escorted by police officers, federal investigators and attorney William Ginsburg, second right, as she leaves the Federal Building in Westwood, California, in 1998. She was there submitting evidence on her relationship with Clinton, who was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was later acquitted.

Frankly, when you consider just how intense, relentless and abusive the Lewinsky bullying has been for the past 16 years--by the media, the politicians, the public and trolls on the Internet, it's a wonder she had the psychological stamina to resist those suicidal thoughts. And thank God she did.

You can't underplay how huge the news of the Lewinsky-Clinton affair was at a time when the Internet wasn't only used for trolling celebrities; it had such an impact in the public arena that there are people who are still making money off it. The founder of the Drudge Report, Matt Drudge, broke the story of the affair on his then mostly unknown website in 1998; the story put him on the map. In 2014 the site averages more than a billion page views a month.

When Barbara Walters interviewed Lewinsky in 1999 on "20/20," a record-breaking 70 million viewers tuned in. While the media pointed fingers at "that woman," it was taking advantage of the hottest story in presidential scandal history and squeezing every dollar it could out of Lewinsky's demise.

Heck, when Beyoncé "dropped" her album in December 2013, she cashed in as well -- reducing Lewinsky to a line in "Partition" as a reference to ejaculation. Lewinsky replied in her essay: "Thanks, Beyoncé, but if we're verbing, I think you meant 'Bill Clintoned all on my gown.' "

Sexual affairs are happening all over the world at this very moment--with politicians, world leaders, famous actors and people you know personally. Yes, affairs and other indiscretions are disgusting and immoral, but you can hardly be surprised anymore when you hear about them (looking at you Vance McAllister, John Edwards, Anthony Weiner, Donald Sterling). After all, you don't publicly execute people for these everyday offenses between two consenting adults, and yet that's basically what the world did to Lewinsky.

Last year, President Clinton was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama. In 2014, perhaps the world will give Monica Lewinsky the freedom she finally deserves.